A Woman’s Guide to Overcoming Fear in Marketing
By Mikelann Valterra A past client emailed me recently, sharing her excitement about a new business idea. She said she had done a lot of work towards implementing the idea, but had not actually contacted any businesses about it. As she thought about it, she realized she was scared. Scared they would reject her, scared she would be wasting all her time and energy for nothing, scared about her future. Did I have any ideas to overcome this fear? First of all, its important to say that this fear is normal. When something requires us to take a risk and really be visible, such as marketing, we naturally feel anxiety and we feel fear. Again, this is natural and normal. Here are three things that I think can help. First, if you are taking risks (and marketing your businesses can feel very risky), it is important to increase our level of self-care. Because marketing can increase our anxiety, we have to have a way to self-sooth. When I am in an active building stage, I take a lot of bubble baths. I schedule time to take care of me and do things I enjoy. Here are a few ways you can increase your self care when you are stressed: Eat better Get more sleep to feel energized Create time to connect with friends and family Pursue hobbies and things that give you pleasure In order to have the energy to put yourself and your work out in the world, you must take care of yourself first. Otherwise, you will not be able to sustain your efforts. Many of us need to take our self care more seriously. Second, it is incredibly important to assess your support systems. (This is actually part of self care.) Do you have a group of women who you really connect with and can share what you are doing? I lean hard on my support groups when I am in a phase of risking– I bring them my frustration (and tears!) and their encouragement really helps me. For me, it is my informal support groups that help me at times like this. In formal networking, I often feel like I have to wear a certain face and look successful. But through my formal networking, Ive made friends with some wonderful business women that I have coffee with periodically. During these informal coffees, we talk about our fears. The point is, if you are risk-taking, you need to share this with someone. Talking about it and processing it out loud with someone goes a long way towards making us feel better. And support groups lend a certain amount of accountability to your task as well. When you see your group, or business friends, they will ask you how it went and encourage you to keep going. The truth is that it is very difficult to be successful in business without a good basis of support. Dont deny yourself this support! While there are many ways to grapple with fear, let me throw out one more: rewards. Often I hear people say, I should do this. Doing things from a place of should rarely works. Do not be afraid to reward yourself for your marketing efforts. If you make contact with the businesses, or send out a referral letter, how will you reward yourself? Having a reward in place gives you something to look forward to and something to focus on, while you do what you need to do. Marketing takes a lot of energy, and it can feel scary to really put yourself out there. This is normal. But by improving your self care, getting more support, and having a reward to look forward to, it is possible to overcome fears in marketing and make great money. Mikelann Valterra, MA is the founder of the Womens Earning Institute and the author of Why Women Earn Less- How to Make What Youre Really Worth. As a specialist in womens earning issues, her mission is to empower women to earn what theyre really worth. Through trainings, business support groups and private work, she teaches women how to make peace with money and create more profitable practices. 206.634.0861 http://www.womenearning.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mikelann_Valterra http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Womans-Guide-to-Overcoming-Fear-in-Marketing&id=237223 payday other loans these michigan also cash on advance was payday way loan him onl for becoming or debt there free at getting had a they personal make loan a online should bad only credit still loan after people me personal also presonal make personal take loans under 5000 any bad might credit and 100 him o might payday see
