Small Business Advice: The One Thing You Must Become When You Start a Business

In this article, I would like to focus on something that entrepreneurs are almost never told when starting a business. What's the one thing you absolutely must become when you start a business? Read below for more. The joy: When you take the leap to become an entrepreneur, you are most likely thinking about the thing you most enjoy doing. You look forward to how much you will enjoy doing what you've always dreamed about doing. You said adios to that corporate job and you plan to spend lots of time on your passion. You very much look forward to delivering your services or products to people. You know you will do well because you are darn good at what you do. You're skilled at it and everyone tells you that you are. And you're ready to make some money doing it.

The surprise: This is all good and all needed for a successful business. Skill, passion, excitement, drive, loving what you do. However, most entrepreneurs are blindsided by the reality that there is one thing they must become in order to have a thriving business. You must become a skilled marketer.

Did that surprise you? I know I was surprised by that when I first realized it. Most entrepreneurs do not even remotely see themselves as good marketers. They see themselves as good at what they do: good web designers, good fitness instructor, good baker etc. Most see marketing as a mysterious thing that they can hopefully pay someone else to do so that they don't have to. But you cannot side-step this reality. You must get good at marketing. You know your business better than anyone and you must learn how to market your products and services.

The Dread: Many new entrepreneurs dread the thought of "marketing" themselves because they see it as bragging or sales. They do not want to be associated with the "used car salesman" persona. And they're simply not comfortable with marketing. They don't really know what to do, how to do it, what works, and what doesn't.

The good news: The good news is that marketing is not at all mysterious. And you can learn it pretty easily if you are committed to doing so. Not only that, there are fun and easy ways to do marketing. I never thought I'd ever say "Marketing is fun!" Heck, I had no clue what marketing was when I started my first business. I was into the "doing of the work" and no-one told me anything about marketing. I figured if I did the work really well, the business will show up. Not so.

Marketing Options: There are a variety of specific ways to market yourself so that your business thrives and grows. I learned simply by devouring books and attending seminars. Here are some ways in which you can market yourself: Media: Press releases, radio shows, TV shows, newspaper coverage (folks, this can literally cost you nothing or just pennies (like $5) to do if you have the right knowledge) Workshops/Seminars where you teach people what you know and can also sell your services/products Writing and publishing articles (with a program that costs around $60, you can publish articles all over the internet at the push of a button—people find your articles, find you and come to your web site) Direct mail - flyers, sales letters, coupons, etc.

So when you think of starting a business, begin to think of how you will market yourself, your services and your products to your target audience. Because when you are a solo entrepreneur or small business owner, the one thing you must become is a really good marketer

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