Every self-employed professional has at some point found his or her marketing stopped in its tracks. Maybe you hear an internal voice, telling you things like, “This is too hard,” or “I don’t like selling,” or “I don’t want to bug people.”

Or perhaps you’ve gotten a rejection from a prospective client. A prospect has told you, “Not now,” “I need to think about it,” or “I don’t have the budget.” Instead of moving on to your next prospect, you find yourself questioning whether there is anyone at all who is ready to hire you and able to pay.

Or it could be that you’ve been sending emails, making calls, running ads, or posting on social media, and you’re not getting much response. This can bring your marketing to a standstill if you start to think that no one is interested in what you offer, or you worry whether you’re doing it all wrong.

Hearing “stop” in forms like these doesn’t have to halt your marketing and sales efforts. Here are five ways to keep going.

1. Get positive feedback from people you trust. Ask a senior colleague or trusted mentor for feedback on your marketing approach, selling tools, or positioning of your services. You’ll either get validation that you’re on the right track, or helpful suggestions for improvement. Either way, you’ll be more prepared to renew your efforts.

2. Tap into your vision of a successful business. When you focus on the struggle to get clients, you can lose touch with the dream you’re trying to build. Take some time to picture your business as a thriving, sustainable enterprise. Keep that vision alive by touching base with it often. You’ll find it has the power to propel you through the inevitable rough spots of business-building.

3. Rely on a detailed marketing plan. I suggest you use the Get Clients Now! plan, of course, but any written plan will help. When you have a specific list of action steps to take, it’s easier to keep going. When a setback occurs, turn to your plan. What’s the next thing you should be doing? Put your attention there instead of on what isn’t going well. Let the plan guide you to stay in motion.

4. Recognize that rejection is not about you. When you take a prospective client’s rejection personally, it can demoralize you, preventing you from continuing the outreach essential to building your business. Know that a prospect’s rejection is about their needs, preferences, and priorities. It’s not a referendum on your value.

5. Stay motivated with rewards, a buddy, a team, or a coach. We all need occasional pulls and pushes to keep moving forward with challenging tasks. Needing some extra help to keep your marketing going doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you; it means you’re human. Set up a compelling reward to grant yourself when you complete a difficult task. Or ask a buddy, success team, or coach to hold you accountable and applaud your success.

In the ongoing contest for business, simple persistence can win the day. Don’t let yourself be stopped by hearing negative words from your own inner critic, or the outside world. Choose one of these five tactics to try – throw a dart if you have to – and get your marketing moving again.