If you look at marketing as a necessary evil, something you have to do but really don’t want to, you’ll never get as much out of it as you could.
What if marketing was something you actually enjoyed and were good at? What if it was fun?
Do you think you would do more of it? Do you think you would get better results?
The trick is to find some aspect of marketing that you don’t hate, or don’t hate as much, perhaps something you actually enjoy. Focus on that and don’t worry about the rest.
Start by visualizing yourself writing, speaking, and meeting people, since these are at the core of professional marketing. Imagine yourself at your keyboard. Imagine yourself speaking on the phone or in front of a group. See yourself meeting people, shaking hands, handing out your card.
Don’t worry about what you’ll say or write or do. Just think about the basic activity itself. Keep going until you find something that feels better than the alternatives.
When I run through the list I see myself writing. It feels natural to me. Something I’m good at and enjoy.
No surprise, most of my marketing involves writing. Email in particular. I do other things, of course, but if I could only do one thing, I would write emails.
If I found that writing emails was no longer working for me, I would write something else because “writing” is the essence of what I enjoy.
How about you? Do you like writing? Speaking? Meeting people?
Once you know that, the next step is to do it.
Start with something easy. Write an email to your former clients and say hello. Call your referral sources and tell them you’re just checking in. Find a new networking group and go.
Then, do it again.
You’ll get better at it. You’ll get better results. You’ll hate it less or enjoy it more. And you’ll continue to do it until it is a natural part of your routine.
Or you’ll fall back and do something else, but something that reflects the essence of the activity.
You may no longer have time to do self-hosted seminars, for example, but because you like speaking you’ll do webinars, teleconferences, or luncheons.
Marketing can be fun if you find some aspect of it you enjoy and you don’t worry about anything else.
Marketing is easier when you have a plan
