Counting your chickens before they hatch
I’ve done it. If you are a solo business owner, chances are good you’ve done it too: failed to market your business because you were counting on a client, or a project to be there.
If you haven’t done it, I sincerely congratulate you.
When I got busy with a big client, it looked as though the work would continue. I was so busy, and felt so optimistic about my prospects for future projects, that I neglected to promote my own business.
I was counting my chickens before they hatched. My mother scolded us not to do this, but rebel that I am, I did just that.
In truth, I was busy enough that it would have required a significant effort to focus and promote myself on top of my already full schedule.
I wish I had. The work came to an end, and I was not prepared. The recession made it worse. There were fewer projects to be had, and more competition. Even without the slow economy, it takes time to develop new relationships to the point that they know, like, and trust you enough to hire you.
Many of us solo business owners fall into this trap. We wear all the hats in our business: we do our business, we keep the books, we market the business, we empty the wastebaskets, we provide our own IT support, AND we are the CEO with big picture plans. I don’t know anyone who is good at all the roles. Juggling them is an art all its own.
That’s why I often say that self-employment is a personal growth opportunity. We have to admit our shortcomings so that we can decide how we’ll shore them up. We have to learn things we may have never wanted to learn, like marketing or bookkeeping. We may have the extra challenge of feeling incompetent as we work to master our accounting software or our marketing.
Making friends with marketing is not only good for your business, you discover that you can make friends with other difficult things in your life.
There you have it. Personal growth all over again. 
It’s the story of the shoemaker’s children, going without shoes. I find that if I think I need to “work hard” on marketing myself, it doesn’t happen. But, if I make a plan to sort of “effortlessly market,” that works for me. I put myself in networking positions – going to a Rotary meeting, or Chamber meeting, or even responding more to invitations for charity benefits, so that I am already in positions where I have to get into a dialogue with others about what I do. Then, if I remember to take a few minutes before I walk in the room to focus my attention on my message and the kinds of people I want to meet, an ordinary event can turn into a marketing opportunity.
Alas, I often forget my own advice. Good thing I’m writing about it here and remembering it! Thanks for bringing this up.
Artists (and all artists who wish to make a living from their work would do well to remember this) are really small sole proprietorships. The marketing equivalent for artists is to always be looking beyond the next show on the calendar, as well as figuring out more than one income stream from your creative work. Thanks for providing a way to think about this process.
Anne & Judy – You both make great points. If you want a viable business of any kind, marketing is an ongoing practice. We make of it what we will.