When we first start our business, it is so overwhelming. Everyone is selling their thing. But signing up for the wrong things during the first stage of business will not bring results. It can make us feel disappointed, powerless, and question ourselves when we don’t bring in income because we invested in a wrong program. I once did this when I was pregnant with my second son. It took me a long time to recover financially and emotionally to trust again.
As a new immigrant, I didn’t have savings to recover. The amount was big for me, so I got into debt that took a while to pay off.
Somebody might suggest writing a book, somebody else may suggest creating a product, and one might tell you to focus on LinkedIn. Another may suggest podcasting.
I believe most of these are ‘shiny objects.’
We often think that to succeed is time-consuming. It can be because we all lead busy lives. However, to be smart with our marketing, we don’t need to do hundreds of things. We need to do the right things that produce results.
Instead of following the shiny objects, as everyone is selling their own thing, we need to believe in our own ability to make decisions. Continually searching for a new marketing gig that can work perpetuates a belief it is hard to make money and we need to spend a lot of time marketing.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
There are so many approaches to marketing and, depending on the stage of business you are in and how much time you have to spend on building your business, there are pros and cons to every approach. Below is the summary of other approaches that are not a talk.
Table of Other Approaches:
What are the main approaches they’ve already tried (or could try) that won’t get them off Island A? (e.g., they can’t sleep and they’ve already tried melatonin, new pillows, a shower before bed, phone apps, etc.) And what do you consider to be the upsides/strengths and downsides/weaknesses of each of these options?
| Approach | Upside | Downside |
|---|---|---|
| Networking | Putting themself in front of people | Without a clear message, it can come across pushy. Everyone is selling and looking for business. There needs to be something different people can do around networking, maybe making one or two deep connections instead of selling or inviting people to their newsletter and building a relationship. |
| Blogging | Putting out the content | Without a clear strategy and what the blog is about, and how can it help their clients, people can easily get burnt out. |
| Joint Ventures | Building relationships | Without being able to clearly negotiate what is in it for everyone and how each person will benefit, the relationship cannot flourish. |
| Selling from the stage | Introducing to their work | It is very expensive to rent a room and gather people, and if there are not enough numbers or budget to back it up, one can easily burn out. Again, knowing what stage of business one is in is important. |
| Writing a book | Introducing one’s work | Unless somebody has time and money to sit and write a book as a personal passion, without a following and having people to sell their book to, it is an expense. |
| Create a product | Can introduce people to their work | Without any experience of working with clients, and no reach or list, it can be difficult and time-consuming to sell a product. |
| Post on social media | Exposure | Without a clear strategy and a way to bring in clients, it can be time-consuming, and may or may not bring in business. |
| A group program | Can create multiple streams of income | At the beginning, without getting some experience working one-on-one with clients and creating content, it can be difficult to fill a group. |
| Giving a talk | An excellent way to introduce one’s work | Without a good talk that is well designed to introduce one’s work, it can tank |
| Approach | Based on the upsides and downsides who might each approach be for and not be for? |
|---|---|
| Networking | It can be good for social butterflies who have tons of energy or people who are leaders of the groups, though it can be exhausting for others, or for people looking for partners or building relationships, versus looking for clients. |
| Blogging | Somebody who is not in a rush to get clients and has time to invest in introducing their work (has a list) while serving the clients they have. |
| Joint Ventures | People, who are clear on the benefits they will be bringing to the joint venture, are confident in what they have to offer and are sincerely of service |
| Selling from the stage | Somebody who likes to run large events, has enough following, team, support, and money to fill up a room for an introductory workshop is then able fill up a room and sell from the stage. They have great public speaking and selling skills. |
| Writing a book | Somebody who doesn’t need to rely on the book to bring in income and has time to write a book. |
| Create a product | Someone whose business is running smoothly and they have enough experience, case histories to include with the product, and have developed a process by working with clients. |
| Post on social media | Somebody who already has a list or has set up a product to invite people to their newsletter list and has a strategy on how to utilize social media to get clients. |
| A group program | Somebody who has more experience and structure in their business. |
So why do I suggest choosing Giving a Talk as the best marketing choice?
I think giving an intro talk can work for anyone who is able to approach people, network, and prepare a great talk to introduce their work.
In the first stage in your business, you don’t need a lot of busywork. What you need is clients and money. You also don’t want to do unethical marketing. Pushing yourself to do things you are not yet ready for will not get you very far. Slow, loving, and gracious steps go a long way in building confidence rather than pushing yourself to do things that are too scary for you. Because you don’t like to be pushed, you also don’t want to push your clients and want to support them with slow small steps.
Depending on the stage of business you are in, the easiest thing to do is to focus on one simple marketing activity that brings in clients instead of giving into the ‘shiny objects.’
Creating a talk and delivering it to your ideal clients to introduce your work to them is that one simple marketing activity that can bring you a lot of business without having to work really hard.