I’ve viewed hundreds of memes regarding success, and probably read an equal number of books that offer to provide you with that secret sauce recipe to success. And although I’ve read all of these books, and I’ve worked in business for many years, most of the motivational speeches always focus on your business mindset, attitudes and behaviour. Now I agree that persistence is vital, as is being committed to bettering oneself, believing in yourself, aiming to be great, learning to fight alone and never giving up on your dreams. I love reading all these inspirational quotes; as I’m sure, many others do too.

However, one thing that the motivational mindset quote often forgets to address is the straightforward act of doing. It’s all very well to have the business mindset and be knowledgeable about what to do, but success will only come to those that DO it. Okay sounds pretty glaringly obvious doesn’t it? Yet procrastination is quite plausibly one of the most significant urges we have to address if we want to have any chance at achieving some level of sales success. Often we put off doing the things we know we should be doing to satisfy instant gratification in other areas of our life. Now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with my headline promote, promote, promote.

Well, the reason why I’m more keen to encourage the act of DOING as opposed to having a business mindset, is that often businesses and people get as far as creating a great product or service, but their business fails because they do very little to promote just how wonderful their actual product or service is? Why? Good question. I’ve thought long and hard about this for many years, and I think I’ve found the answer to this age-old question of why some people are more successful than others. I’ve pretty much pinned it all down to how often and how effectively you promote and market your products or services. Not surprising advice, coming from a marketing professional, I know, but it’s true. Now there are a few reasons why people fail to publicise their products or services, and here are my top three as to why many people will fail to promote adequately.

One reason for insufficient promotion is that some people, or businesses, may not quite believe in their products or services just yet, or are possibly lacking the necessary confidence in how to promote their products or services successfully. The second reason is down to their ego, maintaining that selling should be superfluous, and that their work (particularly for creatives) should simply be enough to sell itself. And thirdly, some people believe that it’s arrogant to promote and that promotion or self-promotion is an ugly word. That by the act of pushing your goods and services, you somehow lack humility. Well, only the rich can afford to be proud, and there is no humility in being poor. We all need to feed, clothe and shelter ourselves, and often have others who are also counting on us to do this for them, at least until they can look after themselves.

If you are failing to advertise sufficiently and sales are slowing, then it’s now time to put all your fears, anxieties, worries and possibly ego aside and get on with a consistent sales promotion programme. If you aren’t publicising or showcasing your business then you are either an employee (but let’s just hope your employer is advertising their products or services; otherwise, you could very well be out of a job) or, you must be living off someone else. Lucky you! But for the rest of us who run a business or work in marketing, then to get the crucial sales in, we need to let the world know about our products or service by advertising them. It’s hard to have your voice heard amongst all the other competitive noise on the internet, but there are always ways and sometimes, some not so obvious ways, to introduce more people to your work.

If you are failing to advertise sufficiently and sales are slowing, then it’s now time to put all your fears, anxieties, worries and possibly ego aside and get on with a consistent sales promotion programme.

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So here are some tips on how to overcome the three reasons for lacking the desire to showcase your business.

1.You have to BELIEVE in the products and services you are marketing.

If you are failing to consistently promote your business then you have, by default, already decided on behalf your potential client or customer for them to not use your services, or purchase your products. So business failure is mostly a self-perpetuating response to a lack of sales promotion. Believing in yourself is the first step towards active promotion. It’s time to grow a thick skin. There are always people who will try and knock you down, and you may need to prepare yourself for competitive action from other businesses. But the best mindset to consider when talking yourself out of promotion is that you have the power within yourself to decide how your story will end. If you think negatively, then often the self-fulfilling prophecy effects in your behaviour causes those expectations to come true.

2. Rid yourself of the EGO driving your marketing decisions.

It’s difficult for people, especially within the creative fields to push themselves to promote their work. Often this is because the drive to create does not necessarily come from the desire to earn an income from their work, especially as they find the marketing of their work a chore, and often will direct huge opposition to the need to promote. But unfortunately, unless someone is doing it for you, there is no avoiding it. So, the first step is to separate your ego from the need to promote. Don’t get too attached to the outcome. You are good enough. Just keeping DOING what you are doing and continue promoting. Success may not come as quickly as you plan, and you may need to experiment with a few ideas, but consistency is vital.

3. It’s not arrogant to want to introduce your products and service to your customers.

Actually, it’s quite the opposite. If the consequence of your actions mean that you are unable to provide for your family, or your business fails as a result of your lack of promotion and people are counting on you, like your employees, then your arrogance has resulted in not caring about what happens to those around you. Being a salesperson is not the domain of the arrogant. In fact, you need a certain amount of humility and modesty to sell products and services. If you still struggle, then try and think of your products or services as helping others. In our business, we sincerely care about whether our services and solutions will help our clients. Yes, we make a profit, as does every company, but we also help our clients reach their customers, who in turn benefit from the purchase of their products.

You may not feel like a natural marketer, but with practice, and over time, you will soon what works for you and what you feel most comfortable with doing. Think of it this way. Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. So, forget trying to learn the basics and just jump in and test, test, test.

To find out more about how Shapes can help you with youryour sales promotion and marketing communicaitons give Amanda or Matt a call today on 01252 413771 or 01252 413772

Blog posts by
Amanda Bates – Marketing Director – SHAPES

About the author: Amanda is a professional CIM qualified marketer with over 15 years experience. Currently co-owner of a Design and Marketing Agency. She was previously Senior Communications and Marketing Manager for the BBC. 

If you need a boost with your sales and marketing activities or help in getting started with your sales promotions programme, please get in contact via our contacts page to chat about the range of marketing consultancy services we offer and how we can help.