We Hate Marketing: Here's Why
Episode 643: Show Notes
The current market is shifting. There’s no doubt about it. What do you think the future of marketing looks like online? Maybe we’re at the next stage of marketing, and the next iteration hasn’t revealed itself yet. A lot of the things that people consider ‘marketing’ may not even be helpful for the majority of service-based business owners. For the majority of you, marketing is a huge distraction! It’s also an ego-killer.
Watching other businesses on social media can lead us to feel despondent about our skills and what we have to offer. It can lead us to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Vanity metrics aren’t helpful, but is traditional marketing even helpful? Can it help to an extent? Sure. But is it even necessary? For a lot of people, the answer is no. If you’re passionate about marketing, go for it! But what we suggest is to disconnect the line between social media, and sales. The role of Instagram and Facebook is changing, and fading out for small businesses, in the sense that we know it.
If you’re a service-based business provider and if you’re going to do anything, post a few times a month so that clients can see that your business is active. It’s not that we’re against marketing, we both come from a marketing background. It’s just that we believe that there is an easier way! There is a way to be mentally healthier by investing in relationships, beyond marketing.
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The misconception that "marketing" has gotten over the years (it doesn't actually encompass what you think it does)
There’s a misconception that the more followers you have, the more successful your business is. That is simply not true. Relationship building, marketing, connectors are all in the same family, but they’re not the same thing! They are related, but they’re not closely related. Marketing is promoting or selling. Relationship building, selling, and converting, are a consequence of that, but that’s not the goal. If you start first with the goal to care, serve, and be there for someone, the other things can and will come. Sometimes a connection can take years to form, and bear amazing fruit in the future!
We’re not saying that every connection has to take years to benefit you. Some of them will come into effect within less than an afternoon. What we are saying is, consider why you’re doing what you’re doing.
What to let go of in order to get more time back to spend on what matters
You need to separate your worth from your vanity metrics! The only reason you’re still spending time on something that doesn’t work for you, and doesn’t work for businesses like yours, is to feel better about yourself! You might think that you don’t have the time to build relationships, but you might be surprised at how much time you actually have once you stop doing things that aren’t working for you.
We are so often surprised by the power of referrals. We are equally surprised by how often our clients tend to disqualify them! We thought that more exposure would change us, and our lives, and although our podcast has over a million downloads, it’s not exposure that’s made the change, but money! We would rather have you focus on what will make you more wealth, and if in the process you have more people following along, that’s amazing. That’s why we keep asking if you’ve truly done the work of disconnecting your vanity metrics.
Our Instagram, realistically hasn’t grown in two years. Our email list hasn’t grown in two years. Our business is more than double. What would happen to you if you spent less time on marketing, and more on building relationships with amazing potential clients? We realized that we had to slow down and do things differently so that we could truly show up for our clients in the Incubator, knowing their business inside out.
A small business stat that will make you furious
What matters more than followers? Impact! When our clients tell us that they have reached their goals, that’s what is life-changing for them, and us. We made a decision that we wanted to work with fewer people, and build deeper relationships with them, with impact and that has revolutionized our business. How can you continue to do what you’re doing, and make some changes to refine what you’ve got going on to focus on what’s important to you?
White space is so necessary for revolutionary ideas to happen! Often, when clients come into our world, we help them to cut areas out of their lives to free up their time, be creative, and do what they do best. What if there was a version of reality where you were less stressed, more yourself, with clients that love what you are doing? We got some pushback when we said that we don’t love marketing. People say that’s how you stay small. Most of you would just like to make good money. A small business can only apply for a grant if it is already making a million. That means a whole bunch of people are left out. 98% of women-led businesses are smaller than a million, which means that those grants are all going to privileged people!
Beyond that, what’s most important is to ask what it is that you want. Maybe you only want to make enough to never have to return to a traditional job again? Maybe you want to be the breadwinner and provide for your household. That can all change over time. We represent women who want to create security for their families. It’s not about the size of the business, it’s about the quality of life it provides. So if you’re into that, and you want to be around other people who are into that, the Incubator is for you.
Quote This
Referrals often stay longer, pay more, and give you other referrals, so why are you so worried about getting something else?
Highlights
The misconception that "marketing" has gotten over the years (it doesn't actually encompass what you think it does) [0:04:22.1]
What to let go of in order to get more time back to spend on what matters [0:22:40.1]
A small business stat that will make you furious [0:29:35.1]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Marketing, Social Media, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Relationships, Referrals
