Hello!
Sometimes I feel like I’m ‘the worst’ at marketing.
Sometimes I feel like I’m really quite terrible at this and who do I think I am kidding and maybe I should just give up now, for everyone’s sake.
Sometimes I think I’m really not doing enough marketing — and this might be true. But also, makes me want to die crawl up into a little ball and hide.
Sometimes I remember, actually, I can’t be 100% terrible at this. I have clients. They found me, somehow. And I haven’t scared them off, so I can’t be doing too bad.
Such is the drama of life - your brain.
Anyway, here’s some stuff that has helped me over the years as I have grown deeper in my acquaintance with marketing. I’m definitely not an expert (I haven’t been doing this stuff for long enough), but I like to feel I have learned some things along the way. And maybe they will help you too, whenever you are in your journey.
1) It will feel erratic at times. And this is OKAY.
You will start out erratically. You won’t know what you’re doing. You’ll get better. Slowly. And then sometimes quickly. And then sometimes slowly again. You can’t always predict your progress — but it helps to keep track so you can see it’s happening.
2) If you can’t imagine ‘your ideal client avatar,’ you might feel like a freak. But I suspect you are more normal than you think.
This one gets me, all the time. I can’t imagine people. I can’t imagine their pain points or their dreams. I can’t imagine what they’re having for breakfast and I can’t imagine where they hang out online. I have no idea what podcasts they listen to.
Okay, maybe I can imagine some of these things if I try really hard… but it makes my head hurt and want to call it a day.
I don’t know why I have this reaction. I’m sure I could just knuckle down and try harder. But the physical reaction is such that I have filed it under ‘things I can learn later — when I’ve mastered a whole host of other skills that are even more fundamental to running my business and finding clients.’ (Like, just speaking to people.)
Also, sometimes you haven’t worked with or sold to a whole load of people yet. Sometimes you’re working with your best guess — and your best guess is to imagine someone who looks and sounds a little bit like you (in terms of your interests; not necessarily your demographics).
3) If in doubt, tell the truth. Tell it lovingly and in act of service.
This is basically the foundation of my entire marketing strategy. It’s the simplest, easiest thing for me to remember, and so consequently, I end up doing it.
And the best marketing strategy is the one you actually use.
4) Marketing is a skill. Communication is a skill. Speaking to people is a skill.
Some of us are born with a more natural aptitude for communication than others. Some of us just have a general interest in people, and I suspect that helps when you want to communicate with them.
As you can probably tell, I do not consider myself one of these blessed persons. I find communicating with people (speaking in general) quite difficult and challenging. However, it doesn’t mean I can’t learn. It doesn’t mean I can’t find the ways that suit me best in ‘reaching’ people. I just muddle my way through. Make mistakes. Learn. Learn what I’m good at. Do more of it.
5) Make offers. Remind people how you can help them.
Don’t worry too much about how you’re going to say it — just say it, get it out there, and get better at saying it over and over again. If you’ve already worked with people, or people have bought from you, have them say it. They’ll put your work/goods/service into words that you would have never thought of.
6) Prepare for it to take time.
This applies to everything. Learning your skill will take time. Reaching people will take time. Results of your actions, will take time.
And you won’t be as prepared for it as you’ve told yourself you are. You’ll suffer. You’ll be up and down. You’ll learn it takes waaay longer than you want it to, and this makes you have miserable thoughts. (Sorry, it’s the truth — from what I know.)
In the moments of misery, you will learn how to comfort yourself. (This will also take time.) You will learn you’re not a defective human being for having things take longer than they ‘should.’
You will learn you don’t always have the energy to do everything perfect, and sometimes, getting things out the door is enough. Being consistent, in your own way, is enough. Building up a skillset and a habit takes time, and you need to be prepared to look into your future and imagine doing this for years from now.
And in that case, you may as well market the way you want to market. You may as well make it fun. It needs to keep up your interest, and while it definitely gets to evolve, you may as well start with something that speaks to you. You may as well start with something that makes you say, yes, I want to do that. I want to start, today.
May your relationship with marketing evolve, and may you get to know yourself better along the way.
Love,
Kathryn
Currently interested in:
Loop earplugs. I’m currently living with my parents, and they like to play the radio in the morning. (They also have the TV on far louder than I would have it.) Suffice to say, I need some way to dampen the decibels, otherwise I’m going to be staying in my room all the time. I’ve ordered a set of Engage and Experience. (Apparently you can try them out and return if you don’t get on with them.) I’ll let you know how it goes :)
Currently watching/listening:
Stop Making Sense. A concert film that feels like a celebration of all that is holy creativity. If you like to dance in any way that looks ‘weird’ from a conventional perspective, you will feel this. It is very permission-giving.
Current ways to work with me:
1:1 coaching. (I usually recommend over a period of 6 months for us to really get to know each other and do the work — but I also offer shorter packages depending on what you need.) Working with a coach, or anyone you don’t know well, for such a length of time can be a daunting prospect. So I invite you to have a chat with me, maybe some initial taster sessions, and we can find out if working together would be a good fit for both of us.
These initial discussions are free and no pressure to go ahead with coaching if it doesn’t work for you. I am not a ‘strategic lay-it-all-out kind’ of coach, and if you’ve been reading my writing for a while now, I imagine you’ll have a sense of me. My work is very ‘meet you where you are, let’s see what happens, and I promise you will experience changes in yourself and how you create.’ If that sounds intriguing to you, and you’d like to find out more, schedule a call here.