035. Busting My Favorite Marketing Myths

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast, where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello. Hello, my friends. How are you? I hope you're having a fabulous day. I am just getting summer started around here. I feel like this transition between, like, the school year and summer break is always a little tricky for me, like just getting everyone into a routine, getting myself into a new routine. And so that transition can be a little crazy, but we're handling it. So just a little disclaimer. If you hear any dog or children noise during this episode, everything is fine. But yeah, we have a house full of people all the time now. And so we're just going to make it work. And we're going to talk today about marketing myths. And it's a kind of a strange myth is a strange word to be saying into a microphone. So I hope it doesn't sound weird, but my t h a marketing myth, we're going to be myth busting and talking about what's true instead. And so these myths I have either believed myself or, and I should say and, and, or have heard and seen my clients and others that I talk to, believe and struggle with these myths. And so I thought this would be a really helpful episode just to really bring out some of these thoughts and misconceptions about marketing and what marketing is. Because when we have when these myths are controlling the way that we're thinking about our business and about our marketing, they really can hold us back from all the freedom and success and enjoyment of our business that's possible. And the money, too, right? We want to be earning the money, making the money. So I want to talk to these, talk to you about these myths, help dispel them, to set you free from them. Okay? And so that you can go out and just be more free to be yourself in your business, to do the work that you love, to work with the clients that you love. And I my hope for you, my dream is that marketing doesn't feel so heavy, so impossible, but feels like something that is actually desirable and fun and a great way for you to connect with the people that you love to work with. So that's my hope as a result of this episode. And also I'm really going to be going into depth about how to create simple marketing that leads to big results in a free training that I'm doing coming up on June 15th at 9:00am Mountain Time, which is also 11:00am Eastern Time. And I'm going to be training on how to create simple marketing that is not heavy, not hard, that is going to just help you create the results that you want over this summer and also enjoy the summer and enjoy all the fun things that summer has to offer. So if that's of interest to you, because I really feel like summer is such a great time to simplify. Right? We simplify the meals that we make. We simplify our schedules. We can also simplify our marketing and our business so that we can get out there and enjoy all that we want, all the the friend and family time and vacations and all the things that we do in the summer. So that is what I have for you today, my friends. So I want to let's get started. Busting these myths. So I have seven myths here that I am going to cover, and then we're going to talk about what's true instead. So I just ask you to just open up and consider how every one of these myths might be at play in your thinking and then open up to the truth that I offer in order to bust the myth. Okay. And just see how you might be able to apply this to your business and to simplifying your marketing. Okay? So myth number one is one that I have held near and dear to my heart so much of my career. And speaking of my career, I should mention I've been in marketing and working with clients and marketing for 20 years. So, you know, these myths are tried and true. They are things that I have believed and I've seen clients and folks I've talked to believe for a long time, like, this is nothing new. And these are myths that we all struggle with. So myth number one is that there is one secret marketing strategy and that once I find it, it's going to open up the floodgates of money and clients coming into my business. And I know we have all felt like this, like there's a secret way to do marketing that everybody knows but me, right? And maybe we wouldn't verbalize it in such a, in that dramatic way, but that's kind of what we're thinking inside. At least I know I have. Right? And so what I want to offer for this one is that the truth, really is that all marketing strategies work. How about that, right? All the marketing strategies work. And what makes them work is you and the energy that you bring to them. Right? And so we've all heard people say, oh, well, My friend's wife is a marketing guru, and she says that TikTok is where it's at. So if you want to be successful, you've got to be on TikTok. You've got to be doing TikToks, right? And yeah, TikTok is great. And if you want to experiment over there or, you know, be involved over on TikTok, by all means, go and do it. And if you're having fun and taking your energy and your. The value that you have to offer over there, you will be successful. Right? Like I said, I've been in marketing for 20 years. When I first started in marketing, some of the popular tactics in that day were like, the Yellow Pages. Like, everyone was like, you have to have a Yellow Pages ad. If you don't have your ad in the yellow Pages, you will not be successful. Nobody's going to find you. Well, that, you know, obviously is. Is not true because none of us have Yellow Pages ads now, and we're still here making all the money. I never had a Yellow Pages ad, and I've been in business for 17 years. So what I want you to think about is that it's not the tactic or the strategy that's going to create your success. Those things are going to come and go. There's going to be different ones every season, right? Every week, every year, there's going to be some new thing that everybody