What I Learned From A Glitch – And A Rabbit

I had no idea the twists and turns my business would take when I first left corporate America. When I started out, I thought I had it in the bag! I had worked for some of the biggest names out there, I knew how to market. But... something happened along my journey. I don't like to use the word mistake, so I'll call it a glitch. A glitch with a purpose.

When I started my business, I have to admit I thought it would be easy. After all, I had marketed for some of the biggest players out there! But I quickly learned that marketing for a major corporation and marketing for entrepreneurs require two very different approaches. Through this experience, I found my forte': I had a way of asking just the right question to bring out someone's brilliance and guide their marketing.

Working with entrepreneurs taught me how vital it is to be conscious about your marketing. It's the core strategy behind what I teach. It's why I named my business Conscious Marketing! But here's where my head got in the way of my heart: I had an extensive marketing background. I played hardball with some of the top advertising agencies. I thought I had it going on! I didn't think I needed any help, coaching or mentoring.

I was wrong.

And this was the birth of my own conscious marketing. Here I was painting this beautiful marketing portrait for my clients, and it just wasn't setting with them. The clients I was working with didn't feel right bragging about themselves like my corporate clients did. That's when I had a light-bulb moment: they didn't see themselves the way I saw them! How the heck were they going to get "out there" and impact their sphere of influence if they didn't feel it for themselves?

I needed to find a way for people to find their own path to selling in a genuine, authentic manner. The glitch - I was not having success with my own marketing. But this glitch had a purpose, which was to show me that all of the marketing strategies and techniques that I had learned from top marketing and ad agencies didn't work for entrepreneurs, and they didn't work for me!

As entrepreneurs, we have to be clear in our marketing message. What you say or don't say will impact your results, and in a huge way. You have to be real. Working through this concept allowed me to pass this transformational power of the message on to my clients. It took me a year to pay attention, and joining a mastermind group and allowing myself to be coached was a key part of the journey. This struggle had a purpose, and it was the birth of my own conscious marketing.

Now, about the rabbit. The holidays are coming, and one of my favorite things to do during this season is to watch The Velveteen Rabbit with my daughter. I love the part when the little boy, who is the rabbit's best friend and just saw him fly, says "How did you know you could do that?" The rabbit simply responds, "How did you know you couldn't?" Imagine if we all felt this way and focused on what we can do rather than what we can't.

What do you do and who is it for? This foundational piece must be in place for you to fly.