Marketing on a Deadline
It’s happened to the best of us: you had good intentions of getting started early, of finishing before the deadline, of easing into the task, yet there you are, last minute, wondering how you can get things done, pronto.
This may be a familiar scenario with regards to your to-do list, but what if it happens to your marketing? Marketing can’t happen that fast, can it?
Does Your Marketing Spark Joy?
Marie Kondo (author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is famous for encouraging you to ask if the things you surround yourself with spark joy. What if you applied this concept to your business marketing?
Social Media Marketing Doesn’t Work Without Content
For self-employed professionals, trying to use social media marketing without regularly producing good, original content is a waste of time and money. You’ll find plenty of social media “experts” trying to convince you that anyone can use social media to get clients, regardless of whether you have content of your own to share. But that’s simply not true.
The purpose of using social media marketing for consultants, coaches, and other service professionals is threefold: 1) stay visible, 2) build credibility, and 3) get prospective clients to feel as if they know, like, and trust you. Far too much of what you’ll hear about using social media relates to purpose #1, but simply staying visible to your desired audience is not enough. If it was, we’d all be getting business by simply running ads.
Your Marketing Year in Review
As a business owner, it’s important to stop periodically and review how things are going. As you near the end of the year, take advantage of the slower business demands many of us experience to ask yourself how this year was for you, marketing-wise.
Set aside a dedicated time — anywhere from an hour to an afternoon — and consider these questions.
Are You Doing the Right Stuff to Market Your Business?
I frequently tell my clients and students that the real secret to getting clients is choosing a set of simple, effective marketing activities, and engaging in them consistently. “Okay,” folks often reply, “but how do I know that I’ve chosen the right marketing activities?” Here’s what you need to explore.
What Kind of Marketing Is Best?
The best marketing methods — the ones that really belong on your list of things to do every day or every week — are the ones that put you into direct contact with your target market. You speak with prospective clients in person, you talk to them on the phone, you write personal, not mass produced, letters or emails. You network; you build referral relationships; you speak in public.
Not Feeling the Marketing Love?
Ever have one of those days when you’re just not feelin’ it? You can’t seem to get yourself to do any marketing. The marketing you’re doing doesn’t feel inspiring. You’re not sure where to start to make things different. The thoughts swirling around in your head are making you suspect you might be a business fraud. Sounds like you’re not feeling the marketing love.
The good news is you can do something about it.
To minimize the days where you’re feeling out of sorts, marketing-wise, allow the following to serve as inspiration to help you feel the love again.
Reinventing Success
How successful do you feel in your business?
Success has a certain vibe about it, one you can recognize and feel in your bones. And yet, it’s easy to live out of an outdated definition without realizing you’re doing it, making you feel unsuccessful. Have you looked at how you’re defining success recently? You might be ready to reinvent what success looks and feels like; updating your definition will do wonders for both your business and your psyche.
Breaking the Logjam of Asking People to Work with You
When it comes to having a sales conversation, you may find yourself melting into a puddle. You might hear yourself say things like, “What’s the big deal about asking people to do business with me? I know it’s just a conversation between two people, and that people don’t bite, so why can’t I seem to do it? I wish I could just get over myself.”
There are two fallacies that contribute to these inner critic conversations; understanding these lies can be a lifesaver because only then can you get over yourself and become the sales pro you’re meant to be.
4 Ways to Market in Your Sleep
As a self-employed professional, the demands of marketing your business have the potential to give you many sleepless nights. It often seems that the list of things to do is endless, and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to market your business, serve your clients, run your office, and keep up in your field.
Where Do You Stop in Your Marketing?
I think most of my readers work pretty hard at marketing themselves. It may seem like you are always going, going, going. But I find that for many entrepreneurs, there’s a point where they stop -– a sticking place that always seems to trip them up, or they never seem to be able to get past.
For my client Sally, it was follow-up calls and emails. Sally always seemed to have an overflowing pipeline of prospects and potential referral sources. She had plenty of people to connect with about her business, to see if they’d like to explore becoming clients or discuss whether they would consider referring their contacts to her. But she never seemed to be able to reach out to these folks.
