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267. Hey Solopreneur! If Your Marketing Isn’t Working, Listen To This... · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: If you're showing up, posting, pitching, trying everything, and still not getting clients, this episode is for you. In it, Joe and I tackle one of the most discouraging realities in solopreneurship, and that is doing all the right marketing things and still seeing zero results. We break down why niching down is usually not specific enough, how skipping real audience research sabotages your efforts, and why vanity metrics like likes and views are often a dangerous distraction. You'll hear why one on one conversations often outperform big marketing campaigns, how to stop hiding behind busy work, and what it actually takes to stand out in a sea of sameness. This conversation is honest, practical, and encouraging, especially if you've been wondering whether to throw in the towel, and spoiler, you don't need to quit, you just need to adjust.
• 0:50
  You're listening to The Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for anyone on the solo business journey, whether you're just toying with the idea, taking your first bold step, or have been running your own show for years and want to keep growing, refining, and thriving. I'm Carly Ries, and along with my cohost Joe Rando, we're your guides through the crazy but awesome world of being a company of one. As part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all things solopreneurship, we help people design businesses that align with their life's ambitions so they can work to live, not live to work. If you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the place for you. But if you want real world insights from industry experts, lessons from the successes and stumbles of fellow solopreneurs, and practical strategies for building and sustaining a business you love, you're in the right spot.
• 1:38
  Because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. No matter where you are in your journey, we've got your back. So Joe, I think I'm an empathetic person, and nothing gets me more when somebody says, I've been marketing my services, I think I'm doing everything right, and I am just not getting clients. And it's like, nothing can kill motivation more than trying, trying, trying, and just not seeing results. Especially for this time of year when people may have been trying, trying, trying, and now they have New Year's resolutions and the resolutions aren't working.
• 2:16
  It's like, do I throw in the towel? What do I do? I feel you. And it's so frustrating. So in terms of what should I be doing if I'm marketing but not getting clients, I think there are just a few things on the checklist that you should be thinking about.
• 2:35
  The first one, Joe, I feel like I'm stealing your thunder. Because we say this, I feel like in every single episode, in one way or another, you need to ask yourself, are you niching down? Or you're trying to be jack of all trades, master to none. You may think you're niching down, but are you really? like if you're just targeting, I'm just saying this because it's an easy one for me. Moms.
• 3:03
  Because you're like, oh, well, I'm niching down. I'm just targeting moms. That gets rid of a huge portion of the population. You might wanna ask yourself, is it moms of a certain age? Moms of kids of a certain age?
• 3:15
  You need to be niching down and ask yourself how far can you niche? Start in the smallest possible group and then you can always expand. But if you really nail that targeting, then you can really nail your messaging, you can nail the platforms that you're posting on, the groups that you're joining in your local community, just niche niche down. I know we sound like a broken record when we say that, but there is a reason that we say that. Joe, before I move on, anything to add?
• 3:42
  We talk about that all the time.
• 3:44
  Joe Rando: Yeah. I mean, nothing to add other than I think you made a great point that people think sometimes that they're niching down, but they really aren't niching down enough to have it be effective. And the other thing that we should think about and this is something that we experienced. When we decided that we were gonna niche down on solopreneurs, and I won't go into all the details on that. I said to you, where do we find them? And we went, we can't find them. And then we found out how many there were. We said, you know, we should build that place, and that changed our entire direction because we knew that what we learned through research that the solopreneurs all had the same general challenges and you have the same kinds of help. But, you definitely wanna think about not just niching down, but can you find those people that are your niche?
• 4:30
  Is there a way to reach them? So just something to toss in.
• 4:33
  Carly Ries: No. You bring up a good point that I should have started with. You have to know your audience. that's the thing. People have a hunch that they know who they're targeting without doing the actual actual research.
• 4:46
  They're maybe using AI now to try to do some research, but you need to have those conversations. You need to actually get in the weeds. So many people skip that step, and that is arguably the most important step for your business. So I'm glad you brought that up because, yeah, take the time to know who they are like they're your best friend. Know them inside and out because it'll make everything else so much easier.
