JC,
True with products. But what about ideas? What about beliefs? What about ways of looking at things? Are we always trying to convince each other of our perspectives?

Dining,
I use the idea of selling quite loosely here. I think we’re almost always selling our ideas to each other…I’m doing it now.

As for selling ideas for money…that’s what good businesses advisors and coaches do – help you leverage your knowledge. Just a thought.

Jean,
Don’t know. Haven’t really thought about it. Mostly because I don’t hear any bacteria out there giving their perspectives on things. However, I do hear many homo sapiens giving their perspectives on bacteria.

J,
Yeah it does. I think it’s just who we are. It’s not bad or good – just is. And being aware of what is can make it easier to be who each of us are.

Chris,
I should ask Robert…that’s an interesting idea. Thanks.

Jean,
Seeing that I have a four week old currently – I certainly do. She promoting her needs to us through crying. Absolutely. And it’s her various cries that convince us of the urgency of her needs.

Remember, I don’t think marketing is a bad thing. I think we’re marketing ourselves, our needs, our perceptions and ideas from the moment we’re born – maybe before. How else do we convince people that our needs, etc are important enough for them to act on?

And, hopefully, in our best moments, we’re can grab hold of our egos, and instead open our hearts in acceptance of what is, be able to receive, rather than try to change the people around us.

I’m guilty of both. Both in these comments, and elsewhere in my life.

I’m still not sure I would use the word “marketing” or “sales” although your use of them certainly brought a certain amount of attention to them, and there are similarities, for sure.

I love conversations that stretch our perceptions and beliefs. Which is why I write about them from time to time. This one is doing that. It’s making a point of something that’s absolute human nature, as Terry Reeves said above, using language we wouldn’t normally associate with a subject.

You’re, of course, free to think the way you do. Trust me, I’m the last one who’s going to call your way of thinking wrong. At the same time, this conversation has the potential to look at a topic differently than you may have considered. That’s what I’m offering…

Terry,
I agree. And that’s really the point of this post – to think differently about our lives…and our businesses.

Nope, I firmly believe I can’t believe everything I think. I spend a lot of time trying to understand other people’s realities, through listening, watching and reading. I love the Buddhist concept of “beginner’s mind”…get out of our preconceptions and try to see things with fresh eyes. That’s one of the concepts I’m exploring at Cheerful Monk. And that’s what that blog is…an exploration, playing with ideas. You could call that marketing my idea of exploring and keeping an open mind, but I’m not doing it because it’s “right”. It’s just something I love to do. It’s an extension of my journal writing, with added bonuses…of being able to include pictures that move me and of connecting with other people.

Thanks for asking.

Mark,
No fair, you teach marketing for a living

I think what you’re saying is true. Yet what I wonder is how many of us consciously share our ideas, thoughts, opinions with a shade toward promoting ourselves, our ideas, our beliefs, our perceptions. Think about it. Isn’t that marketing? Promotion?

What I’m suggesting in this conversation has little to do with business directly. Rather it has to do with looking at ourselves and our motivations differently. Thoughts?

Benjamin,
Definitely an example. But think beyond that to your own perceptions…

Laser,
Thanks. See, I don’t consider marketing a bad word. And when I step back and look at myself honestly, I see that I’m promoting all the time. Isn’t that what my blog is about – self-promotion? I just do so in a different way than a magazine ad or tv spot. I do so by creating conversation that leads to relationships. And so my thoughts, opinions, ideas, etc are self-promoting.

And when I argue with my wife – I’m trying to promote my own ideas. When I share a business idea with a friend, I’m promoting myself. When I’m answering my daughter’s infinite questions, I’m promoting myself. And so on…

Yet, again, I don’t see this as a bad thing. I see promotion as a natural part of being human. We want to be liked, we want to be cared for, etc. So we promote ourselves.

Anyone?

erica,
Right on. I’m constantly evaluating myself and the way I think. Well, okay, at least in what I have capacity to see because God would know I have plenty of blind spots. That’s why this question is so interesting to me.

What observations did you pull from it?