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The Humane Marketing Show. A podcast for a generation of marketers who care.


Mar 29, 2019

Welcome to the 13th muse on the Introvert Biz Growth podcast, the show where I talk to introverts who grow their business and make a difference.

I’m Sarah Santacroce, your host. If you’re new here, then I want you to know that this is not the usual format of my regular episodes.

I post a new show every other Friday, and it’s always a conversation with a fellow introverted entrepreneur who uses his or her introverted superpowers to make a difference.

These shows are edited by Tim, my professional podcast editors who also creates amazing shownotes pages.

 

But today’s episode is a muse, unedited, raw content. No intro music. No bells and whistles.

I share these muses to make you think, to inspire you, to break the rules and to eventually invite you to the Gentle Business Revolution, when it’s ready.

And today is the day! It’s ready! The 1st part of the Gentle Business Revolution is ready!

And in today’s muse I want to tell you more about it.

But I need to start at the beginning and give you some context.

 

So… I grew up in a peace & love environment called the Colombina, a community living experience co-owned by my parents and their friends. It was an apartment building with 6 apartments, each family had their own apartment, but we spent many hours in other people’s houses, or in the common garden.  It was normal to me, but abnormal to everyone else. I remember my boyfriend at the time, I was 14, giving me weird looks when people would just walk into our front door and ask for salt or eggs that they were missing for their recipe. Again, it was normal to me, but as a teenager it was embarrassing.

I was taught early on that I was very privileged to be born in a society that has everything and that this privilege came with a responsibility: take care of our world and take care of those who are not as privileged as me. Once a week my parents invited a refugee to have lunch with us, and learn some German (my mother tongue).

The grownups also held monthly meetings to discuss current topics and take decisions together (who’s in charge of the garden, should we invest in a new bike shed, would cat owners please clean up the kids’ sand pit etc etc. Everything was decided in a very democratic way, notes were taken and people were held accountable. Yes, there was sometimes tension that even we kids noticed, but it really taught me that a community is very precious and everything can be figured out in a very civil way.

And no, there were no drugs involved and no, we didn’t walk around naked, contrary to the beliefs of our elderly neighbors.

As early as kindergarten, I was a quiet leader. It started with our neighborhood kids club including my sister and the other 3 kids of the house, continued throughout the school years where I took over the leading role for projects and then became one of my main roles as an entrepreneur.

Over the past 12 years I have coached and mentored entrepreneurs and business owners, helped them get clarity and outside of the box thinking to achieve their marketing and business goals.

As an entrepreneur, I made the decision a few years ago, to specialize in helping my clients get clients on LinkedIn. It was a good decision and I don’t regret it one moment. But I’m also a very curious person, and it has become clear to me 2 years ago that LinkedIn was not going to be all I do for the rest of my working life.

Which is why I started this podcast, The Introvert Biz Growth show, at the beginning of 2016. I had no business plan, just knew that I wanted to talk to fellow introverted entrepreneurs about how they are making a difference and grow their business.

Around the same time I turned 40 and had my ‘mid-life unraveling’ as Brené Brown likes to call it.

I did some personal work with a therapist and remember this one particular session where, in tears, I told her:

It’s so f***ing hard to be different!

(Sorry, I don’t usually swear, but this expression just needed the F word)

If I had to summarize my experience in business in one word, then ‘different’ would be it.

I always felt that I was different than everyone else out there. 

I felt that I was not tough enough.

I felt that I was not pushy enough in my marketing.

I felt that I did not belong.

I felt like I didn’t have enough accolades next to my name.

I felt like I didn’t have the same energy everyone else seemed to have.

I felt like I wasn’t worthy charging those high rates I saw other people using.

And this fear held me hostage for many years…

Out of fear of being different or being rejected I changed who I was, tried to be like everyone else, just to fit in.

And then, in an epiphany moment, the term “Gentle Business Revolution” came to me.

All my life I had been a non-conformist, a rebel. I moved out to live in Paris for a year at 18, then never moved back home. I never went to university, it felt too confining. I had a tiny wedding with a small group of friends in Barcelona, the city where I met my husband while traveling. I had kids early, when everyone else was still in the rat-race… I then started my own business at age 30.

Over and over again I did things differently.

And yet, in business I seemed to just comply.

No more. I knew I could no longer wear the mask, fake it and apply everyone else's templates.

I was ready to be the leader of a paradigm shift in business and marketing.

With all the non-gentleness going on in the world right now, I think the time is right for a paradigm shift.

I guess to me the opposite of gentle is tough. Expressions that come up for me are “she’s a tough business woman” and “business is tough”. Or “it’s business, not personal” or “it’s just business”.

All of them have nothing to do with being gentle.

I see it as my mission to prove that one can be successful in business by being gentle, not tough. By being personal, not ‘just business’.

One of my subscribers recently sent me this sentence:

“Throughout the years, my experience of you has been that of a benign presence.”

According to Wikipedia this is what ‘benign’ means:

gentle and kind.

Yes, that’s who I want to be in business. Gentle and kind. Not tough. Gentle, kind and fair.

I also realized that I was done acting as a lone wolf.

As an introvert, I thought it was just my modus operandi. Until I joined a group of like-minded peers who shared similar goals and aspirations. It’s when I realized how much I was missing these community values that were instilled to me by my parents.

There is magic that comes through groups that dates back to our ancestry in tribes who gathered around the fire to connect, debrief and enjoy the company of each other — it is like we are wired to work together and find our highest truths through these interactions.
- Leisa Peterson –

So I’m coming full circle.

And I’m so excited to introduce The Gentle Business Alliance.

The Gentle Business Alliance is a global community of women and men with common values who come together and support one another in all areas of life and business.

We have two main goals: living a meaningful life and making the world a better place (and we use our businesses to achieve the latter).

