Unsticking Your Marketing

During the IMC Confab last week, one of the sessions I attended was the "IMC Experts Talk Show." Several people submitted questions ahead of time. In the session, the questions were read and the whole group answered them.

The question I asked was: "In working with clients, what percentage of the work you do is knowledge/skills based and what percentage is psychologically based?"

I've always been curious about this but had never gotten a large group consensus. When the question was asked, several people laughed and then someone stood up and said: "I've never done a client engagement where 85% of the issues weren't psychologically based!"

And that was typical of the rest of the answers. The consensus was that psychological issues were the number one reason a client called a consultant or professional in the first place.

But paradoxically, that was NEVER why the client thought they brought the consultant in to help them. They thought they were interested in getting help with knowledge and skills.

In my consulting and coaching I've always put a lot of emphasis on knowledge and skills. I think they are very, very important. Six of my Seven Marketing Principles are knowledge/skill based, but the second principle "The Marketing Mindset," usually has the biggest impact on a client's ultimate results.

What I try to make very clear is that the Marketing Mindset you have shapes your actions and results. You can have the knowledge, the skills and the plan, but get terrible results if your mindset remains: "Marketing is fundamentally dishonest," or, "I'll never find the time to market myself."

I've seen very smart and highly educated people flounder helplessly with their marketing because of some hesitation, doubt or fear.

But here's the funny (and perhaps tragic), thing: Even when people realize that their current mindset is in the way, they try to add more knowledge and skills to change the mindset.

This is a little like being on a train heading for a bridge that is out, and moving the baggage around in the baggage car, hoping that this will prevent the train from falling into the ravine!

"Hmm, I'm afraid of being rejected. That's why I don't follow up with prospects. Great insight. I think I'll get another degree. Maybe that will help!"

Or, more typically, a marketing strategy you've implemented isn't working as well as you'd like. But you don't notice that you had something to do with it. Because of your doubt and hesitation, you didn't follow through, sweat the details, or build up any real enthusiasm for the plan. But you blame the plan.

So how can you unstick your marketing mindset?

A way that you may find extraordinarily useful is to look at how you are BEING about your marketing. Are you Being fearful, doubtful or confused? Those ways of Being clearly won't help your marketing.

Your thinking, feelings and actions are always in alignment with the way you are Being. Be confused and you will act confused.

But what you may fail to notice is that you can't change your way of Being by doing! If you gather more knowledge and develop more skills, you may still remain fearful, doubtful or confused.

What if you chose who you were going to be instead?

This Monday morning I woke up with a huge pile of things on my plate. Not only did I have the eZine to write, but my in-progress projects include writing an online marketing software program, gearing up for my next Certification Program, giving feedback to my Marketing Coaches and creating a big fundraising event for a non-profit organization (Room to Read).

What I noticed, before even getting out of bed, was that I was gearing up to BE overwhelmed. I also remembered that when I'm overwhelmed, I either start procrastinating, stuck in not knowing what to do first, or I go into "stressed-out panic mode."

I also remembered that both of these options were not very effective in handling overwhelm. So I asked myself, "If I couldn't be overwhelmed, who would I be?" The answer came quickly: "I'd be calm, focused and fearless."

I clearly saw that if I was calm, focused and fearless, I'd look at all the things I had on my plate, do a little planning and prioritizing and then do one thing at a time. And then I asked myself, "Who am I going to choose to Be? Overwhelmed, or calm, focused and fearless?"

That wasn't a hard one to answer! So far the day is going just great. Being scattered and frantic has been replaced by productivity and ease.

Now take a look at some marketing activity that you are not having much success with. You are stuck or struggling. Ask yourself who you are being regarding that activity or project.

Look at the behaviors that come out of that way of Being, and ask "If I couldn't be that way, who would I prefer to be?" And if that resonates with you, choose to be that way and take the first action towards that project, coming from that way of being.

I predict you'll discover you don't need to know a whole lot more or even learn more skills to take that first step.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: It's not what you know or what you do that has the biggest impact on your success and productivity, It's who you are Being. Be aware of who you are being regarding an area where you are stuck, and ask if that's working for you. If it's not, choose a new way to be.

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Who have you been BEING that has you stuck in moving forward with your marketing? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Comments

[biren]

i find this '85%' is actually 100%.
the problems where i (and people i work with) feel stuck are always subjective.

in my experience (which is very limited ^_^), once the subjective is seen clearly, the objective reality becomes clear - the 'problem' becomes a situation... and the answers (and the way) become clear.

