In Favor of Slow Marketing

Most small biz owners like us usually want things to happen NOW.

More customers NOW.

More leads, more fans, more followers faster, cheaper, NOW.

We live in an instant-gratification society, so a knee-jerk reaction for NOW should come as no surprise.

After all, you wouldn’t hire a marketing coach if you weren’t looking to turn up the heat and shorten the time it takes for you to see results, right?

But if you’re not careful, you might miss out on the Beauty of Slow.

You’ve heard of the Slow Food Movement?

Did you know there’s also a thing called Slow Marketing?

As far as I can tell from searches on the Interwebz, it hasn’t really taken off yet as an official movement, but here’s why I think it should:

If you read my recent rant, you know I’m appalled by some of the less-than-helpful marketing tactics we face everyday (especially online).

Things like…

• False scarcity – (Act now! While Supplies Last!)
• Road maps to 6-Figures (Is that gross? Or net profit?)
• Secrets to attracting 10,000 fans (and building big-ass email lists)

As a marketer, I’m especially peeved by this kind of stuff because it gives marketing professionals everywhere a bad name.

Then today, I stumbled across this post by Tad over at Marketing for Hippies.

As someone who uses food as a theme to write about marketing, I’m surprised I hadn’t hit on this connection before.

What we need now (more than ever) is a Slow Marketing Movement.

A way of thinking about our businesses as more than just a means to an end.

Of course, we need to eat and put a roof over our heads. But that shouldn’t be the only reason we start a business.

I’d love for more small biz owners to feel strong and confident about their ability to attract “enough” of the right clients.

Wouldn’t it be nice to not panic if you didn’t get immediate results every time you pushed the send button?

Wouldn’t you love to have time to spend on things like experimentation, relationships and yes — even planning and contemplation?

I’m not saying that the occasional short cut isn’t helpful. There are times when we can (and should) be more efficient at how we tackle certain aspects of our marketing.

But given the choice between a fast food burger or a sit-down meal with friends and family, I’d choose the latter any day.

And you know what? It really is a choice.

We’re all playing with the same 24 hours.

We could all exit stage left from Planet Earth at any moment.

It all boils down to your philosophy on life:

Do You Believe in an Abundant Universe?

At the heart of the world’s short-term focus is really a belief that there’s Not Enough.

Not enough jobs. Not enough money. Not enough time.

Not enough connections to the right people.

Not enough knowledge or experience or options.

There’s a pervasive feeling that there’s an answer somewhere OUT THERE (instead of IN HERE), and that’s really why we keep downloading all those free PDFs.

When you feel like you’re missing The Secret to Success, you’ll keep searching and searching and searching…and since we’re not taught to listen to ourselves (whether you call it your intuition or your gut), we’ll continue to rely on experts and authorities to show us the “right” way.

(That’s also, coincidentally, what keeps us taking classes or searching for a blueprint or road map to 6-figure Business Nirvana.)

It’s what stops us from owning our power, slowing down and thinking about what we’d like to build long-term.

It’s what keeps us focused on getting new customers, rather than getting to know our existing ones.

And it keeps us from enjoying the journey.

FOLLOW-UP: Tad Hargrave and I have decided to see if there’s enough interest to formalize this movement. Come visit us here: SlowMarketing.org and add your voice to the chorus!

Here’s another perspective on slow marketing called “The Long Idea.” (Don’t worry, it’s a short video.)

How about you? Do you believe in an Abundant Universe? Or do you panic when you don’t have enough clients? What kind of reaction do you get from the idea of “Slow Marketing?” Leave a comment and let’s discuss!