‘The best marketing of all is happy clients.’
SUSAN STRIPLING
One summer, I worked for my stepdad selling second-hand fridges and washing machines. Each day, I walked around the store thinking about how much money I could make on commission and dreaming about what I’d spend it on (it was 1995, so I’m guessing it was new pointe shoes for ballet and a Tamagotchi).
But nobody ever came in. Not a single customer. It didn’t help that it was the rainiest summer on record, or that it was a crappy store in front of my stepdad’s repair shop with zero signage. So, it was just me, practicing my ballet moves on the concrete floors. I was ready to sell used white goods like a boss. I’d rehearsed my sales pitch. I’d prepared myself mentally for bargaining. But without customers, there’s not much you can do, no matter how enthusiastic you are about the product.
I hear many entrepreneurs say they’ve put their heart and soul into their product, and they can’t believe nobody has bought it. It’s disheartening if you’ve overcome a lot of resistance to starting your business in the first place, only to find that it’s all for nothing. Heart and soul are essential, for sure, but it’s just one part of the equation.
Yes, it’s important to love what you do and to love your customers. But you need people to shower your love onto. You need to make money to have a viable business. It doesn’t matter how much love and care you put into the personalized packaging or how much emotional work went into your sales page. You need customers. Lighting an abundance candle isn’t marketing – it’s procrastination if it’s your only strategy (though I do love woo-woo practices on top of actual marketing).
It’s sad when nobody buys. It’s sad when you’ve launched a new course, and there are zero sign-ups. And it’s sad when you have no clients, despite being ready to change people’s lives. It’s easy to internalize it, and we often do. We think a lack of sales means:
I get it. It’s frustrating and might trigger old memories of rejection from your school days. But now it’s magnified because your rent and your ability to feed your family are at stake – not to mention financial independence.
You’ve got to stop making up stories about yourself and get real about how important marketing is for your business. And you have to cease the endless tinkering on your website, logo, and brand colors (procrasti-branding), instead of simply reaching more people. Yeah, I see you. Stop tinkering! Your brand is fine – just tell more people about it.
‘Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around
his or her neck that says, “Make me feel important.” Not
only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.’
MARY KAY ASH
You might have heard this expression, and every part of you may want to rail against it. You might say things like, ‘My customers are special to me, Denise: they aren’t just a number!’ or ‘But I put heart and soul into my marketing.’ I’m not saying that’s untrue, but you have to be realistic about the amount of marketing needed before potential customers can experience your heart and soul for themselves. Was it my fault that nobody bought a second-hand fridge? No. I would have done a great job selling the crap out of it, if only someone, anyone, had come in the door.
You’re talented and ambitious enough to make a success of your business. You’re good enough to hit all your goals. You just don’t have enough eyeballs on your work right now – simple as that. I have a prescription for you, and it’s called marketing. Marketing is about connecting with your peeps, so you can love them and help them solve challenges in their lives through your life-changing products.
Here’s what marketing is not about:
Some of the most beautiful, big-hearted people worry that marketing is some evil form of trickery, but it’s not. I often hear entrepreneurs say they don’t want or need to learn marketing; they’ll ‘manifest’ the clients instead. Let’s reframe marketing right now: marketing is manifesting! Manifesting means ‘to make real,’ and marketing is a pretty quick way of bringing in real clients who will pay you real, spendable money in return. Win-win.
Marketing is how you manifest clients.
Marketing doesn’t have to be scary. Chillpreneur marketing is just:
Did you know that I have an actual marketing degree? I nailed all my marketing subjects and failed everything else because, instead of going to economics and accounting classes, I was president of my campus business club and performing as a professional sports mascot on the side. But even though I have legit marketing credentials, they didn’t help in my business until I embraced these two things: sharing and making offers. It’s that simple. Share your knowledge, expertise, advice, tips, experience, horror stories, mistakes and successes with people. And then, offer a solution.
This straightforward, two-step marketing strategy has made me millions of dollars. It’s empowered me to live a life of freedom, adventure, abundance and joy (our family values). I’ve been able to support family members financially, donate to important charities, and fund causes dear to my heart. It’s helped me build my dream house, buy new cars, and supported my crystal, candle, and book addictions. Money is awesome. Making money by helping people is even awesomer.
Those two steps are honestly all you need to do, whether your goal is to make millions or just a few extra hundred bucks on the side to help pay the mortgage. It’s the same process either way.
That’s how I started my Lucky Bitch ‘empire,’ and that’s what I continue to do these days. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see that I regularly share what I know about success, money blocks, and other topics, and then I suggest you either buy my book or sign up for one of my courses. My marketing strategy hasn’t changed in years, and it works incredibly well because I don’t overthink it.
Of course, there are nuances, but not as many as you think. You could get caught up in finding the ‘perfect’ marketing channel or stress about creating the ‘perfect’ offer, but my advice is just to get started and tweak as you go. Most women are actually great at sharing but terrible at making offers. They have no problem helping people for free. They write great blog posts, give tons of free advice, and will gladly respond to email inquiries that never lead to a sale. But they forget (or are too scared) to tell people they have a solution.
The truth is that people will take and take and take if you let them. Some will be thankful and praise you for your generosity, but that’s not going to pay your bills. Lots of people will accept your free support and never even thank you. Applause is great, and helping people for free is noble, but you know what’s also awesome? Money in the bank. You can give the best, most life-changing advice in the world but, without an offer, your potential customers will think ‘that’s nice’ and move on with their lives.
There’s no silver-bullet solution to growing your business. Just share what you know and make offers. I know you’re scared to put yourself out there. Everyone is. That’s not a good enough excuse. The world doesn’t owe you a successful business (or life). It’s up to you to decide that you’re good enough exactly as you are and to show up and be counted.
In this section of the book, I’m going to share with you chill marketing techniques that will make your life easier and your bank account happier. But not one of them will be ‘build it, and they will come.’ I’m going to get straight with you: this is a skill you need to get moderately good at. Not perfect, just good enough. In most cases, you can even half-ass it and still get great results (honestly). I almost called this book Lucky Bitch Slap, because we as women have to get real about the role that marketing plays in our businesses.
‘A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today.’
KAREN LAMB
In Oprah style, here’s ‘what I know for sure’ about your business. You’ll:
Fear costs you money, time, and freedom – and it’s keeping your dreams out of reach. Hoping that your potential will be fulfilled won’t make it happen. Hoping for clients to (physically or metaphorically) walk through the door won’t make them come. Blaming yourself for not being perfect isn’t the answer. You have to show up and make yourself known to your potential customers.
I’m not going to slap you – this is just a gentle reminder that you don’t have to overcomplicate it. Share what you know, and make offers. You can honestly create whatever size business you want with those two skills (however imperfect), and you can change your world for the better. You can make the money you need to fulfill your dreams, and you can help more people than you thought was possible!
Ready? Let’s get started!