You market others. It should be a breeze to market yourself. Right?
I should take my own advice. I’ve talked with web designers who would like to branch out into more freelance work, but still have (in their mind) a half-baked website of their own they’ve been agonizing over for months. It seemed perfectly logical to advise they just “get something up so people know you’re there.” The website can always be perfected over time while business rolls in. (As if perfection is ever really achieved for an artist. The art is rarely ever ‘complete.’)
Marketing for others takes on a life of it’s own. We can become passionate about watching a company grow and feel very satisfied when the numbers rise on their incoming phone calls, product purchases or social media likes. For a client, I would never let perfection be the enemy of the good. Do great work, offer a valuable service and articulate your offering to your audience in the most straightforward, honest manner you can. It helps if you have something beautiful to share and/or can tickle your reader’s funny bone.
When it comes to marketing ourselves, though, many of us pause. Why is it that knowing exactly what to say about a client doesn’t easily carry over into knowing exactly what to say about myself? Turning someone’s 1997 website into something beautiful, simple and clean doesn’t mean I can find the right look and feel for my own. Talking about what it is that I do or how that most benefits you is somehow more challenging than eloquently describing the value of my clients’ services or products and how they improve the quality of someone’s life.
Yet all the information is here. Right here in my head. I just need to get it out and “up there so people know” I’m here.
—Lyana Pearson, Copywriter
For insights on building a sustainable audience on social media, see my book, "Going the Social Distance" here. Download my free PDF Seeding the Internet.