Why Marketing and Sales is Stifling Your Creativity and How to Avoid It with Kathryn Thompson

Kathryn Thompson  00:00

Welcome back, super stoked that you're tuning into this week's episode. And I cannot wait to dive into today's topic because I want to share with you some quick, easy ways very simple ways that you can leverage your creativity. And stay in that creative flow well creating your content and copy for your business so that it sounds like you and that it feels good. And it's genuine and authentic in the way in which you would communicate. Because one of the things I keep hearing from you is that when you go to put on that marketing and sales hat in your business, it stifles your creativity, and you end up creating content and copy. 

That doesn't really sound like you. It's not that genuine or authentic. It's not how you would actually have a conversation with somebody. And the reason this often happens is because most marketing and sales is taught from an analytical, psychological and logical perspective. If you write this way, you will sell X, Y and Z. It's very methodical, it's very calculated. And you and I both know that creativity is not a calculated formula. Creativity is actually very messy, it's nonlinear, it's fluid, it can come in hits of inspiration, and it can go out as quickly as it sort of came in. And that often times creativity, if you were painting a mural or something, it doesn't happen in an instant might, the idea might drop in to paint this type of mural. You sit there with your paint, and you are experimenting in what it's going to look like. Musicians are the same way where you know, a song might come up or tunes might be coming up in your brain, and you're getting the inspiration to write this new song. 

And it's not like you just sit down in an instant and write the song and it's out and published in the world listening to it. It's a process. And the marketing and sales world doesn't integrate that into what they teach basically, right? It's like, sit down and write this piece of content, X, Y, and Z, and you will sell like gangbusters, when in reality, the creative process is a lot messier. And so if there's anything you take away from this episode today, when I'm sharing the bits of information that I'm going to share with you the simple things that I do, and the simple things that I help my clients with, is, I want you to give yourself the permission to let it be shitty. When you're writing your marketing and sales, content and copy for your business, I want you to give yourself the permission to let it be shitty. This is really hard for high achievers who strive for perfection, who want to come across as polished employees and always put together always having the right words to say they don't want to look like they don't have stuff together. 

This can be really hard and which is actually the thing that stifles creativity the most is the need for perfection, the fear of being maybe seen as a fraud or not knowing what you're talking about. And what's actually really funny is that my creative process and the way in which I come up with content and copy for my business is pure creativity. I don't batch content, I don't have a calendar I follow. I don't follow content pillars, I don't really think in those ways. And if I'm being honest, I never did I have an undergraduate in marketing, Master's in communications. And it wasn't until I entered the online world that I thought I was doing everything wrong up until that point, and I'd worked 15 years in corporate, I had owned my brick and mortar for four years prior to entering in the online space. And I walked through this vortex into the online world and was like, Oh my gosh, I'm doing marketing and sales completely wrong, apparently, because I had never followed a formula. And so when I got into the online world, I felt like if I was going to teach marketing and sales, and how to write content, that I had to do it in a way that everybody else did, because that's what people want. And in reality, that's not what people want. Because if you're in my world, you want to know how to create content and copy for your business and how to market and sell in a way that's genuine, that doesn't fit you into a box that doesn't fit you into a formula that isn't this rigid process you have to follow that is in all analytical, psychological and logical that it allows you to be creative in your business. 

If you're in the world of entrepreneurship, you're Creative At Heart, you like to innovate. You love new ideas. I don't know of an entrepreneur that doesn't love a spark of inspiration that hits and goes oh, man, I could totally do that. Right. If you wanted to follow the rigid formula, you would stay in corporate. No offense if you're listening to this and you're in corporate but that's the truth right? It's like go to work nine to five follow the rules. Rules.

This is what you do at work, like you entered entrepreneurship, to actually break out of that you left corporate or all these structured other places maybe that you were working, so that you could have the creative freedom to do what you wanted. And likely, now you're going well, what the heck. Now I'm being told I have to market and sell in a certain way, and it doesn't really feel good. So I want to share with you and be super open with you about the other side of marketing and sales that you can leverage, which is the creative side, and the ability to use your creativity, your sparks of inspiration to create really potent content. 

