5 Traits Of A Successful Marketer
These days, there are so many people out in the world trying to sell something.
You see them in the mall, at your local grocery store or big box store, and even where you get your hair cut.
All they are trying to do is get you to buy something, or maybe even give you a sample so you’ll come back for more another day.
But, the main thing that people miss is that these aren’t just sales people…
They are marketers!
And, if you look closely at what they’ve done, they’ve placed themselves appropriately to make sure that you will see them, hear them, and most likely even talk to them.
This is not by accident, this is intentionally done in order to have the best possible chances to make a sale or get some sort of referral (which could be your phone number, email, or even leaving your business card).
The hard part about the job these people do is that there comes a lot of rejection, negativity, and downright nastiness.
So maybe people are sick of being sold to and they make it well known in their communication to one another.
Instead of just a simple “No, thank you”, marketers these days are hearing things like:
“Why are you even talking to me?”
“I didn’t ask you to sell me something.”
“I don’t want to hear about whatever it is that you have going on.”
And, one of my favorites of all…
“Why are you like this? Why can’t you be like everyone else?”
If you’re a marketer, you’ve probably heard at least one of those phrases above, and I feel for you because I’ve heard them all as well.
My wife and I have been in the marketing game for some time now and we’ve seen and heard many things that we never would have heard if we weren’t asking people to support our business (product sales) or let us help them live a better life (join our team).
So, I did some reflection on what it takes to be a successful marketer these days and put together 5 traits that can help anyone who is struggling to be just a little bit better and maybe a tiny bit more successful in their endeavors.
I would like to point out that this is a matter of personal opinion and in no way am I saying that someone will be a complete failure if they don’t do all of these things. But, from my personal experience I can say that these traits have helped me out quite a bit. I do have a little bit of a story at the end to tie it all together and you’ll notice how almost all of these traits are included.
𝘿𝙊𝙉’𝙏 𝘽𝙀 𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙄𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙁𝙁𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙀𝘿
People need to learn how to have a thick skin and a soft heart. This is mainly because of all of the hate and rejection out in the world for marketers, and more so for those that are focusing on their online efforts.
Having a thick skin means not letting things get to you too easily. Especially when it seems like it might be directed at you. There is always going to be people out there that are going to rub you the wrong way, say something you do not agree with, or even do something that makes you go crazy. You need to have the ability to let it go, just like water rolls off of a ducks back.
You can’t take everything so personally and get defensive when people are pointing fingers (I still struggle with this sometimes too, it’s okay). The hardest part about this is that it’s purely human nature to react instead of respond. But, something my mentor says quite often:
“When we react, we don’t have time to think about the proper reaction and it’s all a knee jerk situation that only will make matters worse. But, if we take a step back and respond, we’re more likely to be able to assess the situation and come up with a response that is respectful and meaningful.”
At the same time, you have to be caring and let people know that you are there to help them in any situation, even if that situation is when they have a problem with something you said or did.
Most people in this world just want to know that they are loved and that they are making an impact in this world, even if it’s only for one person. So, when we can show empathy and have a bit of a soft heart, while still not letting things get to us all too much, we will build stronger relationships and stronger bonds with those that we are in business with.
𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙔
If you can’t appreciate what you have, you won’t appreciate what you will get.
So many times I’ve had to remind my kids that they have so much more than a lot of other kids out there, even their friends. I’ve had to go find pictures of how kids live in poverty and explain to them that we actually are in a very good situation.
They have clothes that aren’t stained or ripped.
They get good, home cooked meals and always enough to satisfy them. (Plus, if they’re still hungry, there’s a pantry full of snacks that they could grab to help them fill their tummies, but that’s pretty rare).
We have reliable transportation so we don’t have to ride the city bus or get rides from friends or family all the time.
And, we have heat in the winter as well as A/C in the summer, so we’re always comfortable in the house and don’t have to constantly be freezing or sweating.
Most of the time, my kids don’t usually understand, but now that my oldest is 12 (going on 13 here in June of this year. Oh my…we’re going to have a teenager!!), he’s starting to understand more of how other kids live. The schools around here are mostly full of middle class or higher kids, but some of the kids are not quite there yet and he gets to see that.
I’ve seen other families struggle, and it really humbles me to know that I have it so much better than most, even when I feel like I am struggling. So, when I hear that other people are struggling, I offer to help them out in any way I can. I have started teaching my kids to do the same thing and it makes my heart happy when I hear about when they’ve done something nice for someone else.
We have to make sure that we aren’t taking things for granted and actually having an “attitude of gratitude” about everything in our lives. Once we start taking things for granted, that’s when we start losing our humanity.
𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙎𝙄𝘼𝙎𝙈 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘼 𝙋𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝘼𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙏𝙐𝘿𝙀
If you have a negative attitude, you won’t attract anyone. And in the marketing world, attraction is what we strive on.
Whether you are using the Attraction Marketing model (like myself) or you are actively prospecting for leads (or buying leads), you still need to be attractive. The easiest way to be attractive is to have enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
I’ve always heard it called a Positive Mental Attitude, or PMA.
PMA is something that has to be learned and is not something we automatically have.
Even when we are growing up, we are negatively reinforced in our decisions.
Think about when you were little. When you did something wrong, there was usually not the comment of “It’s okay, you failed. But you learned something from this, right? What’s a positive thing that came from this situation?”
Honestly, that would just be absurd to try to discipline a toddler in that way. Not only is that information over their head, but they don’t have the comprehension to have any idea what we are talking about. They might agree to make you happy, but they have no idea what a positive mental attitude means.
But, let’s take my 12 year old son for instance. We’ve been teaching him how to have a positive mental attitude whenever he’s doing anything. Maybe that’s his homework or when he’s playing video games, but we’ve been trying to make it a point for him to be more positive when he’s doing something and it doesn’t go his way.
While it’s still hard for him to grasp it every time, it’s getting easier and easier each time he does it. For the most part, when something bad happens, he’ll just say something like “Oh man, that sucks. But, that’s okay, I’ll do it better next time” or “Oh wow, that didn’t go as planned, but I should think of another way to do it so I can get it done right the next time.”
My 4 year old still cries when he spills a drink…
So, you see, it also takes a little bit of maturity to get into a state where you can think more positively.
Does this mean we do not teach our 4 year old how to be positive? Not true at all. But, we just go about it a different way.
So, if he spills his drink, we don’t yell. We don’t get loud. And, we don’t get mad. We say “Oh, that’s too bad. Well, let’s clean it up.” and then we clean it up together. Then when we’re done, we tell him to pay attention to where his cup is and make sure he keeps it from the edge of the table. It’s effective, and over time I know that he will get better (there’s already been an improvement from the last 6–12 months, but some of that could be chocked up to maturing).
Negativity is infectious as well, and if we keep it around we are letting that kind of mentality into our lives. And, when that negativity gets into our lives, EVERYTHING starts to come crashing down. Our relationships, our jobs, our businesses, our parenting skills, all of it.
You see, our attitude is so important for our daily lives that every little thing can affect how we continue the rest of our day. If we find that we are letting things get to us too much, maybe we’re a little stressed and should take a break! Or, maybe something bad happened that we haven’t dealt with yet. But, it also could be something we saw or heard.
We need to protect what goes in our eyes, ears, and mind, as well as what comes out of our mouth. Our thoughts and words are powerful, and so are others’, so it’s important that we keep that in mind and make a choice as to what we decide to listen to these days.
Now, that doesn’t mean that I’m saying you need to stop watching TV, listening to music, or playing video games. But, be more mindful of what you watch, what you listen to, and what you play. If you find yourself agitated more, maybe it’s something that you do on a day to day basis that is getting to you. Or, maybe it’s someone you are hanging around.
Whatever the case may be, we have to find things in our lives that are causing negativity and either get rid of them, or limit our exposure to them. Only then can we continue to feel amazing every day.
Not only that, but when things seem like they might not be the greatest, we need to step out of that feeling with enthusiasm and make sure that we are excited about every day. Every day we have on this earth is a blessing and we should be sure to never forget that.
𝘽𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝘼𝘾𝙃-𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝘼 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙆 𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙄𝘾
If you can’t be coached, you won’t learn and grow.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people that want help, but then aren’t willing to receive the help. They will say that they are struggling, but then they don’t give themselves the ability to take feedback or criticism. I’ve been there many times and all that happens is that I just tend to feel stuck in the same place I’ve been for a long time.
Now, do not confuse that with people that just don’t show up in the first place. That’s a huge problem in itself, and that goes more into the work ethic piece below.
What I am talking about here is when someone gives you advice that truly could help you move your life and business forward, and it comes from someone you asked for help from in the first place, but yet you don’t take action and continue to stay exactly where you are. That’s not being coach-able, that’s being an “askhole”. If you’ve never heard that term used before, just ask your mentor and I bet they’ll tell you their version of it.
But, for those that want information here and now (like me), I’ll give you a short description with an example:
Take Johnny. Johnny is someone who is striving to be a great contractor. He has been an apprentice for so long and he loves working under his boss, but he wants to run his own business someday. Johnny asks questions all the time about the best ways to do things, and his boss always gives him well thought out and effective answers. But, there’s something always wrong with Johnny’s work. Either it wasn’t done the way that he was taught, or it was completely wrong altogether and has to be redone. So, Johnny’s boss tends to have to go back and finish the work himself.
