If you’re like most of the people I’ve worked with, you also had a gigantic learning curve when you came into this business.  You may have had some experience in marketing, but you weren’t an expert by any stretch of the imagination.  When you first started out, I’m sure the task of learning marketing was very daunting.  Did you ever think you’d get as far as you have?   I’m sure you’ve come a long way!

I’ll bet you always have some sort of book or download you are reading.  You probably subscribe to the best marketing guru e-mail newsletter lists as well.  Is your bookshelf full of marketing and business books?  How about those binders you’ve received at different marketing events?  Are those sitting in your office as well?  All that studying has probably paid off in some successful launches that have gotten your business where it is today.  I’ll bet you credit one or two marketing experts with your success.  You did your homework and it paid off.  Congratulations!

Are you 3 or more years into your business and still hogging marketing information?

So, when are you done with your creative way of going through marketing school?

Did you switch gears at some point and have to go back to Freshman year?

Will you ever get to graduate?

When will you have learned enough?

I’ll bet you’re thinking I’m crazy for asking those last two questions.  That little voice inside your head says “Never!”  ”I’ll never be done.  I have to keep learning or my business will suffer.”

If that little voice lives in your head, then I’m betting your business is already suffering.  You see.  There comes a point in every business owners career when they HAVE learned enough to at least slow down or take a break for a while.  I can just hear your little voice now….”What?!  Nope. Not possible!”  Tell your little voice it’s ok.  We’re just exploring something and that doesn’t mean you’ve committed to anything.  Ok?  Do that now.

I’ll put it in front of you again.  There comes a point where you have learned enough.  At that point, if you are still consuming marketing education all around, then you have become an Information Hog.  Here are some symptoms of information hogging:

• Important e-mails from clients and joint venture partners get lost in the sea of e-mails from newsletters and lists you subscribe to.
• You have so many things  you have to read that you feel behind the times and catching up seems impossible.
• You utilize technology to keep your learning with you.  You take it to the gym, on walks, in the car, on the plane etc…
• You are always trying out new marketing strategies in your business.
• You add things into your marketing plan mid-stream a lot.
• You often worry that there’s a better way.

It all seems pretty harmless, right?  Not so much!  If you’re missing e-mails then you are missing opportunities.  If you are always feeling behind and doubting your own knowledge, then what kind of message are you putting into your marketing?  Oh yeah, that doubt seeps in.  You could be undermining your own hard work.

If you are constantly feeding your brain information on marketing, trying new things, and changing your marketing mid-stream, how consistent is your marketing?  How do you ever get good at doing one marketing strategy when you don’t stay on it for longer than one launch,  maybe two?   Practice makes perfect.  Although, I don’t believe perfection exists, I do know that practicing over and over again does help you hone and get better results.

Not only that, how about those marketing campaigns that have a lot of moving parts?  If you shift gears mid-stream something is going to be broken, missing, or not doing what it’s supposed to do.  Talk about a trust killer for potential clients.  They will walk away fast if they see discombobulated  marketing.

One more  time.  There comes a point where you have learned enough.  If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of being an information hog, I suggest you start a 3 month marketing detox right now.  Stop learning.  Use what you know and see what happens.

Are you going to detox?  Where are you going to stop learning?  What knowledge are  you going to start trusting? Leave a comment below.

FYI - Being an information hog is just one sign that you may be addicted to marketing.  Read more about marketing addiction and detox at http://www.coachesmarketingsource.com/marketingdetox.html.

Did you become a coach for the freedom?  I bet you were excited when you set out to leave your day job so you could jump into being an entrepreneur and run your own show.  Have you found that running your own business actually demands more of your time and energy than you thought it would?  If so, I’ll fill you in on a little secret…you’re normal.  Well, as normal as any human can be anyway.  Yup, this happens to just about everyone who leaves a 9-5 job to be an entrepreneur.  There are no more boundaries set for you.  You used to go into the office and come home.  You used to work Monday through Friday and work was miles away.  You had dedicated “work” times and “off” times.

This is the joy of not planning to do marketing.  I’m definitely going to get my tax papers ready.  I’ll also be taking some time out to go play with family and/or friends.  I also have plans to take a voice lesson this week to prepare for an audition next week.  That’s ALL going to happen.

