Why mindset is crucial in marketing
How do you feel about marketing your business?
Do you love it?
Do you find it easy and natural?
Are you enjoying learning a new skill?
Or do you dread it?
Be honest!
Because how you think about and approach your marketing will have a huge impact on the success of your business.
Your mind is a powerful tool
Your mindset dictates how you make sense of the world and yourself; it’s a set of beliefs that influences how we think, feel, and behave at any given time. And because many of these beliefs were formed in childhood and early teens, we’ve stopped questioning them. As a result, they can influence our thinking without us even noticing.
Some beliefs can motivate and drive us forward…
“if something doesn’t go to plan, I know I can find a way around it”.
But other beliefs can hold us back…
“if something doesn’t go to plan, I’ve failed and it’s all my fault”.
When we’re under pressure, or on the back foot, we tend to revert to old thought patterns or habits without realising. This is why we fall back into bad habits, or don’t follow through on New Year’s resolutions.
Our brain wants to protect us and pull us back into the safety blanket of what we know.
Your mindset is a critical part of self-promotion
If you’re like me and run your own business, you spend a lot of time working by yourself and it’s easy to get caught up on your own headspace.
Quite often you’ll start to hear that irritating voice in your head asking, “how am I going to stand out”, “what if people don’t want to work with me”, “I have no idea what I’m doing”.
And if not nipped in the bud, this can soon turn into “I’m never going to be successful”, “I’m not good enough” or worse.
This negativity often comes from an underlying fear, such as fear of failure, being judged or looking stupid. Sometimes, when it comes to marketing, people are scared because there is just so much they don’t know.
These thoughts and feelings can significantly impact your marketing approach, whether you're consciously aware of it or not, as well as how you make decisions, how you stay motivated, how you approach challenges, how you deal with stress and how you interact with your clients.
The clients I work with are often struggling with:
confidence putting themselves out there
not knowing what to do for the best
overthinking things and ending up stuck
talking themselves out of taking risks because it’s too scary
worrying what people think of them
comparing themselves to everyone else
The great news is that your mindset is not fixed - with conscious effort, you can change what you believe, how you think and how you act.
That’s why building and growing your own business is as much about cultivating the right mindset as it is about the marketing tactics you choose.
Change your narrative
Try to build some form of reflection into your day. It might be journaling with your morning coffee, going for a walk, or just sitting still for 5 mins at the end of the day with your own thoughts.
If you find negativity creeping in, ask yourself
Is this an actual fact or a feeling?
What evidence do I have for this?
Is there another way I could look at this?
What can I learn from this?
Over time, with practice, you won’t need to consciously ask yourself these questions – it will become automatic, and you will get better at catching it and questioning yourself before it spirals out of control.
Your mindset influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation. To thrive in your business, it's essential to question whether your current mindset serves you. If not, it’s important to take steps to change it. With practice, this mindset shift will become automatic, helping you catch negative thought patterns before they spiral out of control. If you’re not sure where to start, working with a coach can help you.
