The Marketing Myth Is Scary Stuff

I find it ironic that the thing most small business people fear most doesn’t exist either.

In my experience, nothing scares business owners more than the magical, mystical, apparitional world of marketing. At least, that’s what they think.

“This marketing thing…oh, I can’t do that. Why, you’ve got to be creative and clever to be a good marketer. You have to have the gift of gab… a real BSer, to be a good sales person. You have to be funny to write good ads. Who really knows what ‘marketing’ is anyway?”

Nothing could be farther from the truth. But because the average small business owner believes it, he or she is scared to death of marketing. It’s not fun for you. You don’t get a kick out of it. You don’t enjoy it. Because at the end of the day, you BELIEVE deep down inside that marketing is a scary thing that you can’t understand and you can’t handle.

 

And the most frightening thing of all is that you refuse to handle it… refuse to tackle it. It is literally the engine that drives your business, and in all likelihood, your fear of it is causing you to abdicate your responsibility to do it. And as a result, your business is floundering on the shoals of mediocrity, with no hope of getting out. You’re leaving tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars on the table, but you are so petrified by marketing that you don’t even want to talk about it. In fact, there are a goodly number of readers who have already given up on this column. It’s that uncomfortable for you.

Look, I don’t blame you. You got into the business you’re in for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you’ve always had a passion for what you do. Maybe you inherited the business from dad. Maybe you were working for somebody else and decided you could do it better than he was and you opened your own shop. Maybe you got fired one too may times and decided you’re the only boss you can work for. Perhaps you invested your entire education in this career field, so it was the logical choice.

 

The point is, whether you’re flipping hamburgers, drilling teeth, building or selling houses,  manufacturing something, cleaning carpets, doing taxes, or whatever, you probably know your industry inside out, front and back, upside down and sideways. But you’ve probably had very little if any training in marketing, advertising and sales. When it comes to other aspects of your business – management, accounting, those kinds of things – they may not be your strengths, but you figure you can learn them well enough to get by, or you can simply hire it done.

 

But this marketing thing? Well, that takes talent. And you don’t have it, and you don’t know how to judge it, and you don’t know where to turn to get it, and even if you saw it, you wouldn’t know if it was good or not.

No wonder you’re literally scared stiff, unable and unwilling to do anything at all.

So the local yellow page rep comes in and says, “All your competitors are going to full page ads this year. You’ve only got a quarter page. You’d better go at least to a half page or you won’t be able to keep pace.”

And here is where you become the zombie. Your eyes glaze over, you begin to drool and you answer, “Yes Master,” and agree to fork over the money because you’re afraid not to.

Or your radio rep drops by and asks what you want to do for your holiday promotion.

“I dunno,” you say, “What do you think I should do?”

He says it’s time for a big push, a 13-week schedule, and you do the zombie thing again. And then you add, “Can you come up with an ad for me?”

The rep says sure, as long as you sign the contract for the time, and a week later he’s back with the ad. You listen and think, “Well, that’s pretty clever. It has a cute little lead in and a funny little stinger at the end.

“Sure, you say. I like that.”

And the ads run for the 13 weeks, and at the end of the day, you don’t know whether it worked or not. You feel out of control; you feel frustrated by spending money and not knowing whether it was a good investment or money down a rat hole.

 

And that’s the way it goes. You abdicate what is arguably the most important part of your business – the part that brings in the money; that insures that you have a business, to people who can’t possibly have the best interests of your business at heart, simply because they MUST have the best interests of their own businesses at heart.

And your fear is reinforced. “Don’t make me think about marketing again!”

Well, it’s all a myth… a lie.

Marketing isn’t anywhere near as hard as you think. It takes no more talent than you already have. Marketing is based on principles, just like everything else in business and life. You can learn it, you can master it. You can take control of your marketing and business destiny. You can enjoy it. And most importantly, you can be successful at it. Far more successful at it than you are now, by letting outsiders do it for you.

But you’ve got to cowboy up. You’ve got to overcome the fear. You’ve got to make marketing a primary pursuit of your business activities. And until you show a little backbone and face this marketing thing, your business will be a living Halloween every day for as long as you’re in business, with you giving away all the candy and not getting near the goodies you deserve in return.

Is that what you want? I don’t think so. So face your marketing monsters. Make the development of your marketing knowledge and skills a priority. And I promise, every day will become more like Christmas as you business prospers, and you’ll settle into that satisfying feeling of Thanksgiving when you see what you’ll be able to build.
 
About Jim Ackerman
Jim Ackerman is a renowned marketing speaker, consultant, & copywriter. His Principle-centered Marketing Coaching™ Program is unparalleled for helping buisnesses dramatically improve marketing results.
For more information on the Principle Centered Marketing Coaching Program, contact Joe Nicassio by phone at 562-961-3976

 

Joe@rapidresultsmarketing.com

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