SAMIA: Hello, Salam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Hola, Ciao, Bonjour and Buna!It's really really good to be back with you and I'm sure you will be very happy you have joined us again because I'm a very special guest Alisa Kay and you know what we're going to talk about how to do marketing in these kinds of uncertain crazy times... and I'm so excited for having this conversation with you welcome…

ALISA: Hello, Privet, _____, just to add to your list of hellos in different languages so happy to be here…

SAMIA: Awesome awesome… and I'll just have you jump in directly and tell us more about who you are and what you do…

ALISA: Sure thank you so much for having me on my name is Alisa Kay I am a Business Coach and Strategist... I help service providers and coaches become fully booked experts so essentially I use my magic of copywriting and strategy and add a little bit of mindset juju and we make more money which is great…

SAMIA: I love it that is so amazing... and yeah that is like really amazing and I can definitely see that you are brilliant in what you do even when I just first became aware of your presence in my world looking at your facebook profile your website I could see your brilliance shining through all of that... so tell me more… like when you think about this crazy uncertain time that we're in and there's so many other reasons why we can be in crazy uncertain times… what is like a big problem that people can face in the context of being able to market effectively…

ALISA: Well I think we need to address the big big blue and yellow elephant in the room in that at the time of this recording Samia and I are currently watching the news because Ukraine's been you know invaded by Russia and there are you know there are many other terrible things happening in the world… you know we can look at the it's Canada and you know the displacement people there we can look at the middle east which is always a hot zone and a hot topic… rather selfishly I want to talk about Ukraine because I'm Ukrainian... so for me this is sort of a divine timing episode I think to talk about this because we were supposed to be talking about something completely different and maybe you know in a few weeks time in a few months time I can come back and talk to you guys about messaging and marketing and copywriting… but for today's topic you know it's such a difficult thing for me to speak about because my parents are currently on the other side of the border waiting to get out… and we can talk about privilege and we can talk about all of the different nations that you know haven't necessarily had this much publicity as Ukraine has there's a complete… that's I think that's a valid point and I think for your listeners who are feeling a certain type of way about that I just want to say that as a Ukrainian I understand it I understand your frustration and I understand your grief and I understand your anger and I also really really appreciate you listening to this and you re-sharing and reposting and you Samia are giving me a platform to talk about this because it is such a big topic... so that now that big elephant is out of the room it gives a bit of context for this conversation because just like you know a lot of people who face conflicting situations I also have Russian family right and I think when we have these opposing sides right and when we have these opposing narratives happening and when we have leadership spring forth to be a small business owner is so difficult because you're like do I get political do I voice my support do I donate silently do I ignore this do I carry on with my launch and if you've sat at home asking yourself these questions I think this is the right questions to be asking of yourself because no one knows how to act in these times there isn't a playbook for how do you market during a time of potential World War III...

SAMIA: Yeah... Or our worldwide pandemic that's simultaneously ongoing for that matter so...

ALISA: Right

SAMIA: ...crazy times indeed

ALISA: It's insanity… I can't actually I literally can't believe that I'm you know I can't believe I'm talking to my mom who's sleeping on the basement on the floor like this is insanity… for me you know watching all of this unfold is such a difficult decision because I was supposed to be doing a launch when this was happening and I think there is a question that you have to ask yourself… it's... what do I care about and how do I want to use my business because here's the thing… if you don't want to get political if you don't want to support causes if you don't want to shout from the rooftops about it I see it as both ways… it is in your right as an independent person who has the freedom of speech wherever you are hopefully you have the freedoms of speech to exercise your right and to use your business for whichever means you want to…Now are you going to be seen a certain way can I say the word the a word are you going to be seen as an [ __ ] by the rest of your audience if you don't comment on stuff… probably… you will probably lose people if you're not actively explaining to your audience what's your stances on certain things even if it's hey guys I'm processing this because of x y and z I'm seeing in the news it's gonna be business as usual… like that's better in my opinion than just ignoring it and burying your head in the sand and being like pay for my money manifestation course or buy my SEO thing or you know clear your chakras and let's pray... does that answer your question…

SAMIA: Yeah yeah… no it's super super important to put things in context and what you were sharing also made me think about how especially from a small business perspective... it's like we are… our best marketing strategies and our best bet for being successful as business people is really all about finding our tribe and creating a community of supporters and fans for our products and services and building genuine relationships with our clients and our customers and our prospective clients and customers… and for us to do that you know it's really really important that we're really authentic in… and human in the way that we present ourselves and the way that we are you know in every aspect of our life …and so when there is an issue of concern… it's like something that's weighing heavy on my mind… it's like probably the people that I want to work with it's something that's on their mind too and something that they care about as well and so yeah like you said let's just get this pink elephant or whatever is out there… just acknowledge it at the very least and if there's something we can do to address it… why not…

