The Lonely Marketer

Marketing, depending on the approach, could be a long, lonely journey. If you’re not part of a team and/or don’t have a technical background in one of the many disciplines, the road ahead will be tedious, to say the least. This is for those who have it in them to persist, regardless.

So, the logical question is ‘How do I move things along faster and/or make (more) money in the meantime?’. Well, in the very short term, you simply don’t. You do what you set out to, what you had intended from the get-go. All too often, marketers give up based on the fact that the associated results aren’t fruitful… but you knew they wouldn’t, at least not right away. Why, then, have you changed course?

The latter is the real question. And the answer is naturally fear, more specifically fear of the unknown. Because we’re not, actually, certain that we’ll see fruitful returns, if at that. Nothing may come out of it. Or maybe we’ll be worse off. But the truth of the matter is, no one cares. People usually don’t even notice our failures, unless we announce them to the world. They just saw it as us doing something, which could only be good.

So, we sometimes spin our wheels, with little to show for our work. We took action, but it also took a toll. Let’s not confuse marketing with sales (or selling). When you’re presented with a lead, preferably a warm lead (of course), and if you have a product or service of value you can offer this person, there’s an opportunity to sell. But when you market a valuable product and/or service (and it/they should be valuable, let alone targeted), you wait. This lull following the action, while painful, is necessary. Not only is it essential, but the amount of time that the process takes for potential visitors/users to reciprocate is often in line with the amount of value that was offered; consequently, since the cost is likely higher, the said individuals need a bit longer to decide whether it’s something they need or want.

Even from a technical level, search engine spiders (yes, it’s still a term), whether general or through social media, will need to sift through countless competitors’ content published relatively within moments of yours. And since they tend to gravitate toward (i.e., favor) regular posters, the idea of remaining consistently active will almost surely prove to be sound.

But what about algorithms? What about saturated markets? What about me wasting my time writing or speaking about my company, my passion(s), my whatever? If you truly are passionate and/or there is legitimate, legal profit to be made, move forth. There’s no other way to achieve the fruits of your labor. If you think, you plan. But if you do, you devise.

Ultimately, you need to be the solution, not just portray it. You need to encapsulate your brand (or the brand you’re promoting). This means increasing your own value. And it’s accomplished by owning your content (articles, podcasts, videos or other), deepening your relationships with relevant & related sites, and continuing to do what you’ve been doing; just do more of it, more regularly, and without hesistation.