Marketing for Solopreneurs

Help!: Marketing Information Overload

I read an interesting article by master copywriter Bob Bly today in the Early to Rise newsletter. He was commenting on the vast amounts of information available to people who are learning a new skill or job. In this case, he was talking about people who want learn how to be an effective marketer.

He said, “You are interested in some aspect of marketing. ..But you are overwhelmed by all the information being offered on the subject…So you go ‘information crazy’…buying every course, attending every conference, reading every e-book, listening to every recording…Before you know it, a month, six months…or a year has gone by and you are no closer to your business or career goal. That’s because you’ve spent all your time reading, studying, and learning the thing you are interested in…rather than actually doing it.”

Bly calls this “analysis paralysis.” It can also happen to the solopreneur who is looking for “just one more good marketing strategy.” (I know because I’m guilty of it myself.) After all, there’s always one more article or book to read, one more blog or web site with good stuff. Right?

But there’s a new wave lapping on the shores of the Information Age. It’s called the Age of Advice. The problem is not just all the information out there. It’s what does it mean. Who can make sense of it? Where is the really good stuff and who can help me apply it to my career or business or life? That is where the Age of Advice comes in. Some experts are pointing to a new trend: people are actually starting to pay for services that sift though all the information, gather the best and help them apply it to their own lives and businesses.

At risk of being accused of “shameless promotion,” I will dare to say this: That is what marketingyoursmallbiz is all about: taking the vast amounts of information out there, sorting the good from the bad and delivering the most valuable nuggets to our readers, in our free weekly marketing e-tips (click here to sign up) and in our monthly membership subscription e-zine (click here to learn more). Here at marketingyoursmallbiz.com, we are firmly planted in the Age of Advice.

My questions for you: Do you ever feel information overload or “analysis paralysis”? What do you do to cope?

Small Business Trends Offers Free E-book: ‘Best-Kept Marketing Secrets’

I just got my copy of Best-Kept Marketing Secrets: 100 Experts Dish With Their Marketing Tips. It’s a free e-book with jewels from some of the best and brightest in the field of marketing. Wait a minute. How did I get in there? (I’m on page 11, in case you’re curious.)

You can download a copy of it by clicking here. Anita Campbell, Publisher of Small Business Trends, has gathered in one book tips from the likes of Seth Godin, Brian Clark from CopyBlogger, Guy Kawasaki, John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame, and Yaro Starik, not to mention 95 others, including Campbell herself.

In case you don’t have time to read all 33 pages right now, Campbell synopsizes the content around three broad concepts as they relate to solopreneur/small biz marketing:

1. Simple and inexpensive works best. No complex strategies here. Many of the tips take nothing more than your time to implement. Others are not exactly free, but quite affordable.

2. Honesty and attention to building relationships are essential. For the solopreneur and small business owner, whose customers frequently number under 100, friendliness, accessibility, authenticity, and relationship building are key to keeping the customers you have.

3. Creative online marketing can play an important role. Solopreneurs with limited marketing budgets would be wise to read and incorporate some of the many tips for reaching their target customers with online tools.

While none of the tips in the book may take you by surprise (or then again, maybe some will), I think you’ll be rewarded with a greater sense of all we small businesses do day after day to get “that marketing thing” right.

What’s more, I found several new ideas I’m excited about trying. Happy reading!