Receptive vs penetrative marketing (there is a gentler, more inward way for sensitive souls to share online)

Something that many women tell me, is that they would be quite happy just offering their service, art, creations etc, if they could just be organically discovered and not have to worry about the whole marketing part. 

Yet I have come to discover that this is often because they relate marketing to a very outward, direct approach that requires them to share their business in a way that feels forced and unnatural to the way that they intrinsically prefer to be.

The female creatives/entrepreneurs who are drawn towards my writings and work are all at various stages of reclaiming their more feminine aspects, essence and modes of expression- a path that is often reflected in a strong misalignment between the masculinised norms of marketing a business, and their desire for a softer, more organic approach. 

If this is something you have felt, you may have noticed the way a lot of overwhelm, self doubt and inaction arises, as you struggle to reconcile how you’d like to share your work with the ways you think you are ‘supposed’ to share your work. 

In much of business (particularly in the online world of marketing), very direct, consistent, penetrative, authoritarian (position yourself as the expert) communication is the norm. There is an underlying philosophy of convincing, converting and gaining the quickest and biggest results.

On the other hand, the women I work with prefer a more receptive, relational and connective mode of communication. They are often sensitive souls who value a soft and quiet life, and feel overwhelmed with marketing platforms that demand they always be ‘on’ and intaking lots of people’s energies, opinions and beliefs. They prefer a mode of communication where they can be in their inward energy more, with a focus on drawing people in and truly connecting with the right people for their work at a pace that feels natural and unforced.

What I have seen though, is that the more penetrative approach is what we are taught to aspire to in the marketing realms. Yet if this approach does not align with the nature of how we prefer to communicate, then it will feel heavy and hard to action. It will mean constantly presenting a forced version of ourselves in order to ‘get ahead’ in the business/entrepreneurial realm- something that is exhausting to the soul and can lead to deep burn out and a reluctance to create and express.

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If you’d like to read on, the full piece of writing now lives in the Gentle Creation ebook.

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