257: Gentle Business Revolution with Sarah Santacroce

I’m thrilled to be back from holiday hiatus (and a deep work creation cave on my new book and podcast - more on that soon!) with an episode from someone who inspires me greatly in heart-based business: Sarah Santacroce.

Sarah’s new book is called The Gentle Marketing Revolution: A Radical Business Approach to Get New Clients with Integrity and Kindness. I was honored to co-write the foreword with Penney Pierce in a fun, delightful, in the moment, flowing way. You'll hear more about that and how to launch with serendipity and ease in this episode! Be sure to also check out Sarah’s Gentle Business Revolution Manifesto, and our most recent conversation on her podcast, Kindness in Business.

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More About Sarah Santacroce

Rainer Maria Rilke in 1900 (Wikipedia)

Sarah Santacroce is an internationally recognized LinkedIn Consultant, entrepreneur, podcaster, ‘Hippie turned Business Coach’ and the Founder of the Gentle Business Revolution.  

In addition to her LinkedIn expertise, Sarah is known for helping fellow introverts market their business authentically & anxiety-free, sell their services & make a difference. She’s also the host of the ‘Gentle Business Revolution’ podcast where she has conversations that aim to disrupt the current marketing paradigm and bring more empathy and kindness to the business world. Sarah has interviewed influential entrepreneurs including Chris Brogan, Dorie Clark, Mark Schaefer, Jason Swenk, Milana Leshinsky and Denise Wakeman to name a few.  

Sarah’s upbringing and life’s experiences inspired a yearning to create a global movement that encourages people to bring more empathy and kindness to the business world, live a more meaningful life and take care of our mother earth and each other. The Gentle Marketing Revolution™ is an integral part of the The Gentle Business Revolution movement.  

She lives in beautiful Switzerland where she was born and raised, but considers herself an alternative thinking citizen of this world. When she’s not working she loves adventure and traveling (ask her about her alter ego in Sicily), yoga and nature walks or hanging out with her 3 boys (a husband and two teenage sons).

Topics Covered

  • Sarah’s aha moment after getting burned-out from fear-based, scarcity marketing

  • How she leveraged Kickstarter as part of the build-up for a gentle book launch

  • "Book launch is not about me, it's about the message and the cause."

  • Thinking she was too nice, too gentle for business

  • Experience over maximization in marketing - Hype marketing, wealth signaling, false urgency

  • Scarcity marketing and the Cookie Jar study

  • Four aspects of the Gentle Marketing Framework: Rumble, Rise, Resonate, Integrate

  • Kept: People, Product, Pricing, Promotion; replaced to get Passion, Personal Power, Partnership

  • Rumble: Forget your client’s avatar. Start with yourself. “It always felt like a tinder date gone wrong”

  • Rise: give yourself permission to be different

  • Resonate: stop chasing after clients. Instead, attract those who are in harmony with your beliefs and guiding principles

  • Why are you in business, what matters to you?

  • Find your unique marketing superpower

  • As you adopt a gentle marketing strategy, there may be a transition period with slower months: “As I made the transition from being a LinkedIn Service Provider to founder of the Gentle Business Revolution, financially speaking, 2019 and 2020 were slow years. I wasn’t motivated anymore to run all the specials in sales for my LinkedIn stuff and the gentle marketing program hadn’t really gained momentum yet, so it basically felt like I was starting from scratch.”

  • How growing up on a commune influenced her mindset around business, leading a gentle marketing revolution

  • Why worldview is so important: people don't buy products any more, they buy into people and companies

Resources Mentioned

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