4 Reasons Why Smart Consultants Hate Marketing

One thing that both new and seasoned consultants hate is marketing.

It's the fog of all that marketing entails and the fear that they are going to become some slick used car salesman is what keeps smart people stuck in soul-sucking corporate jobs.

And it's the exhaustion of the constant effort of trying to find the next lead that causes really talented consultants to give up on their dreams of running their own businesses and return to those soul-sucking corporate jobs.

Here's the deal -  you cannot have a successful business (consulting or otherwise), without effective marketing.

Without making others aware of who you are and what you have to offer, you have no choice but to either become the "world's best-kept secret" or become a sub-contractor, extra pair-of-hands who is paid by the hour.

Before I share with you what you need to embrace marketing, I want to first validate why marketing is really hard for consultants. 

FOUR REASONS WHY SMART CONSULTANTS HATE MARKETING

There's very good reasons for why marketing is a challenge for consultants:

1. It's a new skill. You invested years of your life developing the expertise that you want to offer your future clients. But marketing? It's brand new. Even if you want to help a company with their marketing strategies, it's not the same as marketing yourself.

2. Modern marketing is digital marketing which includes a ton of moving pieces and parts and algorithms that are always changing. It's not enough to just go to a networking event and pass out a business card. You need a website, social media presence, posting strategies, email marketing and so much more.

3. When it comes to consulting, the product and service you're selling is yourself. You are the brand. The vulnerability that comes with putting your picture on your homepage or creating original content in your blog can be excruciating.

4. Consulting and coaching can be seen as undefined professions. It's not like we're attorneys or accountants or other professional services that companies have to hire. We're optional and have to create the need for our services. 

Can you relate?

If you don't face the reality that marketing is extremely challenging when it's new skill and when you're in an undefined profession where you are the product without anywhere to hide, you'll throw up smokescreens to distance yourself from this difficult reality like:

"Marketing doesn't match my personality or values."

"I should already know this so I can't invest in learning it."

"I can't invest money in marketing until... (magical time in the future when the stars all align.)"

If you want to have a profitable business, you have to first face and accept reality that this is the challenge that you have to overcome if you want to achieve stable and scalable profits with your business. And then do these four things that will help you...

FALL IN LOVE WITH MARKETING

1. Replace the myths with truth. You shouldn't already know how to market yourself. Why should you know something that is brand new to you? You didn't expect to instantly know all that you did to achieve the career success you have created to date. You went to school and got experience - this is how you landed promotions. Now you have a new career as a business owner and there's lot of new things to learn.

2. Get out of your head and start focusing on the client who needs you. Dial into your passion for why you want a CONSULTING business. There's lots of ways to make money as an entrepreneur, you want to make money by helping a specific client. Connect your heart to their needs and the value you cannot wait to offer them.

3. Cultivate your appreciation that modern marketing is all about service and relationship building. When you create content and go to networking events, it's not about you and making sure everyone knows how awesome you are. It's a way of finding those people you cannot wait to help and offering meaningful value to them on the spot.