Marketing isn’t always sexy

As a marketer, I ‘ve had the chance to do some pretty cool things that I call work.  Like when I worked in travel marketing and I visited exotic locales or when I get to mystery shop businesses and play customer at a spa or restaurant.  Marketing your own business can be fun – hosting events, doing photo shoots, video creation, networking, etc.  I even get a charge out of bringing a new website to life or finally seeing a collateral in print—but then again I am a bit of a marketing nerd.  

But marketing isn’t always sexy. 

In fact some of the most effective marketing tactics are by far the most boring. 

Last month, I hit some all time record highs – the most website traffic ever on my site and my leads were also up 1200%+, so as I always do, I took time to reflect on the recent efforts—how I spent my time, what worked and what didn’t.

As I reviewed efforts and results what stood out was how unremarkably sexy any of the efforts that generate such impressive results were.  No new website, I have yet to launch the video I have been working on.  The month consisted of simply staying the course and rolling out what I know to be tried and true marketing efforts—like regular blogs, enewsletters, site optimization and a strong social presence.  Sometimes this can get a bit boring – but staying the course is often where the magic happens.

Lessons from the recent marketing success remind me of the book—Do the Work by Steven Pressfield.  Well worth the read if you need the motivation to work on your business instead of in the business. 

And as for your marketing – be sure to give those new tactics time to show their value.  Pay close attention to your marketing analytics and look for opportunities to create synergy among your pieces.  If a marketing tactic isn’t pulling it’s weight – take a long hard look at it before you give up. Did you give it a fair chance?

Need to give your marketing a critical review, why not start with my ebook – 10 Useless Things to Cut from Your Marketing