• 5:11
  I think another thing with marketing that people struggle with is they they look at vanity metrics. they're like, well, I don't understand. My post went viral. And it's like, yeah, but maybe and I'm just gonna use the mom example over and over again. Maybe a lot of people are liking it, but it's still maybe not reaching your target audience.
• 5:30
  And so many solopreneurs only need a handful of clients. So why are you looking at virality or page views and all that when you should be asking yourself, how many people have I talked to this week that are my demographic? How many one on one conversations have I had? What has actually moved the needle? Because a lot of times you're doing busy work and not productive work.
• 5:52
  And I think that's where a lot of people fail in their marketing. They kinda hide behind their content. They hide behind these, quote, unquote, marketing campaigns when in reality, they should be focusing on these personal interactions.
• 6:07
  Joe Rando: I think that was the biggest surprise in the last, you know, years that we've been digging into solopreneurs, not just for us being solopreneurs ourselves, but kinda digging into solopreneurship as a body of knowledge. And it's been five years now? Over five years? Yeah. And the one that thing that surprised me the most is for most solopreneurs, and not all, but the vast majority, kinda one on one networking is the most effective marketing strategy that they can have.
• 6:39
  Carly Ries: Yeah. Absolutely. Another thing I would say is I learned this from John Jantz actually. He says this. He's had a whole framework around it, but strategy before tactics. I think a lot of you will confuse tactics with strategy and vice versa. And they're like, okay, my strategy is to post one morning, once a week on LinkedIn and to do this and to do that. Those are tactics. Like, you need to figure out your overall strategy and the tactics around that.
• 7:13
  But if you're just throwing spaghetti at a wall, hoping something I mean, let me just back up. At the beginning, you are kinda throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
• 7:21
  Joe Rando: Because you don't know.
• 7:22
  Carly Ries: Yeah. But once you see the trends and the patterns, create a strategy around that, and then plan from there. But so many people just always do the tactics, and they don't take a step back. Think of what's working. Think of who they're talking to.
• 7:38
  And that could also pose a real problem if your marketing efforts aren't working. Anything to add there?
• 7:43
  Joe Rando: No. I mean, I could tell you a hysterical story, but I don't know if it'd make the podcast too long.
• 7:49
  Carly Ries: Yeah. Either way. Well, I think the other thing, and I say this, but Joe, we were talking earlier as well about you think you're saying something that everybody knows and you aren't because you are the expert in your field. So what I will say is if you try to do the same thing that other people are doing, your marketing efforts aren't gonna work. They're just gonna get lost in the noise.
• 8:14
  So whether it's having a really unique value proposition, a stellar offer that your competitors don't have.
• 8:20
  Joe Rando: A niche.
• 8:22
  Carly Ries: Niche. A point of view. People are really nervous to have a point of view because getting canceled is a very real thing these days. But a point of view is how you're gonna stand out. So think of these things.
• 8:33
  If you're a marketer like me, and there are gazillion marketing consultants out there, and you're trying to find clients, what are you going to do to separate yourself from the rest? think about that before you put any of your marketing content out there, because it's not gonna do anything because it'll just get lost in the noise.
• 8:53
  Joe Rando: Yeah. If you're not making somebody mad with the stuff that you're saying and, I mean, I'm not saying mad enough to even respond to you. But if you're not saying something that basically makes somebody else's approach, sound bad, you're probably not taking a strong enough position. I mean, I'm not somebody that goes out there and tries to stir up controversy, but I will go out there and basically, I won't confront an individual, but, you know, these people that are posting platitudes all the time on social media, especially on LinkedIn where you're supposed to be adding value, and it's stuff like, you know, working a forty hour job is working nine to five is hard. Starting your own business is hard. Choose your hard. It's like, you're not helping.
• 9:42
  That's a platitude. It doesn't tell anything. I basically call that I don't call it out to individuals when they post them because that's just mean. But when we're talking about how to add value on social media, I'll say that. And I know I'm making some people mad. But it's how I feel. It's the truth.
• 10:02
  It's me, and you're gonna either like me or hate me for it or, you know, something in between, I guess.