However, there will be some extra business time, once my end of year/new year stuff is together.  Then what?  Usually, what happens is ideas for marketing start creeping in.  Then I, of course, want to get started with those ideas right away and start writing.  Inevitably this is what happens the last week of December for me.

Why tell you this?  I want you to give yourself permission.  If you find yourself having completed everything you wanted to do in the week.  Let’s say Thursday you have some spare time because you completed your end of year stuff.  Ask yourself the question…What do I want to do right now?  Then, go do it!!  If it’s marketing, then please give yourself permission.  Give yourself permission to play wherever your heart desires.  This is YOUR time.  You created it, you get to enjoy it!

Having a week off from marketing means to not have any marketing that MUST get done.  It doesn’t mean you have to avoid marketing when you really want to go play in it.

Enjoy your week!  And if, per chance, you are missing out on things you really wanted to do this week…let me know.  I can help you get more of that on a monthly, weekly, daily basis.

December 7 @ 3:00pm EST.  In October, Kathy Mallary and I did our first Crazy-Ass Marketing Ideas call.  We got so much positive feedback and so many different people asking us to do it again, we’ve decided to do just that.  Only this time, we’re asking YOU to bring your most Crazy-Ass Marketing Idea so we can help you get it into action.  It’s an hour of opposites.  We’re going to show you how doing the opposite of what most marketing gurus would tell you to do will actually get you better results.  You can click through to register for updates about the call by visiting http://www.coachesmarketingsource.com/crazymarketingideas.

December 15 at 1:00pm EST. On this call, I’ll be interviewed by Leah Shapiro, Kick-Ass Life Coach.  If you feel like the whole “do it the way you’re told” thing is getting old and not working anymore (which it usually doesn’t work) then it’s time for a new way of looking at things.  Fly your freak flag and watch the money roll in.  We’ll talk about how and why this works on the call.  You can register at http://defythebox.com/BreakFree/flying-your-freak-flag-builds-trust/.

December 15 @ 4:00pm EST.  What if you didn’t have to create MORE marketing projects in order to increase cash flow?  Find out the dirty little secret that’s holding you back from getting coaching clients.  In this FR*EE call, I will be sharing how I create my business life to include marketing without having it overwhelm me (and NO it doesn’t include delegating more work).  If you’re fed up with all the time you spend marketing, then this call is for you.  Register for this call and the recording at http://www.coachesmarketingsource.com/stopmarketingcall.html.

Entire Month of December - I challenge you to take the last week of December off from marketing.  That’s right, the Marketing Mentor is advising you NOT to do any marketing for a week.  To help  you do this, I’ve posted a calendar to help you at  http://www.coachesinternetmarketingsource.com/no-marketing-for-coaches-last-week-of-december-2011.

Enjoy the month of December and please share each of these events with 2 other people you think could benefit.

Tomorrow is December, which means 2012 will be here very soon.  If you’re like most business owners I know, you have a list a  mile long of all the things that have to get done at the first of the year.    I have to prepare 1099’s, get my tax documents for 2011 put away, prepare my files for 2012 and so on.   In the midst of all that, January is a great time to launch new products and programs, so there is marketing to accomplish as well.  How in the world is all of this supposed to get done?

NO marketing!

Anything but marketing.  That’s right, I’m telling you to take a week off from marketing.  Why would a marketing expert even suggest such a thing?  Because in January, you need to focus on your marketing 1st thing to launch those beginning of the year programs.  If you have other things distracting you, it could be March before you actually get it out into the world.  I don’t want you to be bogged down the moment you return from your New Year’s celebration(s).  I want you to be focused, alert, clear and ready to take on January’s marketing.

So, my suggestion is to take the last week of December to get your end-of-year things together.  Pull your tax documents, get your new files ready and clear your plate for January.  Also, take an afternoon off (or every afternoon off).  Go catch a movie, spend some time with family, get a massage, go shopping etc…  Do some things for YOU. Take advantage of the last week in December.  Get prepared and take some time for yourself.

Now, if you’re like most business owners you’re thinking there’s no way you could take an entire week off from marketing.  Well, you can but you have to start preparing right away.  If you are in the USA, you are taking the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving, so right away means Monday.

Here is a calendar  of sorts to help you plan your marketing so you can have the last week for you.

