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.
In 2020, many of us self-employed folks were just trying to survive. Some of us couldn’t work at all due to pandemic restrictions or home schooling needs. Others – serving industries like travel, food service, or personal care – lost our entire market overnight.
If you’re like many of the self-employed people I’ve talked with over the past year, 2020 came with plenty of challenges that sent you scrambling and doing your best to hang on. Survival became the order of the day, and making it through another day, week, or month felt like a victory (and rightfully so).
Last year was quite a year, and it’s left me with the question of what holds me back -– beyond a pandemic, of course.
As a long-time business owner, there are plenty of things I could list: negative self-talk, faulty assumptions, out-of-date self-image…
Feeling overwhelmed lately? Yeah, me too. A few days ago, a tweet jumped off the screen at me: “Right now we basically feel a constant mental DDoS attack.” Exactly.
In his OneZero post linked to that tweet, Eric Ravenscraft explained: “Some of the biggest events in 2020 have demanded more of our time, more direct action, and have been more emotionally taxing than we’re used to.” For sure.
As the head of your small and mighty company, you know how difficult it can be to stay focused on your business when distractions are calling.
In this video, I share a few straight forward concepts to help redirect your attention — with a jazz quartet as our guide!
Appropriate Marketing in a Time of Crisis
As a self-employed professional, should you be marketing your business right now in the middle of a worldwide crisis? The answer is probably yes. But the approach you take to marketing will need to be tempered with thoughtfulness and empathy.
Here are five critical factors to consider.
It’s easy to let things slide, especially when they feel difficult. Unfortunately, sometimes in business, following up with clients can feel that way.
Why is that? It’s not as if your hands are broken and you can’t type, dial the phone, pick up a cup of coffee, or you don’t know how important following up is.
You are naturally magnetic — really! There’s a natural way about you that’s attractive to others, and in the world of marketing, this magnetism is your secret sauce. By tapping into it, you’ll attract clients easily.
Not sure how to do that? Here are four ways you can harness your innate magnetism.
True or not true? Asking someone to become your referral partner is scary.
If you said true, you’re not alone.
How scary it is to ask someone to send you referrals depends on your comfort level. The more you practice the better you get, and that’s something you can build on. Even if asking for referrals doesn’t seem to come naturally, you can train yourself to do it comfortably enough — and it might even become fun!