ALISA: Yeah and I think here is the thing... for most people they buy based on emotions so as a strategist I can tell you this for sure that you know… think about the last thing that you like the last big ticket item that you bought… did you make a pros and cons list maybe in your head did you you know pull up a spreadsheet and you know make all… no you were like oh my god I really need that because the person I is I resonate with oh my god I need to buy that retreat because it's going to be amazing it looks so cool it looks so great… and if you are not necessarily tapping into the emotional state of your client of your ideal soulmate client and you're not talking about the things that actually matter to that ideal client and we're just saying you know... I'm talking about like the business specific the business to business world right…

SAMIA: Yeah…

ALISA: Just buy my stuff right... it's not a good enough argument anymore we have to look at it differently we have to look at it like we are human to human business… humans want to have conversations and in my humble opinion it's not enough to just be selling your stuff and ignoring the big issues of the day… it's not enough...

SAMIA: That's right... I agree with you and actually there's even a lot of research that shows that when you take a stance on an important issue of the day you will lose some people but you will also have a lot more people who will choose to support you and support you with more commitment and with more love than if you don't… then if you try to just stay neutral in fact this is something that even the big businesses the big corporations have started to realize that you know they… there are issues where they need to make their stance clear because their clients want to know where they stand… like we don't want to spend our money with businesses that are acting out of alignment with our values and for us to make sure we're spending with businesses that are in alignment with our values we need to know what their values are so if they're not speaking up about their values that's actually also saying something…

ALISA: And Yeah... the thing that gets my goal as well is that every single small business owner I know always talks about you know make a change make a stand I created this business because I was tired of being the nine to five you know cubicle zombie… and here we are living in the best time ever for you to actually make a change… for you to actually… actually it’s ironic I'm looking at your background now and it says make change fun and easy right and like that's the hot topic of the day is that wecll if you have been talking about making changes if you've been talking about the fact that you know I must… you know I love social causes I love to support my fellow women I love to support my fellow you know black lives matter I love to support my fellow whoever it is and you're not doing anything about it I want you to act louder I want you to use your platform even if you have one other person in your audience and your mom that's still one more person that you can impact and the reality is this is the 21st century we have the internet at our fingertips you can do so much with the platform that you have…

SAMIA: True... true... so so far what I've heard from you is when we are in crazy uncertain times acknowledge the pink and elephant in the room and be authentic share your values share what actually concerns you and do what you can to take a stand around that… can you give me an example of how you are doing that right now in your business…

ALISA: Absolutely and we're creating a act louder for Ukraine bundle… honestly this is this came about this came about because I just I was feeling really helpless and I didn't know how I could contribute I didn't know what I could do to help my friends you know in Ukraine and I didn't know how to help those that are less fortunate than me… like let me level with you... my business makes enough money I donate to charity like my life is good I'm sitting at home and I'm not being bombed… my friends on the other hand who don't have a business who are just ordinary normal people they don't have the luxuries that I have they don't have a beautiful you know brown passport that can get me into any country I want… they don't have that privilege so for me I really wanted to create something that was going to be number one verified… so here's my framework... verify who your sources are… because you know I've been seeing a bunch of people speak up about you know this specific issue that is clearly you know close to me and I always want everyone to go to the source… so like instead of me like I'm thinking about like the black lives matter protest specifically and when that was happening you know I was really looking to those black entrepreneurs who I really admired and really loved and really you know wanted to invest in and I was listening to them talk about the things that matter… so if there is an issue whether it's you know Ukraine or COVID or BLM or anything else in the world... look for those people who are actually authentically from that place and ask yourself if that person isn't from that place what's their emotional connection to the place they're talking about or to the causes they're talking about… because not to sound cynical but a lot of the people that I've been seeing online I question the motives I question the opt-in forms I question the authenticity of what they're trying to do… and I think that's such a big big part of marketing in these times and aligning yourself with the voices that are genuinely trying to help versus aligning with yourself with the voices who are trying to gain popularity over a matter that isn't actually authentic or close to them… because in my opinion with a small audience like I have a small audience I'm not a million you know dollar whatever I'm not a seven figures yet right... with my small audience we've been able to achieve something so great over the last 24 hours that like I tear up... I don't want to cry on your podcast so I'm going to try my best not to but I've been like I'm not a very emotional person I would say but the overwhelming amount of support and people re-sharing and people willing to contribute and people willing to listen with my small audience is incredible right and I think that if we highlight more of those small voices in other important topics that's where real change can happen…

