The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022 - 31

BP
you have to do all of them.
Know where your clients
are hanging out online and
focus on marketing your
business there. For me,
that's Google, LinkedIn, and
email. Of course, this might
be different for you. Avoid
spending time on any specific
platform or tool that doesn't
serve your business. If your
clients aren't on Instagram
or Facebook, give yourself
permission to drop those
platforms from your mental
list of potential places to
market your business.
Start small. Starting small
sounds easy enough, but
many of us can quickly
become overwhelmed by
the bigger picture of what
we believe marketing to be.
Think of your marketing as
a long-term relationshipbuilding
process. Just as you
wouldn't ask someone out on
a date after meeting them for
the first time, you wouldn't
ask a client to sign a contract
the first time you reach out
to them. Commit to a few
minutes of marketing every
day and build from there. I
believe a little bit every day
versus once or a few times
a week is a smarter (and
faster) way to build habits.
Personally, I commit to 20
minutes a day. It's what
works for me. Find and do
what works for you.
Focus on one thing at a
time. One reason people
feel overwhelmed about
marketing their businesses
is that they make it such
a large task that it feels
unattainable. Focus on
one thing at a time. If you
struggle with confidence in
marketing your business,
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start there. Make a list of
all the successes you've had
with clients and then think
of who else might need your
help. Now that you have a
list, you can focus on the
next thing: figuring out
how you'll start building a
relationship with potential
clients. After that, you can
focus on your next step, and
on and on until you feel like
you've finally hit a groove. By
focusing on one bite-sized
task at a time, you'll slowly
make progress in the right
direction. This is essential to
sticking with it and avoiding
those periods of time when
you would otherwise feel
scattered or spread too thin.
Make Your Marketing
Efforts Fun
Okay, you may be thinking
" How can marketing be
fun? " I get it. I used to
really dislike marketing. In
fact, I was great at finding
ways to postpone or avoid
it altogether. But when I
realized how rewarding
regular marketing can be, I
found more ways to make it
fun, too. Here are some ideas
to help you get started.
Set goals and reward
yourself when you achieve
them. Do you want to hit
a certain income goal this
year? Do you have a goal to
get three new clients in six
months? Set some milestones
and reward yourself when
you achieve them. Whether
it's a day off, a new monitor
for your workspace, or
something even more
luxurious, determine early on
what you'll do for yourself
when you hit these goals so
you can celebrate wins along
the way. When you do, your
marketing efforts will pay off
in multiple ways.
Do it first thing (if that works
for you) so you can't talk
yourself out of it. Now, you
might be wondering how
getting your marketing done
first thing in the morning
could possibly be fun. Well,
if you're anything like me,
checking something off
the to-do list early in the
morning gives you a little
boost of energy to move
on with the day knowing
that you already achieved
something positive for your
business. Just this morning,
I reached out to two clients
to check in with them about
potential new freelance
projects. By 8:30 a.m., I had
confirmation of about $1,500
worth of new work. If that's
not a fun way to start your
day, I don't know what is!
Whether doing marketing
first thing works for you or
not is a personal decision. But
whatever you do, put it on
your task list or schedule it so
it gets done.
Get an accountability
partner. If you work better
with an accountability
partner, someone you can
check in with regularly to let
them know you completed
what you set out to do (and
they do the same with you),
put out an open call to
colleagues on social media
and ask if anyone would
like to go on this marketing
journey with you. Even if
you only need accountability
to get going, try checking
in with each other for a
few months to build your
motivation and make your
good marketing habits stick!
Marketing your business
doesn't have to be painful
or tedious. If anything, once
you get going, you'll get
to enjoy the fruits of your
labor in terms of income, job
satisfaction, and stronger
relationships with clients.
When you approach
marketing this way, making
it work for you and making
it fun, your marketing
efforts will feel more
natural and less like a
burden or chore. Not to
mention the marketing
slumps will be fewer and
further between!
NOTE
1
Burchard, Brendon.
High Performance Habits:
How Extraordinary People
Become That Way
(Hay House, Inc., 2017),
https://amzn.to/36sqExk.
Madalena
Sánchez
Zampaulo,
CT serves as
president of ATA.
She is the owner of Accessible
Translation Solutions and a
Spanish>English and ATAcertified
Portuguese>English
translator. She served as chair
of ATA's Governance and
Communications Committee
(2019-2021), Membership
Committee (2018-2020),
and Public Relations
Committee (2014-2018),
and as administrator of
ATA's Medical Division
(2011-2015). She is also a
consultant for the University
of Louisville Graduate
Certificate in Translation.
You can read more of her
articles on her blog at www.
madalenazampaulo.com/
blog-home. madalena@
accessibletranslations.com
American Translators Association 31
https://www.amzn.to/36sqExk http://www.madalenazampaulo.com/ http://www.ata-chronicle.online
The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2022

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