“Thank you, Marcia. You make me feel so brave!”

I’m Marcia Hoeck, and I take the scary out of running a small business, for values-based coaches, consultants, and creatives like you — I fill in with the stuff you didn’t learn in school. The quote above is from one of my clients. [Read the full article.…]

Why You Feel Icky About Marketing

by Marcia Hoeck on January 12, 2012

.

 

 

Q.

“I don’t really know how to do marketing for my own business — I avoid it because it makes me feel uncomfortable. I’ve always gotten business by referral in the past, but I can’t count on that for regular business anymore. How can I start to effectively market myself without feeling like I’m being pushy, which then makes me apologetic and ultimately ineffective?”

A.

This is a really great question, and it has got to be one of the things I have to reinforce most in my clients — the real reason you owe it to yourself and your clients to market your business. Most small businesses have a problem with this . . . even marketing firms who create marketing campaigns for clients feel some degree of “ickiness” about promoting themselves.

Why you feel icky about marketing

First of all, why does the thought of marketing your company make you uncomfortable? It’s because marketing has gotten a bum rap. It’s all those years of dinner-time telemarketers and used car salesmen and people pushing products and services on you that you don’t want or need, and the strong desire you have to not be like those people and/or companies.

Well, you don’t have to be. [Read the full article.…]

Do your clients truly value your work, allowing you to charge what you’re worth, and trusting you to do more for them?

You may think you’re describing your work’s true value in conversations with clients, when you’re really not. They may not be getting it.

If you don’t think they place enough significance on what you do, it may be because you’re not communicating well enough — and if that’s the case, you can’t blame them for not knowing.

It’s not your clients, it’s you.

This takes digging and thinking and putting some meat on the bones of how you talk to clients. It may be more you, ahem, than them.

Take a look at these five ways you may be talking about your work that [Read the full article.…]

People Don’t Buy What You Do, They Buy Why You Do It

December 30, 2011

This TED video was sent to me by one of my readers, Kay Rosburg of Dever Designs. She said it distilled for them the way they need to market themselves to potential clients, and that it touches on some of the things I articulate in my webinars and materials, just presented differently.
It’s a fabulous video, [...]

Read the full article →

I Only Do This Once A Year

November 30, 2011

It’s my Holiday Coaching Spree!
And I only do it once a year.
For the past 2 years, during the month of December, I’ve opened up my time to give complimentary Laser Coaching sessions to people on my email list — as many as I could fit in.

Last year, I added low-cost Holiday Coaching to up [...]

Read the full article →

Be More Productive: Stop Doing Things That Don’t Benefit Your Business

November 22, 2011

One of the biggest challenges we face as business owners is spending our time well. Time is a non-renewable resource — once you use it up, it’s gone. And you know as the captain of your own ship, how you spend that time definitely impacts the success of your business.
As well as how much money [...]

Read the full article →

Why You’re Not a Very Good Business Person

November 8, 2011

 
 
Business Conundrum #34
Q. “I am very good at what I do, and when things are going well, I feel very good about my business. But I don’t think I ‘do business’ well — I dislike the money stuff, I’m not good about putting myself out there, and I don’t like dealing with the business details. [...]

Read the full article →

How Often Do You Need to Get Your Message Out There?

November 7, 2011

Consistency, consistency, consistency.
Have you heard of the Rule of 151? It relates to how many times people need to hear something before it enters their conscious minds, before they pay attention to it. There are lots of different opinions on the exact numbers, but this is what some of the studies say:
It takes 7 to [...]

Read the full article →

How to Develop a Team of Good People

October 18, 2011

 
 
.
Business Conundrum #33
Q. “I’ve got enough work that I need to subcontract parts of it out. I thought I was going to really enjoy it when I got to this point, and I do like being able to choose the parts of each project that I want to work on, and [...]

Read the full article →

Are You Tired of Big Talkers?

October 3, 2011

I am.
One of the things that always used to make me feel small was Talking Big. Lots of people do it, and I used to, too. No more. I had to stop because I didn’t know what I was talking about, even to myself.
You know what I mean. I define “Talking Big” when someone says [...]

Read the full article →

Perfectionism is Really Bad

September 27, 2011

 
 
PowerSmarts #32

Perfectionism is really bad.
There. I said it.
When I’m talking with a bright and talented client and we’re poking around, trying to get some forward momentum in their business, I’m finding, more and more, that there’s one thing that can stop them more firmly than any brick wall. It can keep them from being [...]

Read the full article →

Help! I Don’t Know How to Market Myself!

September 15, 2011

 
 
.
Business Conundrum #31
Q. “I admit I don’t know how to market myself. I need to get my message out there, and I don’t know where to start. It seems these days there are so many choices – you have to have a killer website, you have to be networking, you have to be doing Facebook [...]

Read the full article →

Why Is It So Difficult to Talk About Your Difference?

September 13, 2011

I come from a creative firm background. So I bleed for creative firms. When my creative firm clients can’t talk about their difference and value, I feel it, too.
When I talk to creative firms about what makes them different, there’s a lot of hesitation. Because we do so little to market ourselves and rely on [...]

Read the full article →

What to Do If You’ve Got More Work Than You Can Handle

August 15, 2011

Business Conundrum #30
Q.  “I don’t have any problem attracting clients and getting work — my problem is that I’ve got too much work. I’m working way too many hours during the week and on weekends, and I don’t get to spend the time with my family that I’d like to. It’s just not fun anymore [...]

Read the full article →

All You Really Need are 1000 True Fans

August 1, 2011

Go and read Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans post, if you haven’t already. This article has been around for awhile but the wisdom is clear and focused and evergreen: you don’t need to have a big hit or sell to millions or even thousands. All you need are 1000 true fans.
And that stuff you hear [...]

Read the full article →

Should You Fake It Until You Make It?

July 29, 2011

I was doing research for a webinar about confidence a few weeks ago and came across the following snippet on someone’s blog. I have to tell you, it brought back some bad memories for me. I’m not going to credit the excerpt to anyone, even though I’ve reproduced it word for word, for two [...]

Read the full article →

How to Hunt for the Perfect Client

July 19, 2011

Business Conundrum #29
Q. “I’ve been in graphic design in one form or another for years – in-house in a corporate environment, as a freelancer, and most recently, another variation of my own business. My challenge is finding the clients who value design – it seems today, most clients just want something done quickly for a [...]

Read the full article →

Work “On” Your Business

July 18, 2011

Today’s a “Parse” day for me — I’ve got a guest post running on the blog for designers created by Jennifer and Ken Visocky O’Grady and presented by HOW magazine.
Here’s a bit to whet your whistle:
Work “On” Your Business

“I’ve spent the entire past year interviewing, talking to my clients, and studying the landscape, and I [...]

Read the full article →