5 Marketing Mindset Shifts That Will Make You Love Marketing

When coaches hate marketing

“I don’t want to do marketing.”

I hear this all the time, mostly on client consultation calls. 

These coaches and healers want to have a business, want to find clients, and want to make money… but they don’t want to  market their business.

If this is you, read on, because you’ll learn how marketing helps you do more of what you love. And you’ll learn the marketing mindset shifts that can change your mind about marketing.

Why shift your mindset about marketing

When I hear that someone doesn’t want to market their business, I usually ask, “How do you plan to find clients?”

Because the thing is, marketing helps you find clients. And marketing is part of having a business.

As a coach or healer who wants to get paid for their work, you also become a business owner. Marketing is a responsibility of running a business, just like managing your books and doing your taxes.

When people say they don’t want to market their business, what they’re really saying is usually:

• “I don’t want to market my business in a sleazy, spammy way.” ~ or ~
  
• “I don’t know *how* to market my business” ~ or even ~
  
• “I’m uncomfortable with marketing my business.”

So the magic question is, if you don’t want to market your business, WHY don’t you want to market your business?

The real reason coaches hate marketing

When I ask these prospective clients why they hate marketing, here’s are the responses I usually get:

1. I hate social media.
2. I don’t want to spend my time doing that.
3. I’m not comfortable with it.
4. I only want to attract (insert small number) of people.
   
5. All marketing is shady/manipulative/gross.

Do any of those sound familiar?

When you get down to the reason behind why you don’t want to market, we can address that reason… and find a way to market your business that works for you.

5 marketing mindset shifts that will change your business

It’s not about forcing yourself to market. That doesn’t feel good. 

It’s not about using techniques that you don’t enjoy. You won’t be consistent if you do that.

It’s not about being someone else or being manipulative. 

Authentic marketing is about finding a way to share about you and your offerings that feels good, authentic, and connects with those you can serve.

So let’s explore the 5 marketing mindset shifts that can change the way you think about marketing.

Marketing Mindset Shift #1: “I don’t like social media.” 

The good news is, marketing is WAY more than social media. It can seem like you need to be on social media 24/7 to grow your business these days and that simply isn’t the case.

Here are a few reminders about social media:

1. You don’t have to be on any platform you don’t want to be on.
2. You don’t have to engage with people you don’t want to engage with
3. You don’t have to post or show up every day. 

You can create a strategy that works for you. 

Even if you do choose to use social media, it is only ONE component of marketing. A good marketing strategy includes a variety of tactics that can bring you business and developing a system to attract, nurture, and convert a prospect to a client.

Marketing Mindset Shift #2: “I  don’t want to spend my time marketing.”

Listen, I get it. It can feel like you have to spend all your time marketing, especially in the early stages of business.

Some people want to avoid marketing entirely or hire it out. And while you absolutely can hire it out, I recommend that you first get clear on the basics of your marketing strategy, including:

• Who you’re marketing to (your niche)
• What you’re marketing them (your service offering)
• Your value proposition (your core message)

This is because your brand is an extension of you, and so whoever you hire to do your marketing will also be acting as an extension of your brand.

As to the “Do I have to spend all my time marketing?” question, no. You don’t.

But you do have to spend time in the beginning to build brand awareness, to test out marketing strategies and find what works for you. Once you have a solid marketing strategy and systems in place, you will find that you spend way less time on marketing.

Marketing Mindset Shift #3: “I’m just not comfortable with it.” 

This is one of my favorite responses because this is something you can change! And when you do, it will dramatically change how you run your business — in a good way!

When people think about marketing, they think about putting their faces out there, going “live”, taking selfies, or sharing personal stories. (It’s important to remember that you always have a choice to share what you’re comfortable with. You’re the boss!)

But in order to let people know that you exist, you need to feel comfortable with putting yourself out there as the transformational coach or healer you are. 

This doesn’t mean that you need to be an extrovert or 100% confident 100% of the time (that’s unrealistic!), but it does mean that you need to be comfortable with yourself, confident in the value you’re providing to your clients, and willing to show up. After all, if you don’t show up, how will they even know you exist?

Getting comfortable with being seen and heard is something I support clients with in my visibility coaching program.

Marketing Mindset Shift #4:“I only want to attract x people.” 

Maybe you only want 5 clients and you want them to be long term engagements. 

Maybe your niche is narrow and you only want to attract retired ballet dancers who are becoming health coaches (for example). 

Maybe you don’t want to “mass market.”

These are not reasons to avoid marketing. They are reasons to embrace niche marketing (i.e., tailoring your marketing efforts to a very specific segment of the population.)

Once you’ve tapped out your existing network for referrals, you’ll need to go beyond that. That means you will need to be doing some type of outreach to attract these clients. 

Even if your goal is only 5 clients, you need to attract more than 5 people. (Not all prospective clients will convert to paying clients!) So you’ll want to build an audience of prospective clients, so you don’t experience “dry spells” where you’re hustling to find clients.

A good marketing strategy and sales funnel will help you build your audience and a plan to nurture them. Building an audience is also crucial if you ever want to scale your business by selling digital products or courses.

Marketing Mindset Shift #5: “All marketing is manipulative.” 

I secretly love this objection to marketing! Every once in a while I’ll come across someone who cannot bring themselves to do something like create a freebie for their newsletter list because they consider it manipulative. 

Think of it this way: You are in business. A business transaction is an exchange of value for money.

Offering a freebie is an exchange of value for someone’s email address, which allows you the privilege of being in their inbox.

The way for this not to feel manipulative is by providing so much value that someone will happily enter their email address because they want what you’re offering. Providing value is being of service to your ideal clients. 

It’s important to remember that your prospective client is choosing to engage with you. It is always their choice to unfollow or unsubscribe at any time. 

Want to love marketing? Focus on this.

Authentic marketing is sharing who you really are in your business. This means: not lying, not overblowing your credentials, not making promises you can’t keep, not using fake sales tactics, not playing on people’s weaknesses.

Authentic marketing means:

• Showing up in alignment with who you are
• Being truthful in any and all sales and marketing content
• Focusing on activities that play to your natural strengths
  
• Providing value and truly serving your audience

Showing up, sharing about the value you provide, and inviting your ideal clients into offerings that can serve them… that IS authentic marketing!