The Love Hate Relationship in Marketing

Last year I was in Italy attending a conference and met another participant named Margie. After introducing myself as someone who coaches executives and entrepreneurs on how to take small do-able steps to expand their businesses, Margie started telling me how much she dislikes marketing herself and her service business:

I know I can create more business, but I've been procrastinating. It's more like resisting. I just wish I could get moving on it to some extent. The summer is coming and I live in a beach town. Yet, when I think about having to get out there and market myself, I would rather go to the dentist and have root canal work done without Novocaine!

In response I asked her if she had ever written down what she LOVED to do and what she HATED doing in her business. As we talked, Margie was able to outline that she loved working with her clients directly and she also loved coming up with new services to offer. She loved working with her website designer because he took her ideas and made sense of them and she loved advising people when they called her on the phone.

When we moved on to what she hated, she reiterated that she didn't like marketing and selling and promoting herself.

So then we talked about two things.
• The first was that some of what she loved doing was actually marketing.
• The second was that there are ways to get help with the things you hate doing.

Focusing on having the right product to offer is marketing. When Margie was thinking about new services and responding to what she was hearing from her clients, she was marketing. And when she was working with her web designer, she was marketing.

Sometimes the big picture is more intimidating than it needs to be. If you realize that you can break down what needs to be done into manageable pieces, you may find that you actually like some parts of marketing and the rest might be something that someone else can help you accomplish.

We talked further about ways that Margie might tackle the things she didn't like to do by approaching them using activities she did like to do.

1. Ask your network - this doesn't have to be complicated or cheesy. It can just be talking to or emailing people you already know. In Margie's case, I reminded her that these are small personal steps and not to think of it as a big marketing campaign. We talked about how she liked helping her clients and she enjoyed when they called on the phone. Just remember, the people in your network like you, they value your services, they want you to stay in business, they understand that you might not like to sell yourself, so they will help you if you ask them to do so. Some specific ideas we talked about were:
• Asking your current clients why they came to you and what they thought was special about your services. Write down what they tell you and now you have some information to use in your next promotional effort or on your website. Also ask them for testimonials and permission to use them.
• Create a coupon or gift card that you can offer to current clients who bring you two new clients.
• Create a flyer with a discount offer and ask your network to help you circulate it. Somewhere on the flyer make sure to encourage people to join your e-mail list to receive additional discounts in the future.
• Ask your network if they know anyone who can help you with promoting and selling for a price you can afford.

2. Find agents - actors, authors, and athletes all have agents. Maybe you need an agent too. My niece was in the 7th grade when I realized what a great agent she is. She loves to sell things. For her it was a form of competition. When I needed a salesperson, she turned out to be more than willing to work on commission after school. She had the time of her life and I was happy to pay her when she sold something for me.

3. Traditional marketing "collateral" - this is probably what many sole proprietors and small business owners worry about. Traditional collateral - a website, business cards, flyers, etc. are all very good to have, but they are not nearly as important as building your reputation and relationships with current and prospective clients. For someone like Margie, who likes building relationships, getting to know and help her clients, this concept feels much more comfortable. She can focus her efforts there and get help to do the traditional collateral work.

So if you are stumped and feeling overwhelmed, try the love / hate list and see if you can take a few steps forward doing what you love and getting help for what you hate.

Barbara Demarest (info@barbarademarest.com) received her MBA from the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University and her BA from Duke University. After 20 years at the Center for Creative Leadership, Barbara launched a coaching practice to help executives and entrepreneurs market themselves, their products, and their organizations. You can find Barbara's profile on www.thecoachingassociation.com.