Marketing
is often uncomfortable. For example, you know that experience
of visiting a chamber or organization networking event that
you’ve never visited before? You’re standing around
waiting to be approached and meet someone new. It makes you
feel like you’re supposed to be more outgoing and less
inhibited.
Or you’ve
secured a speaking engagement, presenting to a business group,
and you’re really nervous about it. As you write your
talk, perhaps you imagine yourself flubbing your words, or
making a fool of yourself. The shame! The embarrassment! Your
inner-critic would have you feel you’re supposed to
be a polished public speaker before you can do this.
What about
writing articles or an ezine? You’ve got your cup of
coffee, nice music and the early morning sunshine is streaming
in. You’re excited as you sit down to write something
that will really help your target market and get you noticed.
Then you start to feel that you can’t string two words
together and every point you try to make comes out as gibberish.
A
lot of solo professionals feel they have to appear a certain
way, say just the right words, or generally be something they’re
not in order to get clients. Actually, the opposite is
true—it’s the most genuine and authentic communication
and beingness that’s most attractive.
I’m
currently walking my charming wife Bari through my Fast Track
to More Clients process and she’s going great guns with
it. She’s the community liaison at a personal care home,
so it’s her responsibility to fill rooms. Her clients
make extremely personal and emotional decisions when they
decide where to put their elderly relatives, so it’s
up to her to provide a safe environment.
What makes
her such an effective marketer is her sincerity and authenticity.
Everyone that meets her knows in the first few seconds that
what you see is what you get with her. To prospective clients,
that means they immediately feel they can trust her and the
business she represents.
She’s
not perfect at marketing; she gets as nervous as the next
person, but what makes it easier for her—and here’s
the most important point—she really believes in what
she does and the company she works for. In a culture where
suspicion of nursing home abuse is high, she knows she’s
a member of a truly caring community.
Grounding
herself in the knowledge that what she does makes a real difference—that
her residents are not only safe, but have opportunities for
creativity, fun, and exciting living (rather than waiting
to die)—makes it easy to talk about. Her love for her
work shines through in every word she speaks or writes.
So
if marketing is fraught with anxiety for you, if it causes
you undue stress, or if you just plain avoid it, try these
steps to make it easier and more meaningful.
1.
Go back to the reasons you started your business in the first
place. There’s a difference you wanted to make in
the lives of your clients. What is it? Pay particular attention
to what’s bothering them, or what they can’t have
without your help. Take some time and write out all the things
your clients have a hard time with, and how you help them.
This
is not the time to be modest or self-deprecating. Really
look at your great successes with those you serve. Remember,
this isn’t about your ego—it’s about effecting
important change, and nothing is more worthwhile than that.
2.
Visualize your community, your industry, and/or the world
changing as a result of the kind of help you provide.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you were the one that
helped them with that change, but that your efforts were part
of a collective shift.
For example,
say you’re a health and wellness counselor. Imagine
everyone focused on peak health and living up to their potential
in that area. How would it feel to know you have been such
a catalyst directly in the lives of your clients, and even
indirectly, as their changes ripple out and touch the lives
of those around them?
Do some
writing to get a little of this image out on paper. The more
you place yourself there and surround yourself with those
thoughts, the more focused your intentions—and as a
result, your actions—become.
3.
Notice what you feel in your body as you write. In what
part of your body do you feel it? What are the sensations
like? What’s the pace of your energy? Put a hand on
your body in that place, and ground yourself in it. Let the
feeling grow and take root there. Stay with the image you’ve
created.
What you’re
feeling is connection to your mission. It’s one of the
biggest keys to becoming a magnetic marketer, allowing you
to shed pretense and the sense that you should be or do something
you’re not naturally predisposed to. Connection to your
mission makes it easy to talk about how you help people, naturally
meeting them where they are and drawing them to you.
4.
Go out and market, grounded in what you’ve discovered.
As you meet new people and build relationships, touch
that part of your body to bring you back to your mission.
You’ll forget that you’re selling and instead
be reminded that you’re using your power for good. Again,
this isn’t about ego, or boasting that you’re
great—it’s about making lives better. Ultimately,
that’s all people really care about.
In last
month’s ezine we discussed the idea that great campaigners
focus on two things: what isn’t working for the people
they’re appealing to, and what the situation can be
like when things are better. Talk in those terms to people
and you set up the means for real communication and connection.
The
bottom line is that marketing isn’t just about getting
clients. You not only want the accomplishment of building
a thriving business; you want to have fun and passion throughout
the moments that get you there. Always stay with what’s
important about what you do, and you have the means to do
both.
Until
next month, here’s to relaxed and focused marketing!
RJ
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