We believe when we thrive the world thrives and in order to do so, we must focus on the core aspects of our human experience — learning, growing, elevating and expanding together.

Our way of making an impact is by bringing more empathy and kindness to the business world. We are very much aligned with BCorp’s tagline “a global movement of people using business as a force for good”. We create win-win-win situations. Win for the world, win for the customer and win for ourselves. We are interested in creating sustainable businesses – not just to create wealth for ourselves, but to make an impact and make this world a better place.

Business is ready for a revolution, a gentle revolution.

 

Who is it for?

The Gentle Business Alliance is for you, online entrepreneur or business owner who is seeking to do business differently – in a more gentle way.

You believe in collective intelligence, community and helping each other grow.

Maybe you have been in business for a few years already, but are tired of the same old.

Maybe you’re a new business owner, but see the power in the community.

You are looking for more meaning.

You are looking to grow your business to make a bigger impact, not just for yourself but for humanity.

You want to show up authentically.

You are so good at what you do…you just can’t stand the pain of marketing and selling your services in this overcrowded online world where it seems everyone is judging everyone and we’ve completely lost track of what matters most: the human connection!

It’s all just too hard and you are tired of being a lone wolf.

That’s when you know that you are a good fit for The Gentle Business Alliance because you’ll get permission to do business in a gentle way, your way.

 

In January of this year I launched the building block of The Gentle Business Revolution, a new kind of marketing program that I called Anxiety-Free Marketing. In the next Muse I’ll tell you more about joining me for the 2nd beta test round of Anxiety-Free Marketing in May.

 

But back to January. 10 brave souls took me up on my invite and joined me on this journey. We spent 10 weeks together, we laughed, we cried, we co-created. And together we birthed the Gentle Business Alliance.

Whitaker Raymond was one of the participants and I’m excited to share this interview with him where he shares his experience.

 

Interview with Whit

 

 

 

So what does The Gentle Business Alliance include?

  1. 2 monthly calls around different Marketing/Business topics. Facilitated by me, someone from the group or a guest speaker
  2. Occasional guest speakers including members of the Alliance to discuss inspiring topics.
  3. Facilitated communications and connections through a private (members only) community group on Mighty Networks.
  4. Access to member-led conversations about business and personal topics for those interested in participating.
  5. Access to the Anxiety-Free Marketing Online Video Course (8 modules, a value of $497)
  6. Access to the live Anxiety-Free Marketing program in January or September, or both J (a value of $697)
  7. A mousepad with the Anxiety-Free Mandala (priceless as my son Simon designed the Mandala ;-)

 

  1. Access to my 14-Day LinkedIn Kick Start Toolkit (a value of $197)

 

  1. Other bonus programs such as the Infinite Abundance Program by Leisa Peterson (valued at $297) and more to come

 

What will the monthly conversations be about?

A big focus of The Gentle Business Alliance is Anxiety-Free Marketing, because marketing is essential to grow our businesses – and therefore make a bigger impact and make this world a better place.

We’ll cover Marketing topics such as:

  • Sales Calls
  • Video Marketing
  • Affiliate Marketing with Integrity
  • Listbuilding
  • Webinars
  • Group Programs
  • Retreats
  • Podcasting
  • Emails
  • Networking in Person

Drawing from my Conscious Marketing Mandala  — topics may also include:

  • Passion
  • Personal Power
  • People
  • Product and Services
  • Pricing
  • Promotion
  • Partnership

 

We go beyond just business topics though – because besides having a successful business, all members of The Gentle Business Alliance truly care about creating meaningful lives for ourselves while also making the world a better place!

Together we’ll also unpack life and world topics including:

  • Sustainability
  • Social Justice
  • Abundance thinking
  • The Serving Mindset
  • Stewardship (compassion, generosity, gratitude)
  • Our relationship with money
  • How time & money are related
  • The environmental impact of our business
  • Love & joy as a marketing tool
  • Fair Investing
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Nurturing strong relationships
  • Spirituality

 

What else will you get by participating in The Gentle Business Alliance?

Besides the more structured sessions you really belong to a global group of like-minded peers where you have the opportunity to be both a student and a teacher — giving and receiving help in uncovering hidden opportunities and generating powerful and meaningful ideas for your life and business.

As a result, this is the place where everyone is growing wiser and you will be challenged to grow, multiply and increase your impact in various ways.

 

How does it work?

The Alliance membership is on an annual basis — you can cancel at any time and refunds will not be given. It is an ongoing group.

Who else is in The Gentle Business Alliance?

The Alliance is a group of maximum 25 conscious entrepreneurs from all over the world.  Members of the Alliance come from a broad background of business types, sizes and growth stages. There is no discrimination depending on revenue in the Alliance.

What is the investment to be part of The Gentle Business Alliance?

The annual membership is $2000. You can pay on a yearly or quarterly basis (4 x $500), or monthly by request. Even if you pay quarterly, you are committed for the year.

When does it start?

Unofficially it already started because some of the Founding members will continue on in the Alliance. But officially I’ll be talking to new members as of today. Enrollment is open until we hit 25 members.

Next steps

If your intuition & heart calls you to take your life and business to new heights and think the Gentle Business Alliance would help you do just that then I’d love to get on a call with you and answer your questions prior to moving forward.

I am also available to discuss the potential of my working with you as your coach outside of the Alliance through private coaching - subject to availability.

Membership into the Alliance is on an application basis for those who are new to my work so send me an email to request a time to talk and complete the questions beforehand.

My email is sarah@sarahsantacroce.com

Do you want to be gentle, authentic AND successful in your marketing and business? Create a meaningful life & make the world a better place?

Then you are one of these people I want to surround myself with!

I can’t wait to meet you

Warmly
Sarah