I cringe when I see business coaches publish blog posts about how marketing definitely isn’t your problem when your sales are low {or nonexistent}.
These are the same people that have thousands of people on their mailing lists and are constantly writing guest posts and doing interviews.
The problem isn’t always marketing. Sometimes, your product isn’t salable yet, because you just started creating jewelry or ceramics or art—and it isn’t that good. Sometimes, you haven’t been doing it long enough. Sometimes, your business plan just won’t work.
But, often, it is a marketing problem:
- You aren’t getting your product or service in front of your target market {aka, the people who will actually buy it}.
- You don’t have an email newsletter. Or, you have an email newsletter, but there’s only five people subscribed and you never send out emails.
- Your sales page or product description needs a major rewrite.
- On the scale of unfocused and blurry to professional, your pictures land somewhere in the: looks like my eight-year-old niece took them while also licking cotton candy off her fingers category. {Yep, your pictures are part of marketing. You use them to try to promote and sell your products, right? Thought so.}
- You still think social media is only for hoodlum teens.
- You’ve got a blog, but the last time you posted Bush was president.
- When you launch a new product line, you don’t announce it to anyone. You just add the products to your shop and hope people notice.
- The only to-do on your marketing plan: pray for sales.
- You’ve never written a guest post or been interviewed.
- Your prices reflect poorly on your brand.
- You haven’t made connections within your niche, so no one—other than you and your mom—is promoting your stuff.
- Your website doesn’t look professional. It’s cluttered, you’ve picked generic fonts, the pictures are dark and blurry, and your header is a mess.
Let’s pretend that you have an awesome, unique product. Then, the problem probably lies in the marketing sphere.
From what I’ve observed by working with hundreds of creative entrepreneurs, if you don’t know how to market your business well, you’ll have trouble succeeding in this jam-packed online world.
Maybe it didn’t matter when there weren’t thousands of websites, blogs and shops competing for attention, but now, you’re just one tiny seahorse in a vast ocean. You can’t afford to sit back and wait for potential customers to find you. That works 0.001% of the time. {Yes, I just made up that statistic, but, I’m confident in saying that it hardly ever works. Seriously.}
Oprah’s not going to call if you she never hears of you.
That magazine that you’d do anything short of eating a pound of bacon grease to get featured in isn’t going to email you about doing a feature if they don’t know who you are.
And, that really popular blogger isn’t likely to just run across your Etsy shop when there are hundreds of thousands of shops vying for recognition.
If you don’t learn about marketing and put what you learn into action, you’re going to be waiting around to reach your sales goals for a very long time.
Instead, you’ve got to get out there and let people know who you are, what you sell and why they should buy it. You’ve got evoke emotion and get people interested in your story, so they tell others about your brand.
Are you convinced yet?
If yes, AWESOME! You’re a super smarty-pants. If you want to learn more, I’m excited to share Marketing for Creatives, a digital book that teaches you how to spread the word about your business and boost your sales, with you. The newly updated and revised version {over 40% new!} will be available soon!
{Make sure you’re on the mailing list–upper right corner–if you want to be notified as soon as Marketing for Creatives is available.}
If no, good luck with that. In a couple years, come back and let me know how not marketing goes for you.
I love love love this post (and your boots in the photo). I loved the first edition of Marketing for Creatives, so I definitely look forward to the new version!
Thanks Kim! I so appreciate your support!
I got those boots six years ago and they’re still like new. I can’t believe it considering how much I wear them in the fall and winter.
Awesome advice, April! No matter what we’re selling or what we’re providing, we’re all marketers first.
Thanks Sage! 🙂
The book sounds like exactly what I need! I have some other help with marketing but I can’t possibly learn enough, and a book targeted at creatives is exactly what I’m looking for. I can’t wait to get it 🙂
Awesome! I’m so excited to put the finishing touches on it and release it!
Great post as always April! I’m feeling blessed that I have a degree in marketing which I actually use to promote my business and make sure that my web design clients are using their site as an effective marketing tool. Who knew back in 1994 I’d be applying the same marketing principles online? Of course, things have changed A LOT but I think you still need to remember the basics of marketing.
LOVE the boots! I was totally studying your outfit because I just went out and bought a black pair and a brown pair of boots for this winter. So excited! 🙂
That’s sooooo awesome that you have a background in marketing! I didn’t take ANY business classes in college or grad school, so I’ve gotten all my knowledge from reading a TON of books and blog posts, experimenting, taking online classes like B-School, and working with creatives.
Thank you! This is one of my favorite outfits because the dress is made out of jersey cotton so it’s soooo soft. Plus, I love the bow…I’m a bow kinda girl.
I love this list. I’ve got some great ideas and others that have kind have been niggling at me popped out (website redesign anyone?)
I’ve sent some work into Stampington recently. For me, that’s how I discovered some of my favourite artists. And it felt like an organic way to get myself in front of people (less icky than some marketing feels).
I also think it’s really important to experiment with your marketing. What works great for one person, may not work for you. Or maybe what you try means less sales – eek. But it’s all part of figuring it out. There is no magic recipe or guarantee – you’ve just gotta have a play with a few things and see what works. And you also need to do what feels right for you – it’s supposed to be fun!
Thanks Coral!
YAY!!!! That’s sooooo exciting! Please share when you hear back from them.
So true about experimenting…especially if you see something work for someone in a completely different niche. It might work for you really well because it’s something new OR it might fail.
I’ve never seen someone get less sales/customer prospects from experimenting with marketing techniques…except the ones that are used car salesy. If you’re choosing something that feel authentic to you and your brand, I think it’s always worth trying.
Yes, it’s supposed to be fun! I love that you added that, because so many people start with, “I hate marketing…”
This list is so great. I really feel like I’ll I’ve been doing is marketing lately– trying to bring people in versus creating. Now that I know this is normal, I feel better haha
I think I know what I need to hone in on now, thanks April!
Crafturday.com
Every business owner needs to spend some time on marketing, but I think it’s just as important that you make time for your creative work. If you don’t, it’s much easier to get discouraged and burnt out. 🙂
But, you’re not alone….I hear that from A LOT of creatives!
Girl your honesty just makes me laugh! 🙂
Thanks Stephanie! 🙂 I try!
All amazing advice! Marketing is definitely my headache, but I’m working hard on it. 🙂
Everybody starts with nothing–the more you work on it, the better it’ll get!
I was just talking to my husband about this subject this morning,Cannot wait to buy the ebook I need marketing help!!
Woohoo! Sounds like perfect timing! 🙂
Yes, yes, yes. Need to work on all of the above. Thanks for all of your words of wisdom.
From a fellow Hokie (well my husband is actually the Hokie).
Hey Carol!
I know it can be completely overwhelming to look at a list like the one above and think you have to do everything at once. You don’t! You don’t have to master social media and blogging and email newsletters all in the same week–or even the same month.
Pick one or two things to work on at a time and go from there. You’ll see each small step you take will help you get where you want your business to be.