And when I started to actually really leverage this go back to sort of my roots of really following my intuition. I was scared shitless because I was helping people create potent content and copy. And yet I wasn't teaching them how to write the perfect hook or call to action. And I felt like a fraud. I literally felt like a fraud when I decided I was going to launch spellbound. Because I knew that people coming into spellbound needed to be open to the idea of it not being a traditional course or program. 

But I also knew they craved this because most people that come to work with me and follow my work, want to do things differently, and they don't fit into the one size fits all cookie cutter approach. And they certainly are not marketers and sales people by trade. They're creatives, they're out here wanting to change the world, they have a mission bigger than they can even articulate in one sentence, right. And so they know and desire a different way to market. And yet, our brains love to tell us that we're doing it wrong. Or if we do it this way, it's not going to work. And again, if you walk away with anything, this is your permission to let it be shitty. To let yourself, try to let yourself follow the spark to let yourself be really creative in the process. And to forget about what everybody else is telling you that you need to do in order to market well, because I'm a firm believer, as I mentioned, 15 years in corporate working in a brick and mortar, not once did I sit there going, how can I psychologically get somebody to buy from me, like it has never crossed my mind. In 20 years of doing this work. Like ever, it's never crossed my mind. And yet, like I said, I entered the online world. 

And this is what people were telling me I needed to do. And it all felt really wrong. And so I want you to know that there is a different way, and that your creativity will sell what you do if you can bring something innovative and creative to the world. And do it in a way that's authentic and genuine, you will naturally attract people into your world. And then if you have an offer that people want, it will sell like Gangbuster. Without you having to methodically figure out how to sell it. It just will sell people are naturally drawn to people that are excited about what they do. But they're also really attracted to people who are genuine and authentic. That is magnetic in and of itself. And so one of the things I often tell my clients, and one of the things I coach my clients on in spellbound is to not force yourself to sit down at a computer and write from this place of what do I need to write today? How many emails do I need to send? How many social posts do I need to send? Because the minute I have a client that's asking me, how many emails should I send? How many posts should I make? How often should I show up in stories? How many lives do I need to do? I know they're coming from the brain, right? I know, they're in that logical way of thinking. 

And that, to me, is not creativity. So what I coach people on is to get out of that brain and get back into the body and allow yourself to let the creativity come to you. And so one of the things I'll often say is, either you're a passive sort of creative person, where if you're in meditation, or you're like sitting in silence, then the ideas will come. Or you could be active, right? So that's why lots of people will get hits in the shower while they're driving. Because their brain is actually turned off in a lot of ways when you're showering. When you're going for a run. Like you're not really actively thinking in that logical brain about what to do and how to do it. So the ideas will naturally flow when you're working with your hands. So sometimes when you're cooking, some people will often look at me like I'm crazy. And I'm like, I think you should just go cook or maybe you should color or maybe you should free right? Or maybe you should do something with your hands knitting, sculpting pottery, whatever it might be, because that's when these creative ideas come and one The other things I coach people on and this is another really cool way to stay in your creativity is to actually Voice Note yourself. 

And not because it's quick and easy, is because when we write, when we sit down to write, we will self edit, it's really easy unless you're a really fast typer. If you're super fast typer you can do this this way. But if you're not a fast typer, your perfectionist brain will start to question things and you will self edit. But when your voice noting, you've got your phone in your hand, or whatever, and it's really hard to self edit, because you're talking. And when you can hear the sound of your own voice, it's hard to start to second guess and question yourself whether someone will pay attention. So oftentimes, I will say, just go voice No, like, if you're walking, go for a walk, obviously, don't do this while you're driving. But like, go for a walk, maybe have a shower, maybe have a bath, a lot of my ideas come from the bath. When I'm sitting in the bath, I'll have my phone there that I can audio record, and just free flow, like just allow the ideas to come out in that moment. And then what I do is oftentimes will I'll go, like transcribe it through otter AI is a good platform, I'll just upload the audio to it, and transcribe it. And I can see in then, in my words, what I want to say. 

