If you’ve spent your career avoiding certain marketing tasks because you don’t think you’re any good at them, you struggle each time you try, and you end up with weak results, take heart. Persistence has been touted by poets for a reason.
Your brain learns a lot each time you try something, even if you fail. If you stop trying, you’ll walk away with nothing. If you persist, however, the rewards are huge.
Example: public speaking. Many small business owners and entrepreneurs including many of my clients love getting the chance to get up and speak. The larger the group, the better. In my experience, they are extroverts. They love people and love conversations.
On the other hand, they usually don’t like writing. (Which is why they are my clients… they need content and they need to publish on the web – blogs, e-newsletters, ebooks, etc.)
Other people tend to focus their online marketing on content; they write books and they publish blogs and newsletters… and they hate speaking. They would rather have a root canal than deliver even a 3 minute elevator speech at a networking event.
While you can outsource your written content, especially online, you can’t outsource your speaking. You’ve got to deliver a speech yourself in order to represent your business and get clients.
Make no mistake, there is magic that comes from speaking from the podium. It works like a magnet for drawing people to you, creating credibility and potential working relationships.
You have to persist at things in order to learn them. Writing gets better each time you write, the same goes for blogging, revising web pages, writing sales copy, email promotions. The more you practice the better you are and the easier the task becomes.
Case in point: Yesterday I spoke to 200 people at our local Lake Chapala Society about The Aging Brain. Last year when I did my first presentation there, I spent weeks preparing and practicing. This time, my third speech, I spent a few hours preparing the research and making notes, and zero time practicing the delivery.
It was so easy and enjoyable I never would have dreamed that this would ever be possible a year ago. They’ve asked me back. Instead of avoiding because of the work and stress involved, I’ve reached a point where I now seek out speaking opportunities.
What have been your experiences tackling something you thought you weren’t good at and practicing to get better? Please share.
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