I Hate Marketing: If You've Ever Said These Words, This Is for You

Aug 06, 2022

Read time: 6.5 minutes

Today I'm going to I'm going to show you how you can actually start to enjoy marketing.

Every week I speak to people who say "I hate marketing" or "I don't like sales".

BUT THEY WANT MORE CLIENTS!

They want their business to grow and feel more stable so they can have freedom over their time and feel confident in their ability to provide for themselves and their family. They want to impact more people without having to worry about money.

I'm sure you can see the conflict here.

You can't grow your business and help anyone if no one knows who you are. Plus, the absolute best way to never have to do any "hard sales" is becoming better at getting your message out there so people are pre-sold on you and what you do.

Unfortunately, many just label marketing as a dreaded thing they're "supposed to do" but avoid because it feels draining. They never learn how to make marketing enjoyable by doing it in a way that feels aligned for them.

Marketing feels painful and soul-sucking

You got into this work because you feel a calling to help others, not do marketing.
You have zero interest in doing any pushy marketing and sure heck don't want to feel like you're pressuring anyone.
You don't want to look egotistical and maybe even worry about whether anyone cares about what you have to say.
You've seen thousands of examples of gross marketing that's manipulative and trying to make you feel bad about yourself so you'll buy something (that you likely don't need). You never ever want to be like that!

That leaves you have two choices:

Being content with the amount of clients you have (and for you, that might mean only doing this as a hobby).
Figuring out how to do marketing in a way that both generates demand for your services AND feels authentic for you.

I'm going to assume you fall into the second group. In which case, there's hope. I'm going to show you how you can overcomes these challenges, step by step.

1. Change Your Perspective Around Marketing by Changing Your Words

Words are important. They shape our perspective of the world and the emotions we attach to it. If you're a coach, you know this. You help your clients catch themselves and reframe the way they say things. Follow the steps I'm laying out for you here and you could actually start believing that "you don't HAVE to do marketing, you GET to do marketing", because you'll start enjoying it.

A marketing word that can go f#*k itself? Tripwire.

A tripwire is a trigger for an explosive device to kill other humans in war. Is this really the kind of energy you want to be putting into your business? Last week I heard someone say that they use "trust tripwires", as if combining a killing device with trust, a word that signifies truth and connection, somehow makes it better.

Another word you should probably ditch? Leads.

It's dehumanizing. They're not leads, they're people. People with dreams and aspirations, people with fears and worries, people with feelings, people who've experienced disappointment, shame, joy, and excitement, people who've had their heart broken, people who are trying to be a good parent, and people building a business so they can provide for people they love.

Don't reduce these incredible humans to being "leads in your funnel."

You're not a big faceless corporate entity peddling a commodity like dish detergent to people you'll never meet. You're doing work from your heart with clients you care about to help them transform their lives, their businesses, their health, and their relationships. So maybe you should even ditch the word marketing because of the terrible associations with it.

You'll rarely find me using the word publicly.

Instead, I'll talk about amplifying your message, getting the word out, and attracting Dream Clients. What happens when you amplify your message: you get to serve and impact more people.

2. Shift the Way You Feel About Marketing by Evolving Your Understanding Of It

The best kind of marketing is empathetic.

It's not about you, it's about them. And like good coaching, it starts by making people feel seen and understood. It seeks permission before advising anyone on what to do.

If you're awesome when you're working with someone 1:1 , leading a small group, or on a stage, your goal with marketing is to simply allow more people to experience you.

That's it.

When you're sharing a message from a place of empathy with this frame of mind, marketing becomes about coaching others. It creates connection. You're actually serving others with content.

These are all comments I've got on posts:

How freaking long would it take you to share an idea or observation with 250 people individually? Days? Weeks? But you can publish a thought online and it easily gets seen by 20, 50, or 250 people.

This lets you serve so many more people.

It's leveraging your time as your message gets received by others regardless of whether you're online or not. People are receiving your message while you're spending time with your family and even while you're sleeping.

3. Commit to Publishing 45 Pieces of Crappy Content in the Next 15 Days

If you start changing your perspective around getting the word out by changing your words, shifting how you feel about amplifying your message by evolving your understanding of marketing, and commit to publishing 45 pieces of crappy content in the next 15 days, your life will change.

I guarantee it.

It's one thing to SAY you'll start looking at something differently, it's a whole other to start TAKING ACTION. Real learning and real change happens when you take massive messy action.

So in the next 15 days, I invite you to commit to publishing 45 pieces of crappy content. Now you might be thinking "that's an insane amount!". That's the point!

When you commit to publishing this much you don't have time to overthink or try to and make it "perfect" or "polished". And if you do find your inner critic creeping in and wanting to judge what you're putting out there's no need to judge yourself as the goal is to publish crappy content.

It doesn't need to be brilliant or ground breaking. The bar is set at crappy. Your goal is to publish crap, lots of it.

I was talking to a client last week who had an idea for what they thought might be a "silly post". I encouraged them to put it out there and they got a message from someone the next day thanking them, saying it was "exactly what they needed".

What counts as a piece of content?

Anything you post, publish, upload, or send. It can be stories on IG, or posts on LinkedIn, an email to your list, or a post on your blog. It can be a video on YouTube, TikTok, or FB. It can be a picture of the tree in your yard, a thought you had in the shower, or even what you had for dinner. For the next 15 days, ignore any "rules, frameworks, and shoulds" you've previously heard about content and marketing, including from me!

Your goal is publish 45 crappy pieces of content.

What's going to happen when you do this? If you struggle with needing things to be "perfect", it'll help you let go of your need for perfectionism. If you're wondering if anyone cares about what you have to say, you'll find that people are gladly listening. And if your challenge is coming up with ideas, you'll find that the floodgates of ideas will open up.

The best way to get good at something?

Do more of it. And when you start getting good, it'll come easier to you and you'll start seeing tangible results. When THAT happens, you'll enjoy doing it even more.

__________________________________________________

When you're ready, here's two ways I can help you:

1. Get my best-selling book, Die Before They Do, here

2. Inquire to work with me 1:1 here

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