If you’re a creative freelancer and you need more and/or better clients…

And you’re doing your marketing but it takes too much time (longer than you want it to take or longer than it “should” take – whatever that means)…

...but bottom line is that it feels like nothing is working, Episode 513 of the Marketing Mentor Podcast is for you.

But first, I invite you to join me on Cyber Monday for my "Sweeter Times Ahead" free webinar. That's Dec. 2 at 12-1 PM ET. 

Sign up here

We recently conducted a survey to find out how y’all are feeling about your business as we wrap up 2024, a shifting government and AI on the rise.

Here’s what we learned….listen here (and below) and learn.

• 19% are not doing consistent marketing
• 66% of you say you overthink everything! Those two things are probably connected!
• A full 77% feel like you’re lagging behind – behind what, I have to wonder.
• And a jaw-dropping 75% say you’re either struck or stressed, so if you are too, you are not alone!

But here’s what struck me the most: half of you say that what you really want – what would be most helpful – is a step by step action plan.

Hmm, that’s exactly what I offer but for some reason, it’s not enough.

So here’s what I think….You may think you want a step-by-step plan, but if that's what you wanted you could go to Google and get a plan.

I think what you really want is for someone to give you the "easy" way to find clients.. (Or maybe to do it for you)

But the truth is that there is no easy way. It may start out easy and you get spoiled by that. I have a lot of clients who launched their business with a bang – sometimes because they got freelance work from their former employer.

At some point, it's not going to be easy. It’s up and down, feast or famine, lots of vicissitudes.

That’s when you need a plan – but having a plan doesn’t seem to be the answer. Why?

This is something I think a lot about and I have a hypothesis: you see, when we asked what gets in the way, so many of you said, “it’s me!” (Sing here?)

So let’s think this through and apply common sense: You say you want a step by step action plan but you also say it’s you who is getting in your own way: your fear, your lack of confidence, your impostor syndrome, your procrastination – the list goes on and on!

So it follows logically that having a plan isn’t really the answer. "Elementary, my dear Watson."

A plan won’t remove the obstacle of you.

(Imagine me singing, "It’s me, hi, i’m the problem it’s me!")

That’s my theory.

But first, let’s go back and tackle this idea of “my marketing is not working.”

My question is this: How do you know?

And what does it mean or what does it look like when it is working?

Picture a garden–maybe your garden.

When the seeds are doing their thing under the soil, can you tell if it’s working? Can you see that it’s working? Or do you just see dirt and you have to trust that it’s working?

And when you finally start to see little shoots coming up out of the soil, does that mean it’s finished?

Or is the process of growth slow and sometimes barely visible? And it takes longer than we want it to, right?

Well, it’s the same with marketing. That garden metaphor is used all the time for marketing – for good reason.

Why do you feel like what you’re doing isn’t working?

It could be any number of reasons:

First, there’s a mindset problem. We are all bombarded by people selling us solutions that are supposed to be quick and easy – I try not to do that because I know the reality – and it brings you to your marketing with totally unrealistic expectations of what’s really possible. I am forever fighting against this and trying to show what is possible when you do your marketing right.

Next, when it comes to tactics, it may feel like it’s not working because…

...well, usually it’s because you’re not doing enough. You’re doing some and it feels like a lot but it’s actually not enough.

Or you’re only doing one thing, like social media, and hoping that’s enough. But it usually isn’t.

Or you are doing what you like but it’s not reaching your people.

Or maybe you are actually doing a lot but it’s a lot of random things and it’s totally disconnected.

Or you do one thing for a bit, then hop over to another, then drop that and try something else – never giving any one tactic enough time to actually get the results you so desperately want.

Plus if you’re doing random marketing, the tools don’t work together to reinforce each other or reinforce your message to the your people – which is what it takes for marketing to work.

So what does it look like when marketing is working?

First of all, when it is working, you are often the last to hear about it! It’s happening in the dirt and it’s not until a flower blooms that you actually see it.

It takes time for people to trust you and you can’t see that happening, even when it is. It takes time for people to arrive at their moment of need and you don’t usually have any visibility into their journey to that moment. It takes time for all their puzzle pieces to fall into place before they’re ready to reach out and let you know they have a project. That’s when you’ll hear that it’s working. And that’s why you have to trust that it is working even though you can’t see it or don’t hear about it. Like in the garden.

So again, when it’s “working” what will you see?

There is one obvious signs and several non obvious ones.

You’ll know it’s working when…Your ideal client wants to talk about a possible project.

There are many more non-obvious signs – which sometimes feel like magic or out of the blue. But they’re not…

• Your ideal client lets you know they are interested but have no need right now and will keep you in mind. (That’s your cue to stay in touch with content marketing.) Sometimes that’s the case even if they don’t tell you – so you feel ghosted. But actually you’re not.
• During the 4-step outreach campaign your ideal client didn’t respond at all – so you thought you were ghosted – BUT because you followed my instructions and you stayed in touch with your email newsletter (i.e. content marketing), they eventually do respond – sometimes weeks or months (sometimes even years later – that happens to me all the time! – but they do eventually respond with, “I’m ready, let’s talk.” But this only happens if you follow up and stay in touch. If not, you’ve essentially wasted every ounce of effort you’ve invested in that prospect.
• Sometimes, during the 4-step outreach campaign your ideal client responds with “no thank you, we’re all set.” That is actually good because you can take them off your list and focus on prospects who may need you. You may feel rejected but to me, this is a sign that your marketing is working.

You heard me right,, getting rejected can actually mean that your marketing is working.

Here’s how I see it: a response of “no” is still a response, and it’s not a rejection because it means the message was worth their time to respond to.

I told a story on Episode #511 about a client who sent out 13 messages and got 2 “no thanks” – and that was a win.

2 out of 13 is a very high response rate! That’s 15%

What I think is happening is this: a lot of you just aren’t “finishing” your marketing.

And that’s what leads to the feeling that you’re wasting your time and nothing is working.

You’re not following all the way through.

You’re only doing it halfway.

So many people don’t get past the first outreach before they give up.

But in reality it takes several efforts to get someone’s attention, to build their trust and to be there in their moment of need – which we can’t control or predict.

That’s why we do the 4 step outreach campaign and then stay in touch with content marketing – which is the foundation of the Simplest Marketing Plan.

So the real question is: How do you get yourself to follow through?

How do you get yourself to not give up on yourself and your marketing – especially when it doesn’t feel like it’s working, yet?

if you're the obstacle – what or who will remove that obstacle when you can’t?

It’s me, hi, i’m the solution, it’s me! (I'm singing again!)

Haha – but seriously, I think I can…and I’ve been doing it for years.

That’s what the Simplest Marketing Plan is all about. Because even though it’s not easy, it can be simple.

So if I can help, reach out to me.

Or join me on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2 from 12-1 PM ET for "Sweeter Times Ahead." Grab your spot here!