Happy New Year! I spent the remainder of 2015 unwinding with family and friends – a very necessary digital unplug to recharge! While I had the mental space to reflect, I reviewed the past year and patterns to kick off 2016 on a proactive, “lessons learned”, foot.
We saw huge breakthroughs for our clients in 2015: New brands, business growth, opportunities tapped and amazing digital marketing improvements. The thing Web Marketing Therapy spent most time breaking down (to get to those breakthroughs) was stress. Most the of the new entrepreneurs and small businesseses who got on our virtual therapy couch had to overcome things like:
- unhealthy mindsets
- vendor dependency
- unproductive habits
- financial burdens
- self-confidence issues
- communication problems
- social media abuse
- dysfunctional websites
Stress is connected to major health issues – it is also the core of major marketing issues!!
Marketing is about building relationships. It should not feel like lying on pins and needles!
If you have issues getting service from your current vendors, then find new ones. Don’t tolerate crappy service. If you can’t afford certain marketing, then put it on hold! If you aren’t confident about who you are and what you do, then take a step back and get clear on the value you provide. Are you posting messages on social media that alienate people or are you an active contributor? Is your website easy to use and maintain?
My 2016 digital marketing advice is short, not exactly sweet and is simpler said than done (but it CAN and must be done!):
Chill the F*<k Out!!
Digital marketing has made marketing accessible to EVERYONE – rich, poor, educated, uneducated, male, female, young, old, big business and small (even teeny tiny businesses). How digital marketing is used depends on your goals, comfort levels, budget and skill set. But the first thing is to begin from a place of calm.
Stress sucks the life out of us. It interferes with our ability to think and make smart decisions. You don’t HAVE to do things vendors tell you or spend money on things you can’t afford.
If you are still reading this and can’t stop stressing about marketing, then let me help.
#1 – Make a list of things you do for marketing. If there are things you are not doing that you feel guilty about, write those down too.
#2 – What are things that you can’t confirm are working that you can cut?
#3 – What are things you would like to add? How can you do this? Do you need to read more on it, have help? Remember, small steps make a big difference and this is a journey, not a destination. You don’t arrive in seconds – this is a process that takes time.
#4 – Tell yourself that it is OK to ask for help. At Web Marketing Therapy, we have an inside saying called “google that s__t” meaning that so much of what you want/need to know is Googleable. If you can’t self-help with Google, find companies who are willing to train you, not just do the work for you. If you at a point that you are so busy with work that you need to delegate marketing, then find a firm who makes your life easy, taking work off your plate, not creating more of it.
And don’t forget to breathe. This is marketing, not oxygen.
While I believe wholeheartedly that marketing fuels business, marketing is not something that you should stress about. Do you stress every time you breathe? You shouldn’t with marketing either.
I’m off to go hike with my 4 year old. Happy New Year and Here’s to HAPPY, HEALTHY MARKETING!