Welcome back to Making Good, the podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
I’m your host, Lauren Tilden, and this is episode 57.
Ummm, OK this is kind of wild but this is most likely the last podcast episode that will come out before I become a parent!
I promise to keep you posted on Instagram (@laurentilden) as things develop. But I’m feeling a little bit stunned by this reality. And excited, of course.
Today’s episode, which will be intentionally short and sweet, is one that has been in the making for a LONG time, and I don’t know how it has taken me until now to get around to it.
Because it’s something that I think about ALL THE TIME and in many ways, is the underpinnings to how I run my business.
And that is THE GOLDEN RULE. And specifically, how the Golden Rule relates to business and marketing.
BUT! Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this episode, first, I have two things for you:
FIRST, I have a brand new free resource for you. Do you ever feel like the hardest part about marketing is coming up with what to say in the first place?
I can totally relate to this, and I know a lot of you can as well, because it’s something I hear a LOT.
So, I put together this guide that will walk you through a process that will help you generate a great strategy around what to say in your marketing… and specific ideas of what exactly to say.
You can find this guide at makinggoodpodcast.com/content.
AND SECOND, I really want you to join the Facebook community for this podcast. It’s called the Good Business Community, and it’s been such a great spot lately.
I’ve started hosting what I call Procrastination Sessions, which are basically just 90 minute long Zoom calls where a bunch of us make ourselves accountable to get the things done we’re procrastinating on by hopping on a call and getting it done TOGETHER.
There’s also community, inspiration, and good conversations. You can join at makinggoodpodcast.com/community.
Okay! Time to get into today’s episode, and that’s all about the Golden Rule.
WHAT IS IT?
And yes, I’m talking about THAT Golden Rule… the one that says:
Treat other people the way you would like to be treated.
The Golden Rule is something that is present in just about every major world religion, and is something I bet you’ve heard over and over again throughout your life.
And if you’re hearing me say this and thinking that this sounds like a lot of fluff, hear me out!
If you get really intentional about using the Golden Rule in your business and your marketing, it can be a seriously powerful tool.
In this short and sweet episode, my goal is to convince you that the Golden Rule should be an underlying philosophy to the way that you run your business -- and also give you some very practical guidance on applying this concept to your business.
HOW IT APPLIES
Today we’re going to cover 5 areas of business that I think the Golden Rule really, really applies to… although there’s really no limit to where and how you can apply the Golden Rule.
Community
When I think about The Golden Rule and business, this is the main way that it comes up for me. Building a community of other small business friends.
The key to building relationships is serving. Whenever you meet someone new, think, “how can I help this person? If I were her, what would I want?”
Maybe it’s to refer people to her business without her asking for it. Maybe it’s to promote her business on social media. Maybe it’s to show up at an event and support her. Maybe it’s connect her with someone you think would be a good business contact. Or maybe it’s simply to reply to her marketing emails or comment on her social media posts to tell her how valuable you found them.
Simply asking yourself, what do I want more of in my business? More referrals? More engagement on my marketing? More visibility?
Whatever it is, create some of that for someone else. I PROMISE it will come back to you.
Social Media
The Golden Rule is your new social media secret weapon. Seriously.
Really embracing the Golden Rule in your social media can completely change your business.
So, that is this. Whatever you want more of in your social media… you need to start doing those things right now.
Here are a couple of examples.
If you want more comments and engagement on your posts -- go out there and engage on people’s posts. Leave thoughtful comments on other people’s accounts… ideally either accounts run by your ideal customer or on accounts that your ideal customer follows.
MANY of these people will come back and check out your profile, follow along and engage with you on your account. A great way to do this is using the tool dollareighty, which I will link in the show notes.
A quick note here on “thoughtful comment”. A thoughtful comment is not 3 heart emojis in a row, or “LOVE THIS” and that’s it. A thoughtful comment shows that you paid attention to the photo and the caption, and is a response to something specific about that photo. This really makes a difference.If you want more people to share about your business in their Instagram stories, you need to go tag a lot of people in your stories! Tag your clients, tag your business friends, tag your favorite restaurants… just tag other people EVERY DAY. We love to be celebrated and acknowledged, and many of these people will share your stuff right back.