Week 1 11/28-12/2

• Inventory all the marketing that needs to still be completed in December.
• Put it into priority order.  What’s coming up first?  What are the most important pieces?
• Take this week to complete your top priorities…try to get through 1/2 of your list.

Week 2 12/5-12/9

• Complete as much of your December marketing as possible.
• Inventory all the marketing that needs to happen the first two weeks of January.
• Prioritize it like you did for December.

Week 3 12/12-12/16

• Finish up your December marketing and get started on your top priorities for January.
• If you plan to take all of the next week off, get your 1st week of January priorities completed.

Week 4 12/19-12/23

• Finish up your 1st two weeks of January, if you are working this week.

Last week of December

• No marketing!

Whenever you are wondering what to do in your marketing, this is the answer.  Keep your list handy so you can take a quick glance and know exactly what you are working on.

If you need to take some personal time for holiday festivities, no problem.  Just make sure as soon as you are back in the office you keep going to the list and checking things off.  While you are working, focus is important.  Stay focused and you can take the last week in December to get YOUR stuff done.  How much trust would you build with potential clients if you demonstrated how to take time for you?

Are you in?  Are you taking the “Save the last week of December Challenge?”  Let me know if you are and how it goes.

You may or may not have heard me talk about the trust bucket.  I’m always talking about how you are either filling it or dumping it.  Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.  It just depends on the situation.

This woman had a fast trust-bucket-dumping story for me and I loved it!!  I’ll share it with you.  Pay attention to the personal boundaries in this one.  Crossing personal boundaries is the fastest way to dump the trust bucket.

This woman has a sign on the side of her car that advertises her business.  It has her phone number which is her cell phone.  One day, she pulls up to a stop light and her phone rings.  She answers.  The guy on the other end says he’s in the car next to her (and waves at her).  He continues by saying he can make an advertisement that would wrap her car.

First of all this woman isn’t big on the car wraps.  So, she says no thank you.  Then he pushes and starts going into all the benefits of having a car wrap.  She still says no.  It took a couple more times of saying “no” for the light to change green.  Then the woman hung up the phone to drive.

What’s the moral of the story?

1) Don’t cross personal boundaries. - Take down the number and call it later.  Don’t sit in the car and wave at the potential client.  That’s just creepy!!  Pay attention to when and how you contact people.  Contact them in normal situations.  Don’t make a new situation up that the other person won’t appreciate.

2) DO take “no” for an answer. - When you first meet someone  and they flat out answer you with a “no” or “I don’t need that” or “I’m not interested” then accept that for answer.  For NOW.  You can always check in with them later and see.  Which brings me to the next one…

3) DO ask if it’s okay if you talk about your business when in a non-networking situation. This guy didn’t even ask if now was a good time, or try to arrange a meeting.  He just assumed she wanted to hear about it and went into the pitch!  Ugh!  Ask permission to market before you do.

This woman felt railroaded by the guy and felt like she had been stalked.  So, of course, she’s never going to call the guy.  He just lost a potential client and/or referral.  Trust bucket…Dumped!

What would your thoughts be if someone tried to market to you this way?

There are several myths that I see tripping up coaches and other personal transformation professionals.  Each of these myths can quickly get you off track and have potential clients going elsewhere…fast!  So, I want to point you in a helpful direction.  See if you have bought into any of the following myths.  Feel free to comment with your opinions at the end of the post.

Myth #1:  Using the correct marketing language will easily drive traffic your direction. “Marketing language” is not magic nor is it always useful.  When I started in the world of marketing, I copied all sorts of “money making” phrases that I thought would fill my business with eager clients.  I mixed and matched, I changed it up a bit and I added my own voice.  Did it get attention?  A little.  However, what really got attention was when I started talking about my own personal story and experience.  I started using MY language, straight from my own brain and heart.  Psst - if you are on a mission, this is most effective in connecting with those you are meant to help.

Why? Because you are unique in you’re own right.  Speaking from your heart will get more traction than using a formula. Therefore your combination and selection of words is unique.  So, why rely on someone else to tell you what to say.  Use your own unique way of speaking.  Remember, the goal is to get potential clients to trust you so they are willing to jump right in.  They will trust you more if they feel like they “know” you.  How can they know you or trust you when you aren’t being authentic in your communications?