But I don't sit in batch content, I don't sit and ask myself how many times I need to email a list to sell. I don't even sit there and go, What do I need to say to sell? I'm often just coming from a place of what am I learning? What self reflections have I had, and what could really help people. And that is how I create content. Because at the end of the day, when you're coming from a place of value, and you're sharing from that heart centered place without the attachment to the outcome, which also will stifle creativity, when you're not attached to an outcome or, or a steps you have to take, then you allow yourself to stay in creative flow, right? Then you allow yourself to create the masterpiece without fitting it into some type of box or formula. So that's another really cool way to allow creativity to come up. And allow yourself to record or document in a way that doesn't allow you to self edit. It's really hard to self edit when you're speaking. And it's really hard to you know, like delete things when you're naturally just talking into your phone. The other cool way that I often will recommend is go talk to a family member or a really good friend, and share with them what you're doing. 

Because your friends know you so well. And my husband used to always say when he used to hear me talking on social media and that sort of thing. And I laugh now because it was true. It was like this persona that a lot of people in my life locally close to me would not really see. And they would say to me, well, that's Katherine's business speak. That's how she speaks when she's, you know, in her professional mode. And I would laugh because it was true. I was trying to put on I don't want to say a front because it wasn't a front. 

But it was like, if you were having a conversation with me in real life, and you were a friend, you would probably laugh at it because it doesn't really it came across very professional and put together and polished. And that's what I call conditioning from corporate right of like this way in which you have to show up. And so it was kind of pretty funny because he would always say, oh, there's her business speak, or her serious speak. Which is funny because if you know me in real life, I'm bit of a bit of a goofball. I'm super laid back. And I don't want to say in real life, but if you if you were around me in, you know, in my personal life, you would see that and so it's like, how can you translate that into your business as well, so people can see all facets of who you are. 

And again, the more and more I started to pull that out of myself, and decondition away from the perfectionism, the needing to be professional, the needing to be like perfect all the time and poised and polished. The more you guys started to see who I was, and the more my business transformed, because people would start to say to me, oh, man, you're just so genuine. You're a breath of fresh air. And it's because I could be sitting with you having a beer in a pub, and I'd be talking to you in the exact same frickin way like this is who I am. And other than maybe some of the goofball stuff that I would do in pranks that I pull and stuff like that. But the way in which I talk and show up is so genuine and authentic. 

You're getting all of who I am and not like like I said not like I wasn't that way before but I was definitely more professionally fronting because I thought that's how I had to be in order to be successful. And so I want you to think about, you know, if you were to do a video for a Facebook ad or something or you were going to show up live or you were going to speak at an event or something like that, or you were going to go to sell your product and service is like, go sell it to a family and friend first because they will question you or go, that doesn't really sound like you. Or it sounds very murky or salesy, right, they'll tell you honestly, whether or not who you're being is authentic, or they'll naturally just pull that out, because they'll go, you don't really sound like yourself kind of thing. 

They mirror things back to you in a way that I think, you know, strangers on the internet, let's just say wouldn't necessarily catch or pick up on. And that just helps. And I think, again, it's a lot of it's subconscious, right is a lot of conditioning that we don't even realize we're doing, which, again, from that professional perspective, you know, I spent 15 years in corporate and so I had to be professional in the office. And so that just naturally translated out into my brick and mortar and the online world. And not saying that I'm not professional now, but there is just, the layers have been peeled back even more. And the fun part of it is, is that I've done these quick little hacks and tricks that have helped me really pull out who I am and show up more and more as myself in a genuine and authentic way than ever before. And so and that's what I really want for you when it comes to creating content and copy for your business. 

