Episode 25: Why Every Small Business Owner Needs to Embrace Their Inner Marketing Hater
Do you find yourself squirming when the term marketing comes up? Are you someone who “hates” marketing? If so, this episode is for you. In this quick tip episode Fiona goes into why small business owners can sometimes feel negatively toward marketing and how you can overcome this.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction [0:54]
Passion. Purpose. Profit. Sidestep the Hustle and Build a Business You Love [1:27]
Set your marketing hater free [4:13]
What is it? [5:42]
What does your inner marketing hater tell you? [7:09]
How does it impact your small business? [8:26]
Conclusion [11:02]
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Episode transcript:
Welcome back to My Daily Business Coach podcast. You're listening to episode 25 and I am super excited this week. I cannot take the smile off my face because my first published business book comes out and it comes out physically into stores, into shops. If you are listening to this in real time, my book is literally coming out tomorrow in the bookshops all over the world as well as online. And it has been online for a while now and lots of people have been preordering it. Thank you so much.
But yeah, it's just so exciting to think it's actually going to be in a bookshop or in a department store. And people who I don't know, who are not my friends and family might actually pick it up and buy it. And I'm really excited, but I would love to also ask you a favour. So, yes, I'm going to ask something of you, the person listening to this right now. I am based in Melbourne, Australia, and we are still in lockdown stage 4 because of coronavirus, which means that I'm not allowed to go to the shops. I'm allowed to venture out for one hour a day, five kilometres from my home. I live in a beautiful part of Melbourne, but it actually doesn't have any many shops. It doesn't have anything around it much. So within that five kilometres, there is like a local supermarket. There's not even a petrol station. So I'm definitely not near a lot of bookshops that will be stocking this. So I would love it if you are not in Melbourne and you are not in part of the world that's on lockdown right now. And you happen to come across a physical copy of my book, which is called Passion. Purpose. Profit. Sidestep the Hustle and Build a Business You Love.
If you come across that, I would love if you could snap a photo and share it with me. Because, yeah, I'm not getting to do that. I have one advance copy that's in my house. But yeah, I definitely am not seeing a stack of them in a bookshop. So if you come across that and or even even better, if you actually have a bookshop and you have the book stocked, thank you so much. I would love it if you could share a photo with me. And you can either do that by tagging at @mydailybusinesscoach, like on Instagram story or a post or emailing it to me at hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. Or you can send me an Instagram D.M. or anything else like that. This is such a huge milestone for me personally. It's been on my list of things that I've wanted to achieve for many, many, many years. And I am a little bit bummed that I actually can't see a copy in a physical store. But I also know that, you know, in the grand scheme of things, this is really a first world problem. And I'm more than happy to stay at home right now for the betterment of our community and our world at large. But yeah, if you do see it, I'd love you to share it with me.
All right. Let's get onto today's tip episode. Now, this is a tip that I use in all of my marketing workshops, whether they're private or public. And it's actually something I mentioned in the book as well. And it's something I've had to use myself to even do the work that I do. And it's also something that very few people talk about. We don't really own up to it. So let's get stuck into today's tip episodes so I can explain what the tip actually is.
So today's tip is to set your marketing hater free. Now, you might be listening to this in like, oh, I don't hate marketing, but let's not pretend, you know, let's not pretend that you don't have an inner marketing hater. I have worked in marketing for close to 20 years from writing ad copy through to working on huge budget campaigns through to setting up digital funnels or writing all sorts of, you know, website copy or branding or promo material like brochures and stuff like that. All sorts of stuff. And I know that marketing, just even the term, is something that can divide people. People can love or hate it. And I'd say that a lot of small business owners, particularly those who've never worked in marketing or branding, tend to be on the hating side. I mean, I can literally see it when I meet people and they're like, what do you do?
And I talk about what I do. And they're like, "Ah, I see you're a marketer."
And definitely there are some people out there that do make marketing look bad. But yeah, there is kind of maybe an incorrect opinion of marketing that is out there. And so today's tip is really about spending a little bit of time to consider if you have a marketing hater and it's okay and to consider your inner marketing hater in a little bit more detail. So why do they exist and how might you set them free and what would that do for your business?
So let's talk a little bit more about what is a marketing hater. And, you know, that's a term that I use. I don't know if it's a real term, but that's a term that I use. So when I'm talking about a marketing hater, I'm really talking about the inner voice that hears the word marketing say, someone says to you, "Oh, you really need to market your business more." Or "have you tried marketing?" And you immediately your inner hater responds with all sorts of reasons why you shouldn't do that, why you shouldn't touch marketing or why marketing is just like the worst thing in the world. And it could respond with all sorts of things like - Marketing is lame. Marketing is unethical. Selling is for sell outs. Marketing is total B.S. Marketers prey on people's vulnerabilities. If I'm good enough, people will just find me. I don't need marketing.
