10 Truths About Self Marketing, Like It Or Not

In today's post, we are going to look at a few "truths" that surround marketing yourself, your book, or your business. When I talk about "self" market, I am talking about being in the position where you are responsible for any marketing that you will receive; you pull the trigger, you make the calls. You own the business or the responsibility to get things done rest squarely on your shoulders.

I will be the first to tell you that this list may be highly subjective. I don't doubt that many will disagree with what I say. I also believe that many marketing veterans will have more items to add to this list. That's OK. I am fine with that. The purpose of this list is to help a new author or business owner know what's waiting for them.

I hope that if this list does nothing more, it will help marketers think about what awaits them. In doing that, my hope is the list will help them reflect, and maybe make better decisions as they look for marketing success.

• Your Success Is Dependent On You Alone- Don't get me wrong, you will meet a lot of people who will help you, especially if you help them. People, for the most part, are genuinely good and they want to see others succeed. But when it's said and done, you can't hang your hopes on someone else if you want to be a success. Your success will be solely dependent on you. If you don't succeed, you have no one else to blame. The ability and willingness to take responsibility is a perennial hall mark of success. That will not change when you take up the challenge to market yourself.
  
  
• Things Will Only Get Done If You Do Them- Are you a "big picture" person? Do you have lofty dreams that you believe your marketing activities can help you achieve? If so, great! I applaud you. All successful people have the rare ability to think big and make it happen. The challenge is not in the dreaming big; it's in the "making it happen."
  
  
• You Have To Plan Your Marketing Activities- Marketing requires that you plan. You can only get so far if you wing it. In fact, you will limit your success more than you can imagine if you don't take the time to create a marketing plan and hold yourself to it. Of course, you need to be flexible to change as situations warrants, but you still need to know how to get where you want to go.
  
  
• You Have To Do The Boring Things As Well As The Exciting Things- For all the interviews, public events, and spotlights, there are hours spent in quite solitude to lay the foundations which make the exciting things happen. There are daily grinds that must be done or you risk sabotaging your success.
  
  
• You Have To Be In It For The Long Haul- Marketing builds on itself. It's the blood that flows through your business and brand. Rarely will you have immediate success when you start to market. By committing to a long-term marketing plan, you will not only see your success come, you will see the success grow stronger and stronger over time. It's an amazing thing to have to re-evaluate your goals because you are exceeding them ahead of schedule.
  
  
• You Have To Keep Learning- Your current knowledge will only take you so far. If you want to be in it for the long haul, you have to build into your marketing plan the time and resources to add to your knowledge. Things change in every industry. By staying stagnant, you run the risk of being left behind. Dinosaurs are easy to spot and, sadly, will eventually become extinct. Continue to evolve by feeding yourself a steady educational diet that keeps you on the cutting edge of your industry.
  
  
• You Can't Give Up If Things Go Wrong- The most successful and wealthy people have seen failure. Failure is, more times than not, a necessary step in your growth process. Failure does have it's benefits for those who don't become a master to it:
  
  1. It creates patience- There is nothing like dealing with failure and learning to overcome it to produce patience.
     
     
  2. It grants wisdom- Failure can be a great school master, teaching you what to do and what not to do in the future. Some of the smartest people we meet will be smart because they learned from their mistakes.
     
     
  3. It sharpens our decision-making muscles- Failure is a type of resistance. Resistance is what builds our muscles. The same is true for our ability to make decisions. Inaction is worse than taking the wrong action (provided we learn from the wrong action).
     
• You Have To Listen To The Right People- You will read a lot of advice from a lot of people. Some will give good advice, others will not. If you consistently listen to the right people, you will start to have the success you are looking for. Seek out the people who have the success you are looking for. Anyone who is successful in even the smallest area you want to be successful in is worthy to listen to.
  
  
• You Must Know Who Not To Listen To- Sadly, there are many people who you should chart a course to steer clear of. People who discourage you from your dreams can be deadly. Most of the time, you will see that these people are the same ones who gave up on their own dreams, or worse, people who never had the courage to start to chase their dream. Also, if someone is giving you advice, look at their success. A failed business owner is not the ideal person to get advice from on how to be a successful business owner. You can almost hear their advice now, can't you?
  
  
• You Must Realize What A Privilege It Is To Live In A Time Where You Have The Opportunity To Market Your Own Products And Services- Let's face it, we live in a great time as business owners. We are connected globally and each of us has the ability to connect to a universal audience. We have been blessed to have the same opportunities that were once reserved for the nobility of eons past. Opportunity does not guarantee success, but it does make success possible.
  

My encouragement to you is to reach out and grab your dreams. Listen to others with a critical ear. Be thankful when others help you achieve success, but don't delegate your success to anyone else. Surround yourself with people who have the same success you are striving for. And remember, the buck stops here. Isn't it a great feeling to know that no one else can take that buck from you?