Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 22 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Lynn Serafinn whose book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell launched on Amazon Tuesday December 13, 2011.

Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC is a certified, award-winning coach and teacher, marketer, social media expert, radio host, speaker and bestselling author. Her eclectic approach to marketing incorporates her vast professional experience in the music industry and the educational sector along with more than two decades of study and practice of the spirituality of India. In her work as a promotional manager she has produced a long list of bestselling mind-body-spirit authors. Passionate about re-establishing our connection with the Earth, she supports the work of the Transition Town network in her hometown of Bedford, England.

Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Lynn when I got to ask her some questions around the purpose/inspiration of writing 7 Graces of Marketing. I hope you enjoy it.

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Jaki Bent: Can you tell me about the purpose of this book and why you were inspired to write it?

Lynn Serafinn: Well, Jaki, when I first decided to write this book back in Dec 2009, the original intention was to write a book for people who ‘hated’ to do marketing, to help them see that they could create their own style of marketing that was congruent with their values and personality. The people I had in mind at first were people in the creative industries and holistic professions, mainly because these were the kinds of people with whom I had worked most extensively over the years, in one of my roles as a performing artist, a teacher or a coach. These kinds of people typically disliked (or even loathed!) marketing, and hence didn’t tend to do it very well. The sad result of this was that they were going out of business, sometimes having to give up on a lifelong dream and many years of hard work. So, I felt there was a need for something that could help them, so they could get the enthusiasm, courage and wisdom to market themselves in their own, unique way.

But as I started to explore the deeper cause of why these kinds of people hated marketing so much, I began to research the history and practice of marketing, and started to uncover many elements of marketing theory and practice that alarmed me. As I dove deeper and deeper into my research, I found some shocking parallels between the rise of modern marketing, and shifts in our behaviour, our health, our economy, and the delicate balance of our natural environment. Then, I realised there was a much greater purpose to the book: to inform both consumers and business owners about the damaging effects of marketing as it currently stands, and hopefully offer them an alternative paradigm that can restore health and wellbeing to people, the economy and the planet. That’s the greater, and much more important, intention of the book.

Jaki Bent: Marketing is all around us, every second of every day and it rarely appears to be in the interest of the ‘customer’. How do you envision marketing being ‘better’ in the future, more attached to creating an actual relationship with the audience, being connected to Self and Source?

Lynn Serafinn: You’ve flagged up the answer in your question itself Jaki: Connection.

In the book, I discuss the fact our current business or marketing models are, sadly, arising from a radical Disconnection we feel from our Selves, from Source, from each other, and from our businesses. Centuries ago, our societies (yes, even Western society) were far more connected to Source, in that they saw us as needing to live in harmony and rhythm to the planet. Over the past few hundred years, our cosmology has shifted, and we see ‘Earth’ as an unconscious ‘thing’ and ‘resources’ as things to be used according to whatever needs, and by whatever means, we dream up. This worldview—one of Disconnection—can only lead to exploitation, imbalance and ultimately unhappiness. When you add technology into this mindset, you have the recipe for vastly accelerated exploitation, imbalance and unhappiness.

When we see ourselves as separate and disconnected from Source and others, and our technologies can produce things at a much faster rate than the natural world can sustain, we have to find a way to ‘sell’ all that stuff we are producing. This is how modern marketing was born. When you examine the history of marketing, you will see that most of it was ‘educating’ the public on why they needed things they never thought they needed before. That’s why, as you say, Jaki, ‘it rarely appears to be in the interest of the customer’. It’s not. It’s in the interest of accelerating production, consumption and, ultimately, disposal/waste. While it might look like it’s creating more profit for individual businesses, if we step back to look at the holistic meta-view of this situation, what it is actually creating is widespread economic debt and environmental disaster.

So what’s the solution? Well, what is NOT the solution are tighter laws and regulations. History has shown us that legislation makes marketing only superficially less harmful. The true solution has to come from the original cause—Disconnection. To stop the harmful effects of modern business and marketing, and bring us back into a state of balance and sustainability—socially, economically and environmentally—we have to come back to the cosmology of Connection, and relearn how we are part of this amazing eco-system called Planet Earth. This cannot come about via government intervention, but by all of us taking up this ‘Call’ and living by example until a critical mass can become a tipping point for change.

I believe, if we start now, we can create that tipping point over the next generation. Speaking for myself, I am 57 years old next month, and I’d like to see this change in place before I leave this world, so I can see my grandson, or even his children, inheriting a healthier, more abundant, more creative and sustainable world.

Jaki Bent: What are the 7 Graces of Marketing?

Lynn Serafinn: Here are the 7 Graces of Marketing (and life in general), alongside their corresponding “Deadly Sin” from the book:

1. Connection (as opposed to Disconnection)
2. Inspiration (as opposed to Persuasion)
3. Invitation (as opposed to Invasion)
4. Directness (as opposed to Distraction)
5. Transparency (as opposed to Deception)
6. Abundance (as opposed to Scarcity) and
7. Collaboration (as opposed to Competition)

In the book, there is a chapter for each of these Graces and one for each of the ‘Deadly Sins’ as well. The book 400+ longer, Jaki, so I can’t go into detail about all the Graces and ‘Sins’ here, but even if you readers just reflect upon these words, I am quite sure they will begin to experience feelings or insights even from these words alone. Then, of course, if they would like to find out more about them, I certainly invite them to check out the book The 7 Graces of Marketing, and to stay in touch with me via my 7 Graces website, because I’m starting both an online community and a series of live events in 2012 for the sole purpose of bringing people together to discuss how we can being to implement these Graces in business, marketing and in life in general.

Thanks for the interview today, Jaki. I always appreciate the opportunity to share these ideas with others who are seeking a way to bring ethics, values and greater connection back into our way of life.

Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.

AND… be sure to follow Lynn tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is Geoff Laughton, who will be sharing her recent interview with Lynn around the subject of How do you avoid Invasion in marketing? To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to www.spiritedmusings.com