Extract from C.J. Hayden, for About.com

I hear from many entrepreneurs that marketing is a struggle.  They just can't get enough clients to pay the bills, or they are spending more money to get each client than the sale is worth.  So many of their efforts seem to fail. There must be an easier way, they tell me. I think there is.

But making the transition from the hard way to the easy way can be pretty difficult in itself. That's because it requires the toughest kind of change -- a change in thinking. First of all, you must accept that there's nothing noble about working too hard. Working too hard comes in many forms. You may be putting in too many hours, or spending too much to get clients, or trying a dozen different marketing strategies all at once, or simply sounding too desperate when asking for the business. To leave struggle behind, you must be willing to give it up. This may sound odd, because of course you don't LIKE struggling.  But old habits die hard.

If you're used to throwing more effort at problems, it's often challenging to instead stop, analyse what's not working, and ask if there is a smarter answer. If you find that clients don't want to pay what you're asking, instead of trying harder to convince those clients of your worth, look for different clients who have more to spend.

You also have to give up magical thinking. No matter how wonderful your workshop is, you won't get 20 people there just by mailing 200 flyers. You can be the world's greatest consultant, but you can't expect to land a big contract just by placing one phone call to three companies. Marketing, like much of business, is often a numbers game. If you want to stop struggling, you have to do the math. The average rate of return for a good direct mail piece is 1-2%. So to fill a 20-person workshop through direct mail alone, you would need to mail to 1000-2000 people.

To move from struggle-based marketing to effortless marketing, you need to be able to trust, and build trust. Trust that if you choose two or three solid marketing strategies and employ them diligently and for the long term, clients will result. If you panic and keep changing your plan, or piling new activities on the plate, the result is more struggle.

Yes, there is work to be done if you want your marketing to be successful, but you need to work smarter, not harder.  There is money to be spent, but you must spend it on the essentials first to create visibility, credibility and trustworthiness in your marketplace - long term - and save the bells and whistles for later. And there is magic to be had, but it's the magic that comes from making a plan and working it, instead of hoping that somehow you can beat the odds.

Coffee News has been specifically designed to provide long term affordable advertising - weekly visibility raises your credibility and the crucial perception of trustworthiness.  It gives you a solid foundation and presence in your market and enhances your other marketing and promotional activities towards greater results - that’s the magic!

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