It’s natural to become contemplative when one year ends and another begins, and look back at what you’ve accomplished over the previous year. Unfortunately, this can also become a time to look at what you haven’t accomplished, and feel regret, frustration, or even shame about it. This can lead to lowered self-esteem, decreased motivation, and even depression. These are not the best conditions for a strong start to the year!
I heard a story on the This American Life podcast about a man waiting on a subway platform, and in the crowd was another man walking up to people, saying, “You’re In. You’re Out. You, you can stay. You — gotta go.” The story teller found himself secretly wanting to be picked to stay, which was odd since what the man was doing was completely arbitrary.
As a professional selling your own services, you may believe that your discomfort about calling prospective clients on the phone is because you’re not a “real” salesperson. But studies reveal that up to 40% of full-time salespeople experience episodes of call reluctance that are serious enough to threaten their careers.
No doubt about it, it’s been a year…
As we approach year’s end, take a moment to reflect on how it started, and where you’re at now. Very likely it wasn’t business as usual, so what was it business AS?
What’s new or different? What did you try? How did things go? How would you like to finish the year?
It happens to the best of us. We have brilliant plans for marketing our business, but the rest of life keeps getting in the way. We know we won’t succeed if we don’t spend time on marketing, but somehow days and weeks slip by, and our marketing to-do list gets longer instead of shorter.
All the experts say that as a self-employed professional, you need a marketing plan, so you’ve designed one. Good for you! The very fact that you’ve taken the time to think about how you want to market your business and written it down will increase your odds of success at getting clients.
For a self-employed professional, being successful at marketing doesn’t result from one brilliant idea. Nor does it follow from stringing together a random series of marketing activities, no matter how many different approaches you manage to use. To bring in a sustainable flow of business on a consistent basis, you gotta have a system.
Why do you need a marketing plan?
Because -– it makes your life easier.
In this video, I share many other reasons you may want to consider making a marketing plan, including that having a plan sets you up to be more successful.
Over the past few months, I’ve been writing and thinking quite a bit about making post-pandemic changes in your business as a self-employed professional. First there was Reinventing Your Business to Survive a Pandemic…
Now that the world’s opening up, and you’re creating a “new normal” for your work, chances are you’ve got a vision that’s forming, one you’d like to bring to life. Which may leave you wondering… how are you supposed to do that, exactly?
