Most solopreneurs fear marketing. The overall notion is that it’s too much to learn, it’s expensive, and you can never be sure if it will work.
The market is already overcrowded, and gurus are a dime a dozen. How do you stand out?
It’s that kind of thinking that builds billion-dollar freelance platforms. Why do marketing when someone can bring clients to your door? They take care of it all: bringing in clients, making it easy for clients to pay, and even somewhat protecting your interest.
Until they don’t.
Without marketing, you have no business. You have a job working for a platform (as I did, working for Fiverr alone).
Plus, marketing is much easier than you think. Follow a few simple principles, and you’ll soon build a solid foundation for a 6–7 figure solo business.
I promise!
But first things first.
Let’s talk about the 101. The basics. Not the ad campaigns, not the sales funnels, not the landing pages.
They’ll only lose you money if you don’t build the foundation.
The reason why so many solopreneurs fear marketing is that everyone talks about the how of marketing. How to distribute your message or how to present it.
The how is overwhelming.
No one tells you — or they only mention it in passing — that marketing is about the what.
Secret to Success: The Foundation Of Successful Solopreneur Marketing
In this newsletter:
Marketing is about the what.
Examples of the “whats” of successful entrepreneurs.
How to figure out your what and steal your audience’s hearts.
What about exposure?
Marketing is about the what.
Let me tell you the story of one of my copywriting clients.
She was a coach for people transitioning from the workforce to entrepreneurship. She had helped people start local restaurants, real estate agencies, beauty salons, and more. Her methods obviously worked.
She wanted to focus more on marketing, so she decided a copywriter would know HOW to explain her message in a way that resonates with her audience.
So I meet with her, and we discuss her business. Halfway through our discussion, she tells me most of her clients are retirees or people about to retire who want to put their savings into starting the business they’d always dreamed of.
And, get this, she tells me that’s what she’d done. She retired and became a quite successful coach.
I’m like, wait, I see none of that on your website, ads, or landing pages?
So she says it’s not relevant. She can help people of any age.
And it’s killing me.
I’m half-dead for a moment.
Not relevant?
See, that’s why people don’t understand marketing. They always think about the how.
How do I tell people I’m amazing so that they believe me?
Forget about the how.
The juice is in the what.
What about you is already so great that you don’t have to worry about how to say it’s great?
You do see how putting yourself out there as a coach for retirees who want to start businesses (especially if you did it yourself) sounds intriguing without me trying to make it sound intriguing, right?
Unfortunately, she decided not to listen to me because she had created a course that she wanted to sell to people of any age.
As a copywriter, I did my best to help her sell her course. As a marketer, I know she would’ve done much better if she had decided to lean into her real what.
If you go back as far as religion, as far as the Bible or the Quran or whatever book you believe in, did these people have FB ads? Did they have LinkedIn? Did they even have newspapers?
Of course not.
But they had powerful stories. They had a what that inspired billions of people, even though they had to distribute their stories mouth-to-mouth.
Big brands also start from the what. They call it branding. I just don’t like to use that word for solopreneurs because it sounds pretentious and blocks your authenticity.
The moment you say branding, you already feel like who you are isn’t enough. Who you are isn't a brand.
But if you just think about the what — then, it works.
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Examples of successful whats.
Whatever you do online, you’ll have fierce competition. Your what is what will differentiate you.
What, as in:
What are you about?
What do you stand for?
What do you believe in?
What do you offer?
What makes you different?
What’s the key message behind your business?
Here are a few successful people with original, interesting over-arching messages that make marketing easy for them.
Marie Forleo — Everything is figureoutable.
Marisa Peer — You are enough.
Tony Robbins — Success is 80% psychology, 20% strategy.
Joanna Wiebe — Copywriters are the most expensive people in the room.
Here are a few of my key messages.
Marketing is easy.
Small steps add up.
Anyone can start & grow a one-person business, even if they don’t feel they can.
I haven’t created a big, overarching one yet, but that’s okay. It’s a process, and one I fear many solopreneurs underestimate.
How to figure out your what and steal your audience’s hearts.
Many solopreneurs expect that their what should just come to them.
It should be clear and exciting right from the start.
They should know!
I call BS. Sometimes you know, most of the time, you don’t. As with everything in life.
Let me walk you through the process of creating a powerful what — or a powerful brand — so you stop feeling bad about yourself and start growing your business much faster.
You are not the brand.
You are, but you’re not.
Solopreneurs have businesses where the person’s name is the brand.
This doesn’t mean people like Marisa Peer and Marie Forleo are 100% what you see.
It’s more like an alter-ego. It’s the Batman of Bruce Wayne.
Your what isn’t the whole you, it’s a part of you. The best part of you.
Disclaimer: You should still be vulnerable, honest, and a real person in your communication. Batman also has his flaws. But also, he’s Batman, not Bruce Wayne.
I hope I’m making this clear.
Two ways to start.
Your what is where your best self intersects with the interests and goals of your audience.
This means you can’t figure out your what without figuring out your audience.
You have two ways to start the process of figuring out your what:
By knowing your audience.
By knowing what you want to focus on.
Start with the one that feels clearer to you right now.
Know your audience:
Step 1: Forget demographics and think psychographics. What unites your audience? Are they moms, runners, writers, entrepreneurs, singles? Are they ambitious, worried, sceptical, lonely?
Note: you must be specific. Women doesn’t count.
Step 2: Many content creators target themselves from two years ago.
Where were you two years ago? Struggling to start? Just starting and facing new problems? Still a beginner and now you’ve achieved a lot?
Step 3: Do you love these people? Are you excited to work for them? To talk to them? This is the ultimate test to see if you’ve found your audience. I can talk with solopreneurs all day long.
What do you want to focus on?
Answer these questions:
What are your goals and dreams within your business?
What are your achievements within your business?
What are your problems within your business?
Where does your focus and your audiences needs/dreams interesect?
Still unclear? Go a little deeper.
You should have some ideas about your what(s) by now. Now, go a little deeper. Break down your ideas to see what comes up as content topics or potentially even more narrow whats.
For example, one of my whats is that marketing is easy. From there, I know I can create content around:
How to market yourself for free
How to market yourself if you have no time
How to sell yourself if you hate selling
Why you should love marketing (the results it can help you achieve)
Once you go into the details, you can:
Get more clarity about your what
Get a plan about how to communicate it to your people so they remember and care
Step 1: Look at competitors you like. Fill your brain with ideas.
Step 2: Look at your most successful pieces of content. What are they about?
Step 3: Write what you think is most important & valuable about your content/offers/business. Don’t stop yourself, just write everything that comes to mind.
Step 4: Circle what seems most important and what excites you the most. Your key message should be a message you’re proud of, and one you’re excited about spreading in all ways possible.
What about sharing your what with more people?
Exposure is a crucial part of success.
BUT!
A person with an amazing what and minimal exposure would beat a person with an unclear what and a lot of exposure.
Does that make sense?
Exposure is something we will talk about again and again AND AGAIN when discussing marketing for solopreneurs.
But before we learn exposure, we must make sure our WHAT is optimized for success.
Because marketing is mostly about the what. If you figure out the what — your key message — half the job is done.
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