Market your business, your way, to hit your goals

Here’s the thing, if your ideal customers or dream clients don’t know your business exists and can’t see the value of engaging with it, they’re never going to reach out to you. You can’t attempt to sell to people when they don’t know you and aren’t motivated to find out more.

I don’t mean that to sound harsh. It’s just the reality of operating in the online business world. There is so much fighting for your future client’s attention that you can’t expect to be seen and understood. You need to make it happen. That’s what marketing is all about - showing up for your audience so they can easily choose you.

Hold your customers’ hand as they go along the buyer journey of finding you, warming to you, taking the leap of buying from you for the first time, and then coming back for more again and again.

“That sounds good but I’m trying and nothing is working!” I hear you cry. Been there and done that so let’s talk about it.

Why your marketing isn’t smashing it right now

There’s a lot of information out there about successful marketing strategies. It can be really overwhelming trying to figure out what marketing activities are worth your time and money. Where do you start and what do you stick with? There are three common archetypes of business owners struggling with doing their own marketing, at least that I’ve found.

The all-or-nothing marketer

I see far too many business owners get stuck in the vicious (and unprofitable) cycle of doing all the things, getting burnt out due to all the energy it requires and feeling discouraged when their business doesn’t blow up. They give up or have to stop for their own good and are left with no online presence so have to start from scratch all over again.

The magpie marketer

Or maybe you’re a bit of a magpie and jump from shiny object to shiny object as you get introduced to new marketing strategies, each one promising the world. I definitely have a tendency to magpie my way through working on my business if I’m not careful!

The stuck-at-the-start-line marketer

You could be reading this blog because you’re paralysed by indecision and fear. You’re procrastinating attempting any kind of consistent marketing strategy because being visible is scary. What will people think? What if it’s all for nothing and you put yourself out there only to get no new clients?

There’s no shame in it! You didn’t start your business because you love trying to persuade people to work with you. You just want to help people. Wherever you land along the business owner marketer archetypes, the biggest thing that changed my marketing was deciding to market my business my way. When I got too obsessed with what I ‘should’ be doing, I struggled to successfully do anything at all because my heart wasn’t in it. It didn’t feel right.

What is ‘marketing your way’?

If you clicked on this blog looking for the best ever marketing strategy, sorry to disappoint you but that doesn’t exist. What I can do is set you on the path to finding YOUR best ever marketing strategy. Not all marketing works for everyone. That is the hill I will die on. There are so many variables in every business that it’s absurd to think there’s only one way to execute marketing successfully.

Marketing your business your way means executing a marketing strategy that:

Aligns with your values

If you don’t believe in the marketing activity you’re doing, it’s not going to be very compelling for your audience. So sticking with marketing activities that you feel like you ‘should’ be doing but you believe are too salesy, too sleazy, don't reflect your brand or simply don’t feel good to you is a waste of time. When you align your business, marketing and all, with your values everything flows better including the type of people you attract.

Suits your way of working

We all have our wonderfully weird quirks. There’s no point in trying to fight them or you won’t enjoy your business and will struggle to motivate yourself to work on it. Find marketing strategies that suit you as a person or at least you can adapt them to suit you.

Outsourcing is really helpful for this. For example, you might want to invest in SEO but you are the opposite of a tech nerd so you can’t get your head around it. Outsource it to a professional. Maybe you find spending too much time on social media isn’t good for you (I think that’s most people!) Give yourself the flexibility to step back from social media when you need to by outsourcing your content.

Makes it easy for your ideal client to engage

You want your marketing to work for the clients you’re trying to attract as well. If your audience has to jump through hoops to find and engage with your business, they’re never going to get to the point of working with you no matter how much your product or service will change their lives.

Think about where they already hang out online and reach out to them there. Think about what they are willing to commit to when they are getting to know your business. For example, a 2 hour webinar where you give loads of valuable tips sounds great but if they don’t have a lot of time to spare, they might struggle to commit to attending. They’d be more likely to attend a week long challenge where the content is delivered in 15-20 minute chunks.

With these three key factors in mind, the best marketing strategy is one that is customised to you. You’ll be more likely to follow through with it consistently and get results from it. But how do you discover this magical ‘perfect for you’ marketing strategy?

How to find ‘your way’ in marketing

It’s a little bit like going on a quest to find an object with magic powers that will save the world in a fantasy book. You know what you are looking for. You know a few places you can look. But really you’re making it up along the way and eventually with a bit of trial and error, you’ll find the key to the door behind which your treasure lies.

Step #1 - What is your vibe?

Start with doing some journaling for self-exploration. It’s important to clarify your values, outline how you work best and understand what your ideal client needs from you to start piecing together your marketing strategy.

Prompts really help to keep you focused, dig deeper and prevent you from going around in circles. We have daily journal prompts and twice monthly guided journaling workshops in the Find Your Vibe Business Club.

Step #2 - Experiment

Now you have some idea of what ‘marketing your way’ could look like, it’s time to try it out and see what happens. You don’t know if something will work unless you try it out. Your journal is a great place to track your progress, both the external metrics and internally how you are feeling about it.

If you’re feeling a bit nervous, make sure you have a support network around you. I’m very proud that the Find Your Vibe Business Club community is really tight-knit. We’re happy for you to practice going live in the private Facebook group, share marketing material for feedback or try out an idea you have in the monthly Launch Pad session.

Step #3 - Troubleshoot

Take time to reflect. Note down how you are progressing and the areas that need improvement so you know what marketing activities to keep and what marketing activities to amend. If you’re unsure, again you can reach out to the Find Your Vibe Business Club community. We have a mastermind session each month dedicated to working through member’s problems together. We also have a content creation session where you’ll get some inspiration about what to do with your content from the group.

Step #4 - Keep track

You, your business and the world around you are always evolving. So marketing your business your way is never one and done. It’s useful to have regular moments when you check in with how marketing is going, how you feel about it and anything you want to change to maintain its effectiveness for you and your audience. That’s the power of journaling. You regularly check in with yourself instead of just going through the motions.

A few prompts for you to start exploring how you feel about your marketing right now;

What comes up for you when you think about marketing your business? Consider any physical or emotional responses as well as thoughts.

List all the ways you currently market your business. How many of these do you do because you “should”?

How effective is your current marketing for your business?

If you would like to join the Find Your Vibe Business Club to support your discovery of what it looks like for you to market your business your way and hit your goals, you’d be very welcome.

If you feel like you need a bit more of a shake-up, two heads are better than one! Book one of my individual coaching programmes and we’ll take a closer look at your business. I’ll ask the questions you need to answer to find your way forward, stepping into the woman you want to be