In Marketing, One Size Does Not Fit All
Imagine that you went shopping to buy yourself a new shirt, and the salesperson offered you a garment three sizes too big, saying, “This is one of our most popular colors.” Or showed you a shirt in a child’s size, telling you, “This style is new this season.” You’d probably think the salesperson was crazy, right? And you certainly wouldn’t trust his or her judgement about what shirt might be right for you.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing goes on with marketing all the time. Without asking you a single question about your situation, an acquaintance describes the latest marketing idea they heard about, and urges you to try it. Or a workshop leader who knows nothing about your business explains the best way to market your services and recommends you adopt it. Or a consultant advises you to use a specific marketing approach with almost no understanding of your business.
5 Reasons Why Being Stubborn is a Good Thing
Being stubborn is a great trait when it comes to marketing your business. The more you can be persistent in your marketing, the better; remember the axiom that OK marketing, done consistently, is better than great marketing, done inconsistently.
To that end, here are five ways to that being persistent in your marketing will benefit you and your business.
It makes marketing easier
Be stubborn about making sure your marketing is a priority, that you’re using the same marketing strategies consistently, and that you have a set result your marketing is trying to achieve.
Want to Create a Product, Program or Membership? Here’s Where to Start
I can’t count the number of self-employed professionals recently who have told me they are working on a program, product, or membership service to package their talents in a more tangible way. Professionals as diverse as life coaches, magicians, management consultants, and travel consultants are all seeking new avenues to bring in revenue during our current twin challenges of pandemic and recession.
To Get Clients from Writing and Speaking, People Must Know What You Do
A few months after I started my business 25-plus years ago, I was delivering a workshop one evening on an ideal topic to attract likely clients. And sure enough, the room was full of self-employed professionals who were excellent prospects to hire me as a business coach. I presented what I thought was a value-packed program, and my audience seemed to be learning useful material from me. “I’m sure to land some clients from this,” I thought.
After the workshop, a woman came up to me hesitantly. “This class was very helpful,” she said. “But I’m wondering… would it be possible for me to hire you to work with me personally? I don’t know if you do that.”
Hate to Sell? You Can Fix This
Do you love your business but hate the selling part? Whether it’s calling prospective clients on the phone or writing persuasive emails and web copy, most self-employed professionals say that selling is the element of their business they dislike the most.
If it was possible to sell without having that feeling of discomfort in your gut, or those sweaty palms and increased heart rate, would you be willing to make a change?
To Get More Clients, Rely on Your Strengths
When you look back at what you’ve accomplished in your business so far this year, it’s natural to judge your progress and results against what you intended back in January. What frequently results from a process like this is a catalog of everything you haven’t done, or have done wrong. But I believe it’s even more important to consider what you’ve been doing right this year.
It’s December. Do You Know Where Your Business Goals Are?
Did you set goals for your business back in January of this year? It’s a fairly common practice among entrepreneurs to set new intentions when the year begins. So, how are you doing on those January goals?
It’s also pretty common for business owners to get to December, and realize:
- They’re nowhere near reaching the goals they designed for the year.
- They don’t remember what their goals were, or have just now recalled they even had some.
- They feel like a failure because they didn’t reach their goals.
- 4. All three of the above.
How to Take Your Marketing from “I Can’t” to “I Can”
A large part of the secret sauce for marketing is your mindset.
Not sure if you can be a good networker?
Not sure if you can write a blog?
Not sure if you can represent your company at a trade show?
You can!
When it comes to marketing, the odds of success will be stacked disproportionately in your favor if you have a positive mindset. This means believing in yourself, remembering why you love your business, and taking inspired action.
Why You Shouldn’t Do What the Gurus Do
It’s only natural to emulate successful people. You’d like to copy their success, so it seems it would make sense to copy their approach to sales and marketing. But modeling your marketing after the gurus in your field may not get you where they are.
Simply put, the present situation of these highly successful people may be entirely different from your own. Gurus typically have plenty of money to spend, staff to help, a large in-house mailing list, many followers on social media, widespread name recognition, a suite of products and services to offer, and many years of completed work to draw from. If you don’t have all this in your business, trying to copy their marketing and sales approach may be a recipe for failure rather than success.
Written Content Can Be the Answer to Your Follow-Up Woes
To the average self-employed professional, following up with prospective clients feels awkward or even scary. You hate making phone calls that might not be welcome. You think you might be pestering people. You worry about being rejected. You aren’t sure what to say. After all, how many times can you ask, “Are you ready for us to work together?”
I get it. My clients and students share concerns like these with me all the time. I’ve even had them myself.
