GrowLoop eNewsletter 11 19 12

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, today I want to reference a recent blog post I wrote on the GrowLoop website.  The post was titled, "Why you are struggling with your marketing."The post refers to several things that need to be addressed in order for your marketing to be most effective.  Where I want to camp out in today's email is the fear of the unknown, which ends up creeping into your day-to-day more than you may realize or like to admit.  However, being successful means recognizing these unknowns and figuring out how you can work through them toward your success.As you read feel free to think about your own unknowns and how they may be holding you back, even subtly, and think about how you can change that.At the end of this email I do need to ask your opinion about a product I'm currently developing for the GrowLoop community.  I'll describe what I'm talking about a bit later, but I wanted to give you a heads up of the request.Alright, so fearing the unknown and what to do about it, and how and why does this even matter to your marketing?As a business owner there are plenty of unknowns to sort through, so simply picking one to begin with may be it's own unknown making this even more difficult.  That said, let's identify what are the common denominators of all your unknowns.  Fear, and perhaps more specifically, fear of not knowing the outcome or being unable to adequately predict what the outcome will be with enough comfortability to take action.It's completely natural to have fear of the unknown...constantly asking yourself -- do I take a risk on working with this new referral partner, will my new client make their payments on time, what if my marketing investment doesn't pan out.  So how do you overcome these fears?  I don't know that I have the answer for how you truly overcome fear, but I think you can get comfortable working through fear.My experience is like yours, as a small business owner I have a lot of fears about various things -- some small and some not so small -- but I've found that when I can recognize what I'm fearful of and clearly name it.  I can then move right toward it -- yes, right toward it.  What I mean is, instead of letting fear make you take another route toward your goals, or not taking any route at all (a.k.a. paralysis from taking action) then you've let fear win and get the best of you.  When I recognize a fear it's best to face that fear head on, deal with it and push through it.  Otherwise, if you don't deal with the fear and move right toward it, and eventually through it, that fear will keep coming up for you in other places and in other ways.  If you move toward the fear, deal with it and push through it, if and when it comes up again, you'll recognize it and I can guarantee you'll be better equipped to deal with it the next time around.Often business owners who do not have a systematic approach to their marketing have fear about how their marketing will adequately provide leads for their business.  This makes sense because if you don't know what works in terms of marketing your business toward the results you want then you'll constantly be worried about whether or not your marketing will adequately help you bring in the amount of sales you need to stay on track toward your sales goals. If that sounds like you then I suggest you get clear on who you're targeting, what that audiences' need is that your product or service fulfills and how to message to them in an efficient and consistent manner then work your system for a while, measure it and decide how you need to tweak it to constantly improve upon it.  That's really the only way you're going to deal with your marketing unknown, your marketing fear.This actually brings us to the section of this email where I need your opinion...I’m currently working on creating a marketing system that would allow a solopreneur or small business to put together a basic marketing strategy, both off-line and online, to help generate more leads and nurture others until they’re ready to buy.The marketing system I’m developing teaches you the basics about building a marketing strategy and walk you through how to put it in place within your business in a way that can fit your business.First off, would you have interest in something like that?  Second, what would be some of the main topics you would like to see it address?  Finally, what would you expect to pay for a marketing roadmap course like this that addresses, targeting your ideal clients, how to message to them, where to find them, how to use direct mail to sell and build your email list, how to use social media marketing and your website to attract and maintain relationships with prospects until they’re ready to buy?What fears are you currently dealing with in your business?  Reply and let me know, or write me at [email protected]'t stress this week, just surround yourself with good company and good food -- Happy Thanksgiving.Take care, Nick Venturella, CPCOwner/Certified Professional CoachGrowLoop coaching & [email protected]