says we have to do. And I would encourage you, if you are the early adopter type, to go and try it and have fun and see if that tactic is for you. And if it is, and if it's something you really want to focus on, then by all means do that and it will be successful. Okay? But you don't have to if you don't want to. You don't have to do video, you don't have to do TikTok. You don't have to dance or sing on camera. You can still be successful without all of those things. So that is myth number one. Myth number two is that paid advertising, like Facebook ads or Google Ads is the only way to get enough eyeballs on my stuff and make money fast. So I hear this all the time. Like, people will say to me, oh, well, I should just, you know, you know, if I'm going to launch this training or, you know, this new offer, I need to do a whole bunch of Facebook ads, and that will get. Bring all the people to it, right? And yeah, Facebook ads, Google Ads, paid advertising can work. It's one way, but it's not the only way. I know plenty of entrepreneurs that have made millions of dollars not using paid advertising. So paid advertising is an option, but it's not the only option. Right. You can use organic marketing. And I really believe that organic marketing is the way to go when you are first starting out in your business, when you're in the early years of the developing, until you're really have a really great understanding of your, your best fit clients, your market, your industry, and you know how to create demand and you feel really confident in that, then I feel like paid advertising can be a great option because often when you get to that point, you have the time and the resources to get paid advertising dialed in. Because it does take time and resources to get dialed in, to learn, you know, because each audience is different, each avenue or channel marketing channel is different. So it takes a little while to get it dialed in. So if you think you're going to just throw a couple thousand dollars or three dollars a day or whatever at Facebook ads and be successful and it's going to create money and clients for you right away, the expectation is probably unrealistic. So I see a lot of people think, well, if I want to make money now really quickly from a lot of people, I just need to dive into Facebook ads. And I think that is, and I've done this myself, I launched a course quite a few years ago and I thought. And I had a very small audience. And so I thought, well, all I need to do is just a small audience in terms of like, my email list was small. And so I thought, okay, what I'll do is I'll just throw some money, a couple thousand dollars into Facebook ads. It will bring all the people and everything will be great. And that's not. It didn't work. It was basically flushing money down the Facebook ads toilet. And so that was how one way that I learned that lesson, and I'm not the only one that's learned the lesson that way. Um, and it stands to reason, because I didn't really know who my best fit client was for that course. I didn't know how to speak to them really well. I didn't know exactly how to reach my ideal audience. And so because of all of those things, because I didn't take the time to learn and do organic marketing and really learn the language, the messaging, the how to talk to my audience then because I didn't really learn that I was just throwing money at Facebook, telling them, you know, asking them to tell me how to do it, of course they don't know my audience. They don't know me. So it just didn't work. And so I see that happen a lot. So just keep that in mind that paid advertising is not the only way to get eyeballs on your stuff. Okay? Myth number three is that we've all. I don't know if you've heard this, but I kind of like this saying, and, you know, just the way it sounds, but it's not true. So myth number three is that the riches are in the niches. So you've all, you may have heard this, that you have to have a niche in order. Niche, niche, however you say it, potato, potato. That you may have heard that you have to have a niche in order to be successful. And that is a myth. You do not have to have a niche. I know lots of very successful entrepreneurs that have no niche. They know the service that they provide and the way that they provide it, and they're top notch in that, and they help anyone that needs the kind of help that they offer. And so what I have found in my own journey is I have tried myself to niche down to a super narrow niche, and it didn't really. That did not work for me. And I think it was. And it's really because what you're doing or what I was doing was constraining myself too early on in the development of my business. And so I feel like what I've seen in my own business and with my clients is that creating a niche is a process that happens organically, that it's not just like one day you decide, okay, I am going to serve, you know, this very, very narrow. I don't know, I'm trying to think of something absurd, but I'm not going to. But you don't have to think of some super narrow niche and then only constrain your entire business to that one thing, because it locks out all of the other opportunities that could come into your business. So what I, I like to turn the niche development on its head and say, what if your niche, creating your niche doesn't come from outside of you, but what if it comes from inside of you? What if you and who you are and your full expression of yourself is your niche? So, for example, all of your experiences, the education that you have, how you like to do business, how you like to serve your clients, who you're best suited to serve, what if that all becomes your niche just because of who you are? So just consider that, open your mind to that as a possibility and not that you have to constrain your business in that way, but just allow the people that are attracted to who you are to come to you. So just, yeah, just be open to