Market From The Inside Out

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Claudette Rowley
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Market From The Inside Out
Claudette Rowley
Copyright 2003

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there
is no path and leave a trail." - Robert Frost

Marketing, promotion, visibility - our businesses would wither
away way without it. Some of us are natural-born marketers; for
others, it's a learned skill.

Most business-owners with an on-line presence are familiar with
the multitude of methods to drive traffic to their web sites.
Some write articles, some join affiliate programs, and other
focus on search engine positioning or pay per click
technologies. Buying ads and exchanging links are all common
strategies.

Other businesses focus on an off-line approach: networking,
leads groups, public speaking, and word of mouth referral.
Others use a combination of an on-line/off-line approach. The
marketing possibilities are endless.

When deciding on the right marketing strategy, we often tend to
examine what will work externally out in the marketplace, and
overlook what works internally for us. What are the marketing
strategies that are in harmony with your inner purpose?

Here are some points to ponder before you take action:

* Get clear about who you are and what you have to offer. In
other words, know your inner purpose. Once you're clear about
your inner purpose, it can take many external forms.

Perhaps your inner purpose is to create beauty in the world.
This could take a host of external forms - designer, artist,
florist, architect - just to name a few. If your inner
purpose is to help others become more self-aware, you could be
a coach, a writer or a minister, for example. Maybe you're
clear that you want to help others create businesses that
support not only their bank accounts, but their lifestyles as
well. Or your inner purpose is to make people's lives easier
and you do that by creating innovative technologies.

* Notice your energy levels. For example, I recently received a
phone call from an author and business owner who had read one
of my articles online. During our conversation, he made the
statement that "public speaking is where the money is." For
him, maybe. For me, though, the money is in doing what I love:
writing and coaching.

Why? Because doing something that doesn't energize me drains
energy away from the marketing practices that do energize me.
In a cost-benefit analysis, it costs more than it benefits.

* What's right in front of you that you aren't seeing?
Sometimes opportunities are so close to us we can't see them.
The good news about this is that others around you can usually
see what you are myopic about. Ask others for honest, clear
feedback about your purpose and how it's reflected in your
marketing.

* Don't forget low-hanging fruit. What's a quick, easy, fun
marketing step you could take right now?

The most effective marketing starts with who you are and
branches out from there. That doesn't mean that you don't read
books, consult with experts or try out the hottest techniques.
What it does mean is that you need to market from the inside
out. Look at your inner purpose and notice the ways it shows up
in your business. What makes you do what you get up and do
everyday?

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Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals
identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life.
Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633
or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter
"Insights for the Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org.