Don’t Let Marketing Be Your Show-Stopper

Is there something keeping you from being your best self? Putting yourself out there? Taking your business to the next level? Something you know you need to do but try as you might, can’t bring yourself to do it?

For me, it’s Marketing. Maybe it’s upbringing. Perhaps it’s some inborn sense of humility. Or maybe, as my coach says, it’s a lack of confidence in myself as an expert. Whatever the case may be, I do every single task on my plate, leaving Marketing for last—dead last. Which means 90% of the time (conservatively) the tasks on my plate which involve marketing or promoting myself as an expert in my field, and the solution to my client’s problems sit on my To Do list long after their expiration dates. But that’s about to change.

We Are All Experts. Step Into Your Expertise Fearlessly.

I’ve finally started seeing what others are telling me. I’ve looked at the reams of paper I’ve filled with words, the hundreds of thousands of words I’ve typed and published, and even the smart-ass comments that roll off my tongue like molten lava and realize Hey! I’m pretty damn good at putting words together coherently, and even interestingly! Maybe I have developed a certain brand of expertise in putting all those words in play?

We have to stop listening to what Linda Clay calls those “chitty chatty voices” telling us we’re not good enough, smart enough, or worthy enough to show people we’ve got the right stuff to help their business grow and thrive just as ours is. We all have enormous potential. The only thing holding us back is listening to the negatives and failing to see how much value we bring to the table simply by tapping into everything we’ve learned along the way.

Shine Your Light So Others Can Find Their Way

As I watch the members of the Heartfelt BizMaker Academy break through old limiting beliefs to start shining their light and growing their business, knowing what they were struggling with, and have learned to overcome, I realize sometimes we need a little boost from someone outside ourselves who has actually been where we are and struggled with the same blocks.

In return, we have an obligation to share what we’ve learned and help others who are where we were a few years ago, or even just a year if we’ve made major progress in that year. I’m learning there are ways to do the same thing we did when funds were limited and we had to be careful how and where we sought help.

Price Isn’t Always the Best Gauge

Expensive (as in thousands of dollars) isn’t necessarily better, but neither is investing in a lot of cheaper resources only to find they were nothing more than a hook designed to suck you into more lucrative investments for the seller.

By the same token, I’ve also learned undervaluing ourselves serves no one. When I was pricing myself too low, the clients I did get were typically one-offs. They took the cheap deal and never came back. Raising my prices might have scared a few away who weren’t ready for me yet, but as time went on, it let others know I was serious and would offer a quality product.

I’m also gaining an understanding of people who raise their prices over time, especially for service-based businesses. As we attract more clients, we have to face the fact we only have a limited number of available hours and need a specific amount of those hours for every client we take on. When we start to hit a certain level in our capacity, we need to reassess what we’re doing, and basically work less hours for the same (or more) money. The only way to do that is to raise our prices for each task, course, or coaching project we undertake.

Understanding Supply and Demand

It used to aggravate me to see someone saying: “My price is $X thousand if you sign up right now. But it will be going up to $XX thousand after [specific date} if you wait.” As my calendar is starting to fill, I begin to understand why they have to do it. It’s not so much greed as available time. Unless they decide to hire others to do what they’re doing for clients (and that’s a can of worms in and of itself) there’s only one of them (maybe 2 if they’re a husband-wife team or have a partner). They didn’t go into business for themselves to work 24/7. They did it so they could ultimately have a life balanced between work and play.

I consider myself fortunate these days to have engaged certain people when they were still in what I consider the affordable range. There are others I’d love to work with, but they’re out of my range right now, and as they get busier and prices continue to rise, I can’t see me reaching their level (at least mentally. I have a block against paying thousands for anything with too many disclaimers and no guarantees) any time in the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean I don’t watch from the sidelines and take in what they’re doing and who they’re helping succeed.

Putting It All Together

One of the key components in all cases is visibility, and a willingness to toot their own horns, so to speak. I don’t mean in your face marketing that’s more annoying and off-putting than helpful (DM me with an unsolicited sales pitch and see how quickly I send you packing!). The best ones I’ve seen offer something without expectations; helpful hints, check lists, quick start programs, information calls. Yes, they’re all designed to start a conversation, but you can always take the information and run without someone hounding you about it. In short, they’re not in business to chase clients and neither am I.

You and Your Life deserve to grow and thrive!

Whether your block is marketing like me, or outsourcing some aspect of running your business, or something else entirely, it is definitely worth a look, and maybe some unbiased assistance in getting past it. You and your business deserve to grow and thrive. Heck. You and your Life deserve to grow and thrive. Get out of your own way and allow it to happen.

 

About the Author

Sheri Conaway is a writer, blogger, ghostwriter, and advocate for cats. Sheri believes in the Laws , of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author or in her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward