Common Marketing Practices That Are Actually Holding You Back

When you start a business, you have to learn so many new things. One of those is marketing, because of course you want to learn how to grow your business. Learning how to be effective at marketing your business can be overwhelming, to say the least. While deep diving into marketing with Google searches, mirroring what companies you admire do, and even courses are a great way to get your feet wet, for many business owners it becomes quicksand to their business growth.

These methods help you understand the basics and get your feet wet when it comes to marketing your business. Where things get sticky is when business owners search for a blueprint based on what people or selling has worked for them, or continue to apply the same strategy again, and again without any changes. 

Let’s take a look at some common marketing terms and how they may be holding you back as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Identifying your Ideal client. If I have seen one ideal client exercise I have seen a million, and I bet you have too! An ideal client is a person who has the problem you solve. Most of the exercises focus on filling in the details of what your ideal client likes to do, where they shop, and so on. But, they never explain why you need to know this information, which is the important part.  

The purpose of the ideal client exercise is to get more specific about who this person is so you can easily write content that speaks to this person’s pain points. 

Here’s how these exercises can work against you.

Holding on so tight to your ideal client profile that you turn away the people that you are attracting to your business. I’ve had clients who felt completely defeated because they weren’t signing clients and because the people that did want to work with them didn’t match their ideal client profile. Where you really learn about who your client is and how to understand their struggle with the problem that you solve through doing the work. When you hold on too tight to your idea of who you should help you aren’t allowing yourself or your business to grow. Most people change who their ideal client is and you are self-sabotaging your financial success because how to serve looks different than you thought. 

Niching in means getting specific about what you do and who you do it for. People want to invest in an expert at solving their problem and they want to know that you understand their struggle. If you wanted to convert your backyard into a garden that would feed your family, you could consult with your local nursery, but hiring someone who has this type of knowledge and has done this for their own family will make you feel confident that you are getting the right support in solving your problem. 

Here’s how niching in can work against you. 

In the example above, the nursery supplies people with the tools and information they need to garden, care for, and beautify their outdoor spaces. If you wanted to start a garden you could get the necessary items and information to do so. But, if you wanted to create a garden that produces enough food year-round to sustain your family the amount of knowledge you need is going to require a different level of support. This is why niching in on your expertise and the specific problem you solve will attract clients. Most people think of niching as who you serve, which can lead to getting stuck in your ideal client profile. Instead, think of it as getting specific about what problem you solve. Just like with ideal clients, your niche can change. Maybe you start out as a web designer for solo entrepreneurs, and niche in even more to websites, and sales pages for coaches. Focusing on how you can serve best, rather than who you want to serve will always create more sales. 

Visibility is the most misunderstood element of marketing. This is where most people put in all of their efforts because the idea is to play the numbers game. The thought is that the more eyes you get on your business the more sales you will have. It’s just not true. I have had clients who make 6-figures with a small following and clients who have over 200k followers have very little sales. 

First, you have to nail your messaging which includes niching and your ideal client. You have to be clear about the problem that you solve, who you solve it for, and why your work matters and you have to ask people to work with you. This is what marketing and sales is all about.  If 1 millon people see your content, but they don’t know why they should hire you because your message isn’t clear and you never ask for a sale, they won’t. 

Here’s how your beliefs about visibility can work against you.  

I see so many entrepreneurs spend 80% of their time busting their butts for likes on social media because they believe that this will get them more sales. Being everywhere and doing everything is guaranteed to get you slow results. Think about it like this. If you want to sink a stone throw a boulder, not a bucket of small rocks. Success in marketing come through testing and tweaking a strategy that you like until it works, then stacking on another strategy for even more growth. Not pursuing every strategy that works for someone else and beating yourself up when you see little results. 

If you are ready to truly master marketing your business grab you seat to this masterclass, How to Create a Rock Solid Business, so you have the trend proof foundation you need for growth!