Are These 3 Outdated Small Business Marketing Myths Killing Your Results?

To hear some people tell it, small business marketing is a full-time gig. If you’re not constantly building relationships, growing your social following, and battling the SEO monster, you’re doomed.

Get ready to breathe a sigh of relief. A lot of what you’ve been told are must-do small business marketing tasks really aren’t.

Myth #1: You Have To Do Everything

Have you been driving yourself to the point of madness trying to keep up with the latest marketing trends? Do you feel like you must be everywhere: Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, emails, webinars, podcasts, and speaking, and more? Slow down!

Listen to enough so-called experts, and you’ll be chasing hundreds of methods to market your small business — and still not seeing results. Here’s why:

You can’t do everything. No one can. There just isn’t enough time in the day to focus and accomplish the outcome you want from so many different channels. Not only that, but you have an actual business to run as well, and that means serving your clients, keeping your books, and managing your inventory. All of that takes time, too, so where are you supposed to squeeze in yet another social channel?

Here’s what to do instead: Find your audience. Know where they are hanging out, and go there. Focus on those avenues. Rather than dabbling a little bit in podcasting, a little in Facebook Live, and a little bit in Pinterest with minimal results, focus on the two or three mediums where you and your audience meet regularly.

Make a list of the marketing platforms you’d like to try, prioritize them according to where your audience is most likely to respond, then concentrate on the top choices. Watch your analytics. If you aren’t seeing traffic from one source, consider ending that engagement and placing those resources in an area that is performing well. For the ones that are producing results, continue working them so they can breed, expand, and bring you the outcome you desire.

Myth #2: You Have To Be The Expert … In Everything

Here’s a bit of good news for you: You don’t have to be a blogging master to make great use of content marketing strategies. YouTube can be a fantastic source of traffic without requiring you to become a professional videographer. Visual outlets such as Pinterest and Instagram still work, even if you don’t have advanced graphic design skills.

Before you sign up for that expensive course or hire a high-priced pro, a little do-it-yourself marketing is an excellent way to determine where to spend your time and resources.

Once your efforts begin to pay off, if you want to dig deeper and expand your skills, go for it. Make a plan and get some advanced training, and you’ll likely see even better results, but you certainly don’t need to invest in expensive equipment or software just to get started.

Myth #3: You Have To Figure It All Out Before You Can Start

Small business marketing can be a beast. Analysis paralysis is a real thing that people suffer from every day. Don’t let it hold you back from taking the necessary steps to market your small business.

Rather than spending days (or weeks) researching the best email marketing platform, or which lead magnet will convert best, inhale, exhale, and take the first step. You’ll never know whether your choices will empower you to move forward unless you try.

If you’re trying to decide on a content upgrade (lead-generation bonus) to offer your prospects, choose one. Start there. Watch the results, take notes, and learn from the experience. If your ebook (for example) is a hit … wonderful! If not, it isn’t a waste. You can use the material in the ebook to create an infographic to test or a cheat sheet or any number of other content upgrades. No experience is lost unless you give up.

This Is The Real Small Business Marketing Must-Do

It’s true that you don’t have to do it all, know it all, and plan it all before you can successfully market your small business. You don’t even have to understand what the best plan is, because in the end, they all have the potential to work.

What you do have to do is be consistent. This is the key to your success. Truly, consistency trumps brilliance every time. EVERY time.

Small actions, over time, yield big results. Irregular, infrequent, and inconsistent action will only leave you frustrated, and with little to show for your efforts. So choose your path, and take that first step. Don’t worry about what comes later, just begin.

Not sure where to start? Cindy Bidar has created an amazing resource called 6-Figure Systems. These done-for-you marketing plans walk you through a new proven marketing strategy each month. Checklists, templates plus video training, and even live Q&A calls fully explain each step of the process.

The framework is handed to you along with encouragement and support to take the action needed to market your small business. All you have to do is implement to see results.
Get your first easy-to-follow action plan when you join 6-Figure Systems today. Use promo code MW50 to save 50% on your first month.