Two marketing strategies that help me feel intentional and confident

And a free resource to help you discover the strategies that best fit your business

It’s been a couple of years since I radically changed my marketing, and sometimes I am still in awe of how good it feels—and how effective my marketing has become.

In this post I share two marketing strategies that have made a big difference in growing my business, and that help me feel intentional and confident.

And, as a bonus, I’ve created a free resource to help you discover which of my favourite marketing strategies best fits you and your business. Take the quiz to get a workbook with 3 marketing strategies tailored to your business.

Some days I look back at the Astrid of 6 years ago, the new business owner who was desperately trying to figure things out, especially marketing. Although I’d never run a business before, I knew I had organizational, writing and teaching skills that I could use in my business.

But marketing? I had no idea.

Even more so: I wished that I could ignore marketing. I thought that in order to market my business I had to embrace sleazy sales tactics, be on all the channels and be really loud and braggy. I thought I had to act like one of those business bros or marketing gurus. I couldn’t even say the word ‘marketing’ without visibly cringing.

As a new business owner, I wished I could ignore marketing.

The Astrid of 6 years ago would find it hard to believe that now I actually enjoy marketing.

That I’ve found a way of marketing that brings in the lovely clients and customers I need to meet my financial goals.

And, that I’m marketing my business in a way that feels completely me.

I’m never forcing myself to try channels or tactics that don’t feel aligned with my values or life. I’m never flailing anymore, but am marketing with confidence and intention.

What do you enjoy most?

I did not enjoy marketing when I started my business. I felt out of my depth, uninspired and overwhelmed by all the options and all the things that I felt I had to do.

Again and again I tried marketing calendars, to-do lists and stern reminders to myself to just stick with it and push through. But even though I tend to be naturally disciplined, I was never able to keep up with the plans.

Until I had a moment of clarity (combined with a big dose of feeling fed up). I was going to stop forcing myself to market in a way the world told me to.

I reevaluated the marketing I was doing, and decided to start focusing on the things I actually enjoyed.

The steps that I took at that moment are the foundations of Grow, my marketing programme that’s relaunching soon. I don’t believe in 10-step plans or one-size-fits-all. Instead, we start with you—with your talents, your desires, your needs.

Rather than forcing you into someone else’s marketing mould, we design a marketing strategy that fits your business and your life.

What I liked about marketing when I made the shift were two things:

1. writing

2. doing as little as possible, especially when it came to having to be ‘on’ all the time

I doubled-down on my newsletter, writing it from that newfound sense of confidence and intention. I began to repurpose newsletter posts by uploading them to my blog.

I began to explore more evergreen ways of marketing that didn’t reward me for my presence, and landed on Pinterest. The newsletters that became blog posts were pinned to Pinterest and brought in new website visitors, new newsletter subscribers and new clients and customers.

I let myself be guided by serendipity and inspiration when it came to outreach, reaching out to podcasts hosts and other small business owners for guest blog posts whenever I had the space and energy to do so.

I doubt I would’ve built the business I have now if I was still marketing according to someone else’s rules.

I did not have a large audience anywhere at this point. I had a small newsletter list of less than 250 subscribers, and probably the same amount of Instagram followers. I had one or two clients. No doubt the marketing gurus and business bros would have told me that leaving social media and focusing on the channels that made me feel good was the worst thing I could do.

But I am sure that the confidence and sense of intention I feel shines through. I doubt that I would’ve built the amazing business I have now if I was still forcing myself to market according to someone else’s rules.

Thinking strategically

In Grow, what you enjoy is the starting point when we (re)create your marketing strategy. Once we’ve got a list of your talents and joys, we start brainstorming marketing channels that fit in with that. A final step in finding your marketing channels, is to check them against the three stages of marketing.

Three stages of marketing, with examples of possible channels.

To some degree, these three stages are a variation on the classical marketing funnel—just less forceful and preachy. There is a lot we can do around marketing, but our influence is also very limited.

The three stages are a good way to check whether you’ve covered all bases. Are you making space for people who want to become your fans to actually also become your fans? I like to think of these stages as a kind of nurturing of the people who love you and your work, rather than a forcing them into the tip of a funnel. Your combination of marketing channels will most probably be different from mine, and that is fine. They will be all you.

Grow is a radically different kind of marketing programme because it doesn’t teach a one-size-fits-all approach.

Instead, Grow empowers and supports you to develop a way of sharing about your business in a gentle and effective way.

I’m not teaching you a 10-step programme. The secret that I’ll help you uncover is you.

Practicalities

what | a 4-month hybrid group programme, combining self-paced modules with my eyes on your business through recorded office hours, bi-weekly check-ins and monthly live (and recorded) planning calls.

who | small business owners, freelancers and creatives just like you, who want to grow a slow, gentle and profitable business through marketing that is sustainable, allows them to take time off and fits in with their life and business.

when | Grow runs from March 15th to July 15th, with lifetime access to the materials.

how | Grow launches in late February—sign up to the waitlist to get early access, a discount and perks along the way.

how much | €990, paid in full or 4 or 6 monthly instalments at no additional cost.

At the end of this programme you will feel more confident and intentional about your marketing. You will have developed a marketing strategy that is all you, and that works—whether you want to use less or no social media, want to keep your marketing running along in the background while you take a break, or simply want to feel more focused.

I’d love to know which strategies from this post, and from the free resource, resonate most with you! And, if you have any questions about Grow, just reply to this email or send me a message, I’m happy to help.

Have a good end to your month—I’ll be back in your inbox soon with more about how I made marketing work for me and my business x

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