If you’re on Clubhouse and want to be invited to co-moderate in other people’s rooms, try hosting your own rooms, and invite those people to join your stage! Just about every time I’ve invited someone to participate on stage in one of my Clubhouse rooms, I’ve gotten an invitation in return.
Customer Service
I’m a big fan of using the Golden Rule in customer service - and by this I mean specifically -- how we treat people after they buy from us.
A lot of marketing and business advice is really geared toward getting people to make a purchase… and then we drop the ball after the transaction is made and stop making much of an effort for our customer.
But I would encourage you to really keep trying to serve and WOW your customer even AFTER they buy. Be easy to reach if they have a question. Deliver your product or service with care. Send a thank you note. Show your gratitude however you can. And if you’re able to, be flexible on things like returns, shipping damage, etc. It goes a long way.
I believe that doing things this way is just RIGHT, but it’s also good business, for two main reasons.
One, REFERRALS! Referrals are one of the most powerful and underestimated marketing tools. Happy customers tell their friends.
And what could be better than someone else doing our marketing for us?
The second reason is that it’s much easier to get repeat business -- meaning multiple sales from the same person -- than it is to find new customers.
Sales
Have you ever been sold to in a way that just makes you feel gross? Even if you ended up buying the product, there are some buying experiences that just don’t feel good.
There is a way to sell that follows the Golden Rule… and that way is about providing value, solving problems, and treating your customer like a human, not just a money supply.
To illustrate on this one, I’d like to provide some examples of sales practices that I do NOT think are following the Golden Rule:
When you receive incessant spammy marketing emails thgat just do not relent
Marketing messaging that tries to tell you that if you don’t buy this product your problems will never be solved
When you advertise something in a misleading way, and when you actually get the product it’s not what you were promised
When someone DMs you on Instagram and is clearly trying to sell you something without building a relationship first
When you’re designing your sales process, I would encourage you to think through every step of it with your customer in mind.
What do they need? What value can you provide them with? How can you serve them before you ask for their money?
For every piece of marketing or sales copy you write, put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer and ask yourself how it would feel to receive this?
Good sales tactics recognize that there’s a human on the other side of the transaction. They are honest, transparent, respectful and kind.
Managing People
Whether you have a team of people who work for you or work with contractors from time to time, managing people is another area where the Golden Rule comes into play.
I bet you will agree that it feels really good to get recognized for the work you’re doing. As a manager, it can be easy to get swept up by your “to do” list, and only have something to say to your team when something is going wrong… which, it will. But I think it’s even more important to prioritize giving positive feedback to make your employees feel appreciated and seen.
And more than just being the right thing to do, in my opinion, showing appreciation for your employees is good for business.
Studies show that employees who feel appreciated have much higher job satisfaction, and -- importantly -- actually are more productive and perform tasks better.
I am not suggesting that we accept mediocre performance or become doormats and let our teams take advantage of us. We should all have clearly communicated expectations for roles we hire.
But, I would encourage you to spend some time thinking through the experience of working for you, and asking yourself what you could do to make it a more positive experience, and what you could do to make people feel appreciated and cared for.
So! As a recap, the 5 places I’d really look at incorporating The Golden Rule are:
Community
Social media
Customer Service
Sales
Managing people
When it comes down to it, the Golden Rule is about relationships. About treating people with respect and kindness.
We talked about 5 different ways you can apply the Golden Rule to your business and marketing, but as I said earlier in the episode, there’s really no limit to how the Golden Rule can be applied.
So I’d just encourage you to keep it top of mind as you enter any business transaction or communication.
Okay, that is the episode for today, friends!
Remember, I told you about two things at the start of this episode that I’d love for you to take action on:
First, download my new (FREE) guide to creating great content. That’s at makinggoodpodcast.com/content.
Second, join the Facebook community for listeners of this podcast! makinggoodpodcast.com/community.
If you got value out of this episode, I’d *LOVE* for you to share it on your Instagram stories! Take a screenshot from your podcast player, and tag me @laurentilden so I can say hello!
You can find the full details from this episode over at the show notes page at makinggoodpodcast.com/57.
Thank you for being here, and for focusing on making a difference with your small business!
Talk to you next time.