In marketing your business, there are no rules. None.
It doesn’t matter what other people do, or what they say, or what they think.
It truly does not matter.
This was a huge lesson for me- and one I’m still learning. You see, I grew up in a pretty traditional (in some ways) Indian home, one where you were supposed to be very talented (but never brag about your skills), one where you were supposed to achieve all that you could (but still put your parents and family first.) As you can imagine, it was sometimes confusing- trying to sort out when to be Ms. Independent- and when to try and fit in.
This played out in my business, too, as I always seemed to want to be “behind the scenes”- making other people famous. I did- and still do- find it a bit uncomfortable to put myself out there and do all the things I want to do. And this goes for marketing my business too.
I have all these great ideas I’ve always wanted to try, but have continually struggled with fitting in. Would people be mad if I spoke the truth? Would they listen? Would they care? Would they still talk to me tomorrow?
And yet, as I’ve come to realize- there are no rules.
One of the things I do best of all is taking information from different industries- art, music, fashion, technology, design- and find ways to distill and synthesize the best elements into my business. This means I have a growing interest in design, and fashion, and self expression. I have an interest in connecting with, and working with, people who value the same things I do.
I realize that I could have a lot more fun in my business- and to do things in a new way. I’m still figuring out some of the things I’d like to do, but the truth is- as long as I realize there are no rules, any action is good action.
I think this applies to getting traffic to your website too- because, after all, isn’t marketing just really about getting people to come by and check you out? That’s what all the marketing is for, really.
So the thing to remember is that there are no rules for how you market your business, and there are no rules for how you generate traffic. For myself and my clients, I use a mix of methods- and I definitely believe in the idea that more marketing- in many formats- is better.
The more you market, the more you have a chance to test out your ideas, and to build deeper relationships with your target audience. You can see if they like text, or audio, or video better. You can see if they immediately grasp your ideas, or if you have to explain them in a different way. If you truly adopt the idea that there are no rules for your marketing, you can harness all the technologies to their fullest and best advantage.
You can feel comfortable seeking out new ways of spreading your message, and feeling confident in your capacity to innovate and create with meaning and purpose.
To my way of thinking, that’s all we want anyway- to be the fullest expression of who we are, and to create a community of people who “get” us.
So while I’ll be sharing more specific traffic strategies in upcoming posts, I just want to start by saying that there are no rules. You can market however you want, wherever you want, and whenever you want.
I hope you, like me, find this inspiring and liberating.