allowing your niche to develop as you go along in your business. I really don't feel like it's a set it and forget it thing. Like it just continues to grow and change and mature as your business does, and that's okay. So don't force a niche. That's really the. The message from me there, because I tried to do that. I've seen others try to do it, and it just never really works out very well. So stay. Just stay open and have fun and play. Play around with that. Right? Okay. Myth number four is that the more offers I have, the more money I'll make. And this is such an easy trap to get into. And it's not true because we think that we're not making the money that we want to make because our offer is not selling well enough, and we need more things to sell well. The truth is, is that your revenue will grow when you are creating focus and simplicity in your business. I've seen this happen over and over again with my clients and with myself. I have tried to create all the things and sell all the things, but when I peeled all of that away, cut all of that out, and focused on one thing, that was the most. One offer that was the most true to me, the most aligned for me, the most exciting for me. That's when my business has just grown exponentially. And I really believe it's the focus and simplicity. Because if you think about, okay, if I have one offer, I'm always thinking about my best fit client for that offer. I'm always thinking about how to explain it better, how to develop it better, how to, you know, offer more value within that. That service, how to make it better. You know, I'm just really developing it, how to sell it well, how to talk about it. I'm just really developing that one offer. And all of my creative energy and focus is going into that one thing. So. And it really. And when you do that, it creates a very top notch, super valuable offer, right? Well, now imagine that you have two offers, right? And imagine that you haven't, you know, fully developed that first offer, right? So you've already got one offer that's kind of good and it's selling okay, but you think, well, now I need to add another offer. Well, now you have another. It's almost like a baby, like having a baby. Now you have another baby that needs to be held all the time and fed all the time and really poured into and focused on and everything done for them. And so you're now dividing yourself between two immature product offerings, service offerings and your focus. It starts to create confusion in your mind, like, okay, how you know who's the best client for this one and then who's the best client for this one. And then if I meet somebody in the grocery store, do I talk to them about this offer? Do I talk to him about that offer? You know, if I'm going to be developing a podcast, am I thinking about the pot, you know, the perfect clients for this offer, Am I thinking about the perfect clients for that offer? And it just begins to create a lot of divided attention, divided focus, divided energy, creativity. And I think it dilutes our ability to really create value and success with one offer. Now that's not to say you can't have multiple offers. I think for me and for my client, for most of my clients, we really, we talk a lot about fully developing that one offer and getting it super dialed in to where demand creation is something that you understand and that you know, you have agency over. So you can create demand within that offer whenever you want or you're always, you're consistently creating demand. You can create clients within that offer whenever you want to. So once you get to that point, then, and you're probably at that point selling out that offer or you're filling up the capacity for that offer. And so when you get to that point, then it is time to think about, okay, how can I increase the capacity? Which oftentimes means adding another offer. And so, but you already have, your first offer is kind of mature, right? It's almost like it's a teenager now. It can drive, it can like stay home alone. It's like kind of, it's, you know, it still needs your guidance and your attention and your love. But it's going, it's okay, right? It's going to be fine. It's can stand on its own two feet. And now once that's, then we can, you know, start the second offer, have, have the other baby. So then you can pour that creative energy, that focus and into that next offer and really be thinking about how to, how you're going to create that, create the value there, right? Because I believe, and what's been true for me is that where your focus goes, your money will grow. So it's not to say that the other offer is going to lose out, but that one's already kind of self sustaining. You know, you've got that one dialed in. Now we can put all of our energy into another offer. But what happens a lot of times is that entrepreneurs will say, oh, well, offer number one isn't selling, and it's probably too expensive. So that means I need another offer. So then we create the another offer, a second offer, and we get that. Start that going. And then we get to that point where, like, this is kind of boring. I don't really like selling this anymore. I think I need another offer. I should write a book or I'm going to, you know, start something else. Right? And really what we need is to sell ourselves and continue to sell ourselves on the offer that we're focused on and stay committed until that offer is successful. Is creating demand is standing on its own two feet before we move on to something else. And that's what I have found to be the most successful way of creating simplicity in your business and in your mind, and also making the most money. So it's really creating the commitment to the offer at hand. Not to say you can't have multiple offers, but to creating the commitment to the offer at hand, because it's your commitment and how sold you are on the offer that's going to make the money, right? Not the number of offers that you