You hate marketing...now what?

People often get into business because they love doing something so much that they think to themselves… “If only I could make money doing THIS, then my life would be so good.”

But the thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that running a business, and doing the thing that you love inside your business, are really different things.

If you have a business, or are currently trying to have one, you might be familiar with this scenario…the thing that you love to do, becomes buried underneath the thing you HAVE to do in order to make money at the thing you love to do. Which is marketing.

In today’s column, Katie speaks to this, and I give three ways to approach marketing that will hopefully offer a new perspective on it.

Dear Sally,

I really love the work that I do, but I really hate marketing. I always feel spammy or gross whenever I think about marketing and making people buy something they don’t want. I haven’t yet found a way to do it that feels good to me, because I just hate selling so much. I think it’s in part because I don’t like it when I feel marketed to, and I don’t want to do that to others. How can I still have a business when I hate marketing and don’t want to do it?

Thanks for your help,

Katie

Dear Katie,

In our world, marketing often has a negative connotation. Most of the people I talk to, like you, bristle at the word. They think that marketing is sleazy, cheesy, and spammy. They think back to examples of people who do marketing poorly and have made them feel gross about buying something, and since they’d never want to be in the same category as those people, they reject marketing in general.

You ask a really great question here: “How can I still have a business when I hate marketing and don’t want to do it?”

And the short answer is that you can’t.

Not really. Or rather I should say that I haven’t seen anyone reach their business goals while also not doing any marketing for their business.

But with that being said, I’m here to offer a different definition of and perspective on marketing that’ll hopefully make you not only fall in like/love with it, but help you see that it’s actually a GOOD and beautiful thing. And it’s this…

It’s about helping people solve their problems.

It’s about showing them how the thing you love to do is also the thing that helps them with what they’re struggling with right now.

That’s it.

It’s not about convincing anyone of anything.

It’s not about making someone buy something that they don’t want.

It’s not about tricking someone or spamming them.

It’s just about letting the person who already wants what you have, the person who is already searching for a solution to their problem, know that you have that solution.

Here’s an example…

Imagine someone who has an overflowing toilet. Water is pouring out all over their hardwood floors. What this person needs is a plumber. They do a Google search for a plumber where they live and the one plumber in town hates marketing. So they don’t have a website. They have’t told anyone about their service. They maybe posted once on Instagram or Facebook and since they heard “crickets” they decided no one wants their service and never really posted again (what really happened is someone didn’t need a plumber right then but I digress). They don’t have anything posted, because they think “marketing” is spammy. So this person with the overflowing toilet is sitting in a puddle of water, looking for a solution. The plumber has that solution, but the person with the leak can’t find them. Both people lose.

This is what happens with anyone and everyone who decides not to do marketing. They’re sitting in their home with a talent and a skill that can help solve a problem someone already has, they want people to buy it, but they’re not telling anyone about it.

That’s all that marketing is…telling people about it. HOW you tell people about it is completely up to you, and you don’t have to choose the option where it’s spammy and gross.

So if you’re someone who thinks that marketing is bad or gross, here are three ways to approach it that are anything but bad or gross…

1. Focus on the ways that you can help your customer solve their problem as it relates to your business. We talked abut this in my previous article , but basically in all your marketing, you want to shine the flashlight on your customer, their needs, their desires, and their wants, and show them how you can help them.
   

2. Share in ways that would speak directly and specifically to your customer, and also resonates with you. If your customer loves pop-culture and humor, use that in your content. If they want to feel cozy and taken care of, use your newsletters to speak to them like you would a friend.
   

3. Show up in the places that your customer already hangs out to do both of these things, making it easy for them to find you. If you’re a meditation teacher and your customer also loves yoga, go teach a free class at the local yoga studio. It’s not up to your customer to go find you, it’s up to you to show up where they are.

Overall, it doesn’t do anyone any good if you are wildly talented at something that can actually improve people’s lives, but you don’t let people know that. It’s not selfish or weird or gross or spammy to tell people that you can help them.

So the next time you’re thinking to yourself how much you hate marketing, think instead to yourself whether or not you like helping others, with your innate talents. If the answer is yes, then find ways to share about your work that resonate with you.

You don’t have to follow anyone’s blueprint. You can delete the word “funnel” from your vocabulary if you want. If you hate social media…don’t use it. The good thing about having a business is that you get to do it in the way you want to do it. If some marketing strategy doesn’t feel right, even if someone tells you you should do it, you don’t have to do it.

Keep in mind that all that marketing is is telling people you can help them. It's about solving problems and serving people. HOW you do that is totally up to you. In future articles I’ll share more about marketing principles but for today, I want to know in the comments below…what are your struggles with marketing?

XO

Sally

It’s my FAV EVER to answer your specific business/marketing questions. Please oblige me by asking yours? Here’s a form to drop your question here anonymously and I’ll answer it in future columns.

ALSO…my mission is to help as many folks as I possibly can with free business advice. I believe business can be a beautiful and fun experience that allows for a life of fulfillment and freedom, instead of an overwhelming rollercoaster. I want to save you that overwhelm.

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