Chances are, if I asked you what the biggest challenge is when it comes to growing your business, you’d say marketing.
And chances are, you’d be right.
Because while it takes more than great marketing to build a successful business, you can’t make a living selling what you make if not enough people know about and are excited to buy your products.
But successful marketing is about more than being on the right social media platform or knowing the right things to say about your products.
It’s about having the right mindset.
And most makers, as I’ve learned, have got it all wrong.
So before you even worry about whether you should be using X, Y, or Z social media platform, make sure you’re not making these three big mistakes when it comes to your marketing:
1. You don’t want to bother people.
Most makers don’t market enough because they don’t want to bother people! Yet, if people have followed you on social media or subscribed to your email list, it’s because they WANT to hear from you! Great marketers know that their best customers and fans aren’t bothered, but excited when they’ve got something to share!
2. You focus on unfollows and unsubscribes.
This is really an extension of the first mistake. When you’re worried about bothering people, every unsubscribe feels like an indication of just how wrong your marketing message was. But successful marketers celebrate the unfollows and unsubscribes, because those people were never going to buy in the first place, and it leaves more room to talk to the people who are interested!
3. You wait until you’ve got something for people to buy before you start marketing.
You’ve probably been guilty of this one a time or two as well. You head into your studio and make something you absolutely LOVE. Then, you pop that one product in your online shop and maybe post in on social media. Then, crickets. It feels like no one wants to buy, even though you know it’s something great!
Most makers drip products into the marketplace and then wonder why no one has noticed. It’s because you haven’t given them anything to notice! Great marketers turn every product launch into an event. They share and promote products BEFORE they’re available for purchase, and they build strategic anticipation in their customer base by generating excitement (and increasing demand) for a product that isn’t even available yet!
Solving your marketing problems isn’t about knowing the latest and greatest strategies! It’s about shifting your mindset away from these three major mistakes and learning to connect with your customers in a way that makes them excited to buy down the road!