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.
Selling is a Conversation between Two People
When you think of going into business, you may think of the freedom you’ll have as your own boss (see Part 1 of this three-part series, You Are The Boss), or about all the good work you can do and people you can impact. At some point, however, it occurs to you that you’ll need to sell your services. If you’re like many people, that’s enough to make you stop before you even begin.
Selling is a loaded concept. I often picture a man in a leisure suit and loafers asking me what it will take for me to drive this car off the lot today (ewwww). Selling conjures up images of being pushy, of not listening, or not taking no for an answer. Or of an endless stream of people all of whom you’re supposed to talk to and say something clever and just right so they’ll like you and buy your stuff! Or, um, is that just me?
Why You Need to Include Outreach Strategies in Your Marketing Mix
I’m a big fan of using attraction strategies to fill your marketing pipeline as a self-employed professional. Attraction-based tactics like blogging or publishing articles, posting on social media, and generating media publicity can all be effective ways to bring prospective clients into your sphere. Under the right circumstances, promotional events and advertising can work also.
And… attraction strategies alone are rarely enough to build a thriving business.
Before You Market, Stop and Think
One of my coaching clients recently asked my opinion about whether she should try out a new marketing approach. She’s a psychotherapist who has always gotten clients primarily by referral. She had been contacted by a couple of people who were trying to sell her on using social media to increase her therapy practice. Instead of advising her about this, I asked her some questions (see below).
Thirty minutes later, she was shaking her head, wondering why she ever thought that a social media campaign was a good idea for her type of business and personal situation. Before she talked to me, she had been ready to pay a hefty sum for a training program and invest a considerable amount of time to dive into a whole new way to market her business. But my questions made her stop and think.
Don’t Know How to Sell? You Can Still Have Sales Conversations
Many self-employed professionals believe they don’t know how to sell. You’re justified if you think that of yourself. You didn’t go into business to be a salesperson. You became self-employed because you wanted to help people with web design or personal training or architecture or resumé writing. In order to get clients, you need to have sales conversations, but they aren’t something you’ve ever trained to do. You may even believe you’re no good at them.
Let’s fix that.
This Year Will Be Different
Yearend. How does it come so quickly?
It seems like just a few days ago you were looking at the year and thinking, “This year will be different!” This would be the year you actually did make a marketing calendar, try new strategies, and consistently get the word out about the good work you can do.
Or you find yourself at the end of the year, possibly in slight desperation and defiant hope, thinking, “Next year will be different!”
And you really mean it.
Redefining Business Success After the Year from Hell
As I write this, 2020 is almost over. Hooray! And… it’s very likely that you didn’t accomplish all you set out to do this year. If you did meet your goals or even surpass them, you deserve extra credit. But if you didn’t, read on. (And join the club.)
Break Through to Marketing Success
Let’s face it, many self-employed professionals treat self-promotion as a necessary evil. They know they have to do it, but they just don’t like it. Professionals often say, “I love my work, but I wish I didn’t have to keep finding clients.” They describe the process of marketing as distasteful, frustrating, intimidating, and just plain scary.
Take a look at your own beliefs about self-promotion. How do you feel about it? Is it something you accomplish without too much effort, or do you put it off at every opportunity? When you tell someone what you do and ask for that person’s business, is it easy for you, or do you find it difficult and unpleasant?
Prospective Clients WANT to Hear from You
Every time I give a marketing workshop or talk to a new coaching client, I hear the question: “Aren’t I bugging people if I keep following up with them?”
The answer is no. The only circumstances under which you would ever be “bugging” prospective clients would be if they’ve already told you they are not at all interested in what you offer, or asked you specifically to stop contacting them. In any other situation, your continued contact with a potential client is not only acceptable, it is often welcome.
Here It Is At Last – The Secret to Marketing
Isn’t that what every self-employed professional is really looking for — that one magic formula that will take the effort out of marketing and bring you all the clients you need, forever?
Searching for this marketing silver bullet, they read articles and books, take seminars and home-study courses, and hire consultants and coaches. And in the process they learn about many, many so-called marketing secrets.
These “secrets” to marketing consist of supposedly surefire approaches like search engine optimization for your website, social media marketing, joining a leads group, sending postcards, and running pay-per-click ads. There are of course many more, and each of them is being touted by someone as the ultimate solution for marketing your business.