Because as I said, when people can feel that you're genuine and authentic, and you are, regardless, if you have it perfectly polished, you know whether you have a typo or not, I used to always laugh because, you know, it's like, I'm a copywriter, and yes, I make typo mistakes, like we're human, right? And so it's like, where are we judging other people to show up perfect? Where are we putting perfection, and that expectation of perfection on other people. Because if, if that's what you're demanding of other people, you likely are demanding that of yourself to and perfection. And perfectionism kills creativity, because the creative process isn't perfect. It's messy, it's nonlinear. It's fluid. And so that is one of the biggest reasons, I believe, people struggle with marketing and sales content and copy because there's this belief that there's a right or wrong way to do it. And there's this belief that we've got to do it this way to get the outcomes we want, but also to be taken seriously for people to trust in what we do. And trust. foundationally is built through authentic conversation and communication. So people don't trust you if you're not authentic and genuine, right. 

Or if you're putting out stuff that doesn't really sound like you. And so a lot of really great content and copy doesn't actually happen sitting at your computer, trying to figure out what to write and say, a lot of the creativity comes from getting away from your desk, getting away from even thinking about that. And that awareness, right catching yourself, when you're sitting there going, what do I need to say, to get somebody to buy? Instead of saying, What do I need to tell my audience today that's going to ultimately move them? Like literally move them that's going to create that aha moment for them that's been holding them back? Like, what can I say that's going to have a profound impact on them, whether they buy from me or not. That is genuine marketing and sales because there's no attachment to the outcome or the sale. And your people will feel that. 

That creates an undercurrent in your content and copy. It's the feeling that your audience will ultimately feel. Because there's this different intention behind it. It's not coming from that marketing and sales angle of I need to do this, in order to sell this, if I say it this way, I'm going to attract 10 clients, if I, you know, have this pitch versus this pitch, I'm going to make more sales in my business, it's removing the analytical, psychological and logical, and it's allowing you to come from this place of creativity, that ultimately opens you up to receive this beautiful results that maybe you didn't even expect. It's allowing you to put out content and copy from a very heart centered place that is grounded in value. And really, ultimately, helping people like I said, whether they buy from you or not, and that undercurrent is felt far more than anything else, it's a thing that's going to spark some type of emotion within your people. 

And it allows you to call in and receive really beautiful things that might be like I said, mind blowing, or completely outside of that perspective of what you thought was even possible. And that is the beauty of letting your creativity your intuition, do the leading, and then coming up with a strategy of like, well, where to actually put this right, am I is this a post for social media? Am I sending out emails? Am I doing a free masterclass? 

You know, am I running this two day promotion? Like these are ways that you can then integrate after the fact when you've allowed your creativity to drive the show, and your intuition to sort of lead? The strategies actually become pretty clear on on what to do, rather than coming from that perspective of like, what do I need to do in order to make sales really detaching from the outcome and something so beautiful about that is, and I've shared this on the last two episodes is that when I created selling the invisible, my free training, I was wanting to fill that with value, and really help people identify maybe where they're at, and why they're in this position in their business, and why they might be friends owned or speaking to the void or that sort of thing, and how to move out of that. Like, where to focus your attention and energy. 

And the beautiful things that have come as a result of that have been people have, you know, wanted to work with me, they've joined spellbound, some people have wanted to collab with me, some people have invited me to be on their podcast, others have just had beautiful conversations with me in the DMS, and just shared how helpful it was, like, it's just been such a beautiful experience. Because, again, I wasn't that attached to the outcome, I was like, How can I just show up from a place of value first and foremost, and I just trusted that those that are meant to be kind of in my world and want to work with me will. 

And those that maybe don't have the capacity right now to invest might in the future, and those that just need that transmission to go and finally just go be themselves in their content will do that, right. We're all at different stages and journeys, and we all require different support. And the beauty of it is, is that we can put things out into the world in a really potent way that moves people to take action one way or the other. And that's the beauty of it, the insight that we can offer, the perspective shifts that we can give our audience so that they, you know, can can make a change in their life, whatever that looks like. 

