5 mindset shifts that will improve your founder-led marketing

When I worked at IBM, Ginni Rometty was the CEO and an iconic one at that. One of my all-time favourite quotes is from Ginni herself —

“Growth and Comfort Don’t Co-Exist”

This has never been truer than when you are running your own business, especially as a (new) small, founder-led organisation. Wearing multiple hats becomes your reality, and despite your background, you have to take on tasks and work that are completely out of your comfort zone.

Marketing your brand, and essentially yourself, is one of them. There’s plenty of theory and advice out there to support your marketing efforts, but I have noticed, from my own experience, that some mindset shifts can make it easier. Theory and strategy are all well and good, but if your head isn’t in the right place, it’s all going to be much harder.

So if you're fresh on the business scene, or need to refresh your thinking as a founder, here are 5 mindset shifts that can completely change how you approach your own marketing:

Let go of your ego: No one can hire you if you don’t tell anyone about your business

It’s scary to commit to something publicly - what if you fail? What will people think? However, not sharing your business venture with anyone could cause you to fail.

You must tell people about your new business, share on social media, tell your friends, family, peers and new people you meet. You can source customers from so many different places; you never know who needs your services. A friend of a friend, the niece of your neighbour - if you don’t share, you’ll never know.

It’s the moment to let go of your ego, be bold and tell people. Otherwise, how will they know about this exciting new chapter in your life?

No one cares: A realisation that gives you the freedom to promote

This sounds harsh, but it’s the truth, and it’s a great realisation!

We all, so often, worry about what others think, when actually no one thinks anything. Realising this gives you a sense of freedom to just get on with promoting yourself and your business.

Because those who do care will show up to support you or end up becoming clients, and those who don’t will just scroll on past without thinking anything. Freeing right?

Be your own VIP client: Treat yourself as you would a customer

You might not be a marketing specialist, but when you’re a small business owner, you usually have to wear the marketing hat. And once you’ve secured clients, it can be easy to just bypass your own marketing efforts because you’re too busy.

It’s time to think of yourself as a customer. If you were hired as a marketing specialist, you would always ensure that the client's work is completed, and the same should be true for you.

Treat yourself like a VIP client: go out for a nice lunch, make your marketing plans, block time in your diary and commit to giving yourself your own best customer service.

Repetition works: You only improve by doing things over and over

Scared of speaking on camera? Worried that your grammar isn't up to scratch to write that article? Marketing yourself in another language?

Honestly, the only way to get better at things you find hard is to practice them over and over.

If, for example, you WANT to speak on your Instagram stories, but find it intimidating, you have to just go for it. The first few times will be really uncomfortable, and after that, it’ll become more natural. Push yourself to try over and over, and only then will you improve.

Be prepared to fail: It’s part of the journey

Things rarely go right the first time in business, and chances are you already know that. Well, the same goes for your marketing.

Perhaps you send out a broken link in an email, or make a spelling mistake in a big pitch presentation - you know what, shit happens. With anything in business, and of course, in life, we have to accept that learning something new, like marketing ourselves and our business, will be hard, and we’ll fail along the way.

I’ve priced projects wrong, taken on bad clients, made spelling mistakes in both my own marketing and that of clients, but that’s part of the journey. How else will we learn?

Ready for growth? Personally and in your business

These are hard truths to swallow, but as Ginni said, “Growth and Comfort Don’t Co-Exist”.

If we want our brands to grow, agencies to thrive, and our freelance businesses to be successful, we have to do the hard marketing work, whether we are experienced in it or not.

Then later down the line, we can just hire someone else to take it over 😉.