First, the people presenting at the Jamboree who know a lot about marketing were talking about themes that are familiar to me and resonate with me, like getting clear about your target audience and how you serve them so you can speak specifically to them about what you do. That’s authentic.

Second, the people who were new to self-employment or just considering it had the same basic concerns as other people I’ve talked to in different settings. They don’t want to give up their integrity to attract customers.

One of the Jamboree organizers, Alice Barry, summarized the dilemma succinctly. How do we market authentically, using the words and phrases of our target audience, but still follow the templates that successful copywriters use for crafting marketing messages? Can we talk about real needs and real concerns in genuine language and still have enough “wow!” and “umph!” to be compelling?

From those discussions I came up with the idea to develop a presentation called “Big Bold Brash Authentic Marketing.” To help me get the content right, I want to have more conversations with business owners and those of you who aspire to be self-employed so I can understand this dilemma fully.

I live it too, and that’s a good starting point. But I want to answer your questions and give you resources so I want to know what challenges you when it comes to marketing.

What do you struggle against with marketing?

What “how to market” messages make you uneasy?

Please leave your comments and questions. Let’s talk!

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