A year of pandemic life has taken its toll on all of us. At February’s Pandemic Office Hours, our virtual room full of self-employed professionals described feeling stressed, or even immobilized, about marketing their businesses. Since then, I’ve been noticing reports everywhere about how much this past year of stress, uncertainty, and grief has sapped our collective focus and motivation.
Why is marketing your business so hard right now? Chances are over this past year (if you’re like me and the clients and colleagues I speak with), you’ve felt shy, hesitant, and vulnerable in ways you ordinarily don’t when it comes to marketing your business. Given the pandemic, and the uncertainty it’s created, this makes complete sense.
One of my clients had recently experienced a string of failures. A business venture that had consumed a great deal of her time flopped. A new line of business she was attempting to market was finding little response in the marketplace. Several of her long-time clients stopped working with her.
She woke up one morning feeling depressed. If her business was failing, perhaps she was a failure as a person. Maybe she needed to give up her business and get a job. Or find a different kind of business to be in. She was feeling lost, stuck, and discouraged.
Seeking inspiration, she ran across this quote, often attributed to Winston Churchill: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
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.
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.
If you work for yourself, I’m sure you’ve been there: sitting at your desk, staring at your marketing to-do list, knowing you really need to get this work done, and yet you just can’t seem to get going — you’re just not in the mood.
You wonder if it is even possible to motivate yourself to embark upon your marketing plans, especially when you don’t feel like it.
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