have. Okay, so that was myth number four. Myth number five is that my audience is too small. This is something that I have to catch. I catch myself thinking that I have been coached on many times, that I coach my clients on many times, and that I talk about and hear from people a lot. Like, we think there's this magic number of audience size that's going to, again, open up the floodgates of business. And what the truth is, is that you have enough people in your sphere right now to meet the goal that you have for this year. And, yeah, I don't know every single business listening to this podcast right now. I don't know every single person's goal, but I'm willing to bet for the vast, vast majority of you that the audience that you have, the people that are already around you, are enough to create all the business that you want to create this year. And I'll tell you how I know that. Number one, I would challenge you to add up all the people currently in your sphere. So, like, all of your friends on social media, your email list, if you have one, your friends and family, like, look at your contacts on your phone, like, take that whole number of people. So last time I did, it was, I don't know, probably about a Year ago it was like 3,000 people. It's pretty small audience, right? It's like, oh, that sounds really small. I don't have a blue check next to my name on any of my social medias. Then think about what if you 10x that number? Because if all of those people are in your sphere, they're like one degree of separation from you, right? And they each know 10 people. Or even, even if you just say they probably only know five people, then you multiply that number by five. So if I said I had 3,000 and then times five would be 15,000 people now, how many clients do I need to meet my goal this year? I think my, I think it's like, I don't know, 50 clients and no, it's only, it's much less than that. Like 30. 30 clients. So is it possible there are 30 clients in that group of 15,000? Yes. And you could have a million dollar business based on just making sure and serving at the highest level the people that are already right around you. The basis to this thinking that my audience is too small. The base thought to that is not enoughness, right? Scarcity. So my audience isn't big enough. My audience isn't good enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not, you know, popular enough or whatever it is to have the business I want. And all of those are untrue. They are not true at all. So I would challenge you, as I have challenged myself in the past, to really think about how can I more deeply serve and offer value to the audience, the people that are already around me, how can I think of them as enough and go and serve them accordingly, right? And communicate with them that way. So that's myth number five. Okay? Myth number six is I have to be in all the places all the time in order to be successful. So this is another one that I have believed before and I still struggle with, right? And for me, this is, this is mainly around networking and being on social media. So, and I hear this a lot, like, oh, well, if I want to be successful, I've got to be on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn and clubhouse and YouTube and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, it's not true. It's a myth. We also think about this, like I said regarding networking, like I've got to be the member of every, you know, all of this chamber, you know, chambers of commerce, I've got to, of all the networking groups and I've got to go to all the meetings everywhere. And that's not true either. Is it great to meet people and meet more people? Yes, that's great, right? But what really is going to create business for you is creating relationships and creating depth. That's where the traction will come. Now I think early on in your business and for me, early on in my business, going out and meeting as many people as possible worked really well for me and gives you a great opportunity to talk about what you do. It's great practice. You start just growing that network. But then there comes a point when you really want to just start developing depth in relationships. So I think about it like investing in people and creating those deeper connections versus like carpet bombing. Like there's a time in my business when I was just networking everywhere, going to all the meetings all the time, carpet bombing, you know, my presence everywhere. But that wasn't necessarily creating a lot of business because it was very shallow. And we do the same thing online too. We go into all these groups, we just post like, oh, I love it, nice. Just little shallow comments and shallow things. But think about where are the opportunities and where would I like to really constrain my focus and who, what are the rooms I really want to be in whether it's online or in person? And who do I want to develop relationships with? Like create consistency with them and consistent connection, consistent contact and develop those deeper relationships. And it again goes back to that focus, right? Where your focus goes, your money will grow. And I have seen that in my own journey, networking. Like I was saying, I used to go to all the groups but it's been the ones that I have invested the long term time with. Like invested at least a year and invested in having a lot of one on one conversations with people. It's in those groups where I have, in those rooms where I have created the most business and it's because I'm creating relationships with people. And I do the same thing online as well. So there's only a very few small number of groups that I'm involved in and I go there and I am part of the community. I'm not just selling my shit, buy my shit, buy my shit. I am going and having conversations and creating relationships, actual human to human connections. Right? So we'll talk about that in a minute. But that is really where the truth