The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021 - 19

Ways to Stop
Self-Sabotaging
Your Online
Marketing Efforts
By Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo

When you feel stuck or lack confidence
regarding your next move, it's time to draw a
line in the sand and make a change.

W

e all have stories
we tell ourselves
about why

we can't do something in
our business. Whether we
chalk them up to impostor
syndrome1, perfectionism,
or something in between,
we've all been guilty of selfsabotage at some point during
our entrepreneurial journey.
No one is immune. Our
reasoning behind why
we can't do something is
powerful, especially if we're
avoiding taking an action
we know would be good for
our business but that also
feels overwhelming.
Now, everyone's stories

y	 The market is too
saturated. There's no way
for me to stand out to
clients online.
y	 I don't know where to
start/what to do, so I don't
business online.
y	 What will people think if I
put myself out there?
y	 I don't want to stand out
or toot my own horn.
y	 I would like to market my
business, but then impostor
syndrome sets in.2 I'm
afraid to be criticized.
y	 I can't sell (myself).
y	 I'm a perfectionist, and I
don't feel my ________

few I've heard recently from

is good enough yet to

colleagues related to marketing

market my business.

y	 I don't have time to

The stories we tell ourselves
can cause us to stall our

market my business online.

marketing efforts, whether

Online marketing takes too

we realize it at first or not.

much time.

The concerns expressed above

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boundaries, or worse...we
burn out altogether because
we haven't taken care of
ourselves or our businesses.

How to Stop SelfSabotaging Your Online
Marketing Efforts and
Start Taking Action

can help you start down the
path to reach your goals.

2 Flip the script.
Limiting beliefs are real.
Similar to the stories we
tell ourselves, we all have
limiting beliefs. Recognize
yours and make a concerted
effort to shift these beliefs to
a more positive and abundant
mindset. Sometimes a
mindset shift is all you need
to start working on your
website, polish your LinkedIn
profile, or start sharing
about your business on the
social media sites where your
clients are active. The sidebar
on page 20 provides some
examples of how to reframe
your limiting beliefs.

Recognize that

When you feel stuck or lack
confidence regarding your
next move, it's time to draw
a line in the sand and make
a change. Here are six ways
to stop self-sabotaging your
online marketing efforts.

do anything to market my

are different, but here are a

their businesses online:

are all legitimate. However,
they shift from concerns to
self-sabotage when we let
them stop us from achieving
more, whether it be finding
better clients, tapping into a
new specialization, or simply
updating areas of our online
presence like our website or
digital profiles.
If we're not careful, our
businesses can remain
stagnant for years, we earn
less than we're capable of,
we work for clients who
don't pay well or respect our

1 Ask for help.
None of us can know
everything, do everything,
or be everything in our
business. When you're
feeling stuck or stalling out
on something related to your
online marketing, talk to a
colleague, mentor, business
coach, therapist, former
professor, or someone who
can relate and provide a
different perspective. It's
okay to ask for help, to not
have all the answers, and
to recognize when you need
support. If you feel like your
online marketing efforts are
constantly hanging over your
head, talk to someone who

3 it's okay to be

uncomfortable sometimes.
When something worth doing
is uncomfortable, it's easy
to make excuse after excuse
about why we can't do it. If
marketing our businesses
came naturally, we would
all be steadily marketing
year-round. Instead, I see
many freelancers going to the
opposite end of the spectrum:
not marketing at all.
The key is to make your
marketing feel like you. Don't
follow what everyone else
is doing. Learn from others
about what works and what
doesn't, then tweak these
strategies to fit your business
and personality. Create some
email and LinkedIn templates
you can use to reach out
to potential clients and try
to send a few messages to
potential clients a week.
The more you do this, the
more comfortable you'll feel
reaching out to prospects. You

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