Improve Your Marketing by Changing One Thing

By C.J. Hayden, Contributing Editor

One of the worst marketing mistakes you can make as an independent professional is to create a marketing plan that consists of activities you don't enjoy and aren't good at. There's no boss looking over your shoulder, so who's going to make you do things you don't want to? It's much more likely that a plan you find distasteful and difficult simply won't be executed.

Professionals often tell me they don't like marketing or selling, but many times I find that what they dislike are the tactics they've been trying to use. A simple change of technique can frequently do wonders to turn around an anti-marketing attitude. The best marketing and sales tactics are the ones you will perform. If a marketing activity makes use of your natural talents and preferences, you'll be much more likely to find it enjoyable and easy to do, and you'll be more willing to do it.

Make Use of "Natural Selection"

One of the best ways to determine what might work well for you in marketing is to pay attention to the type of activities you naturally do in other areas of your life. For example, a client of mine has been keeping a personal journal and writing regular letters to friends and family since college. For her, launching a blog to market her business was a natural choice.