Myth #2:  Keep it professional. I know I just said speak from your heart.   Now, I’m saying to keep it professional? Many people feel these two things cannot co-exist and I beg to differ.  You can be personal and use your heart to guide your words.  As long as you stay on a topic that is professional, then you’re fine.

Now, that’s not to say that you’re forbidden from sharing your personal life.  People respond to personal information. By personal information, I’m not saying share the fight you had with your significant other last night.  I’m saying, share some hobbies or things you like to do outside your business.  Relate it back to your business and make connections wherever you can.  Know that in sharing a piece of who you are outside your business, you are allowing people to connect with you in a different way.  They may just start asking for your business help, because they can relate to your personal interests. This is why you’ll find me sharing my love for acting, my addiction to “American Idol” and stories of game days or BBQ’s at my house.  It starts a conversation.

Myth #3:  It’s best to have a Professional Copywriter write for me. While a professional copywriter can write your copy from scratch, however, it won’t have as much power or draw as it would coming from you.

If you really want to get the biggest bang for your buck…write the original copy from your own heart and then send it to a copywriter to spiff it up and enhance the effectiveness.  A great copywriter will appreciate your unique spin and use most of your language with a few pertinent changes they know will get you better results.

Over time, they might start to get a feel for the way you speak and start to write some for you, however, I always recommend at least writing a few paragraphs from your own language in order for the copywriter to do their best work.  Your language and your thoughts about your business change over time.  What might be your language today is not going to be the same in 3 months. That’s why I always suggest that you start with your own original copy.

So, where you are going to start with getting your own unique thoughts into the world?

His favorite toys are these squishy foam golf balls that bounce.  We call them bouncy balls.  He absolutely loves these toys.  He creates his own games with them and we never know what the game is until half way through play time.  Sometimes, he’s playing catch, sometimes he chases them and then other times he’d rather hunt.  We give him the choice and just go with it.

However, there are times when the bouncy ball just isn’t the toy of the day.  It’s pretty easy to tell when Calvin doesn’t want to play with something.  He just sits there and does nothing.  So, we have to change it up and try new toys.  He loves his bouncy balls, but sometimes he just needs something new.

Say the same message over and over and clients get to know what you do.  However, if you become too repetitive, they are going to just skip on by and look for something new. So, make sure you change up your marketing.  Say something new, create something new, or offer something new.

Take a look at your marketing.

Are you using the same exact copy when you re-launch a product or program?

Are you repeatedly using the same questions to get people engaged in your marketing?

Are you using the same 30 second speech every week at your networking group?

Get creative!  Find multiple things you speak about and keep changing it up.  As long as you always make a connection back to your main marketing message, you can keep it interesting.

Don’t let potential clients get complacent.  Keep changing it up to get their attention in the midst of all the consistency. Consistency builds trust and a little something different every now and then keeps the attention.

I know I’ve learned a lot from my lovable kitties.  I hope they have taught you something as well.  What are you going to change?  Leave a comment and share it.

Hubby has yet to get our little Hobbes to allow him to hold her.  It took a year to get her to start to trust me.  I would sit her on my lap or hold her for short periods of time (a few seconds).  She would really enjoy it at first but then realize it was a human doing it and run away.  I could tell that she really was an affectionate cat and wanted lots of love, but just wouldn’t allow the humans to provide it.  So, I kept increasing the time.  I’d make her sit a few seconds more every time I petted her.  After about 2 years, she finally admitted that she enjoys sitting in my lap.  She’ll jump up in my lap any time I’m sitting on the couch now.  She also occasionally likes me to hold her, but it has to be in the only position SHE likes.  Typical cat thing.

Just like Hobbes, clients need you to force them to see something they didn’t know they wanted.

Your clients know some things when they come to you.  They know they need to change something.  They know that something isn’t working.  They know they want to do something about it and they know there is someone out there who can help them.  They are just trying to figure out if you are that person.

I’m sure you’ve noticed your clients typically end up finding deeper problems than the ones they came to you for.  I’m guessing there are a whole host of contributing factors to the reason they need your help.  I’m also pretty sure there are some things they need to wake up to in order to successfully solve those problems.  This is where the juice is.  You can help them start waking up before they even start working with you.  You can’t just “tell” them what they need to know, but you can start eluding to how things are showing up for them and what might be contributing.

