By Barbara Hranilovich

Inventor of the Beverage Caddi

and Hranilovich Illustration

During a recent teleclass on marketing I “attended” something shifted for me in a pivotal way.  As an illustrator, I have felt comfortable marketing what I do.  Mailings were simply samples of images I hoped people would like to look at over and over,  along with information about how to reach me.  It was cumulative and genuine – based on relationships and word of mouth.

It was when I started trying to get the word out about product(s) that I lost my way.  Having sales as the unspoken agenda behind my marketing efforts made them feel harsh and pushy.  “Want it, huh? huh?”  I didn’t like my own messages and got weary of basically asking people, in as many ways as I could, to buy my stuff.

During the teleclass I suddenly visualized a big magnet.  By reframing marketing as a magnet (which is now an element on my vision board) I’m suddenly quite excited about it all.  Now, I’m trying to feel what will draw the right people in naturally – letting them choose to know more, talk about my product to others, or make that purchase.  This opens the door to many angles of approach.  As a magnet,  the initial question is: How I can make someone’s life better?  This allows me to insert more humanness in my messages and makes me feel like I’m building honest connections.  It feels meaningful and real.  When someone writes to tell me they love my product, it’s no longer sales or marketing – it’s back to simple relationships, where all the gratification lies.

I have to admit that this epiphany is pretty recent, but it’s already caused me to change messages and images, as well as  how and when I post or reach out.  I feel like I’m staring from scratch and have a long way to go.  It feels right, so I’m more inclined to do it.  Magneting.   I could be wrong, but I hope not.