I’ve written about professional frumpiness before. Not the type where you can’t be bothered to get dressed properly, but an odd state of low energy and self doubt. It often impacts your marketing activities – you’ll randomly swing between panic marketing and non-existent marketing. One minute you’re desperately posting everywhere. The next, you can’t think of what to do at all.
There’s no joy in it. No colour or energy. Just a tired routine.
Why does this happen so much?
It’s particularly common in small business owners. We spend too much time looking at what everyone else is up to. We see the big sales screenshots, the high-five photos, the constant stream of prosecco at award ceremonies. It looks like everyone is flying and we’re stuck. FYI – a lot of it is smoke and mirrors (and that’s a whole separate blog post).
Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ Yep.
The result is your balloon deflates a bit more every time. You lose confidence. You start thinking there’s no point. You’ve lost your marketing mojo.
How do you get it back?
First, pause. Just stop what you’re doing. Breathe. Reprogramme.
When you feel good, you look good, and you act good. That’s always the starting point.
Go right back to basics. Look at your brand and your identity. Is it all still working for you? Does it feel like you? Is it consistent? Or are you clinging on to something you started five years ago and don’t even like anymore?
Check what marketing you’re doing
Next, take a proper look at all the marketing you’re doing. Be honest. Are you trying to do too much and ending up doing nothing well? You’re better off picking one or two things and putting your energy there rather than spreading yourself thin across everything.
Who are you speaking to?
It always comes back to this. Who are you trying to reach? What do they care about? What problems do they have? Who are your customers, and who are your ideal customers?
Marketing isn’t rocket science. Agencies and consultants (me included) love a big word or two – it makes us sound important and lets us charge healthy day rates – but most of it is instinct, creativity and common sense.
The real problem
Often, it’s not your marketing that’s the issue. It’s that you’ve lost confidence in yourself. You’ve let that voice in your head telling you you’re not good enough get too loud. You can’t turn it off, but you can learn to ignore it.
When it pipes up saying ‘Everyone is laughing at your earrings,’ that’s exactly when you need to put on an even bigger pair and show up anyway.
A simple next step
If you’d like someone to sit with you, look at what you’ve done, help you make sense of it all and get you going again, get in contact.
I’ll be running some group marketing therapy sessions with Urban Foundry at Urban HQ in Swansea in September. I can add you to the email list – send me a message.
Or you can come and laugh at my earrings in person at the next Anti-Social at Urban HQ, 37 Orchard Street, Swansea SA1 5AJ. Third Thursday of every month. Wine helps.
