Writers’ Marketing Mistakes (2) – Telling yourself that marketing can wait

Marketing takes up time.

Marketing can be expensive. Writers have lots of other things (better things) they could be doing with their time.  Marketing can wait.

Does that sound like you?

It’s very easy to make a case that marketing is a secondary activity and that it can wait.  I know that in the early days of running my own business I was very good at telling myself I had so much to do that I couldn’t possibly find the time to market myself or my business.

At that time I didn’t like the idea of marketing at all.   I thought of marketing as cold calling.  Of course, I would have done anything rather than cold-call anyone, so I always found lots and lots of reasons why I couldn’t do any marketing.  I just didn’t have the time.

I was wrong then and lots of people who write are making that same mistake today. As a result they are damaging their chances of building their business and their writing careers.

For every one who is tempted to say that marketing can wait here are three reasons why it can’t.

Marketing can’t wait because if you’re not marketing your business who else is?

Most writers are trying to do everything themselves.  That’s the source of some of their problems.

If you’re not promoting yourself, if you’re not getting your name known, if you’re not building up awareness of you and what you do, then no one else will be doing that for you.  (Not unless you have commissioned a publicist to do this for you, of course.)

The fact is that in every industry people buy from those they know, like and trust.  If you’re putting the marketing to one side, you’ll be falling at the first hurdle.  People won’t know about you, so nothing else can happen.   You’ll just remain on the sidelines in your chosen niche.

That’s not a place you want to be, so don’t ignore your marketing responsibilities.

Marketing can’t wait because you need to show that you value what you do

If you don’t let the world know what you do and how well you do it, then people will think that you don’t value what you do.

If you don’t put your hand up and say you do things well, then other people will get the work and the assignments that you could do.

You can’t afford to stand back and wait to be approached.  You have to let people know how good you are and that you are ready and very keen to take on jobs that customers need doing.  You can’t afford to wait for people to recognise your talents.  You need to help them.

Practise making statements such as:

“I have written a series of excellent blog posts for …”
“My articles on ………….. have been quoted in …………… because ……………”
“There was lots of positive feedback about my series of interviews with …..”

You need to blow your trumpet in order to show that you know you are up to the job.  That’s one task that can’t wait.

Marketing can’t wait because marketing is really about building long-term relationships with people.

Every one in business needs to build relationships with potential customers, with potential business partners, with potential advocates (people who promote them), with complementary businesses, with alliance marketing partners and so on.

Relationships matter so you need to spend time building them both on line and off line.

Use Twitter and Linked In.
Get out to the small business networking groups.
Find ways of meeting more people.

Get to know them and make sure they get to know:

• who you are
• what you do
• who you help.

Along the way try to establish also how you can help them – without selling to them.  Doing this really is a basic marketing activity.  It’s also fun.

Marketing for the future

Far from putting marketing to one side and letting your marketing activities wait, they need to come at the top of your list of activities.

You may be a writer, but you’re also in business.

As a businessperson you know that nothing happens until something is sold, so that means you’re in marketing – and in sales, too.  It’s a big mistake to convince yourself otherwise.

See also:

Writers’ Marketing Mistakes (1) – Not doing any marketing