Fear and shame are NOT the way to sell. It should be obvious, right? Wrong. The sad truth of the matter is that far too many brands are using less-than-upright methods to push their products and services onto others. And while sleazy sales tactics are not new to the industry, they have no place in a heart-centered business. 

Warning There Might Be a Rant Ahead: but trust me you’ll be glad you read this!

If there is one thing that annoys the crap outta me, it’s spiritual entrepreneurs using fear and shame to sell.

Urgh! Just urgh!

Those are two of the lowest vibrations out there and when someone who classes themselves as spiritual uses those energies as a tool for getting their work into the world, my heart just fucking sinks!

We can do better, people! Let’s knock the 3D crap on the head and go high vibes straight into 5D goodness, m’kay?

As a lifelong teacher and student of copywriting (fair warning), I sign up for the email lists of people who fit my client profile so that I can constantly refine my talent and be the best in the biz as a copywriter for spiritual entrepreneurs.

So, what inspired this blog post? Well, actually I signed up for a great opt-in; the freebie offer was genius, the emails were fabulous… until they weren’t. They turned into an absolute shit-show!

Don’t worry, I am not going to indulge in naming and shaming, but I do want to use this as an education opportunity. Listen up as I am turning this into a teaching moment!

Fear and Shame Do Not Belong in Heart-Centered Sales

I see this crap far too often. And if you’ve been doing it, you’re turning away your ideal customers and you need to stop like… yesterday. You will want to learn this lesson before ever being tempted to make it!

So, let me tell you about these emails.

When I initially signed up via the lead magnet, I was very interested. It hit all the tick marks – it drew me in, the language was speaking directly to me, and the freebie was High Value!

That’s what I’m talking about. Woo!

I was actually so impressed, that I was thinking about buying into the upgraded opt-in offered after the freebie.

But Then the Good Turned Ugly

I traditionally like to think about things before I purchase, however, so I waited to sleep on it. I am intentional about the things I choose to invest my money and time in. Still, I was a fan and in the days to follow, I felt energetically aligned to this offer.

Then, life got in the way, as it often does. My family fell sick and I didn’t get back around to my emails. My inbox had filled up with one per day from this person and I immediately thought, “Oh yeah! I’m gonna snag up that delicious offer!”

I do a search of my email and pull up all the emails from this account and that’s when shit goes all off the rails. I went from big-time fan to yucky feeling in my gut when I read the subject lines from the past few days.

Stop shaming me into compliance!

They were full of icky blame-and-shame language.

I can feel you drifting from me, Lisa

The time has come for you to choose your fate

I’m concerned by your silence

Okay, not completely bad by themselves. But then I opened them and that yucky feeling went to “Holy fuck, are you kidding me right now?”

And then moved right on into “OMG, it gets worse.”

Gaslighting and Emotional Abuse 

At this stage, I feel I need a full-on cord-cutting, sage cleansing decontamination of this gross energy. I’m feeling a full-on “Thank fuck I never bought this” and I realize I dodged a bullet by not buying.

So look, you NEVER want to become this person. Do I really need to tell you why? Do you want your potential clients and customers to feel like that when you reach out to them?

I’m gonna guess that’s not only a “no”, but a “hell no!”

You don’t want your prospects getting the icky, yucky feeling that they are being shamed into purchasing. Here is how you avoid making this mistake: be of service.

As a spiritual or heart-centered business, your #1 job at all times is to BE OF SERVICE. You can never go wrong when you follow this principle. It’s a super simple WIN button.

Sounds simple enough right? So, why do so many heart-centered entrepreneurs keeping fucking it up?

Well, usually they don’t know any better. I mean, who would screw over their business on purpose? But why don’t they know any better?

Sometimes they are following advice made by a copywriter in a corporate or non-spiritual niche. That advice might be well and good for their industry, but it lands poorly in the spiritual space. Other times they hired a copywriter and likely trusted them to do the right thing, but if that copywriter is not experienced in spiritual niches, they’re likely to screw it up like this.

The emails I was getting ticked all the boxes:

• sense of urgency
• fear of missing out (FOMO)
• uses shame to manipulate

As a copywriter to coaches, creatives, spiritual entrepreneurs, and other heart-centered businesses, I understand that corporate copy “rules” don’t always work for your business. When I first started working in this niche, I had to ditch all that crap that didn’t work, too. I had to unlearn a lot of the things I had invested years of time and money into learning.

The gimmicks and the tricks lose their appeal anyway, but especially to a heart-centered, spiritual audience. Picture trying to sell self-help or meditation through fear tactics?

Or selling personal empowerment through shame?

No, cut that BS! If you have a genuine product or service to offer that helps people, don’t need any tricks or special tactics. You just need to be honest, real, and of service.

Stop It!

Show people how you help them.

Show them why you are qualified to help.

Treat them how you would treat a best friend or a loved one when you had amazing news to share.

Give what you can, knowing that it will come back to you in return. Allow your meals – and any other communications you have with your audience – bring value to their lives. Then, you can never go wrong.

At the end of the day, we all want to make money, but a heart-centered business needs to do it in an ethical way. I want you to bring in loads of cash while also being able to lay your head down on your pillow at night and feel good about what you’ve done. 

Here are some tips on how to write awesome emails that get opened.

If you need help with your email sequences, let’s talk! I guarantee they will be high vibe all the way. Reach out!