I hear that one all the time. All the time. I could also hear things like "I can't market my business because I'm an introvert or marketing kills my brand's credibility. Marketing is expensive. Marketing doesn't work. Marketing is too confusing. Marketing is for people without souls. I hate marketing because I hate technology or marketing is like being a used car salesman. Nobody trusts it. Marketing spies on people. Marketing is scam me. Marketing won't work for my type of business.".
So have you ever thought those things? And it's totally okay. You know, we are in a safe space here. It is okay for you to admit it. Just even in your own mind that you've thought any of those things. It is very common. I work with a lot of people who have never worked in marketing or have spent thousands with agencies or they've done these really fluffy courses that are being sold or they've done you just a whole, you know, eight week program or other things that they come at the end of their life. I actually don't know anything different. And then they feel like, oh, I was marketed to and I fell for it. And marketing just doesn't work. Anyway, the hater just gets stronger. So have you thought any of those things or maybe you think that marketing is all about selling out or it's just posting selfies 24/7 to gain followers? Or maybe you hate the way the other brands market themselves and you don't believe that there's another option for you.
So really take a minute and listen to this episode and really have a think about what does your inner marketing hater tell you? And what are the blocks or the beliefs that you have when it comes to marketing, marketing your small business, marketing yourself? And where do these come from? You know, how have they served you in your business or in your career today?
We just really want to spend time considering any negative feelings that you have around marketing and thinking about have these really helped you in your business? Or if these things, these thoughts, these inner hater, you know, in a marketing hate of kind of beliefs really set you back so kept you small, kept you from standing up, showing up, pitching yourself, sending an email to an editor. Anything like that. How have they impacted your business? Perhaps negatively as well. And acknowledging that this stuff exists in your mind is sometimes the first step to being able to use marketing in a great way, in a way to grow your business in a way that feels aligned with your values and aligned to who you are.
So that is kind of what I really wanted to get to in today's quick tip episode is do you have a marketing hater? What are the kind of things that your marketing hater tells you? And then what sort of impact has that had on your ability to scale and grow your business? Now, if you need help with marketing your business and you haven't already listened to it, you have to go back and cheque out last week's coaching episode. That's a longer episode, which was all about what marketing is and what isn't and how to measure. If your marketing is working, I think that's one of the biggest mistakes. People throw all this money at it and then they don't have a way to measure. Is my objective set out? Or even worse, they don't they don't have an objective for their marketing. They're just doing it because they think they have to. That is Episode 24 of My Daily Business Coach Podcast. I will link to it in the show notes. But like I said, that's a longer coaching episode and it really goes into what marketing is, what it isn't, and a quick way that you can measure if your marketing is actually working.
If you did listen to that episode, thank you very much. And if you still want some help, I actually have an online course, which is not fluff, which is actual 'here are the actual proven things that work', and I've been doing it for almost 20 years and that is called marketing for your small business. And it goes into a lot of detail on all of the different parts of marketing. And it makes you really confident that you know how to set up a marketing plan. You know what your marketing strategy is. You know how to really measure if things are working. And you also understand how marketing supports your goals rather than just being this ad hoc thing that you do every now and then. So that course is called really simply Marketing For Your Small Business. And you can find that at marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com or you can DM me and I'll send you the link as well. And again, I'll share that link in the show notes.
So that is it for today's tip episode. I hope you do spend some time thinking about exactly what you don't like about marketing, even if it's just unconscious kind of beliefs that you have and how those thoughts have perhaps held you back from really growing your business. Marketing is not an evil thing. It can be one of the absolute best ways to engage your audience, create strong relationships with the people that will most benefit from whatever it is that you're selling. And ultimately, marketing helps build brand loyalty.
So, as always, you can find the links and a transcript from today's episode over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/25 as this is episode 25. And to make sure you don't miss out on any of these tip episodes, my longer coaching episodes or my interviews with amazing small business owners across the globe, please hit subscribe. That way you get episodes and all the business insights within those episodes as soon as they drop. That is it. Again, if you see my book in bookshops, please send me a picture. I'm in little old lockdown here in Melbourne. And yeah, I would just it would just make my day to be able to see the book in an actual shop. So thank you. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
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If you come across that and or even even better, if you actually have a bookshop and you have the book stocked, thank you so much. I would love it if you could share a photo with me. And you can either do that by tagging at @mydailybusinesscoach, like on Instagram story or a post or emailing it to me at hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. Or you can send me an Instagram D.M. or anything else like that.
So, as always, you can find the links and a transcript from today's episode over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/25
To make sure you don't miss out on any of these tip episodes, my longer coaching episodes or my interviews with amazing small business owners across the globe, please hit subscribe.
Thanks for listening to My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you want to get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach.