And so that, to me, is how you create really potent content and copy. And I've seen this, you know, across the board, you know, working with some massive brands, like seven figure brands, is that when our hearts behind it, when we want to create a movement and actually leave a legacy and create a real change for people. We don't need the perfectly polished poised content and copy to do that. Now I'm not saying strategy doesn't work. 

And I'm not saying you know, looking at your numbers and data doesn't work, not at all. But I actually don't look at the data, or the numbers until after I start with creativity. I start with value. And then if for whatever reason things aren't working, or I'm maybe not seeing the desired results I want. I look at the numbers from a bird's eye view to really start to pinpoint, okay, where might there be a kink in the customer buying journey, right? Where might there be a kink in my content or copy? That's when I start to really look at the data and the numbers. So if there's anything you take away from this episode, is to allow yourself the permission to let it be messy to show up and create content and copy that maybe in five years from now. you cringe add. Because the beauty is as humans, we get to change our perspective change our opinions, we get to learn from our mistakes, we get to grow. The problem is, there's a lot of trolls and haters that want to tell us that we're doing everything wrong, or how dare you change your perspective. And then there's this fear of rejection. 

And I want you to know that you can change your perspective, you can change the way you do things. And if right now, you feel like oh, man, I am driven by perfection, or I am comparing myself to everybody else. Or I am diluting my message that I need to go figure that out first, before I can really create potent content and copy. It's actually the other way around. I think that through action, through showing up through the discomfort, putting something out there, you know, pushing the limit every time if it's, you know, creating something polarizing, you know, maybe, maybe it's a little thing at first, and then it's something bigger later, like, you know, to me, when we pair our inspiration with action, we create a lot more clarity. 

But we also create a lot more resiliency and our own inner self to show up more like ourselves, because oftentimes, it's not as bad as we thought it was going to be. Oftentimes, when we go to put that piece of content out into the world that might ruffle feathers, we might get somebody say something, but it's not really that bad. So the more you can just take small micro actions, and try and test and experiment, the more you're going to build up that resiliency within yourself to just continually show up as yourself as genuine as possible. And to tune out as many people as possible to not rely on social media to give you the inspiration to write the posts or the content or a template or whatnot. 

Again, I go so against the grain, lots of marketers would cringe and be like, oh, man, the templates are great for inspiration. But I truly believe that with the simple hacks I've shared, going for a walk, moving your body sitting in meditation, giving yourself the space to create a law, again, the creativity comes not from sitting and staring at a computer, it comes from you giving yourself the space to have those hits of inspiration. And if you're not receiving them, it's likely because your brain is overactive, right, it's overthinking what you need to do how you need to do it, maybe you're worrying, maybe you're stressed, maybe you got this running to do list, it's so long that you don't even know what to do with it anymore. Maybe you're not getting great sleep, you know, it could be something in your personal life, maybe you're struggling with something in your personal life. And that's the beauty of life, we have cycles and rhythms that we go through. 

And it's not always, you know, hits of inspiration, flooding in every single day, you know, you could go weeks without it, you could go days without it, you know, again, we're conditioned to believe that we have to show up every single day on social media that we have to post every single day. And if you've listened to the last two episodes, you know that I'm not a content factory, and most of us aren't. And so to try and conform to that, and to have this stress of needing to be visible all the time for the outside world for us to be successful, is not true. And I'm living proof of it. And as I've mentioned, you know, I posted eight times in January, and I posted 13, I think in December, and it's not because I didn't want to post, it's just that I was serving my clients behind the scenes. And so capacity wise, work wise, I didn't have the space to be creative and have the inspiration flow. So it wasn't there. And that's the reality of it. But the beauty is, is when we allow creativity and inspiration. And this really pure intention to guide us. There's this deep trust that comes through this of like, I know I'm taken care of I know I will be taken care of. And if I show up twice and have put two really profound posts out there, I could attract a bunch of people into my world. 