SAMIA: Yes... you're so right and you made me think about like so many especially in the context of big corporations but I've seen smaller businesses ready to do this to where they see some things like hot and in terms of like a topic and then they try to sort of… and they realize that oh my gosh you know… like they're feeling a pressure to say something about it and so then they will like say something about it but it's not authentic you can tell that they're saying what they believe is a politically correct thing to say because if you actually look back into their actions in the past you know in terms of things that they have actually done and contributed to or not… the thing is you know it like it doesn't sync it doesn't match and there's like so much like for years actually now we have been seeing so much greenwashing where you know businesses are claiming to be environmentally friendly and it's like you just you just scratch a tiny bit of their marketing and look and say what's actually eco-friendly about your product or service and it's like the most ridiculous things you know… it's like they're nothing absolutely nothing they're just making stuff up you know... and the same thing with like pink washing with the you know support breast cancer survivors movement there's so many businesses that are actually like actively putting chemicals and stuff in their products that are known to be linked to cause breast cancer and then they're doing these campaigns where they're like oh we're supporting breast cancer survivors and buy our products and we'll donate to research for finding cures for breast cancer… you know things like that and it's just like no...

ALISA: One of my favorite ever like to let's lighten this a bit because this is like doom and gloom I get it I underst I 100% agree with you... one of my most favorite TV shows ever is a show called "Boston Legal" I don't know whether you've ever watched it but I was obsessed with it and there is a really great speech and I would encourage every single person who's listening to this if you take one thing away from it is number one check out my bundle always market yourself first and number two I want you to have a look at Alan show's pharmaceutical speech it is magical because I think it shows the it's a great acting on number one but number two it shows that you know the big the big companies the big dogs are always looking out for their own interest… that you know it's like the when the tobacco companies were sponsoring the protests against tobacco companies because it was good marketing for the tobacco companies... we had like you know it's been going on for years so it's not necessarily surprising… I think if you follow you know the I don't know let's call it I'm gonna make up a framework here but let's follow me here right... think about it in this term …act right authenticity are the people that you're talking to authentically connected to the issue do they actually know what they're talking about …then I would say customers what are you going to say to your customers do you have customers who are currently in the situation that you're concerned about… and then I would say you know the last and probably most important thing is timing is it a time sensitive issue are you gonna sit for three four weeks on your thoughts or are you gonna lead …because in times of crisis you have a choice you can either stay silent stay hidden in your cave of solitude or you can use the timing of the now and do something whether it's calling your MP or your you know whatever representative and campaigning for change in your personal life whether it's using your social media and reposting helpful information… like that also counts information look at how much how this Ukraine crisis has grown through the informative grapevine of all of the people...Like time is so important and the time is now for you to take a stand and actually you know do something with the platform that you're creating otherwise what's the point…

SAMIA: Absolutely right and again you're being such a great model of what you're talking about because as you mentioned earlier you actually had a launch that and you've put it on hold because this is a time sensitive issue… we can't afford to wait for another three four weeks once our launch is done and then come out with some kind of something else to do for Ukraine… it's like the need is right now... and so you know like… yeah yeah…

ALISA: It's mad... it's mad because you know I was I sat in my sofa yesterday and I spoke to my mum I spoke to my grandmother my grandmother was crying she couldn't talk to me and I looked at this whole situation and I thought to myself a week ago I cared so much about the 20k launch the 50k launch the 100k launch the you know the big six figure launch… like that was my vision board it was everything… if I don't make another dollar for the rest of my life it's fine I just really want to see my family… and I think that's just such a human like feeling to feel because all of us know that money creates freedom… all of us know that marketing is the number one thing that we as business owners need to be focused on… like my personal needs might be not to make you know not to make money ever again… my business needs to make money otherwise I have no business …and I think in these times it's about finding the sweet spot about what are your means what can you do what can you do right now with what you have if you are sat there and you're like I am broke AF I don't have a dollar to my name I need to make rent I need to do this and no judgment from me we've all been there right scrappy entrepreneurial phase... great no one's asking you to go and campaign and give up your business and stop marketing… it's in your right and it's in your best interest to go out there and share your message and do and you know share your voice… if you are you know like me and you are safe and comfortable and you can afford to donate something do something I would ask you to think of this and this is such a like emotional plea for me who have never become a strategist I talk about copywriting in fact one of my biggest like best performing ads is like stop being vulnerable in your copy you don't need to do it… but like let me just tap into this for a second… I want you to think about like what if it was your family what if it was your people and I think when we start to understand on a human to human level I want you to react from that place and I want you to make decisions in your business from that place… asking yourself if it's someone you know or if this if it's you know your kid's teacher your neighbor your parents your whoever …how would you act in this situation… and I think asking yourself that guiding question generally leads to good decision making as a business owner…