Johnny is like this because when he asks for help, he’s trying to get validation for what he feels like he already knows. This is because he already made his decision and he already did the work, but he wants to make sure he’s in the right. Then, when he finds out he’s in the wrong, the work is already done so he just says to himself “I’ll do it the right way next time.” But the flaw here is that the work was done BEFORE he asked for help or perspective, so he didn’t actually have the right mindset to take action.
Day in and day out, Johnny asks his boss question after question and they always get answered. “How do I do this properly?” and “What is the best way to think about that?” But, every day, Johnny’s boss has to go fix Johnny’s work.
Johnny is an “askhole”. He constantly asks for ways he can be better, but never follows through with the feedback given. This is because Johnny is not coach-able and thinks he knows what’s best for himself, so he always has his mind made up and is only asking for validation.
The thing about Johnny is that he doesn’t have a bad work ethic, just isn’t coach-able. So, now that leads us into the next part with the mindset that being coach-able and having a good work ethic have to go hand in and.
Having a good work ethic means that you are willing to do what it takes, for as long as it takes, until the job gets done. Just like Art Williams says:
“The difference between successful people and people that aren’t usually successful is that the successful people just do it, and do it, and do it, and do it, until the job gets done.”
There is not special formula or genetic component that makes people successful, it’s all about being able to put the blood, sweat, and tears into getting the job done. And, ideally, the job that you are passionate about doing. That’s not always the case, and sometimes we have to bite the bullet and do a job that we aren’t that happy about doing. But all in all, having a good work ethic will get you closer to success.
Without a good work ethic, you won’t feel like taking action in the first place, so you continue to go around and around the circle of asking for help, not being coach-able, not having the work ethic, and then being back at square one.
I’ve seen this, and done this, and it’s a gigantic waste of time.
𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙈𝙐𝙉𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝘼 𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙊𝙍
And lastly, mentorship.
Having a mentor is key when it comes to being successful in life and in business. Without mentorship, most people in the entrepreneurial world will likely fail. I know if it wasn’t for my mentor, I would have quit a long time ago.
Communication with said mentor is also key. Without communication (and not just saying hi, but intentional and effective communication), there’s not going to be any movement in your life and business. I know I’ve struggled with that a lot, and even recently.
A quick little story to wrap this all up:
Recently some things happened within the mentorship organization that I am part of. Things were said that I don’t agree with (strongly) and the way that people have been acting just really made me feel uneasy. I felt like I wanted to quit.
So, before making a decision like that, I talked with my mentor. At first, he was a bit taken back because it took me 2 MONTHS to reach out to him about these feelings. Not only did he think everything was going well, but he didn’t realize I was feeling this way and he definitely could have helped me sooner. This is something I have still some work to do on, because I don’t like letting people down in the first place. But, I still made sure to bring this up to him before making a decision on what I was going to do.
When I finally told him about what was going on, he didn’t react right then, he said “Let me think about this and come back to you”. This is something that I appreciate about him quite strongly. I find that he never gives a quick answer on big things because he wants to have the time to consume it for sure.
4 days later we had a good chat about the entire situation (actually ended up being a 1hr 45min conversation to be honest). While I’m not 100% on board with what was going on and I was starting to question my place in this organization now, he made a lot of good points and even mentioned his personal feelings on the same matters, which surprisingly lined up with what I was feeling too! I didn’t realize that he and I had a lot of the same responses to things that were said, and mostly because I never brought up the concerns that I was having.
(This is why it is important to bring things up sooner instead of bottling it up inside.)
So, while I am still not happy with how things were said and done, I understand more of how things are and I also understand how I can deal with it better in the future. I understand now that I am not the only person that is feeling this way, but I also am a free thinker and I have the right to have my own opinion on things.
Not only did that help me move forward in my life, but it also opened up a few ideas for how I want to move my business forward. I was able to get the perspective I needed to clear up the fog that was going on in my head, which allowed me to really dig in to where I want things to go for my life and my business.
So you see, without communication, your mentor doesn’t know what is going on! When they don’t know what is going on, they won’t know how to help you. And, when they don’t know how you help you, you’re likely to have a hard time moving forward in your life and your business.
I hope that this information is helpful for you. I know that it has taken me a long time to understand how powerful these 5 things are, and I know that a lot of times I still find myself struggling with all of them. But, having good mentors and a great plan is a great first step in the right direction.
If you’d like to learn how you can incorporate these things into your life as well (or if you would like to know how you can get that kind of mentorship for yourself), I would be happy to have a chat with you and see how we can make help you move forward. You can connect with me in the following ways:
Visit our website
Find me on Facebook
Send me an email
Thank you for your time today and I hope to talk with you soon!
Josh
