Mindset Shifts to Market Yourself – Even Though You Hate Self-Promotion

Starting a new project is exciting. Once the idea starts crafting in your mind, there’s no stop anymore. Whether it is a home project, a weight-loss plan, or starting a business, beginnings are wonderful! All doors seem to be open, and countless opportunities are waiting for you to start. Most often than not, we start such projects only because we’re dissatisfied with our present situation – your home doesn’t feel as comfy as you’d like it to be, you don’t feel like yourself with those pounds you’ve gained, or you just can’t stand your workplace anymore. Whatever the reason for such big projects is, the truth is that the future can only look brighter and easier than your current life!

One of the biggest projects you can undertake is starting a business on your own. You need to think about the what-am-i-going-to-sell idea, come up with THE name, figure out how to build a website – or who’s going to do it for you! – and so much other stuff that you just start working on during the very first steps. Questions will arise, for sure, but you’re so excited that you don’t want those little issues to bother you right now when you’re at your most creative state of mind!

There are many reasons for wanting to be self-employed: Maybe your first reason is having no boss, or maybe what appeals to you is that you can work wherever and whenever you want (depending on your customers), or maybe it’s just a matter of responsibilities, like taking care of a sick person, or you may just have a baby and don’t want to hire daycare. Whatever your reasons might be, the truth is that you’re willing to work hard and sacrifice your time to start a business on your own.

Once the techie issues are solved, and you see your website is getting the look you wanted, there comes a moment you weren’t expecting: You have to actually write every single word of your website. So you gotta sit down and figure out how to sell your services – or whatever it is that you’re offering. I’ve found that the worst part – and not only for me – is the “About me” page. How do you describe yourself?? You can’t show off too much… but you do want people to trust in your know-how, so you can’t be too humble either!

And that’s probably when the I-hate-selling issue starts: When you realize that you have to market yourself. At least if you want to find customers. Oh, right, customers!! You were so deeply focused on the colors for your logo, your business cards, your site’s name, and especially in finding time to work on it all, that you had forgotten about customers! Oops!! They were also kind of important, right?!

So the first step is researching what you need to do to get that first customer. And the answer comes relatively straight ahead:

• Step #1 – Search in your inner circle (friends, relatives, acquaintances)
• Step #2 – Go to networking events and meet up with peers with similar interests.
• Step #3 – Use online marketing to broaden your search for customers!

And while steps #1 and #2 sound relatively doable, step #3 can almost instantly make one shudder! To be honest, I find digital marketing highly exciting! It’s like a huge puzzle where you have to fit all pieces together to make sense. And although it is very challenging, you never really get bored – what I love!

Check out this online marketing series for beginners

Mindset shift #1 – Self-promotion means serving others!

So why do you think that so many new freelancers hate marketing so much? Are they scared to come up as too salesy? Sleazy? As much as I like the online marketing world now, I did use to avoid the whole selling stuff, too. Market myself? Me and self-promotion? I was raised being told how being humble was a virtue! How showing off isn’t something others would like. And believing that trying to sell something to others was somehow deceiving them into spending money! You shouldn’t bother others, Alicia…

And that’s what I believed until Ruth Soukup, my mentor and founder of Elite Blog Academy, told me something that changed my mind completely: It’s not about you or what you’re selling. It’s about the people you could help with your products or services. Ruth told me to stop trying to sell a product but a transformation! You are serving your customers, not making them spend money, as I used to think! Marie Forleo even goes further and says that you have “no right” to keep your knowledge to yourself  That you should help those who need you!

And you know what? We might be too self-centered to realize that nobody gets bothered by our “selling techniques” because nobody is noticing us. Correction: Nobody but those who need us!

Recap – Don’t be so self-centered!

When you enter a mall, you don’t feel bothered by all price tags, do you? In fact, you do want to know how much an article costs. As soon as possible. The same happens in the online world. Or what do you do first thing in the morning on Black Friday? Don’t you open Amazon as soon as you wake up to check the best deals of the day? So if people are searching for things to buy, why should you avoid selling your products?

And you know what? The best thing about the digital world is that if something doesn’t work, you can always change it! So stop thinking about yourself and start focusing on what you have to offer others and how you can help them.

Do you have any other questions related to online marketing? Leave a comment below and let us know!

>>> This blog post might be interesting for you: Can you start an online business when you hate selling?

>>>For more posts like this, feel free to visit my blog at https://borntofreelance.com