For example, let’s say you work with women who struggle to attract the man of their dreams.  If your clientele isn’t very enlightened, then you can’t just tell them that they have to work on themselves first in order to get what they want.  Instead, write articles about the problems that are showing up for them.  Then at the end you can show what specific inner mindset could be getting in their way.  Then they can come to you for help busting through that mindset.

The client has to FIRST see that you get where they are and know the problems they are experiencing.  Then they need the solution.  You already know that you need to offer the solution, but are you really helping them dig in and wake up?  Are you challenging them to own their role in the process?

Be strong, be tough and stand for what you know they want.  Start as early as you can in your marketing.  Give the cold hard truth in your articles, blogs, newsletter etc… Help them admit to themselves what they’ve been thinking all along. If you challenge your potential clients they will start to see what they need to do and start to own their power to change it.  Wouldn’t that make for an awesome client?  Not only that, they are going to want to hire you faster, because they know you “get it”.

How are you going to challenge your potential clients? Share your thoughts in a comment.

In August, I’ll be co-hosting an event locally with a business coach.  We’re combining our talents for a small workshop/seminar.  First off, we decided to do this event because we both wanted to grow our local lists.

Key #1 to a successful marketing strategy is to know exactly what outcome you want.

From there we decided what marketing strategies we would use to promote the event.  Knowing that personal relationships create the best conversion, we knew we’d have to go out and meet people.  So, of course networking events were part of our plan.  Our target market is wellness businesses and we know that most owners of wellness businesses are busy either running the business or taking care of clients…sometimes both!  So, they don’t attend many networking meetings.  We knew we’d have to reach them where they worked.  So, it made sense to knock on office doors and personally invite them to the event with a flyer (and if we could get it, a convo about what they would get from attending).

Key #2 to a successful marketing strategy is knowing who your target market is
AND how to best reach them.

So, a couple weeks ago I hopped in my car (on one of the few relatively cool days we’ve had this summer) and knocked on doors of wellness businesses.  I was nervous.  As a Singer/Actress I’m used to those kind of nerves.  I get them just before I step on stage and this was like opening night jitters which are always worse.  I couldn’t find the first couple of offices which made me even more nervous.  Then I stepped into one where they actually introduced me to the business manager.  He was hugely busy and said he couldn’t talk, so I quickly gave him the flyer, got his card and asked when would be a good time to call next week.  I was then ushered out the door.

Now for some people that would’ve been discouraging or it might’ve been a downer.   For me that just fired me up!  I got excited that I would get to call and talk to him the next week.   For some reason while I was visiting with this business owner I fell into a groove.  It was a familiar groove.  It was one where I felt comfortable.

So, I had some additional confidence moving on to other offices.  Again, more I couldn’t find.  Some with just a business card out front and no receptionist to greet me.  Others I got to talk to partnering business owners.

I had a personal conversation with a dance studio owners daughter about getting into some adult dance classes and finding a voice coach that was local.  She had some connections and we shared some stories of the professional world.  It was a great convo on a personal level.  At the end, the Mother mentioned the partnering business owner (for the fitness business next door) struggled with marketing and business operations.  She said she’d definitely recommend our workshop/seminar.  How fun!  A personal convo ended up turning into a recommendation.

By this point I was totally high.  Again, it was a familiar and comfortable high that I had been missing.  At the time I didn’t realize what was happening but now that I look back on it I get it.  It was just like performing for me.  Instead of being a character though, all I had to do was be me.  My infectious, bubbly personality along with my curiosity about businesses was getting me in the door.  I was just having fun meeting new people (which is a favorite pass time of mine)!  I needed to know what I wanted to get across (a script), be in the moment and let the convo (scene) take its course.  That recipe was a great one for acting and it works for marketing!

Okay, so you might be wondering what my point is here.  Here’s the deal.  Your personality, experience and things you enjoy are all HUGE assets in marketing.  Use them!  Stop listening to what strategies you’re “supposed” to do and start experimenting with things that sound interesting and will get you what you want.  Try something new and different.  You never know when it will pay off.  I’m still following up with some of the people I met via phone, but just getting out there and meeting people juiced me up so I had the confidence and energy to get on the phone and follow-up (which I dreaded before I did this little experiment).

Key #3 to a successful marketing strategy is choose a strategy that fits who you are.

Your turn!  What strategies are you going to try that fit who YOU are?