SAMIA: I agree with you and also like for me... like from a spiritual place I really believe that you know money is just a tool anyway it's never never really the goal in itself… like people might think oh it's my goal to make x amount of money but it's not really it because you can't eat your money you won't like sleep on your money or your you can't breathe your money you know…

ALISA: Well it depends depends on how you like to like how do you you like to lead your life I always joke that eventually when I have a private island I will have a bed that is made out of gold so that I can actually sleep on money but I do hear you you know…

SAMIA: Yeah... you know but but still I mean look the thing is like if you don't have peace of heart peace of mind even if you have a bed of gold you're not going to get any sleep you know...

ALISA: That's very true…

SAMIA: So it's like the money is just a tool it's to help you get the things you think will help you to get what you really want and when you really dig down and get to the bottom of it pretty much what you really really want is you want to be happy you want to be peaceful you want to be free you want to feel like you have a sense of power and control over your own life you know that you have the freedom to make your own decisions and choices you know… and so this is what we're all working for and… and when we focus on that then you know you're like okay what is the very best way for me right now in this situation to create more freedom more peace more happiness not just for myself but also for everyone around me because we are all connected we are all you know interdependent and you know… so for sure for sure I truly I truly believe this and I've experienced this with my life and as you are modeling so beautifully right now… you know when you think about how to create this kind of win-win situation the money just flows in… money will just slow in because you're helping yourself and you're helping other people and they're going they want to help you too and support you too because we don't just have a need to love… we also have… right… we don't just have a need to be loved we also have a need to love… we don't just need to be taken care of you also have a need to take care of others and participate in our communities in our societies and you know… and so when you align yourself with a cause and with good intention you know you come up with these ideas that are truly going to be beneficial for everyone involved including yourself I mean they produce the best results…

ALISA: 100,000 million gazillion percent... I think that the most interesting thing about that is that yes on a practical level we know that to be true right… like money doesn't you know money talks for sure but money doesn't make you happy and you know see I know so many like rich wealthy like filthy rich people who can who sneeze money right and they are some of the unhappiest saddest individuals because they just don't have that fulfillment and you know when you start earning a certain amount of money and you recognize that oh this is not going to make me happy what now there is like a void …and I think so many people particularly now are like our business community talk about hitting big money goals and then realizing oh that doesn't make me more lovable it doesn't make me worthy or it doesn't make me happy it doesn't make me spiritually fulfilled… and I think that you know for me being a great leader and making changes in the world means tapping into my mindset routine that is outside of money-making… it's really looking after my mental health and is really acting from a place of power and opportunity and abundance... versus acting from a place of fear scarcity and I don't even know what the… like I don't I can't even sum up my state of mind you know Thursday but whatever that was right like deep deep deep despair …and I think that you know when we apply love and peace and I see so many people saying like you know I'm not going to comment on this but I'm going to pray… we don't need your prayers we need your actions like as much as I've been praying too don't get me wrong praying helps for sure… it's… I appreciate the the sentiment but I think at this point in time when we're having a spiritual conversation we just have to acknowledge that your prayers are not necessarily going to help the people that need them the most… I appreciate the sentiment but please don't post that like don't market yourself that way if you want to pray privately please do but don't put up a post that says I'm praying for you it doesn't help and it doesn't create the type of leadership that I think you want…

SAMIA: Yeah... I… for sure it makes me think about you know what do we believe is the purpose and point of prayer… and if our prayer is not aligning with our actions if our prayer is not having an impact on our actions then what is the point you know… it's like pray and do something about what you're praying for in terms of doing what you can do to help the situation you know yeah… it's not...

