3 Ways to Make Your Own Kind of Music and Let Your Marketing Sing

Let me tell you about Diane.  

I was recently on a mastermind call with some fabulous, high achieving colleagues.  When it came time for Diane (names have been changed to protect the innocent) to get support, she shared how overwhelming and horrible her business had become.

She felt stuck catering to clients she didn’t particularly care for (since that was who kept hiring her), offering services she didn’t enjoy (but it’s what the client wanted), and working hours she wasn’t very happy about (because she thought she had to).

Sound familiar?

In my work showing service-based entrepreneurs how to create a powerful online marketing presence, what I see over and over is that people have a great contribution to offer, but they’re not getting the results they want nor making the kind of money they deserve.  

They’re spending a lot of time and energy building a business the way they think it’s supposed to look, not the way it works best for them.  If your business isn’t a reflection of your strengths, your values, and your preferences, how can it make you happy?  And if your business isn’t making you happy, you might as well go out and get a regular J-O-B.

As Diane worked through how to deal with these challenges so she could go back to loving her business, it really all came down to doing things her way.  Here, in a nutshell, are three strategies to build and market your business –online or off- so it’s a source of pleasure, not heartache.

Blow the “Trouble Makers” a Kiss
Blow a gently loving kiss to the folks you don’t really want to work with and send them on their way.  It’s YOUR business, after all - you get to decide who your clients are.  And there are plenty of terrific clients out there for all of us.  Really.

~ Tip ~ Deciding on clients from a place of lack (“I better work with this pain-in-the-a**.  What if no one else comes along?”) means you end up settling for less than you deserve both energetically and financially.  And then you don’t have room for the perfect client when she does show up.

Find Your Own Voice
Part of finding choice clients is helping them find YOU.  That can’t happen effectively if you don’t present your true self.  What you offer is inextricably tied to who you are, and your prospective clients are anxious to know who that is so they can determine if there’s a match.  Let your own style and individuality come out in your interactions with clients and potential clients.  

~ Tip ~ Your website, your newsletter, your services will all attract more clients if they are a true representation of you.  For example, I used to write in a more “business-like” way, but it didn’t allow me to have fun and wasn’t attracting the right kind of clients so I switched to this more casual –and more authentic- voice and the “right” people are loving it.

Play By Your Rules, Not Someone Else’s
Trying to fit yourself into a culturally-designed business mold only leads to a disconnect between you and your services, and that’s not appealing to clients.  The temptation is to let the client determine the project particulars –after all, they’re the one paying you- but saying yes to unwanted requests tends to lead to resentment and exhaustion.  A sure recipe for disaster, wouldn’t you agree?

~ Tip ~ Figure out what it is that makes you shine – the services you really want to deliver and the way you want to deliver them - and stake your claim.  (For me that means positive-minded clients and no 9am appointments, among other things.)

The best “sales pitch” you can give is to be comfortably yourself.  It’s just those special qualities that your choice clients are going to love – and come back for again and again. And the good news?  When your existing clients want more of your time, you won’t need to spend as much time attracting new clients.