I studied cooking in Paris, at the Ritz Escoffier. As someone who grew up in a Southern family, I was dying to learn the French secrets to making exquisite food.
One day I stood in a semi-circle of 20-somethings from Europe, South America and Japan and watched the chef pour a sauce through a chinois, a very fine strainer. I felt like I’d just been told Santa Claus was my father.
Fancy hat makes kitchen fires acceptable
My mistaken assumption had been that some magical stuff was happening in French kitchens which made their sauces smooth and flavorful. I didn’t realize all the ways they were “cheating.” In addition to straining the lumps out, they heaped in butter, cream, salt and sludge-like demi-glace from a stock pot, simmering in the back of the room since 1898.
I was so disillusioned. I thought, “Anyone can make a perfect sauce that way.” I wanted to learn how to make things look and taste good by doing it … hm, what? Properly? What was proper? The truth is, I wanted to do it the hard way.
This is the problem of most small business owners. They don’t realize that you don’t have to do things the hard way to get results. But you do have to do them.
Just because you don’t see the failures or flops from others doesn’t mean they don’t happen. The difference is that so many entrepreneurs I know want to stop after one failure instead of marching on. They want to suffer with a lumpy sauce instead of saying “what the heck!” and just pouring it through a strainer.
Successful marketers make it look easy because they’ve perfected a process that, with a little practice, you could do too. How do they do it?
1. They stay visible. You can’t attract clients if they don’t know you exist. Whether online or in the local community, you need to stay on your prospects’ radar screens. People who have scads of clients may seem like it’s all effortless. Don’t be fooled: they are making an effort to be visible.
2. They build marketing machines. Behind the scenes, what you don’t see are systems, automation and outsourcing. Systems are plans and procedures, so you don’t have to reinvent everything each time you do it. Automation can be anything from email follow-ups to calendar reminders. Outsourcing means someone can do it better, cheaper or faster than you.
3. They create momentum. After a few years in business, and sometimes much faster, you’ll notice the referrals start flowing in. Your website starts to get found. Your card finds its way into the hands of decision makers. Not by accident; hard work pays off. [More on how to get more referrals.]
4. They develop good habits. You know how hard it is to do something the first time? You have to move consciously through every step. But, after a while, the mental muscles build up and you get really efficient. Good marketing practices become second nature after a while. Examples of effective habits are sending a regular ezine, attending a leads group or keeping in touch with referral partners.
5. They learn what works. Not all marketing works all the time. In fact, most of it doesn’t. Over time those who make marketing seem easy have learned what works consistently for them. Most people give up too easily or forget to note down successful practices. They end up reinventing the wheel over and over. It’s easier to have a file of exactly what you did and exactly how it worked, so next time you have the benefit of that learning experience.
When you see all the things experienced marketers with full client rosters are doing, you may realize where you’re making things hard on yourself:
- Disappearing entirely from the scene and being confused why you don’t get referrals.
- Starting from scratch every time you do some marketing and then wondering why it doesn’t work too well.
- Trying to do everything yourself all the time.
- Not automating things.
- Expecting a low-fat sauce to taste as luscious as one with a stick of butter in it.
A good place to start today is with step 1 above: a visibility strategy. What are some ways you can get on the radar screen of your target clients? Where could you go, physically or online? Send an email, make a phone call, write and post an article or just head on over to a networking event. Keep these other tips in mind and soon you’ll be an expert marketer with all the clients you want.
Flambeing chef photo by ewen and donabel
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Thanks for this Samantha. Marketing has always been a bit of a dark art to me and it’s great to find something that lays out some of what’s involved in an understandable way!
…and I loved the caption on your chef image
Hi Chris! Dark art. lol