by Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

I met someone at a networking event last week who has a very interesting investment company. After learning more about his service, I asked him how he marketed it. 

His response, surprised me, "Oh, we can't market this service, there are too many regulations that prevent us from doing so." 

Well, it's true that you can't do certain kinds of advertising and you can't make claims about returns, but he could do a lot more than just occasional networking. He could do talks and webinars, give away articles on his website, have a blog and eZine, etc. 

This conversation reminded me of so many other conversations with Independent professionals I've had over the years. 

The general thrust goes something like this: "I can't do that because… (and fill in your reasonable excuse here.)

At some point, when reading this eZine or hearing about a certain marketing approach somewhere, you probably had a similar response: "Oh, that sounds like a good idea, but…"

And then you talked yourself out of taking action. 

The funny thing is, we don't really think we have any resistance to doing a particular marketing activity; we simply find some very reasonable ways to avoid it, then we justify the avoidance. 

Just think of all the things you've talked yourself out of…

- Getting involved in a higher-level professional group that could grow our business connections. 

- Improving your website and working to get more opt-ins for your e-list by offering a free report. 

- Starting a regular eZine that enabled you to keep in touch with those who requested your report on your website. 

- Getting yourself booked to speak at conferences to increase your credibility and to reach a wider audience. 

- Developing more relationships with partners who could refer you to more of your ideal clients. 

All of these are powerful, long-term marketing strategies that can give you tremendous marketing leverage and help you take your marketing to a whole new level. 

So why don't we do them (or do them half-heartedly)?

Well, a lot of reasons: They take effort and know-how. They just might not work for us. They'd probably take up a lot of our time and energy. The motivation just isn't there. 

So we rarely commit to taking on these marketing projects because the effort to do them seems much bigger than the potential return from these efforts.

Is there a way to increase that motivation? After all, if you don't, you'll find yourself in exactly the same situation a month from now, a year from now. 

For myself, I've had two primary marketing motivations since I can remember:

1. I wanted to make a lot more money. 

2. I wanted to make a difference and a contribution. 

I think I stumbled on a good formula there. I had discovered that if my only motivation was money, that it never worked for me. And believe me, I tried a lot of things. And if I only focused on making a difference, without taking the business realities into account, things didn't work either. 

So if your marketing is stuck in neutral, I'd recommend working on both of those until they converge in a meaningful way. You can start with either one - making money or making a difference, but you need to have some passion for both. 

Let's talk about money first.

How much money would you like to make each year? If you made that much, how would it impact your life? What would you be able to do and have that can't do and have now? Would it give you some freedom from worry, enable you to have a secure retirement, travel more, or live in a nicer home? 

You need to let yourself imagine and visualize a lifestyle where you have a much larger income and it's working for you so much better than where you are now. What if you never had to worry about debts or buying something for yourself without guilt? 

This happened to me about 10 years ago when my income increased dramatically. Like Sophie Tucker said: "I've been poor and I've been rich. Believe me, honey, rich is better!"

Now let's talk about making a difference. 

Imagine when you retire several years from now. And then look back at your life and your business. Have you achieved what you wanted to achieve? Did you help people and make their burdens lighter? In your business did your services make a measurable difference and a contribution that you are proud of? 

Did you serve as many people as you could at the highest level possible? Did you give your very best and take every opportunity to make your services available to those who could most take advantage of them?

One day, many years ago, I made this commitment. I wanted to help as many people as I possibly could to share their gifts through their business services by helping them attract more of their ideal clients. And I've never forgotten that commitment. 

How to Create a Marketing Shift

I promise that when you get very clear about these two areas - money and making a difference, that your motivation to become a better marketer of your services will automatically increase. 

Do some serious thinking about this and let me know what you come up with on the Action Blog: Just click on the Comemnts link below.