You know, it's not the quantity of posts. It's the quality. And even more than that, it's the how profound the content is. Is it different than what other people are saying? Is it a unique perspective? Is it your own lived experience because our own lived experiences and our own stories will resonate with people deeper than you just sitting in an ivory tower telling people what to do and how to do it, or all the mistakes they're making, right? If you can bring yourself down and look them in the eyes from a place of I don't always have it all together. This is the shit I've learned. These are the mistakes I've made. 

I'm not some, you know, holier than thou coach or mentor that knows everything that in and of itself develops so much trust because the people you're connecting with No one will see you very authentically and genuinely. And that will naturally just connect with them and build like trust instantaneously because they'll see themselves in you in some capacity. And that will create content connection, way quicker than you needing to have it all together, have the perfect words and have all of this knowledge that you're sharing and all the value right, all the steps. And, you know, all of the things I think sometimes we think our accolades, and our education, and the trainings and certifications, and all those things make a difference.

 And they do they create authority, for sure. But connection doesn't come from authority per se, right connection comes from people getting you and understanding you and feeling seen and heard more than anything. So you walk away from this episode, I want you to let it be shitty, I want you to allow yourself an opportunity to just play. Give yourself the space to create. Give yourself a break, you know, a little grace that you don't have to always be posting and showing up and have the perfect articulated emails or posts. And that it's not about the quantity, it's the quality, and that your people through your genuine way of having a conversation with them will outweigh any psychological marketing hack or tactic that you're taught. So with that, I'm really excited for next week's episode, because I'm going to be sharing with you one of the biggest mistakes that I've made in the online world, and how I've pulled the plug on some really brilliant ideas way before I ever even gave him an opportunity to succeed. And the reason I'm recording this episode is because I've been chatting with one of my besties in the DMS for months now. And she's on a very similar journey as me, you know, we had a brick and mortar business very successful. 

And we entered the online world. And we looked at everybody else. And for that reason, we struggled in our businesses, one because we were doing things we thought we should do. And it never really amounted to the success maybe we envisioned. And about two months ago, she was very frustrated. And I had seen so much of myself and her because I was equally in that position of wanting to you know, walk away from it all and being like, just isn't working. And I, you know, was talking with her in the DMS and really telling her to keep going that like literally her success was just around the corner. And I gave her a bit of a timeline. And the reason I was able to give her like a timeline of when to go okay, how do we reevaluate this is because I had been there, right. 

And I had started to map my timelines of like, points of time where I was like, okay, you know, after two weeks or four weeks, I got really pragmatic with the timeframe that it took to create success in my business. And so I gave her a timeframe. And I got a message from her a couple days ago. And she was just like, My mind is blown, your timeline was bang on. And she signed two clients into a brand new program. And she has calls coming in. And it's being done essentially on auto autopilot, which is what I've shared in the last two episodes. And it's just a beautiful thing. And I think when I got that message from her, like, I nearly cried, because I had, like, there's this huge amount of relief that you feel when you when things finally start to work. 

And they work without all of the efforting and force, there's this relief that gets lifted off your shoulders. And if you're not in that position, right now, I just want you to know what's possible. And I want you to allow this to be the inspiration. And I want you to tune into next week's episode, because I'm going to share with you how to know when to pull the plug, and how to know when to stick it out and not make a knee jerk reaction. Because I've done it so many people have done it. And it often comes from expectation, the expectation that we think you know, that we have on how things should be, and the outcomes that should happen as a result of the effort we're putting out. And we end up pulling the plug often on something that could be really beautiful. And so I wanted to record an entire episode because when I got that message, I realized, one I had walked that journey and now I've helped somebody else come through the other side. 

And I'm helping people all the time with this. But that was just such a potent reminder that I wanted to share because I think something that we don't often talk about, you know, all the times we've pulled the plug on something or gave up on something because it wasn't going as expected and I want to help you avoid that. But I also want to also share the inspiration that if you're feeling sort of weighed down by your business or right now and you're feeling like it's just really hard I want to give you the inspiration inspiration that that can change very quickly so with that please subscribe to the show so you don't miss when that episode drops next week cheers