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Opportunity Knocks:
Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job
Do You Need to Make Money Now?
Avoid the Heartbreak and Myths of Marketing
By Valerie Young
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Valerie and her rescue dog,
"Cokie Roberts" |
The person on the other end of the phone was crying so hard that
when she first started talking, it took a minute to even recognize her voice.
It was a friend who made a major career change three years ago
from being a well-paid human resources manager to a massage therapist. Juggling
massage school while working full-time was grueling. But after dealing with the
bureaucracy of a large organization, the one-to-one healing aspect of her new
work was highly satisfying.
In the last few years, she’s managed
to attract a handful of regular clients. But, with her school loan still not
fully paid off and office rent, it’s been tough going. On this particular day
she was calling me from her car. She’d just come from her tax appointment and
her accountant told my friend that her income was so low she should consider
applying for food stamps. FOOD STAMPS! After all her hard work, I’d cry too.
My friend needs to find a way to make
more money NOW. So I immediately leapt into marketing mode, offering concrete
steps she could take to get new clients right away. We’d had this conversation
many times before. Despite her desperate predicament, my friend’s response was
the same as always. “I hate marketing.”
Not everyone hates marketing. Some
people actually enjoy it. They just stink at it. Like the acquaintance who sent
me a link to the Web site for her new corporate consulting business. Given the
time she’s spent in the corporate world, I wasn’t surprised that her web site was
all, “Our mission is to provide our clients with excellent blah blah blah… so they
can (yawn) achieve their organizational mission to blah blah blah” and other
tired corporate brochure sounding language.
She wanted to know what I thought. So
I told her. The first thing she needed to do was change the copy to talk “to”
her customer and not “about” them or “at” them. I checked in on her site last
week. Turns out she really didn’t want my advice.
Finally, there’s a Changing Course
Club Member who has one of THE best business ideas I’ve heard in a long time. He
was all set to roll out his business when the economy tanked. Instead, he shelved
the idea explaining, “It’s just not a good time to be in business.”
Now *I* want to cry.
What breaks my heart is that even
in this economy, all three of these existing and new business owners SHOULD
BE SUCCESSFUL. How? One word – marketing.
Marketing Myths Guaranteed to Doom
Any Business
If you have never run a small
business before, then you’re probably operating from a lot of myths about what
marketing is and how it works. Succeeding in this, or any, economy means smashing
through these four myths that are guaranteed to doom any business.
Marketing Myth #1: If you build it
they will come.
Once you come up with a great idea or
find the perfect niche, people will line up to pay you for it. Right? Wrong.
I understand how people would think
this. I mean, my friend went to massage school to be a healer, not a marketer.
The reality is though, when you start out in any new business, only about 20
percent of your time will actually be spent doing the thing you went into
business to do. The other 80 percent is going to be spent on attracting people
who want and can benefit from what you have to offer.
Over time, these percentages flip
flop. But it takes time. There are things you can do to speed up the process.
Specifically, the more time you spend learning about how best to serve your
clients or customers – which is what marketing is all
about – the faster you’ll be able to create a marketing strategy that is more
automated and less time consuming, and the faster you’ll be able to get back to
doing what it is you love to do.
But if you absolutely, positively want
nothing to do with marketing, then you have one of two options. You can get a
job and let your employer worry about marketing. For example, my friend could
work in spa. Of course then she’d be right back to being an employee which would
defeat the purpose, but it is an option.
The other thing you can do is
outsource your marketing. Obviously this is going to cost you money, but if
you either refuse to market yourself or just don’t want to take the time to learn
how, then you don’t have a lot of options. Creative types like former consulting
client Tom Kennedy of Kennedy Creative Construction
Company,
and Chief Marketing Implementor Shannon McCaffery of
Marketing Implementer LOVE to
market. I say let them. (If you do work with Tom or Shannon mention my name to
get the Changing Course discount.)
Marketing Myth #2: Marketing is
slimy, tacky, or otherwise immoral.
Unfortunately, when a lot of people
think about marketing, the first thing that leaps to mind is a high-pressure used
car sales rep. If my massage therapist friend went around saying, “So, what’s it gonna take to put you on this massage table?” that would be one thing. But if
you look at marketing as a means to solving somebody’s problem, then you realize
that marketing is a means to serve.
