Loren’s World Guest Blogger Tamisha Ford www.tamishaford.com
When we women sit down (or stand if you’re me) to do our makeup, depending on what you’re doing that day or where you’re going, it can take a hot minute to get everything blended and look the way you want. Makeup artists are especially skilled in really enhancing your face without it looking like a dress-up party (not that those aren’t fun!). For the rest of us, it takes some practice to learn the art. You can’t just go to CVS, grab some random foundation, slap on some powder and call it a day, unless you want to, then by all means, who am I to judge?
Usually though, we all want things to look coherent and blended. It truly is an art that takes time (and maybe magazines) for us gals to learn how to do. Your marketing can be no different. You may have a negative picture in your head when it comes to marketing. You probably think about scams, spam, and tons of manipulation. Both old school ways of teaching and perceiving marketing are done, and I hope I can make your day by telling you that modern marketing takes application, practice, and learning from the right people.
It’s about clear communication, consistent presence, and skillful knowledge of human behavior and how relationships are formed, grow, and progress. If you aren’t committed to this learning and practice, how will you ever have a successful business? Let’s look at 3 ways marketing is like applying makeup and why it takes practice:
- Marketing has timeless aspects. Just like exist in the makeup industry, marketing has some facets to it that will never not work if they are applied genuinely and correctly. The right foundation for your face will always cover, concealer will always conceal, and lipstick will always add color. You could call these timeless aspects of applying makeup. In marketing, some timeless aspects are providing your customer with honest and genuine urgency to purchase, creating authentic scarcity, and having strong guarantees for your products or services. Here’s the thing about marketing – the ONLY reason many people don’t understand it or have a fear of being a marketing sleezeball is because that’s more than likely what they themselves have experienced. If this is you, you probably experienced some spammy “marketer” at one time or another who put a bad taste in your mouth about it. The only way marketing is sleezy is if the person behind the marketing is sleezy. Otherwise, it’s not a dirty word.
- Marketing is a blend of things. When applying our makeup ladies, we gotta learn how to blend. There’s special brushes and products on the market that help with blending. Marketing is no different. It takes a special blend of understanding, observation, building relationships, clear and concise communication and time, to be ready to present a somewhat final marketing message. It uses social media, networking, Pinterest boards, and live streams to spotlight its value. And just like your face, you can always touch up later – marketing is never “done” as an entrepreneur or business owner. You should always be doing it.
- Marketing provides confidence. When you’re clear about your product or service with your customer, you will feel a confidence to communicate clearly about it with no reservation. The more often and clear you are in those conversations with your prospects, the more you will solidify a confidence in what you are providing. The point of putting on makeup is usually just to feel a little bit prettier, a little more put together, and well presented to the world. Your goal for your products or services should be no different – marketing is your way of saying “here you go, here’s my best stuff!”
So maybe you’re asking yourself at this point – how do I translate this, and why does marketing take so much practice?
The answer is quite simple, really. Marketing takes practice because people take practice. Think about it – you don’t get to know someone well in a day – you have to cultivate the relationship and see them in a myriad of situations before you really truly know them.
And since marketing is your clearest communication with your customer, it does take practice and time to finesse and love. I suggest you start by making a list of the people you see doing and teaching marketing right and on point who also have successful businesses. I love learning marketing from masters like Eben Pagan, Joe Polish, Dean Jackson, Brendon Burchard, and Marie Forleo. I have learned much of what I know up to this point from these and others.
One more thing I want to add – marketing is really just about communicating and conversing with your prospects and customers about the great value you want to create for their lives. If you really commit and believe in that value, you will have no qualms about loving marketing, using marketing for good, and being proud of the value you’re giving. There’s nothing spammy about it – it should be fun and enjoyable to market and grow your business.
What misconceptions do you (or did you) have about marketing and how are they changing?