ALISA: Definitely... it's not I this is not like I don't know a manifesto against prayer absolutely not… it's such a deep and meaningful practice for so many people… I just want to ask you guys who are listening to this if you are praying and that's your mode of taking a stance… I want you to ask yourself like is that really enough is that really is that really where you want to stop your action because I think talking about marketing like I just see so many of these posts that say I'm praying I'm sending love I'm doing this and I want people to stop talking and start acting like we've done all the talking in the world you know what I mean…

SAMIA: Yeah…

ALISA: What are the actual actionable tangible things… and for me using prayer and using my other mindset tools whether it's you know whether it's a spiritual practice like prayer or whether it's something like tapping which I love EFT tapping right... I feel like those those modalities are really great at clearing your mind at making you see things clearly at really helping you detach from the situation and really see like what are the next steps where am I leading this thing where am I being led to and you know for me when I had this thought in the shower that's like TMI but we're gonna go there… like I tapped before I went into the shower and then I was like I'm gonna wash my hair and then I was like having this amazing like I don't know just for the first time in days I felt like a little bit of a sense of relief and I feel like it was a very sort of spiritual idea that came to me it was a very spiritual like guiding voice that was like you can do something you don't have to feel like this…

SAMIA: Yes... yes... I so agree with you and again you know it's what you're describing is what I was talking about earlier in terms of when you instead of thinking from the perspective of money money money… instead you think about how do I create more peace more freedom… more goodness for everyone the ideas that come up you know the win-win solutions that come up like they really… I mean that's your spirit guiding you and you follow that guidance and I have yet to have an experience where following the guidance of my spirit has led me astray…

ALISA: 100%... and I think you know that's what makes it fun… I don't… whenever I listen to my intuition and here's a fun story this might tickle your listeners... I was supposed to be on a retreat in Disneyland living my best life on last week Thursday Friday… Wednesday Thursday Friday and my intuition was like you can't go and I couldn't I can't tell you why but I ended up being here with my little sister in this situation where you know I can support my family and I can try and do something for good whereas if I was in America right now and you know I was far away and I was stressing and it was a time difference… and like your intuition very rare very very very rarely lies to you and I feel like if we're having this conversation about marketing in uncertain times you in your heart if you quiet in your mind if you take a deep breath if you you know pull out a tool from your toolbox whether it's tapping meditation prayer whether it's you know going for a walk… I don't really you know it doesn't particularly matter what is that you do that gets you into that place of centeredness that place of calm… that's where the magic happens that's where you make those right decisions for you and for your audience…

SAMIA: Yes... oh for sure for sure that is I think the most valuable valuable tip that… not tip… but like strategy life wisdom that we can share with anyone right now in terms of how to market most effectively how to make change most effectively is follow the guidance of your heart your spiritual heart your spirit your soul and allow that to lead you to success… so on that note do you have any last words that you want to share with us for right now for today...

ALISA: Yeah I do actually I think it's this... if you are being or if you're feeling triggered by any of these events whatever it may be… if you feel your ancestry coming through if you feel a sense of injustice a sense of longing to help I want you to know that there is always something that you can do... if I in 24 hours can gather 50 plus women and men to contribute to a bundle tag their friends and get people with huge audiences with tiny audiences to come and share their gifts with me I promise to you that you could do something whether it's on a massive level on a tiny level and we live in this beautiful society where you can actually make a difference it's not just empty promises and empty words… I'm trying to make my difference through my you know "Act Louder for Ukraine Bundle"... and I would love for you to support that if it feels aligned and if it doesn't feel aligned that's totally fine too… I want you to know that whatever you're being led to however you want to support the causes that are that matter to you is the right thing… there is no wrong answer because there is no playbook…

SAMIA: Thank you thank you so much for that Alisa... I really really appreciate your coming on and sharing all this with us and yeah...Thank you so much I just love you so much and for sure you know everyone please make sure you check the show notes because we're going to post that link for the support Ukraine bundle in the show notes you can click on it take what action you can with regards to it but then also please please spread the word share the post with your friends and family and let's do what we can… and if there's any other kind of help and support you need that you think Alisa can give you…now or later.. connect with her for that too…

ALISA: Yeah... absolutely and I will say this that Samia's very kindly said that she will donate a book to us which is absolutely great so you get more of her magic… I'm donating a really great messaging and a content writing program that is universally loved so I know that you will love it too… and underneath the show notes you'll see that there is there are going to be two links one of them is the bundle link and you can choose to donate that or not and then there is another… there is going to be another link that is like supporting specific causes that we've verified that we know are legit that we know are actually going to the victims… so check either one of those out and really just stay you know stay loving stay safe... and remember how lucky you are…