A month before Christmas, my own
massage therapist sent me the same holiday letter she always does. It’s the
letter I look forward to every year and the one I would be disappointed not to
receive. That’s because I know she’s going to offer her clients gift certificates
for half price massages to give to our friends or family plus a discounted
massage for myself.
Whenever she sends that letter, my
massage therapist gets a steady stream of revenue during an otherwise slow
period, plus the opportunity to potentially gain new clients. As a time-strapped
holiday shopper, the gift certificates definitely solve a problem for me because
I get to knock at least one item off my shopping list. And, as a stressed out
holiday shopper who would otherwise put myself last on the giving list, the
discounted massage is just the push I need to treat myself. It’s a win-win.
But whenever I try to get my massage
therapist friend to send a similar offer to her clients, she refuses because she
says, “Marketing is so tacky.” Not only does my friend suffer financially, but
her clients don’t get all the great benefits I do. It’s a lose-lose.
Three days ago I got an email from a
guy named Keith who was writing to basically thank me for selling him into the
Changing Course Club. After feeling lost for the past ten years and
several false starts, Keith says he is finally, “…putting one block on top of
another and becoming the architect of my life as an entrepreneur.” Adding, “I
made a commitment to myself this January that 2009 will be my year! No excuses,
no detours, no turning (or looking) back.”
Remember when I said marketing is
really solving a problem? Keith ended by saying, “I have been seeking for a long
time what you are offering,” he wrote. “I can’t even begin to tell you how
excited I was as I grabbed my credit card.” If you’ve bought into the marketing
is tacky, bad, slimy, evil and all the other success-busting myths, think of
Keith’s email and ask yourself, “Who am I to deprive anyone of such excitement?!”
Marketing Myth #3: A down economy is
the worse time to launch or market a business.
Nonsense. Some of the most successful
businesses were started during rocky economic times. Hyatt, Trader Joes, Fed Ex,
Microsoft and hundreds of other companies all began during a recession, and the
iPod came out right after 9-11!
I know there’s a tendency to cling to
a false security of a job right now. But you can still get your business going
on the side. When you think about it, you have a lot more control over starting
a business than you do over finding a job!
When I launched Changing Course in
the mid-90s, every day brought a new headline about huge corporate lay offs.
Sound familiar? Still, I knew that it takes no more effort to think big as it
does to think small. That’s why one of my first marketing tactics was to try to
drum up some PR from major newspapers and magazines.
I sent out about a hundred press
releases. Not one, but two reporters from The Wall Street Journal called.
Soon after, I got a call from an editor at USA Weekend magazine. They were
doing an entire edition around the recession. The theme of quitting your job to
work at what you love was not quite a fit, but they were writing an article on
going from a two-income household down to one and wanted to know if I had any
tips.
Not really. But with the prospect of
getting an entire sidebar with my name on it, you can bet I came up with some
tips pretty fast! I even hopped on the phone to call a few subscribers and found three
couples who USA Weekend ended up interviewing for the piece.
Marketing Myth #4: Marketing is too
expensive.
Depending on what approach you take, marketing a business can cost
nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. You just have to be creative!
With that USA Weekend article
coming out in a month, I was poised for millions of people to learn about
Changing Course. There was just one problem… it was 1997 and I
didn’t have one of these new fangled things called a Web site! And I definitely
didn’t have the thousands of dollars it took at the time to get one built.
I tracked down the instructor who taught a course on Web design
at a local community college to see if her students were looking for projects. I
was able to get two 40-something career changers to design a great starter site
in time for the USA Weekend magazine article at no charge, and these
fledging business owners got to list a live site in their design portfolios.
Another win-win.
It was during this same lean economic
time that I partnered with a local bank to offer a lunch-time workshop called
"Taking Your Business to the Next Level." I think I charged something like $100 a
person for the four-week series.
The bank got potential customers in
the door and some good PR. The fact that the bank was co-sponsoring it gave me
the credibility I needed to get a free pitch in the local newspaper. Plus, the bank let me use their conference room and even printed the flyers
so I
had no marketing costs. Another win-win.
