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Four Consequences of Using the Wrong Marketing Strategy

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Plans & Strategies

Perhaps these questions sound familiar:
What happens if I use the wrong marketing strategy?
Is there such a thing as a wrong marketing strategy?

These questions are common if you’re a service-based business looking to market your services; it’s easy to think you’re doing marketing all wrong.

And maybe you are.

While there is no real right or wrong way when it comes to marketing your business, there is such a thing as choosing a marketing strategy that isn’t the right fit for you and your ideal customers – strategies that can make marketing feel harder – and this can have negative consequences.

Two Ways to Make Direct Contact Easier

by Kristine Carey | Sales Conversations

When thinking about the best way to get new business, it’s often good to remember that contacting a prospect directly can be the most effective tactic. However, this can sometimes seem too scary: the thought of picking up the phone, or meeting someone for coffee, or even sending an email can send a wave of fear through your business heart.
Here are some common fears you might experience when considering reaching out to someone directly:

They’ll think I’m bothering them.
I don’t know what to say.
I’m not a good salesperson.
I’m an introvert.
I’m not good with words.
They won’t remember me.
I’m not sure how to make an offer.

Prospective Clients WANT to Hear from You

by C.J. Hayden | Following Up

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.

Consistency and Accountability: Complementary Bedfellows

by Kristine Carey | Getting Things Done

Are consistency and accountability related?

Yes!

Consistency is the capacity to show up for something over and over, to produce results that are equivalent over time; stay the course, steady as she goes.

Accountability means you stay true to your word, that you can be counted on. You say what you’re going to do, and you do it, holding yourself answerable.

What do these have to do with getting the word out about your small business?

7 Ways to Overcome Sales Call Reluctance

by C.J. Hayden | Fear & Resistance

No matter how many emails you send out, how much time you spend on social media, or how many networking events you attend, you still need to pick up the phone sometimes and call potential clients.

As a self-employed professional selling your own services, you may believe that you feel uncomfortable about calling prospective clients on the phone because you’re not a “real” salesperson. But studies reveal that 40-90% of experienced, full-time salespeople still have episodes of call reluctance at times.

The good news is that the fear or resistance you experience about making calls doesn’t have to be permanent. Research also indicates that for 95% of people who are reluctant to make sales calls, their fear subsides once they make contact. If you stop avoiding the calls and start making them, there is a very good chance that you will feel better once you start talking to someone.

Are You Circling Dallas?

by Kristine Carey | Fear & Resistance

I’m not sure where I first heard the term but I fell in love with it immediately: Circling Dallas. Being a Texan I naturally think everything orbits the Lone Star State; however, that’s not what I’m talking about. Circling Dallas refers to that state where you are going somewhere and you just can’t seem to land. You could be going to an event and you just can’t seem to make it out the door. Or you’re going to write an article and you can’t sit down and get typing. Or, you’re going to get around to your marketing any minute now, just as soon as you do the dishes, walk the dog, rearrange your desk, and plant those petunias. Even if you’ve gone to the effort of making a marketing calendar, and choosing your preferred marketing strategies, you find yourself still not taking the necessary steps to get going.

Marketing along the Path of Least Resistance

by C.J. Hayden | Marketing Plans & Strategies

Do you find sales and marketing to often be a struggle? It doesn’t have to be that way. The most successful professionals make it look easy because they have found a way to market themselves that is effortless. Perhaps you have tried to copy what those successful people were doing, and it didn’t work for you. Here’s why.

Marketing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. You have to find your own unique path, the one that works best for you and your business. To make marketing and selling easy, that path needs to be the one where you will encounter the least resistance — both from the marketplace and from inside yourself.

What Does Being an Introvert Have to Do with Your Marketing?

by Kristine Carey | Marketing Mindset

I was talking with a client recently about putting herself out there more, marketing-wise, and she mentioned how that made her uncomfortable and that she’s shy and introverted. That got me thinking about how often the traits of “shy” and “introverted” (vs. “outgoing” and “extroverted”) are perceived to be the same thing, when in fact, they’re not. You can be shy, yet outgoing, or vice versa. I know an extrovert who has a hard time initiating a conversation, and I’m an introvert who easily talks to strangers. How you approach marketing can be influenced by this perception, so it makes sense to take a closer look at how you operate.

Introvert vs. extrovert
The distinction between introverts and extroverts is how they recharge their energy.

How to Keep Your Marketing Going Even When You Hear Stop

by C.J. Hayden | Fear & Resistance

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.

What It Really Takes to Get Clients

by C.J. Hayden | Marketing Plans & Strategies

The longer I do this work, the more I come to realize that we self-employed professionals can be our own worst enemies when it comes to getting clients. We know what we should be doing to market ourselves better, and then we don’t do it. Or we don’t know what’s the right thing to do, so we throw a dart and pick something randomly, or respond to the latest email we got, instead of considering our options and making a well-reasoned choice.

Or we make a valid choice, then second-guess ourselves, dropping one marketing strategy and picking up another, without putting enough effort into any one approach to produce results. Or we spend too much time talking to ourselves and not enough talking to prospective clients, worrying about why the last prospect never got back to us, whether the blog post we just wrote is good enough to publish, or if the latest version of our tag line finally gets across our message.

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