is in marketing yourself. And then myth number seven, last but not least, is that I'm not legit without having perfect branding, like colors, logo, my brand story, fancy photos. So I'm not legit without those things to start my business or to grow my business. And that is absolutely 100% a myth that those things are great. And yes, they are really fun to have, but they're not necessary to create clients and make money. I can tell you in my own business, I have, I don't, still don't have a real logo. Never really had that done. I chose some colors off of Canva. I do have brand photos just because it was fun. And so I have made over the 17 years of my business about a million dollars without any of those things. And so I know that it's possible to make money and to have clients have a successful business and be legit because you're legit, because you think you're legit, not because you have branding. So I just offer that to you. So I just also offer that decide what really is necessary for you to sign clients and connect with people. And usually it is very simple. And so you have to decide for you what's important, what you want to spend your time and money on. But what I see happen a lot of times is that we get sidetracked and we use a lot of this fancy, like corporate, you know, requirements, what we think are requirements for marketing to be successful. We use those things to distract ourselves from really just going out and meeting people and telling them we can help them and creating relationships. And that's really the crux of marketing is all it is is creating connections. And so I, I want to just share with you a few of what I, what I have seen over my 20 years as a marketing professional, the timeless principles of marketing. So they've been true since, you know, 2000 all the way to 2022. For me, this is what's true, is that marketing is simply connecting with people as a person, as you, as a real person. And so even if you are in B2B sales, I hear that a lot. It's like, well, I'm a, you know, a business selling to another business. No, you are a person meeting with another person. That person might represent a business and, and you are representing your business, but you still are humans and you're connecting. And so that is how business happens. And it's been true since the dawn of time, right? And so marketing is simply a way to create a connection. So however you want to connect with your ideal client, with your best fit client, that is going to be the strategy, the tactic, the way that it's going to be successful for you. So I encourage you to just think about how you like to create connection and just remove yourself, even remove that thinking from marketing. Because I think Marketing oftentimes for folks feels so heavy, it feels so hard, it feels so mysterious. And so if you just even remove yourself from the business or the marketing frame of mind and just say, how do I like to create connections with people that are important to me? So think about your friends, people in your life that are your greatest supporters, whether it's your friends, your family members, your former classmates from college, your colleagues, your mentor. Like, how do you create connection with those people? And as I was thinking about this, I'm like, well, I share my life with them. I talk to them, talk with them. I write emails, you know, I keep up with them via email, via written. I tell them stories. I love, you know, sharing stories with people and hearing their stories. So I share mine and I ask them about what's, you know, them to tell me stories. I share great things with them that I've learned. I ask for help, and I also offer help. And that's all marketing is, my friends. So just think about, how do you love connecting with people? How do you love connecting with the people that are closest to you, that are your biggest supporters, your biggest fans, and go out and do that in the ways that are aligned with who you are and how you love connecting with people? And that is marketing. Simply. That's the truth. And everything else that, that we hear, that things that we have to do are just tools. If you think about TikTok or Instagram or any of the other things, they're just tools. Think of them like a hammer. Like, sometimes I want to use a hammer. So what do I do? I go to my toolbox and I get a hammer and I use it. And so if that's TikTok for you, then you can use TikTok. If you really feel great about writing, writing letters, you could write a blog or send emails or send messages to your connections on Facebook, messenger or whatever. But it's just connecting with people. It's not connecting or talking at people, but connecting with them. And so I just invite you to think about marketing that way. And I hope this has been helpful to dispel a lot of those myths that we hear that we think that are tripping us up and keeping us from really growing and enjoying the business that we have and that we have the option of having. Right? That is our potential. So I hope you have a fabulous rest of your day and I hope to see you at my free training on the 15th. And there will be a link in the show notes for you to register. And we'll be having, I'LL be going more into depth about how to create simple marketing for big results. And I will be coaching as well. So come with all of your questions and I want to make sure that we get you all set and fully supported so that you can go out and have a great summer and create all the money that you want in the meantime. All right? So have a great day. I'll talk to you next time. Bye. If you like this podcast, then you have got to sign up for my free on demand video training Grow youw Sales Doing what yout Love, where I teach you in depth my simple process that you can implement right away to harness your mindset and your skills to grow your sales to whatever level you want. So go grab that now. The link is in the show notes and I'll see you next time.