[Shama Hyder]

Robert-

All success really DOES start from within. You can be the best consultant and coach in the world, but if you don't believe in yourself-it shows. One great tool to unstick oneself is to break the current pattern by doing something completely different. When I find myself nearing "stressed" mode-I go and drink a full glass of water. It doesn't matter if I am not thirsty-it helps break the old pattern long enough to start a new line of thought.

[Sr. Patricia]

Wow, Robert, this was so what I needed for today. It just clicked, clicked, clicked in all the right places.

I am working on a new book and at the point in the game where I go out to get endorsements. It's like.. okay we can do this... but then we don't.

I have a sort of mental block that I can't go after the BIG names that I want because I will get a "NO!"... ooooh... fear of no is such a killer.

Your article helped me to focus on yes... and if I get a no.. to move on until I do get a YES.

Thanks again for a great post.

P.S. I shared this with my list tonight... was just too good to keep to myself.

[Robert Middleton]

Reply to Rob Wendes

You might think of "psychological" as anything internal. It is our thoughts our feelings, our concerns, worries, insecurities, fears, confusion, etc.

We often fail to make a distinction between external and psychological issues. They are both real and both need to be dealt with. Where I see Independent Professionals get confused in the area of marketing is that the ascribe internal characteristics to external situations.

So for instance, if you decide to get involved in networking and you have a hard time doing it, you'll say things such as "It's hard to meet people," or "people don't care about my services," or "there's no time to network."

We think we are describing external reality and that inevitably leads to abandoning our efforts because this activity is "futile and too hard."

If networking were in reality futile and too hard, then nobody could succeed at it. Therefore these views of reality are colored by psychological states or "states of being."

Who are you being that networking shows up for you as: "It's hard to meet people," or "people don't care about my services," or "there's no time to network."

You might call this state of being "resignation" or "hopelessness." It doesn't reflect reality. It literally shapes reality.

If you choose a state of being such as "enthusiastic" and "hopefulness," marketing will show up completely differently for you. In fact you may jsut find that it's easy to meet new people, that people are interested in your services and that you can easily find the time to network.

Choosing who you are going to be may be the most powerful action you can take in your life.

[Bill O'Shea]

Robert,

Thanks so much for this article on two levels: one for helping me realize I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed and confused by the tasks before me and, two, for offering an excellent suggestion to overcome these feelings.

If I may, I'd like to offer another suggestion that helps me dramatically when I'm feeling stuck, overwhelmed and confused.

When I recognize that feeling of uncertainty in myself, I stop and ask "What one thing can I do today to move my business ahead?" I'll discern the answer, write it down and get it done.

Maybe that one thing is to follow up with a client or to write that article for my website - whatever it is I write it down and then make that the one major goal I accomplish that day.

Although it can be difficult to stick with our marketing system when we're feeling stuck, that is precisely the time we need to cling to it like a life preserver.

Thanks again!

[Meredith]

Boy did you hit the nail on the head! I tend to go into overwhelm too and then procrastinate rather than getting it done. I'm going to BE focused and productive today instead. Thank you!

[Rob Wendes]

I re-read your e-zine and another point came to mind. When we talk about ' 85% of the issues' being 'psychologically' based what does that mean? Is it that customers feel themselves to be inadequate when taking a particular course of action, or are we back to addressing their fears?

[Rob Wendes]

Thanks Robert, you've hit another raw nerve:-) I'm generally calm and focused, and have a reasonable (but not high enough) threshold of fear.

However what I have been BEING is overawed by the enormity of the marketing problem. You're right, I do spend endless amounts of time on the Internet gathering more information in the hope that I will try to understand what I am doing, but there isn't one definitive answer. Because reaching out and touching other people seems to me to be difficult over the Internet then I tend to procrastinate rather than get on with it.

[Erica Ross-Krieger]

Robert, I love the question, "If I weren't ___who would I prefer to be?" Great tool for helping us "unstick" ourselves -- in marketing issues or otherwise! Thanks for the input. I also adore Rick Carson's book, Taming Your Gremlin for exploring another level of the stuckness. Oh, and I'd say a good 90% of my wellness clients really do wind up dealing with their wellness mindset/psychology when they come for coaching, even though as you say, it's other things that brought them to me in the first place. It really is about where they're stuck. Again, thanks for tackling this today.