How does marketing your business online make you feel? Are you excited and can’t wait to get out there every day to talk about who you are and what you do? Or is the thought of marketing yourself about as appealing as a root canal? If it’s the latter, keep reading.

The hard, cold fact is that as a solopreneur, you ARE your company. You know better than anyone else who you are, what your strengths are, who your Ideal Client is, and the solutions you can provide. You are the only one qualified to market your business.

This is going to be scary, but stick with me here. In an ideal world, you should be publishing a weekly ezine, submitting your articles to multiple directories, posting several times a day on Facebook, Tweeting tips and valuable content even more than that, have a kick-ass profile on LinkedIn and join at least 20-30 groups, blog at least twice a week, create some videos, host a free teleclass every month and attend a minimum of two live networking events every year. Wow! That’s a lot, isn’t it?

Here’s the good news: if you can and want to do all that stuff, great … but you don’t have to. That’s right! I’m giving you permission to do what works for YOU. What a concept, right? I know, the latest guru will tell you that doing all that is the only way you’ll ever get to a successful 6-figure business. But guess what? If you are so stressed out and frustrated trying to doing all these things that don’t feel right, you’ll probably give up before you get there!

So let’s break it down. What one, two or three things in that list of online marketing techniques feel comfortable to you? What feels authentically you? Focus on what feels comfortable and authentic to you, and start there. Chances are that once you get really good at those couple of things, and start to see results, you’ll be more willing to dip your toe into the “not so much” pool.

Need a few tips to get you going? Here’s my top ten:

1. Set realistic and manageable monthly and weekly goals for your marketing. Each day, focus on 2-3 things that move you toward your weekly goal.
2. Schedule time for marketing on your calendar every day. I recommend one hour per day doing something from your marketing plan. Check in on your social media accounts, write a couple blog posts or research groups on LinkedIn … any task that moves you toward your goals.
3. If an hour feels overwhelming, break your marketing time up throughout the day. Work in 15- to 30-minute sessions and use a timer to stay focused, if that works for you.
4. Celebrate your successes — big and small. When you meet your goal at the end of the week, treat yourself to lunch with a friend or a Mint Java Chip Frappuccino. Hit your monthly goal? Go for something a little bigger like a massage, mani/pedi or dinner out. And if you make your annual mark? Well, I’d say that celebration should involve a beach, umbrella drinks and your own personal cabana boy!
5. Focus on what’s working. Which piece of your marketing plan is bringing you the most leads and clients? Focus your energy there first.
6. Outsource and automate wherever you can. You can’t outsource your marketing, but you can outsource some of the implementation. Find a savvy Virtual Assistant to help you pre-schedule some of your Tweets and Facebook updates, submit your articles and post them to your blog, and set your blog posts to automatically pull into Facebook and send out as a Tweet.
7. Get an accountability partner. Whether it’s your partner, a colleague, mentor or coach — write your goals out for the year, month and week, and share it with them. Ask them to check in with you and hold your feet to the fire.
8. If the “in your face” marketing techniques feel icky, find some passive ways to market. Writing articles, publishing an ezine and posting on your blog can be very effective. Connect with others in a complementary market and ask to write for their ezine or guest post for their blog.
9. Spend your time and energy where your Ideal Client is. If you’ve done your homework, you know where she hangs out. If she’s not on Twitter and Facebook, don’t waste your time there.
10. Be authentic. Speak in your Ideal Client’s language, and bring your own unique personality into your marketing. It’s okay to be yourself! In order for your marketing to work, you need to feel authentic doing it.  If your heart’s not in it, it will show and your results will be less than great.

Now go out there and market yourself like no one else can. Your Ideal Client is waiting to hear from you!

©2011 Jackie Cunningham

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