• 10:08
  Carly Ries: Yep. Well, the last thing I wanna end with, unless you have something else to add, is to just keep showing up. I was listening to Mel Robbins at a recent episode. Is James Clear the author of Atomic Habits? he is, right?
• 10:22
  Think it's James Clear. He was a guest on her show, and obviously he knows what he's talking about. And I'm gonna butcher this.
• 10:36
  Joe Rando: Unlike Mel Robbins.
• 10:39
  Carly Ries: I love her.
• 10:41
  Joe Rando: this is where Carly and I disagree.
• 10:43
  Carly Ries: Yes. This is where we differ. I'm gonna let you. I'm gonna let you have that in Mel's recommendations. Just let them. I'm gonna let you have a different opinion and I'm gonna follow it. and I'm gonna paraphrase. But the quote the whole thing, like, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. He says, try different. And like the whole definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over without the results. I'm butchering all these things.
• 11:13
  Everybody gets what I'm saying.
• 11:14
  Joe Rando: I get it.
• 11:16
  Carly Ries: Yeah. But moral of story, if things aren't working, continue to show up, but continue to test. And you're gonna learn the more reps you put in, the better you will get over time. I know how discouraging it can be to not see any results no matter how hard you're trying. But eventually, if you are tracking, if you know your audience, if you pivot based on what they want and need, if you separate yourself from the masses, you will figure it out.
• 11:46
  So just keep showing up.
• 11:48
  Joe Rando: So this is a really interesting point that you're bringing up, and it's something I've not heard anybody say, but, this whole idea of, if at first you don't succeed, try try again versus trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of insanity, which I'm not sure that's technically true. and then, what he said, which is great of trying other things, but there is one place where trying the same thing over and over again, and even in the face of failure, makes sense, and that is when you're trying to rewire your brain. When you're trying to change behaviors or habits, you know, if I go in and I go do a workout and it's terrible.
• 12:31
  Or I decide that I'm going to learn to play the guitar or whatever. You have to just keep doing it over and over again because you're trying to get the those neural pathways. If I wanna build a habit, of, I don't know, well, working out every day. You gotta basically keep repeating it even when you fail or you won't get there.
• 12:53
  But then when it's something like marketing strategy, now it's you against the world. If it's not working, you gotta change. You can't expect the world to adjust. Your brain will adjust when you push it, but the world will not.
• 13:06
  So I know I'm going in the weeds here a little bit, but I think it's an important distinction.
• 13:10
  Carly Ries: No. I appreciate that. Thank you for bringing that up. And listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, please leave that five star review.
• 13:17
  We're really trying to spread our message this year, and getting those reviews can help us attract so many more solopreneurs and help so many more people, which is why we do what we do. So please do that. Share this episode with a friend, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube. We'll see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone.
• 13:41
  In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.
• 14:11
  Joe Rando: Okay. Now if anybody stays around past that, I'm gonna tell my goofy story.
• 14:17
  Carly Ries: Let's hear it.
• 14:18
  Joe Rando: So I worked for a company, a little while after college. And it was a really great company, but every once in a while, they would try new things. And they came up with this plan to have everybody in the company help develop strategy. So the entire department met with everybody, we were engineers and technicians. so then there's the boss guy, and he's like, so we were trying to develop new strategies for the company. And it was like, it could have been an SNL skit. the one I remember the most was one guy gets up and he says, you know, if we moved my desk in the lab over to here, that would let people work more efficiently at this workstation. And it was just this entire, in the weeds tactics and watching the boss, like, just because he was told to do this. He didn't plan on it.
• 15:16
  And watching this guy kinda go and just put his head in his hands, it was the funniest thing I ever saw. So, yeah, strategy's hard, and not everybody's ready to go in and take it on. it takes a little studying to understand what it means and do it. But I thought that was, one of the funniest things I ever saw in terms of strategy or lack thereof.
• 15:39
  Carly Ries: Glad you kept that bonus content, Joe. Thanks. Please listen.
• 15:43
  Joe Rando: Anyway
• 15:43
  Carly Ries: We will see you next time.