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Love Yourself, Love Your Business

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Ever wonder why marketing yourself is so hard? True confession—I can promote my clients much easier than I can myself. When it comes to my own business, I have to really push.

If you’re like me, you may feel awkward and self-conscious about marketing. You feel talking about yourself is a form of vanity. You worry what other people think, especially those you know. Here’s the thing, if this mindset overtakes you, you’re actually cheating your business from the positive exposure it deserves. Even worse, you’re cheating your customers from the valuable product you have to offer.

Here’s a pep talk for marketing yourself with confidence!

10 Self-Loves to Motivate Your Marketing

  1. If you don’t market your business, you’ll have no business.
    —Successful entrepreneurs everywhere
  2. Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life (business), not theirs.
    ―Roy T. Bennett, author, nonpolitician 
  3. Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.
    —Brené Brown, professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host
  4. Criticism is the tool of envy and jealousy.
    —Joe Cervantes, attorney and member of the New Mexico Senate
  5. Your work has value and should be compensated accordingly.
    —paraphrased from Ilise Benum, marketing expert for creative professionals
  6. Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.
    —Michael Hyatt, NY Times Best Selling Author
  7. Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.
    —Coco Chanel, fashion designer and businesswoman
  8. There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.
    —Jason Fried, founder & CEO of Basecamp
  9. Don’t let yourself off the hook by deciding that something is out of your reach, instead, ask yourself, ‘What would I do if I weren’t afraid?‘
    —Sheryl Sandburg, business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist
  10. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
    —Neale Donald Walsch, author, actor, screenwriter, and speaker

What I’m Working On This Month

January has been a month of maintenance. It’s all part of wintering, as they say. It’s also necessary for small business ownership. Hopefully all will soon be ready for launch!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  • RAW DEAL: A dirty underbelly that affects not only small farm producers but we consumers as well.
  • REST MANIFESTO: Winter’s a good time for resting. This article helps us feel less guilty when we do.
  • DEMON COPPERHEAD: Author Barbara Kingsolver says in life she is not a risk-taker but as a writer she chooses the fast car. She really did with this one.
  • IS EVERYONE DOING THE BEST THEY CAN? With what they’ve been given? Dr. Brené Brown makes us think in this podcast.

Let’s Work Together

Think Adunate might be a good fit for your next project? Give me a holler and we’ll discuss ideas.

CONTACT ME

Valentines in the Shop

For the Outdoor Lover in All of You!

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Ending the Year with a Bomb (Cyclone)

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Dreaming of a White Christmas? We got it (and more). The good news is, following those frigid temps, gusty winds, and drifts of snow, came the sun. And a glorious sunshine it’s been!

Hang In There!

In many ways small businesses are dealing with their own end-of-year storm. COVID, worker shortages, supply chain disruptions, high inflation are all challenges entrepreneurs face. But the good news is, people are sticking together and helping one another.  

I’m thankful for another year working with an inspiring network of people. Many are clients. Others are cohorts. They have helped me in a multitude of ways and I’ve been honored to be there for them. We’re hanging in there.

And here’s the most optimistic news of all: Small businesses everywhere are finding success. The sun shines after a storm. Hang in there! 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER
Commerce Street Brewery Hotel, Mineral Point, WI

What I’m Working On This Week: Nothing!

They say the week between Christmas and New Year’s is when you don’t know what day it is, who you are, and what you’re supposed to be doing. Yep, that’s us. And, for the good word, Commerce Street Brewery Hotel is a delightful mid-week getaway!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Maine’s tree tippers: A generational tradition of trimming trees and making wreaths.
  2. What is cozy, really? With January in the coming, this is something you may want to know.
  3. Covid came quickly but the vaccine did not. How scientists developed the mRNA Technology inside Covid vaccines. Not as rushed as some of us thought.
  4. Infinite Ellipses of Ritual and Flavor, a tasty read on beans. Plus a recipe.

However you celebrate the holidays, God’s blessings be with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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What’s Your Niche? Who’s Your Target?

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Happy Halloween! Can you imagine exploring this Shining-esque hotel for spooks and spirits?! 

This happens to be the Red Rock Inn in Ontario, Canada. We stayed here recently while on our Lake Superior Circle Tour and the local landmark was everything that excites us—historic architecture, eclectic decor, and friendly owners with fascinating stories. On top of that, our room was spotlessly clean and cozy.

Here’s the thing, not everyone would share our opinion. Not everyone is comfortable with the unpredictability of non-chain hotels. Not everyone is enamored with history. Not everyone has a desire to meander off the beaten path. And that’s okay because there’s something out there for each of us. 

What it does say to business owners—small business owners especially—is that you can’t be all things to all people. You need to have a niche. You need to target a specific audience. And both have to match who you are as a business. 

Red Rock Inn regularly hosts Ontario bands and local events.

5 Hints for Choosing Your Niche and Target Market

This article by Entrepreneur magazine is spot on. However, I’m going to reword it based on my own opinion, which is based on my own experience. Take it or leave it.

