Hey there, my friend, welcome to episode 336 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thanks for leading me your ears right now – I know you have lots of other things you could be doing or listening to – so I appreciate you.

Today we are diving into marketing myths – 5 specific ones that I think are probably holding you back. And all these myths are things I talk about to my clients every single day – not kidding.

But before we start, did you get a chance to listen in to episode 335? Leanne Shelton was my guest, and we talked up a storm about AI. It’s a fabulous episode – if you haven’t listened, please do. You can listen where you are now or go to my link: www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/335

And before I start on the myths, as my amazing podcast community, I have an update on my Social Media and Marketing Conference. You’re the first to know! Mark out Friday 29^th August in your diaries to come to Melbourne for the Social Media and Marketing Australia conference. I have two speakers already booked in! I am getting a little ahead of myself though – tickets aren’t on sale. They are a few weeks away whilst I work through tech and budgets, but you can (a) mark out the date in your diary and (b) put your name on the waitlist – the non-commitment wait list! Click here to join: https://bit.ly/SMMCMelb25

Let’s get excited! Friday 29^th August – lock it in!

Okay, so let’s start on some myths.

First one, “If I build it, they will come”. This is one is so BIG it’s not funny because the reality is that customers won’t just show up because you have a business. Okay, some might, but that’s because some marketing has happened – possibly word of mouth, if you’ve done nothing!

I see this play out mostly when it comes to websites people have invested in and built that get no traffic and social media platforms that are agonised over, hours of content, hours of creating reels, for crickets.

If you are wondering where you customers or clients are, there’s a chance that they’ve forgotten about your business, because they never hear from you, or that your competitors have a better brand awareness “top of mind” marketing strategy.

How do you fix this myth, well, without too finer point on it – make marketing a priority and don’t build it and think that they will just turn up!

Myth number two, “More followers = more sales” – yikes! Now you are probably thinking, “Jenn, I know that’s not true” and yes, you probably do know it’s not true but somehow many forget that it’s not true when I speak to them and they say things like “I only have 200 followers”, or “I need more people to like my page”. Guilty of that? We want the glittery, vain numbers even though we know, because we are super smart, that it’s not necessarily going to make us more sales.

So, instead of wanting more numbers, more followers, likers, connections etc, engage with the ones you have. Love them so hard, they can’t resist your amazing products or services. Build a community, not an audience.

Myth number three – “I have to be on all the platforms” – well firstly, you’ll burn out, hate marketing and probably want to pull your nails out if you do that and secondly, you ONLY have to be where your people are. Where’s that? Well, that’s the holy grail marketing question. If you’re not sure who your who is, then I suggest your shoot back and listen to episode numbers – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/232, www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/290, www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/25, and www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/114,

Myth number four – “I need to go viral” – honestly, I’ve had reels that have got 35K, 45K views and Facebook posts that have reached hundreds of thousands, and I can wholeheartedly say, not one metric in my business moved. Maybe a few more followers but no more money, no more leads or enquiries and frankly, lots more bots and crap spammers are what I got more of.

And in contrast, I’ve had posts reach 50 people and got a new private client worth 10K from it or sent a pretty much free email and filled masterminds.

Going viral might be great for your business, it might not, but it’s definitely not the success metric you should be using.

Myth number five – “I don’t have time for marketing” – I will call bs on this every single time. We all have 24 hours – it’s how we choose to use it – that’s the only difference. And if marketing isn’t a priority in your business, you will NEVER find time for it. No one else can make time for your marketing, just you (unless you pay someone of course!). So, stop using the excuse that you don’t have time and carve out some time. Two weeks ago – episode www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/334 I gave you 11 10-minute marketing activities that you can do. You CAN find 10 minutes a day – you CAN (you must).

What’s a myth you’d like to bust when it comes to marketing or business or social media? Come join me in the Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group and tell us about it. You don’t know if someone just might need to hear what you have to say today – it might be the spark they needed.

But, as usual, I’ll be back next Thursday with some more marketing know-how in episode 337. 

If you’re enjoying this podcast, don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode and share this with a friend.  And maybe leave me a rating and a review wherever you listen in.  Those things are like gold for podcasters like me!  PS – you can leave more than one rating and review – just saying!

If we aren’t hanging out on social media then let’s get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook, and my fav LinkedIn.

But whatever you do,

…….. remember small business peep, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!