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Practical Marketing Expert, Business Lifestyle Architect, Speaker, Author
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Taking the Fear Out of Marketing so You Can Really Grow Your Business

I’m a full-time marketing professional and I still suffer from fear of marketing sometimes. Typically I’ll be trying or launching something new and suddenly realize I’m procrastinating about some of the marketing tasks. Here’s how I get back into action…
Written Nov 10, 2010, read 1257 times since then.
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It happens to most every entrepreneur…You’ve got a killer idea for marketing your business. Maybe you’re even really excited about it. Then you find yourself procrastinating and not taking the action steps needed to make it happen.

Chances are it’s because you were somehow afraid…Afraid no one will notice or respond??? Afraid it would be the wrong thing??? A waste of money???? Embarrassing??? Highly successful??? That people won’t like it or you???

I’ve been a full-time marketing professional for the past eight years, and I still suffer from fear of marketing sometimes. Typically it’s when I’m trying some new marketing strategy or tactic, or launching a new program. I’ll be happily moving out of my comfort zone and suddenly I’ll realize I’m procrastinating about some of the marketing tasks.

Mind you, I write weekly ezines and blog posts, regularly submit articles, audios, videos and all kinds of other stuff online. So it’s not like I’ve been hiding. I made the big step of putting myself out there on the Web years ago.

Mentally I should be good with all this by now, right? Yet all of a sudden I’ll find myself stalling on something that isn’t even a big deal compared to what I normally do.

Suddenly I’m paralyzed by fear of all the unknowns and what ifs. The ironic part is that the tactics I’m stalling on are almost always the ones that end up getting the best results.

Thankfully, I’ve found a few ways to move past the fear and procrastination to get my marketing done. Since I know from working with hundreds of clients over the years that I’m not the only one who suffers from fear of marketing, I thought I’d share a few tips and tricks I use to keep going…

1) Have a written marketing plan. It’s harder to put it off when you’ve got it in writing. And be sure to set milestones and due dates to keep you honest.

2) Put it in your calendar. If you schedule in time to work on each marketing task you greatly increase the chances that it will get done.

3) Break it down. A marketing tactic like writing and publishing a regular newsletter, for example, can require many steps to implement. Break it down and attack each separate task as its own to-do until you’ve got the whole job done.

4) Add it to your to-do list. Keeping it in front of you makes it harder to forget (whether on purpose or unintentionally). And crossing it off the list feels good.

5) Ask yourself what you’re afraid of. Sometimes, just by stopping and thinking it through, you’ll realize the reason you’re procrastinating is totally illogical. Suddenly it becomes easier to proceed.

6) Ask yourself what you might gain. Think about the potential benefits of taking action. Imagine what it could do for you business. If that’s worth having then it’s even more worth doing.

7) Reward yourself. Promise yourself something special once you get a marketing task done or marketing implemented. It can be as simple as a coffee break or walk in the park, or as fancy as dinner out, a vacation or a even new pair of shoes. Whatever makes sense and motivates you.

The bottom line is, if you want to grow a thriving business you’ve got to put yourself out there and do the marketing. You can’t let fear of rejection, failure, success or anything else hold you back.

Because, as I’ve learned from experience, our fears are usually bigger than the reality, and our dreams smaller than the future in front of us. But you only discover the truth by taking action. 

Learn more about the author, Stacy Karacostas.

Comment on this article

  • Junk Removal - Dumpster Rental Bothell, Washington John Davies
    Posted by John Davies, Bothell, Washington | Nov 10, 2010

    Great ideas! Thanks! I am struggling to continue my marketing I am currently doing. Its a positive ROI, but barely. But I've spent so much money on it that stopping now might be a mistake. How do you know?

  • Practical Marketing Expert, Business Lifestyle Architect, Speaker, Author Seattle, Washington Stacy Karacostas
    Posted by Stacy Karacostas, Seattle, Washington | Nov 10, 2010

    Hi John, Glad you liked the article! If you're struggling with continuing your current marketing, and it does have a positive ROI, you probably do want to keep doing it to maximize your investment.

    Without knowing exactly what you're doing it's hard to give you concrete advice, but I would say you might want to tweak it slightly if possible to see if you can increase the ROI (change the offer, headline, price or target market). Be sure to only change one thing at a time so you know what impacts the results.

    You also might simply need to expand what you're doing. One sales letter, email or whatever is rarely enough. So perhaps you could use more follow up...3-6 touches are a minimum. After that I recommend staying in touch via an enewsletter, print newsletter, postcards or phone calls.

    If you'd like more help with this, let me know and we can schedule a time to chat and see if a consult would make sense.

    Warmest, Stacy

  • Structural Engineer Bellingham, Washington Charles Waugh
    Posted by Charles Waugh, Bellingham, Washington | Nov 14, 2010

    Stacy,

    " ... our fears are usually bigger than the reality...' How true!! Sitting and waiting for everything to be "perfect" is the enemy of getting anything done ... and of success and happiness.

    Great article

    Charles

  • Practical Marketing Expert, Business Lifestyle Architect, Speaker, Author Seattle, Washington Stacy Karacostas
    Posted by Stacy Karacostas, Seattle, Washington | Nov 15, 2010

    So very true Charles. I figured out long ago that as a human being, nothing I would ever do would be "perfect". I can go back to virtually anything after the fact and change and tweak it some more. But at some point you have to get it out into the world.

    Warmest, Stacy

  • EXECUTIVE DEALER Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Thiruselvam K T Kandasamy
    Posted by Thiruselvam K T Kandasamy, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia | Feb 07, 2011

    Chances are it’s because you were somehow afraid…Afraid no one will notice or respond??? Afraid it would be the wrong thing??? A waste of money???? Embarrassing??? Highly successful??? That people won’t like it or you???

    Stacy, YOU WRITE EXPERIENCE! Great article above. I simply had to copy the above TRUTHFUL PARAGRAPH from your article. I am the same victim of your expressed contents. Deep inside, I tell myself go out there and knock on 100 doors. Yet I console myself, "WASTE OF TIME", "PEOPLE WILL RIDICULE", "NOT WORTH IT" etc etc. Yet, hours later my mind is saying I should have done it; I must do it etc etc.

    All of your content is absolutely right. Thank you for your great article that inspire action in the world of doubt.

  • Practical Marketing Expert, Business Lifestyle Architect, Speaker, Author Seattle, Washington Stacy Karacostas
    Posted by Stacy Karacostas, Seattle, Washington | Feb 07, 2011

    You are so very welcome Thiruselvam! We all struggle with this to one degree or another (at least I think so. Perhaps someone out there doesn't, but I have yet to meet them). The important thing is to push the fear aside and take action anyway.

    Warmest, Stacy

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