Blogging Truths Be Told: Marketing is So Cringey

The “Blogging Truths Be Told” series is my outlet for sharing the unglamorous side of blogging. And there’s absolutely no way I could do another post here without addressing the big blogging elephant in my room. For me, that ever-unpleasant presence is (drum . . . roll . . . please) marketing my content and products. Ugghhh! Now, I’m speaking about my insecurities here, and they’re mine to own and reconcile. But I’m willing to guess that I’m not the only content creator who has an uncomfortability level with how best to utilize marketing strategies within his or her creative business. Am I right? Or, AM I RIGHT?!

I’m not going to come here on this blog and act like the content and products I work hard to create aren’t incredibly important to me. They most certainly are; and I firmly believe that they can be highly beneficial to others as well. So, it wouldn’t be fair to me or to you, if I dismissively announce said content and products in a nonchalant, or lackadaisical manner. Would it? No, that wouldn’t make any sense.

I mean . . . what would be the purpose of putting so much effort into creating something of value just to watch it sit, because I didn’t get the word out there that it even exists. This scenario is what I’d label as a prime example of “wasted creative potential”. It also robs the solution seeker from receiving a possible answer to his or her problem.

So, by refusing to address that elephant, called marketing, I’m afraid I was working against the very objective I’ve been pursuing since I started Degrees of Maternity — the objective of matching information, products, and services with the individuals who can use them the most.

Such a simple concept, in theory; so why has it been so difficult for me to execute it? Well . . . because . . . marketing is so cringey to me. Long gone are my days of selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door and remembering how fun I thought it was at the time. Selling cookies was my ticket to some tangible incentives that I couldn’t pass up. Girl Scout camping trip, here I come! Oh, not to mention, I’d have a new colorful badge to possibly add to my uniform’s sash. What’s not to love about selling Girl Scout cookies?

But that was then and this is now.

I’m an adult and I’ve outgrown “It’s Girl Scout Cookie Time!” Today, I completely feel awkward when entering the marketing space. Knowing the best way to come across to people, when you’re trying to introduce your content or product offerings in a way that won’t be off-putting to them, takes a special skill set that I need to perfect. I think that’s why I’m so uncomfortable with the marketing aspects of holding a creative space online.

I’ve always come from the perspective that, if someone wants to purchase something or acquire information or services from someone or some place, then they’ll do so on their own terms. No need to get salesy (okay, down-right obnoxious with the sales tactics) to get their attention. No, not at all. That’s a quick way to get attention of the negative variety. (Ethics in driving traffic is a whole topic of discussion I could go into one of these days, but not today. I’ll put it on my list of possible future content, though.)

Okay, so getting back to the “salesy” reference I just made. What I mean is that I’ve historically held the opinion of letting people “organically” find what they need. They eventually will; it’s inevitable. You don’t have to toot your own horn, blow your own whistle, or create your own noise with some other form of blowing instrument to get their attention. Just put your stuff out into the world, sit back, and your peeps will find you. Right? WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

I’m pretty mild-mannered by nature, so the “let opportunities come to you” stance suits my personality fairly well (for the most part), except for when it doesn’t. I’ve personally tried that hands-off, passive approach for well over a year now and it doesn’t seem to work. In the case of online content marketing, the laid back strategy won’t get you very far. And wouldn’t ya know . . . personal experience has a way of bringing out such hard-nosed teachable moments.

Here’s one of those teachable moments right now.

Do you happen to know why you can’t just rest on your laurels when it comes to marketing your content? Well, do you?

Here’s my take on the question: it’s because of the technology rat race we exist in with the world wide web being fully optimized by so many individual operators, adding to the continuous juggernauts of information overwhelm (or overload), saturated markets, and easy access to just about any product or service you may need. (That’s quite a “paragraphful”, isn’t it?) And what do you know? I think the pandemic is even doing its part to help solidify the fact that everybody and their first through sixth cousins are trying to create some noise among all the voices out on the Internet.

Have you noticed the uptick in people starting online businesses or jobs since COVID-19? I certainly have and I think it’s great for people to take on new challenges and learn new skills in order to stay relevant in an ever-changing economic environment. I mean I would be a hypocrite if I stated otherwise, because I hopped on that train a while back (pre-COVID even) and am still riding that train today. But, I’m no longer just going for the ride anymore. It’s time I take over the conductor’s seat and start leading that train.

The time for stagnation, or “Procrastination Station“, must stay in the past. It’s time to get moving before I get left behind. And this is where I say it’s time for ALL OF US to get moving before we get left behind. In these times, we’re going to have to learn to make our own loud noise (even use a megaphone if we have to), as content creators. And if we decide to make our voices so soft that they’re just slightly audible amongst all the ruckus, then we’ll easily be drowned out and no one (or hardly anyone) will ever know we or our creative contributions even existed.

I’m not about to fall into that category of passivity if I have anything to say about it. As a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking about this whole topic of conversation quite a bit lately. And, I’ve identified some courses of action I plan on taking this year to position myself for more of a comfort level with marketing strategies and how to best apply them within Degrees of Maternity.

If you’ve been following the “Blogging Truths Be Told” series thus far, then you’ll know that I carried over my last discussion in two parts. Not on purpose, I might add. But, there’s just so much I want to cover. And since I don’t want to wear out my welcome with you this fine day, I’ll stop here and continue with this discussion next Friday. Make sure you tune in so you can catch the marketing strategies I’ll be working intently on becoming proficient at in 2021. You may already know what they are (as I’ve mentioned them in prior posts), but tune in anyway. Okay?

Have a great weekend!