I struggle with “marketing”. I struggle with the word and I struggle with what society and business suggest that, as a business owner, I *should* do to promote my work. Since 2009 when I began life coaching, I have created and distributed brochures, blogged, created and maintained a website, practiced elevator speeches, attended networking events and been members of such organizations.
Yet, the outcome of my personal end-of-year review this past March 2 was this:
2014: The Year I Embrace Being, Intuition, Visioning and Celebrating ME!
And I found myself writing, “I am my own walking billboard”! Marketing feels like “telling you about me”. That is quite different from:
Being me – Listening to my intuition – Visioning/Setting intentions – Celebrating who I am!
In talking about this dilemma with my coach, I discovered the word, Sourcing. When I source my 2014 intention, when I embrace the idea of connecting to who I am, to being with the energy that sources me, when I practice sourcing, I come from a rich, full, engaging, lively, joyous place. From here, everywhere I am, everyone I meet, anything I do, becomes a place where “marketing” or “letting the world see me” happens.
I am committed to Sourcing, to feeding the being that I am, the energy that is me, celebrating this energy and sharing me with YOU.
What does marketing mean to you?
What is its purpose?
What action steps are yours to take?
Finally, what sources YOU?
Hi Jeanne, great post! As a fellow business owner, I completely understand the initial feelings you had about marketing. I too feel that marketing involves a lot of “shoulds”. I think the most important thing about “marketing” or “sourcing” for me is to make sure I still take time for self-care. Because that’s always the first area to go by the wayside. And then I’m not as grounded as I could be because I’m not caring for myself. The action steps I can take are to set realistic expectations on what I can achieve and to prioritize the self-care I need to be a stronger person. In the end it will really be about what I feel most connected with when I make decisions on where to spend my time. Thanks for the inspiration as always!
Thank you, Lisa. It’s great that you know well what you need! It’s interesting… sometimes “doing the marketing step” is very caring of self! Sometimes, it isn’t. For me, remaining very aware of my inner landscape is vital.