Being in business is about getting paid to help people solve an urgent problem.
Marketing is about letting people know that you CAN solve their problem. Ultimately, it’s your responsibility to be visible and help them find you!
You got into business because you had a skill and a passion to help people. But no one told you that you’d have to become a marketer!!! So, it’s perfectly natural that you might have a little resistance to marketing. But remember …. you can do this!
So, here’s a few marketing myths, I’d like to bust before we dive into HOW to improve your marketing proficiency (or the return on investment of your marketing).
1. MYTH: The business owner with the best product/service gets hired.
TRUTH: The business with the best marketing gets hired; gets the high-paying clients; and can create the freedom they desire! Marketing is about you becoming visible, getting you noticed, and attracting those dream clients.
Without marketing, you are just the best kept secret!
With bad marketing, you throw spaghetti at the wall and do the marketing hustle. And then you burn out without ever achieving the success that you desire!
HINT: STOP wasting money on bad marketing and learn how to become a better marketer.
2. MYTH: More marketing equals more clients.
TRUTH: Over the years, so many business owners have come to me and asked me to help them do MORE marketing, but I secretly knew they didn’t need more marketing; they needed better marketing, marketing that worked. It was about marketing with a clearer message!!!
Your marketing is only as good as your messaging (the words you use). In fact, good messaging will do 95% of the marketing and selling to your dream clients. If you do a great job marketing, then sales conversations become easier (and who doesn’t want that!).
Messaging and marketing that’s vague or confusing will actually cost you clients. Good messaging will connect emotionally with your dream clients and be able to summarize how you make their life/business better. Good messaging is always short, memorable and repeatable.
When I think of good messaging, I don’t think of Disney or Coke or any other big brand! Think more like the trailer for a movie – it raises curiosity and gives you enough sizzle to want to know more.
STOP wasting money on marketing that’s confusing – increase your marketing proficiency with clarity and curiosity. Less is best!
3. MYTH: Communicating my marketing message takes time.
TRUTH: I remember a prospect telling me once that she had her messaging down pat! All she needed was 20-30 minutes in front of them and they would understand what she did for them. YIKES! In today’s busy, noisy world, your prospects aren’t willing to wait that long to learn what you do. You’ve got to WOW them in under a minute, preferably in less than 30 seconds.
Your marketing messaging is words! An entrepreneur with a good message can communicate it in one sentence (10-12 words). It’s not easy but when you have a tight marketing message down to one sentence, it’s easier to expand. A short message is also easier to remember for your prospects and easier for them to share with others!
STOP wasting money on marketing that’s long winded! Increase your marketing proficiency with a short, memorable message.
4. MYTH: Marketing messages should be careful and conventional
TRUTH: Marketing shouldn’t be boring or common place. In today’s online digital world, your marketing needs to make you to stand out like a sore thumb! You have to be willing to take a stand; to share your own biases and slants; and share your experiences! If you sound like everyone else in your industry, you become just another one of them.
Who wants vanilla? Vanilla blends in with everyone else in the industry.
One simple way to stand out from your competition with your marketing is to use ‘frameworks’. If you’ve been following me for any time, you’ll have seen me draw on a flip chart or seen my Grow-meter. It’s a drawing that explains how I help entrepreneurs move from start-up to CEO. People remember my drawing and it stands out. It helps me go from mundane to memorable.
STOP wasting money on boring marketing – increasing your marketing proficiency with marketing that’s authentically you and stands out from your competition!
5. MYTH: Narrowing my niche or my target market will cause me to lose customers!
TRUTH: Let me ask you a question… If you needed brain surgery, would you go to a general surgeon? No – you would seek out a specialist, a brain surgeon, and you would expect to pay more for his highly sought after skills.
You should consider yourself a brain surgeon! You are not just an expert but THE expert. Narrow your niche or target market to those people who will be happy to pay you those high fees that you so desperately want to charge. They expect to pay that kind of money!
Narrowing your niche and becoming a specialist is one of the easiest ways to take your business to the next level.
STOP wasting money on marketing that’s keeping you small! Increase your marketing proficiency by becoming the obvious choice – the go-to expert in your field!
There you go – marketing myths busted!!!
Marketing is what drives your business growth – make sure your efforts are paying off for you!
YOU CAN DO THIS
Diana
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In case you missed these:
https://dianalidstone.com/blog/2020/10/12/why-your-marketing-isnt-working/
https://dianalidstone.com/blog/2020/08/10/marketing-truths-and-lies/
