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Fear-Based Economy and Sneaky Marketing Dragons

Written by: Laura Young

Article Overview: Adjusting to self-employment and life without a regular paycheck after years of drawing a salary is a challenging process. Seasonal fluctuations and client "churn" can wear on even the most confident business owner. Here is the tale of my struggle with one sneaky dragon that plagued me while I was learning to ride the wave of my new life.

Fear-Based Economy and Sneaky Marketing Dragons

Adjusting to self-employment and life without a regular paycheck after years of drawing a salary is a challenging process. Seasonal fluctuations and client "churn" can wear on even the most confident business owner. Here is the tale of my struggle with one sneaky dragon that plagued me while I was learning to ride the wave of my new life.

At first I could not figure out which dragon it was, exactly, so it’s was hard to fight. In fact, the torment had been so subtle that I did not even realize how my fears had been getting the best of me. The truth is, for a while there, I harbored a secret fear that my business was going to collapse. I began to wonder if my successes were beginner's luck and that I was going to be one of the majority of businesses which never make it past five years.

When I started Wellspring Coaching several years ago, I didn’t know anything about being self-employed or running a business. This is not an exaggeration.

I knew nothing.

I had no website for my first two years but somehow got 80% of my business from coach referral sites. I had never talked to corporate leaders, but was getting hired by senior administrators in large corporations. I did not have the first clue about how to write a business plan. I did not know about revenue streams, branding or marketing.

Somehow, when I didn’t know anything, my business thrived.

It thrived like crazy. I had a waiting list that itself would have qualified as an overfull practice for most coaches. In three years time my income doubled what my salary cap would have been at my former employer.

To my surprise and delight, I discovered I had a natural aptitude for business. It fascinated me. I even considered pursuing an MBA because it sounded like fun. I uncovered an entrepreneurial streak within myself that I was completely unaware existed. I could not have been happier.

I was happy and confident until I hit my second seasonal slump, that is. Many coaching have a summer dip. Clients go on vacation or get busy with summer activities and coaching is a service you can put on hold and come back to when it’s more convenient. (Unlike, say, car payments.) I had been salaried for eleven years and was not mentally prepared for seasonal income. When I started my business the economy was stronger and many people were more comfortable with discretionary spending. Fewer people were having to make choices between coaching and the purchase of new tires. The fact is, I provide what many people would consider a luxury service.

Influenced by these circumstances, I became a victim of those very same marketing forces I had been studying and occasionally going on rants and mini-tirades about. There are very clever marketing people out there who find the smoothest, most subtle ways to feed on your fears, making you believe you have problems that may not actually exist in your business.

I kept reading newsletters and getting e-mails from marketing specialists claiming to know the secret that would allow me to achieve huge victories over all the problems that self-employed people face. They knew right where it hurt so when someone promised they could help me out of my predicament for $14.95 or $19.95 or even $49.95 which included a truckload of free gifts I eagerly coughed up the money.

That's when I got sucked into the product funnel. The “for only $29.95 more you can get my REALLY important information that only the serious folks want” funnel. In fact, I think I saw you whiz by me a couple times eager to get to those 10 TOP SECRET TIPS before I did. I didn't always dish out the extra bucks but it weighed on me. What critical piece of information did I just walk away from that would pay me back that $29.95 one hundred times over? Is it true that my business would fail if I didn't become an information product maven?

All this angst and self-doubt was coming from someone who, in truth, was making it and who firmly believes that competition is a myth. The marketing hold on me was that powerful.

What happened to my life and work habits while I was in that frame of mind? I overworked. I chained myself to my computer. I stopped walking. I stopped cooking. My bike wouldn't even look at me. I stopped playing music. I absorbed more marketing “secrets”. I studied. I cooked up new business models. I started thinking about new products. And that just made clients run to me. (hahahahahaha) I mean who wouldn’t love to get some of that action?!

In short, I forgot everything that I knew when I didn’t know anything.

But shouldn’t I want to have that vacation home in Vail? Doesn’t everyone want to sit on a beach and make money just because they repackaged Tom Peters a year ago and found a niche that was eager to lap it up?

Well, NO.

I want to watch the robins play in my sprinkler and talk to ordinary people about their lives and what they think really matters. I want to participate right in the thick of things alongside everyone else. I want to play Monkey in the Middle with my niece and nephew. Maybe watch Tarzan for the 20th time. Play 20 questions with my 9 year old nephew (who always thinks of something to do with hysterical bodily functions.) Maybe have a potluck lunch with thirty friends without a single Hummer pulling into my driveway. I want to know the meaning of enough. To be here. Now.

The truth is, I had everything I wanted already in the palm of my hand. I have family and friends that love me. I have a yard that feels my visitors always compare to a retreat center. People send me wonderful e-mails every week telling me how much they appreciate me. Wildlife is around me all the time. I have a husband who would do anything for me and who is a joy to everyone he meets. More food in my refrigerator than a family of six could eat in a week. I am so blessed sometimes it overwhelms me.

In fact, the only times I forget that I am so blessed, the only times I drift away from joy are when I get sucked in to marketing materials that I know are written specifically to psychologically manipulate me.

Boy, does that make me angry.

Our economy is based on fear. The truth is, if I didn’t keep spending money on things that promised to make me more money so that I would not have to work and would not lose my business due to a fatal lack of critical information, I would not need any more clients than I have right now.

So, in the end, I conquered the fearsome dragon by deciding that at least my personal economy would no longer be based on fear. And that has made all the difference.

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Dragon's Den - I'd be interested in hearing people's reaction to the CBC TV show "Dragon's Den." Personally, I feel the show is very corny(probably why its on the CBC), however it illustrates perfectly the importance of having a well defined elevator pitch with a killer pain statement and glorious value proposition. Those entrepreneaur wanabes who get the most interest(and ultimately a crap load of money) are those who impress the Dragons with a great EP. This being said, another trend I can see is that those who truly...TRULY...have a passion for what they do and can properly communicate this to the Dragons are also favoured. Furthermore, those who also show the Dragons that they have done alittle research (like knowing their names and the companies they founded) also have a better chance. These are all valuable lessons that can be learned if you strip back the cheesy veneer of the show. I'd be interested in hearing all of your thoughts and what you have learned from the show.
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Re: help wanted in u.k. - Thanks for the feedback everyone, I just got the reason for that just now. Here goes- The BBC only owns the Dragons' Den format for the UK. As such the interactive content is only available to people within the UK. I hope this clarifies things Thanks Brendan
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