Are there times when you do have to
spend money on marketing? Absolutely. Spend wisely and marketing will pay you
back many times over.
Over the years, I’ve probably spent
$100,000 on marketing. But, of that, “maybe” $3000 was on paid advertising. The
rest of my marketing dollars have gone to filling shelves with self-study courses
and books… attending teleseminars and live events… paying to be in high-priced
Mastermind groups with some of the best and brightest marketing minds in the
country… and other means of educating myself about how to serve my market in a
way that solves a problem for them, is in line with my personality and values,
and allows me to continue to support myself so I can continue to help others
escape the job world and create the life they really want!
Common Sense Meets Creativity
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Valerie with Drayton Bird |
There is nothing magical about
marketing. In fact, a lot of marketing is nothing more than common sense. In his
book Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, British marketing legend
Drayton Bird tells readers, “Try to sell something connected to your own
favorite hobby or interest,” adding that a good friend of his lived off a
business in rare coins for 30 years. “It’s much easier to work hard at something
you know and love.”
Drayton’s book was originally written
more than twenty years ago. Reprinted numerous times, it continues to be a must
have on the bookshelves of many of the world’s top direct marketers.
I had
the privilege of meeting the 70-something year old Drayton at Yanik Silver’s
Underground Online Marketing Seminar last week where he shared his “Ten Commandments of
Marketing.” My three favorite are…
#1 Start with the customer, not the
product. We get so enamored with our ideas that we forget who they are intended to
serve. When you begin with the end user, your product will take care of itself. A
great way to find out what your customer really wants is to put together a
survey using a free survey creator like
SurveyMonkey.com.
#6 Use a proven formula. People
sometimes make the mistake of trying to be original. It’s actually a lot smarter
to follow people and companies that have already figured out what works and
learn from them. (See Learning Opportunities below for some great places to
start including the chance to get some free advice.)
#10 Never, ever give up. Drayton
understands that too many people try something once, get poor results, and give
up. But, like life, marketing is a process of trial and error. The first time I
marketed my Outside the Job Box Career Expert and Small Business Idea
Consultant Training Program it was to a small, but very enthusiastic,
list of about 50 people who had been begging me for this opportunity to train to
do what I do.
Not a single person signed up. Two
days later I sent a slightly revised version of the same marketing copy to a
larger number of people. That time it worked to the tune of $78,000.
There is nothing more heartbreaking than talented people who squander their
gifts by never figuring out how to share them with the world. And marketing
myths are just that... myths. Even during these challenging economic times you can
be successful, you can make money, you can grow your business --
and your dreams. So what are you waiting for?
Marketing myths are just that. Even
during these challenging economic times, you can be successful, you can make
money, you can grow your business and your dreams. So what are you waiting for?
P.S. Don’t forget
to grab your fully downloadable Making Dreams Happen program featuring Barbara
Sher, Barbara Winter, and me at the insane sale price of $67. This 3-Day
Rewarding the Action Takers Sale ends Thursday, February 26th. This offer will not be repeated any time soon. To listen to an excerpt,
or to learn more about Making Dreams Happen, go to
ChangingCourse.com/makingdreamshappen.htm.
Add Your Two Cents
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article?
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About the
Author
"Turning Interests Into Income" expert, Valerie Young,
abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at
ChangingCourse.com
offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her
career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN,
CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie
has spoken on the topic of
How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are
to
such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb,
Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.
To read more
articles about how to work at what you love without a job go to
ChangingCourse.com/articles.htm
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live
life on purpose
I
n this free one-time only teleseminar, internet marketing guru
Ali Brown will be sharing:
Marketing
is nothing
more than applied creativity. 
Also covered is doing your own
photography, making your own displays, travel tips, designing your trade show
booth, marketing your crafts to craft galleries and other wholesale markets,
selling on the internet, putting your crafts on a web catalog, making your own
website, and selling on eBay as well as advice for pricing, planning,
bookkeeping, selling, advertising, promotion, packaging, copyright, health,
computers, taxes, sales reps, etc. (