If you’ve ever felt that mainstream marketing can be unethical, or that certain strategies don’t feel right, then today’s episode is for you. If you want your marketing to be joyful, do good, and feel more fun and easy, then this episode is for you.
I was really excited to be talking to Karen from Goodness Marketing. we had a really great conversation with a lots of things that made me think slightly differently than I had and offered some points that I hadn’t considered.
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Where to Listen:
Watch this episode on YouTube
About Karen
Karen Webber is a marketing strategist with specific focus on ethical marketing.
As the owner of Goodness Marketing. Karen helps small businesses with big hearts do marketing that feels good, does good and gets good results.
She is also part of the team behind The Ethical Move, creating a movement around ethical marketing.
Originally from a seaside town in South Africa, Karen now finds herself living on the edge of the Peak District, where she makes up for the lack of ocean by spending as much time as possible outside in the hills or in water.
Before starting Goodness Marketing in 2017, Karen worked as a marketing director for a marketing agency. Previously she worked in various editorial and comms roles in London, Manchester and her native South Africa.
During her career, Karen has educated thousands of people in various settings on aspects of good marketing.
“I really believe marketing can be an act of generosity rather than to be about take, take, take. It’s about serving people. It’s about being yourself, not pretending, showing up in your marketing, however that may look as you, and for that reason, attracting the right people to you”
Highlights from the episode
On seeing things differently and discovering ethical marketing
“I thought I must be the only person and there must be something wrong with me that I see marketing in this way that’s so different to everybody else. And it was incredibly reassuring for me to realise that my sort of philosophy or how I instinctively felt I wanted to do marketing actually, it had a name tag. It was called Ethical Marketing, and there were loads of other people like me out there in the world.”
On making an impact and having a ripple effect
“That really is for me about making an impact and having a ripple effect. I love planting the seeds of, yes, you can do things differently. No, you don’t have to do things that feel gross and showing people, not just for it to feel joyful and feel good, but also that it can actually have a positive impact on your business because why do marketing if it doesn’t serve your business?”
On getting started and drowning out the noise
“First of all, I would say show up as you like drown out the noise of everything that’s out there. Because the first thing we do when we start a business and we don’t know about a topic is we Google it.
And if you’re gonna Google how to do marketing, you’re gonna find a lot of crap that’s not aimed at businesses like you. I find a lot of the mainstream marketing advice is aimed at, businesses that have teams and big budgets and possibly a different approach to you.”
Speaking about her group programme The Marketing Reset
“The gentle marketing reset is all about learning the simple or going back to the simple basic foundations of good marketing. So regardless of TikTok or whatever is new or whatever is of the day, it’s about back to what’s really important when it comes to relationship building through marketing away from the noise. And it’s about finding your own confidence, with your marketing so that you can make decisions based on what’s right for you, what’s right for your business, what’s right for the people you serve.
There’s a lot of support and encouragement from me on the program and also from the others on the course. So it’s a beautiful community that forms.”
Find out more about The Marketing Reset here.
Mentions:
Key Takeaways
- A brands marketing has to be reflective of their business as a whole, from what is said in their marketing to customer services
Where to connect with Karen
- Goodness Marketing website
- Sign up to the Goodness Marketing newsletter
- Follow Karen on Instagram
- Follow Karen on LinkedIn
Let’s Connect:
Say hi over on Instagram. Let me know if you listened or read and what you thought!
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Hey, I’m Kirsty McGill the creative behind Elm Leaf Studio. I’ve been a designer for 13 years now and building websites for most of them.
Elm Leaf Studio is a creative studio that exists to help small, ethically-minded businesses grow and thrive.
When I’m not designing I mostly spend my time running around after a toddler nowadays, and if I get a spare moment I enjoy reading, learning and making art.
