Have you had that moment of fear? Paralysis? How do I know what platform or tools I should be using? SquareSpace, Wix, WordPress or a million other platforms promising you the world?
Literally. Promising you the world at your feet if choose them.
It’s like you are on the Bachelorette and everyone is vying for that final rose. But you didn’t sign up for this. You just wanted to connect.
And suddenly there is all this pressure.
Everyone will judge your choice. Because everyone has an opinion.
In fact, everyone has told you their opinion.
Even though, for the most part, you didn't ask and very few have bothered to listen to what it is you want and need.
What’s that? You don’t feel doubt? Well it turns out you are killing this. You, my friend, have your shit together.
This article is not for you. I am, however, open to publishing a follow-up guest article ‘I Got My Shit Together’ with some tips for our readers – call me.
But right now, I am looking at you doubters.
I see you.
I hear you.
And you know what? It’s ok to doubt – because that means that you are open to doing things different.
Open to doing things better.
And that is awesome.
But you have to find the sweet spot. You have to take the plunge at some point. There is a point between ‘I just eyeball it to see if the shelf is straight’ and ‘I just spent 4-hours perfectly aligning this shelf and still have 4 more to install’.
We swing between these two states. It’s perfectly normal.
On somethings we will demand perfection, on other things we’re a bit more ‘let’s wing it’.
That sweet spot is where you understand that fussing over whether your image should be 1mm smaller is not the difference in a sale. However, that 3-hours you spent fussing is time you have lost in revenue-driving aspects of your business.
The sweet spot is the point of diminishing returns.
No one is invulnerable to feeling doubt. After working in Marketing for 10-years, I sat staring at my LinkedIn post, ready to announce to the world that I am going Freelance.
I sat there.
For 15-minutes.
Staring at my screen.
I had a cup of tea.
I re-read a 25-word post for typos that weren’t there.
And then I hit ‘Post’ and had something stronger then tea.
The point is, that in that moment of fear sometimes we are overwhelmed and do nothing. And sometimes we sign up for everything recommended to us because these promises are too enthralling.
All the promises of new tools to make our business more efficient. More automated. More effective. Let’s face it – more money and less time.
How many times have we heard: Work Smarter Not Harder.
But now you have a million platforms to manage. You spend time managing your platforms but you’re not seeing any results. And you have over-committed.
You gave out too many roses, and you don’t feel like the Belle of the Ball.
You just feel tired.
Where is the Utopia you were promised?
Because having an extensive catalogue of resources means headaches and heartaches - if you don’t know how to use them.
You might not be a marketing executive, but you will find that you intrinsically know and understand your customers (well, for the most part. Some people are challenging for fun and we don’t have time to understand that negativity).
So go back to basics, and ask yourself:
Who are your clients?
What campaigns and platforms worked the best - and most importantly, why?
What didn’t work - and why not?
Once you know who your customers are and where to find them, refine those core platforms for communicating.
Review your website, could it convert better?
What tools do you have on your website that you are not using, but should be?
Review your Facebook, are there any integrations with your website available?
Get your core platforms and tools right then work your way out, understand what works and why.
Then you can start refining your other platforms and tools, and decide what makes a difference to your business and what is just a black-hole absorbing your precious time.
Once you have your foundations and you know what you are doing and why, that voice of doubt will become quieter and less paralyzing.
And then come back to me with that article about how you have your shit together - because you have got this!
But, if you need some help getting back on top of your communications - check out our Marketing Motivator Package!
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