Why you freeze at the thought of marketing
You created your product. It’s awesome. You might even have some customers.
But why is it every time you think about sharing anything about your business you get nervous and never do anything at all?
Good question.
First, let me just say, you’re not alone. Marketing your own product can be scary. It’s hard to put yourself out there because you’re up for public scrutiny. Plus the “experts” tell you that you have to post 30 times a day on social media, plus have a newsletter, and oh, don’t forget to have a podcast too, while you’re at it.
This is misguided advice. You don’t have to be everywhere all at once. And you definitely don’t need someone telling you what to do and how to do it. What you need is a plan that works for you. This way, marketing will be less intimidating, and believe it or not, fun.
Before we get into the how, let’s get into the why and some strategies to move forward with your marketing.
Here are a few reasons why marketing can be intimidating.
Mindset.
Ignoring your previous efforts.
Trying to do what everyone else is doing.
Mindset
I’ve worked with nearly 100 clients, and they all say the same version of:
I’m not a marketer.
I don’t know how to do marketing.
I don’t understand marketing.
I’m not creative.
Here’s the thing. You CAN market your business. And if you want your business to survive, you’ve got to do it, whether you want to or not.
Understand fear of the unknown is just trying to stop you, here. But don’t let it. You’re an entrepreneur, remember? You’re a problem solver and you don’t quit when things get hard. You keep going and figure things out, no matter what.
Plus the good news is, you don’t have to dive in headfirst and guess what you need to talk about. You can hear it straight from strangers’ mouths when you test your product with them. (Even if you’ve tested your product before. Test it again and take really good notes this time.)
Then use the words they use in your marketing. Tell stories about what they say when they engage with your product. Tell us why you started your business and why people want it. Show your testers in action with your product. Show a little personality. Then you’ve got a guerrilla marketing strategy that’s practically done for you.
Ignoring Your Previous Efforts
When I meet with clients, I ask them three things:
What have you tried so far?
Why isn’t it working?
What else could you try?
Most of the time, they tell me they already have something that’s working. Like an abandoned newsletter, TikTok they haven’t touched in months, or meeting people in person and telling them about their product.
But here’s what is interesting.
They think it’s not working so they try something else.
If you already have customers but sales are slow, that’s a sign that you need to keep going. What you’re doing is working and you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Just determine how to make what you’re already doing, better.
Trying to Do What Everyone Else is Doing
You see your competition making behind the scenes videos on TikTok and they’re killing it. So you think you should be on TikTok. But what happens every time you look into the camera and hit record? You freeze. You dread it being on video. It’s an internal struggle because you know they’re on TikTok and you should be on TikTok but you don’t want to be on TikTok. 🙃
Struggle no more.
If you don’t like video, don’t do it. Otherwise, you’ll never do it. Instead, do what you like that feels more comfortable for you.
Then try a couple of things and see how they feel. Love to write? Join LinkedIn, the water’s warm there for writers. Love quick, snappy posts and conversations? Threads might be your jam.
Check out Beyond Meat on Threads. Their posts are supposedly written by a cow, wearing a cape. They’re not always about the product and inject lots of fun and personality. With 237k followers, they’re doing something right.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to follow the “rules” or do what everyone else is doing in marketing. Because there are no rules!
Marketing your business should be fun. If it’s stressful then what you’re doing isn’t working for you. When you do what you want, your own way, marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. So do the things that fit with your personality, measure progress along the way and keep going.