You are free to use the material from these articles in whole or in part on your web site or eZine (email newsletter) as long as you include the attribution below and also let me know where the article will appear. "This article is by Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Robert's web site is a comprehensive resource on marketing for Independent Professionals. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools visit http://www.actionplan.com"

Four Things That Keep Self-Employed Professionals Struggling With Marketing Marketing your professional services still a struggle? You're not alone. When I ask a room full of self-employed professionals if they like marketing their services, I get only a few hands in the air. If you're reading this article, you're probably one of them. But WHY is marketing such a struggle? Here's what I've found are the top four reasons. 1. You Don't Have the Information It's not that the information isn't out there. How-to-information on marketing is widely available. Dozens, no hundreds of books have been written on the topic. I have over 100 of them listed on this web site in my online bookstore. So the problem is often more with information overload than with too little information. So you get confused and overwhelmed. What should you read? What works and what doesn't? Where do I start? After all, if you had a reliable guide or manual you could study with step-by-step instructions and proven strategies on how to attract clients, you'd be ahead of most of the crowd. You wouldn't have to waste your time wading through dozens of books. Sure, you still need to study that information and apply what you learn, but you've done that in becoming a professional. It's something you can handle. Is there such a marketing manual for self-employed professionals? I think so. I wrote it. You can find more about it by linking here. 2. You Don't Have the Feedback Once you've learned various marketing strategies and techniques, you've got to try them out in the real world. If you don't, your knowledge is only theoretical. But trying out marketing ideas can seem very risky. What if your strategy doesn't work? What if you missed something and go in the wrong direction? Perhaps you're about to implement a plan that will take an investment of time and money. The last thing you want is a flop. So where do you start? What you need is some feedback and counsel from someone who's been there before. You could hire a consultant but that's kind of expensive. What if you could log onto an email discussion group that was populated by other self-employed professionals like you who were ready and willing to share what had worked for them, give you benefit of their insights and encourage you to a take the next step? That marketing manual I suggested above just happens to come with such a discussion group. And it comes free with the manual. Click here for more details. 3. You Don't Have the Training Information and feedback are important. Very important. But training can accelerate your learning dramatically. Have you ever read a book and then attended a course by the person who wrote that book who spoke about exactly the same things he wrote about? Still, didn't you come away understanding things that were only concepts to you before the course? What was the difference? Reading information, although very valuable, has its limitations. It's hard to empahasize the most important things to focus on in a book. Everything takes on equal weight. So even if the written information is great, it can be hard to put it all in proper perspective. Good training overcomes this limitation. A live instructor will point out certain things in such a way that you finally GET it. You can ask questions and get answers, talk with fellow participants, do interactive exercises, see and hear actual examples demonstrated in real time. (It's one thing, for instance, to know all about creating an Audio Logo and seeing several of them being actually created before your eyes and ears.) I offer marketing training in two formats. One is on tape. Because you can listen to tapes over and over, they can be tremendously beneficial and make a lasting impact. Tapes are a great supplement to written materials. They add that extra dimension that makes ideas stick. Click here for more info on my most popular taped program. The other is live workshops. I don't do many of these anymore, but this year I'm leading a couple you can take advantage of. Click here for more info. 4. You Don't Have the Mindset If you get information, feedback and training on marketing you're on your way to ending your struggles with marketing. You'll know what to do and how to do it and have the support to get moving with confidence, one step at a time. Marketing is really like anything else you learn. It's not a big mystery. There are people out there who know this stuff and you can learn from them. For many people, I've been that mentor. But if I'm not the one, look elsewhere. Don't just sit around complaining that marketing is hard! This brings us to the final challenge with marketing, or learning anything for that matter. If you have a negative mindset there's no chance in the world that you'll get past struggle and effort. Because being right about your thoughts, opinions and beliefs will be more important to you than actually producing results! People who have a "stuck mindset" are often beyond help. They know why nobody wants to buy their services. Everyone else is to blame. If everyone would change then they could market successfully. Blah, blah, blah. But if you've hit bottom, have tried everything but still seem to be your own worst enemy, I suggest going beyond information, feedback and training. Hire a personal coach to assist you getting past your self-imposed limitations. I'm not a referral source for such coaches, but you might try Coachville who has a listing of coaches on their web site: Click here for info. And yes, I do work with people in that area as well and use an amazingly powerful process that can get you past your stuck beliefs very quickly and without a lot of struggle. After all, why would you want to struggle to end struggle? That doesn't make sense. Click here for more info. Well that's it. Four little (or perhaps big) things that can make all the difference in ending your struggle about marketing. Forever. Now it's your turn. Did I mention you also need to take action? Now! All the best, Robert Middleton