  1. Identify Your Passion and Skills
    Choosing a niche within your passion and skillset makes work more enjoyable. You’ll have greater credibility, communication, and problem-solving.
     
  2. Like Your Target Market
    Your target market are people you work with every day. Make sure you enjoy them and their demographics. 
     
  3. Research Your Competition
    Knowing your competition helps you brainstorm ways to be unique. It also reveals the profitability of a market—no competition equals no profit.
     
  4. Determine Profitability
    You have to make a living. If your niche or target market have no profit, expand one or the other, or both.
     
  5. Be Flexible
    Remember the Pandemic Pivot? When innovative change was necessary for survival? Always practice that open-minded living.

Want To Learn More of Who You Are?

What I’m Working On This Month

Each year I design a poster to commemorate our Octoberfest Brewery Tour. It’s good exercise for my creative brain and I’m accumulating quite the collection! 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Politics of School Food: My granddaughter’s school served pizza every day in September (thankfully, she packs her own lunch).
  2. Must-reads from Milkweed Editions. Earlier this month we celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day. Here’s a list of Native authors.
  3. How Fermented Foods Shaped the World, a new book by Julia Skinner. Food history is fascinating.
  4. The Barred Owl Who Came To Visit, beautifully told by Heather Swan. God sends us what we need.
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Equinox and Moons: Reaping What We Sow

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Wrapping up September is always a transition. Last week we celebrated the autumn equinox and this week we’re waxing in a new moon. It’s the time we reap what we’ve sown, as the Good Book says, and we plan for the winter months ahead. 

Speaking of transitions, Mother Fools Coffeehouse in Madison, WI, recently unveiled its new mural “Dissolve,” by Audifax. Since 2001, this arts-focused cafe has hosted a rotating graffiti wall. Isn’t this piece beautiful?!

Our Marketing Harvest: 3 Months Out

In the same way we’re now harvesting abundance from the garden seeds we planted in spring, so goes our marketing. Studies show the average time to see results from marketing efforts is 3-6 months (depending on the industry, that timeframe can extend up to nine months). This means the marketing we do now determines our outcome for the holidays and upcoming months. 

Need help sowing your marketing seeds? 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Adunate is wrapping up a web design project for HUB Waukesha, a group of non-profit organizations working together to reduce health barriers and promote the well-being of the Hispanic community in Waukesha Co, WI.

I’m privileged to work with such caring people! Check out their website here.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Sauerkraut! This was a good year for cabbage and fermentation guru Sandor Katz shares a recipe.
  2. Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating? Everyone needs to read this, everyone needs to do their part.
  3. 3,000-Year-Old Canoe Found, Wisconsin’s second ancient dugout.
  4. Farm/Art DTour starts this weekend in Driftless Wisconsin!October 1-10. Rolling farmland, art installations, cows, puppets, music, fall colors, poetry and food, food, food! A must-do for autumn.
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Applying the Easiness of Amazon to Your Own Business

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We recently bought garden mulch and the business we ordered from made it as easy as shopping on Amazon. Here’s how it went.

While sautéing dinner and listening (maybe) to his yackity wife, my husband decided we needed mulch. Not wanting to buy from a box store, he googled “local mulch Watertown WI.” Immediately Bags and Bulk Landscape Supply Yard popped up and right there, front and center, was “Free Delivery, Order Now.” Within five minutes he ordered his mulch and it was delivered the next day. 

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

An Easiness Self-Exam

Two years ago, I wrote about helping our customers BE our customers during COVID. These ideas are still relevant, not because of pandemics but because that’s just how it is. Competing with Amazon is a fact of life—when it comes to making things easy for your customer, how do you compare?

  1. How easy is it to shop from you? Can customers order online? Do you deliver? Do you accept returns?
  2. Do you take credit cards? It’s 2022 and we don’t carry cash. Even farmers market and art show customers ask to use credit cards.
  3. Does your business take reservations? If so, how? Must customers call only when you’re open or can they reserve online anytime? 
  4. How easy is to contact you? Is your contact information easy to find? How soon do you reply? 
  5. What about your website? Does the opening page provide the information your customers need most? Hint: Each industry is different. Restaurant or store customers need hours and location. Customers of a service industry, such as mine, need contact information.
  6. Lastly, most importantly, how do your customers FEEL when they’re your customers? Are you making it a pleasant experience? Do they come away feeling happy?
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Food, Faith and Farming Network is a caring, generous and humanitarian organization that gives voice to the sacred connections between land and people. I’m so honored to work with them. 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, by Ingrid Fetell Lee: I read this book for design purposes, but really it applies to everyday life.
  2. How to Make Pesto Like an Italian Grandmother: Basil is coming into full season and pesto is a must.
  3. Always Home, by Fanny Singer: I’m obsessed with anything Alice Waters and want to read her daughter’s  book.
  4. Kayaking in Wisconsin: Love it, go whenever/wherever I can. Here’s a helpful podcast for Wisconsin’s best. 
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