Writing for Vision AND Sales

At a recent gathering of social entrepreneurs, marketing icon Mark Victor Hansen asked how many in the audience were writing or planning to write a book. Every hand in the room went up. These folks are working for peace in the Middle East, replanting Amazon rainforests, and helping the homeless in the Southwest. They sustain these efforts through business ventures. So the books they are writing will champion their social and environmental causes with passion and compelling detail, of course—but they must also promote their products.

Are you among the social enterprise writers? Here are five writing tips for business leaders/authors balancing people, planet, and profit:

Write to your audience. (Yes, you’ve heard this from me before.) Remember, you cannot reach everybody; you are trying to sell to your Tribe, or those on the edge of the camp circle. Who are those people? Are they mostly women? Men? What age range? Identify those who may not only resonate with your mission but can also be your perfect prospects. Write to them.

Keep it personal while you relate your work to the universal themes. Your unique story, your distinct voice, will captivate your audience. An impersonal manifesto, even though well-intentioned, will only illicit a passive nod. Have faith that your audience wants to make a positive impact on the world too, and you, personally, are a role model. They will buy your product or service out of conviction and loyalty, and that defines the new economy.

Keep the old adage in mind: Facts tell but stories sell. People love to read stories. Gaining new customers and supporters to the cause is often just a matter of telling a great story.

Get endorsements. Put great effort into compiling the best possible testimonials, examples, and social validation. Be sensitive that people who may be your best supporters are constantly bombarded with green-washing and spin. They rightly fear being ripped off or over-sold. Take away their fear by proving that what you offer is solid and proven.

People love to buy, but hate to be sold. If you tell your unique story to a sympathetic audience and convince them of both the value and the service of your work, you will invoke a desire to buy. No sales pitch required; only a “please join us now,” an honest call to action.

Above all, get your thoughts written down, polish the words later, then make the commitment to share them with a world that so badly needs you.

“Don’t think it, ink it.” ~Mark Victor Hansen