The 5 Worst Marketing Advice I Was Given

When I started my storytelling coaching business I was clear on my aim of helping women of colour entrepreneurs leveraging their stories to connect to their ideal customers. What I wasn’t clear on, was how I was going to actually market my business and reach my clients. Which is why I followed the advice I was given. And let me tell you, now that I know better, I recognise how rubbish some of those pieces of advice were. Today, I want to share the five worst marketing advice I was given. 

Why you have to love marketing 

Before I dig into the five worst marketing advice I was given, let me share with you why you have to love your marketing like a best friend. I recently asked on a Facebook group, what’s the thing entrepreneurs are most struggling with within their businesses. And the answer I was often given was: marketing. 

We have this idea about marketing as a dirty word, linked to creepy selling tactics, and immediately retract from it. Or we think it takes so much time and so much money, we can’t actually afford it. 

And yet, we don’t feel the same when we go out for a party and wear our best dress and get ready to connect to new people. It might not be business-related, but you are still marketing yourself when getting ready for a party. 

Marketing is about connecting to people, explaining to them what you do, and check if you can help them. It’s not about selling right away or stressing people out to force them to buy, marketing is about connecting and educating. 

Marketing is about connecting and educating Share on X

Connecting and educating are two marvelous things to do. And if done right, you don’t only get clients but also friends, colleagues, people who would refer others to you without thinking about it twice. 

But how should you do that? 

Let’s go back to the party metaphor. Each person you’ll meet during a party has their own approach: there’s the host who will immediately be visible to others; there’s the chatty person introducing himself to everyone; there’s the game organiser who entertains; the quiet one having longer conversations with at most two people … and each of them is getting something out of the party. 

Each of them uses their own ways. 

And marketing is no different. You have to use your own approach to make sure that it: 

• Works for you
• Brings results 
• Is coherent with who you are 

And because you need all of this and you need to connect, lots of marketing advice you see out there is not going to work for you. 

The five worst marketing advice I was given 

One last thing, I should mention that the following advice is not bad per se. But they are bad if they don’t represent you and if they are taken out of context. So here they are: 

1. Create Facebook Adverts 
2. Write less 
3. Trash the competition 
4. Do a massive sale 
5. Post on social media every single day

Ok, full disclosure: a couple of that advice are paraphrased. But the idea is clear: I was told do these five things to have a sustainable business. 

NO!

The best way to rephrase this is: do these five things if they align with who you are, with your customers and if you have enough information to know that they are going to work. 

Honestly, though I’d never trash the competition. First, is not elegant. And second, you do you and the others do them. 

Were you ever given any of this advice? Did they work? If they haven’t, here is what you can do: 

1. Keep trying in different ways and see if they eventually work 
2. Call me and let’s work together on a marketing strategy that works for you. 
3. Think about it, read books, update

You know what option I’d suggest, right? 

In my business life, I wasted so much time trying to figure out things by myself. Which is totally fine, but had I known myself back then, I would have called me. Or at the very least, I would have signup to my newsletter. 

ps: let me know in the comments, what’s the worst marketing advice you were given?