As a marketing coach, I probably heard every excuse in the book why people can not market their business. You would not believe some of the absurdities people say when they try to justify their inability to attract customers. Now do not get me wrong, this is not the fault of attracting customers is a bad person. Not at all. It’s just that when I hear the excuses that follow, I feel compelled to call ‘em as I see’ em: Baloney! If you have the mistaken notion that one of these excuses are the reason why your business does not succeed, get a clue. These are EXCUSES for people who fail, no reason not to succeed (a subtle but important difference).

1. “I’m too honest for the market.” OK, this little gem is at the top of my list because it is both a lie and an insult, I’m a marketer by trade, and I’m honest I know for a fact that marketing is not a process or dishonest practice, it should not be dishonest to be effective. What’s unfair is when you overstate your results, or if you really do not think your product or service is worth what you beg or if you deliberately intend to defraud people. In this case, the problem is with you, not marketing, so stop insulting the rest of us.

2 . ‘I’m too modest to market myself. ” Listen, Princess, every word of your mouth should not be YOU. Think about what your customers want, and actually have, and will continue the conversation as long as you need to go. Hey, if you’re not comfortable saying great things about yourself, start saying great things about what your clients out of working with you. Or better yet, they say to you in the form of testimony. But do not think you have to be the subject of all conversations you have with fascinating outlook.

3. “I’m too shy to market me.” As a very sensitive person myself, you think I’d have more sympathy for this excuse, but I did not. If you want to be successful, know now that it can not always be comfortable, and you must be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it means going outside your comfort zone. Shyness is a habit that can be overcome with practice, so join Toastmasters, or seeing a therapist, if that’s what it will take, but you about yourself. I promise you will not regret it.

4. “I’m too creative for me to market. ” This excuse is really lame! Marketing is a very creative process, and since you have literally thousands of options when structuring your marketing plans, creativity is an asset and not an obligation. Unless you’re one of those I-am-a-whiner-complacent-that-refuses to accept any responsibility for-my-stock-and-masks-as-character-with-Vice-claims kinds of ill- understood or too-creative people, in this case, I say, grow, and while you’re there, think of an excuse for more creativity.

5. “I do not have enough time to do my business.” OK, this excuse seems well at first, but in reality it does not wash. Either you’re already on the market, but does not recognize your marketing activities as such, or your company is so busy that you do not need to market to everyone, so no such excuse. So if you do not have all the business you want but you do not have time to market, you need to reevaluate how you spend your time and take difficult decisions when you do what you must do for these clients.

6. “I do not have enough money to market my business.” Again, you get points for trying, but this is only a pretext, because good marketing is not about money, it comes to relationships. You can start modestly with your marketing plans, and spend nothing but your time. And leave me tell you, if you can not get some traction spending 40 hours a week trying to build your business relationships, perhaps you should reconsider your decision to become an entrepreneur.

7. “I have no personal network market.” Oh please, you must have a better excuse than this! If you really have no family or friends, or colleagues, no knowledge or not former colleagues, and then begin to answer some. people I do not care if you were on a desert island for the past 20 years, you can always meet through networking meetings, trade associations, classes, social clubs, or at the gym ! Just pick up the phone and call the people you want to know, go out and mingle, and your home network will grow quickly.

8. “My product or service is too difficult to explain to people.” Fine. Quit explain what you do and start talking about what your customers get to work with you. Did you help your clients get thinner, smart, married, editor, their first home, or what? Seriously, nobody cares what you do, really, people care about what they get. Get it?

9. “My product or service is so good as it should sell. ” Of course, it is probably true if your product is a monkey to speak, or your clients are all telepathic, but besides that, it’ll take a little effort on your part, Bucko, to start creating some momentum in the market and you will see that your product needs less and less of your efforts to sell, until it seems almost like it does sell itself!

10. “My niche is too narrow and I do not think my clients.” Hogwash. What this usually means that you have not yet identified your customer, because you can not find what you ‘ have not identified (and do not give me that you’ll know-them-when-you-see-the-line).