10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in the New Year
One of the most redundant comments so many of you share with me is that you’re “doing all the things” and yet nothing is happening in regards to the growth of your business’ bottom line. If you’re working hard and not seeing the progress you desire, you might want to take a minute to make sure you’re avoiding these common mistakes seen so often among business owners both new and seasoned.
Here are ten common mistakes that could be hindering your marketing efforts:
Waiting until everything is complete and perfect.
There is NO textbook answer to the PERFECT time to get your product/service/business out into the world. But, if you wait until everything is “perfect” in your eyes—-you likely never will put it out there. We are our own harshest critics. Recognizing that and making changes along the way is one of the most beautiful aspects of owning your own business. Once you have a framework or loose plan in place, start talking about it—first to friends and family, next to contacts, and then to your social media. You would be surprised by how supportive people are, as well as how willing they are to help and provide feedback.
Not giving yourself enough lead time to market your product/service/business.
If you open the doors to your business on day one AND also share it with the world on day one—-you probably won’t have many (or any) customers. This mistake goes hand and hand with the first point on this list. Take my podcast as an example. If I waited until it was complete and perfect, I would have had to wait another 4-8 weeks to actually drop the first episode—-unless I wanted to share it with no one.
Instead, I’ve been building the audience, talking about the podcast, and sharing information about what’s to come for over two months. At the same time, I’ve been recording the episodes and building out the product. This way, when we’re ready to launch, there is already an audience ready and excited to listen. This process would and could hold true for any business you are building.
Stopping your marketing efforts too soon.
Most of us don’t become an overnight sensation…even when it seems that way. Usually there are months if not years of work and experience behind every successful business. You can’t expect to have an impact after one blog post or a few social media shares—-you have to build your authority and your trust before strangers start to react and transact. Keep at it, which leads to the next point.
Being inconsistent.
I have a client who often tells me that when it comes to social media, they’ll get into a groove, but then they’ll get busy and so they stop. You can’t do this. It’s important that you are consistent in your efforts and your messaging to your customers. When you stop, they forget about it and forget about YOU. If you can’t be consistent in outreach multiple times a day, then create a pattern that is palatable for your work efforts and bandwith. Make it so your community knows and expects when they can hear from you.
Thinking you need deep pockets to make a big impact on your bottom line.
You don’t need to spend money to find your audience and reach them with your message. When you’re first starting out, your own network will be key—-tap into them. My #1 tip for business owners is to send an email to everyone you know letting them know what you’ve been up to. This one simple step will pack itself back in dividends. As you start to grow and progress, set up and utilize social media—-it’s free! When I started my first company, social media basically didn’t exist. With all the viable platforms at your fingertips today, you have a built in stage for sharing your message. It’s ok if you don’t have thousands of followers when you’re starting out. You have to start somewhere, right?
Confusing sales and marketing.
If you’re marketing correctly, your customer won’t even realize that they’re being sold to. Build your authority, your credibility and your trust by not only talking about yourself and your successes, but by promoting others and their success stories as well.
Trying to be everything to everyone.
Simply put, you can’t be everything to everyone. Figure out how your product/service/business can help solve a problem or pain point for your community and do that….well.
Not listening to your audience or your community.
As you start to market your product/service/business, you’ll be building a community who subscribes to you and what you are doing and who wants to be a part of it. Tap into them. Ask them questions. What do they want? ASK THEM, and take their answers to heart by implementing them into your day to day solutions.
Relying on others to share your story.
You have to advocate for yourself, don’t always rely on everyone else. Keep telling your story. Keep showing up. Keep engaging. Eventually others will share your story for you….you won’t even have to ask.
Thinking there’s a shortcut.
I hate to break it to you, but this doesn’t exist. You have to be willing to put in the work. Stop thinking that there’s a magical formula, or an easy way to make it happen. There’s not. You see ads everywhere promising you this online, but I swear to you, if you don’t put the work in, your output is going to be minimal and this will reflect on your bottom line. In the same vain, stop reading about how to do it, and simply put your knowledge and experience to work for you. Truly, that is the first big, major step in finding your own success.
While I won’t promise you a shortcut, I will promise you actionable advice that I used to build my first, and now my second business. I invite you to join my workshop in February where I’ll teach you how to productively tackle marketing your business. While you’ll have to put in the work, I’ll walk you through the process step by step while giving you a plan to follow. Ultimately you’ll walk away from our time together with an understanding of how to utilize the resources at your fingertips in an efficient manner so that you aren’t so overwhelmed each and every day. The goal is for you to focus on your craft, your area of expertise and to have systems in place that help you to share that with the world.
Click here to put your name on the list for more information when the details of this workshop go live.
