More Marketing Information Might NOT Be What You Need Ep.03

Last weekend I attended a 3-day writing retreat. Full days. Amazing speakers, like Anne Lamott and Julia Cameron, Laura McKowen and Amie McNee – it was an incredible event. And my gosh I hadn’t had that kind of information overload in a long time. And it reminded me that there is a Grand Canyon difference between information and the skills needed to apply that information. And if you’re under the impression that collecting more information about marketing is going to give you the confidence to get started I come bearing bad news… it’s not.

The Age of Information

There is so much information available to you – just think about all the websites, books, podcast episodes, magazines, Youtube channels… the places and spaces that you consume information is unimaginably vast. On average, more than 150,0000 new videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute. We certainly could debate the value of each of those… a conversation for another day perhaps. We are in the age of information. Free and accessible to nearly everyone.

Why do we continue to seek out more information?

I think we have the idea that more technical information will help us solve our problems. And when you are brand new at something, technical know-how is absolutely needed. You don’t know how to drive, well I for sure what you to gain technical information about driving and understand the rules of the road – no doubt about it.

Not only that, but it feels good to learn something new. It makes us feel like we’re doing something, gaining something we didn’t have before, moving forward. And it can also be rewarding by gaining a certificate or having our new-found information collection socially reinforced.

So, if gaining all this new information about marketing makes us feel good, how come we’re still hesitating when it comes to putting ourselves out there?

Why Isn’t More Marketing Information the Solution?

Because more information about marketing doesn’t reduce the risk or threat of what might happen or what you might experience and how you might feel about it. Giving you more tactics, tips, steps or how-tos isn’t going to create the safety needed to learn the skills in the world.

Just like driving. Where I live in British Columbia, when you are driving age you take a written exam that tests your technical how-to of driving so that you can get your Learner’s License. You need to have the information. But then we don’t just send them out and say “you can drive”. There are safety systems in place to help them learn those skills in safe ways and places. So that they can practice the fundamentals in ways that aren’t unnecessarily risky.

That’s what’s missing from marketing programs and courses. There’s the assumption that if you know better you’ll do better – and you can’t do better without a safe container to practice what you know.

This was my truth that I came to realize after many multiple marketing courses. I couldn’t find a way to be marketing my work because I kept looking for more information that I thought I must be missing. It made logical sense – I wasn’t marketing so I thought I needed marketing help. Until I came to understand what was causing my hesitation was not feeling safe.

If you, too, have continued to take marketing courses and not implement what you’re learning, you may not need to know more, but instead need to feel safer. And you do that by exploring the ideas, projects, strategies and actions that are in your courage zone – that is those that are beyond your comfort zone (the things you’ve been doing) but are not in the danger zone and put you into fight-flight-freeze.

And this need to feel safe in your marketing is true on the macro-level of strategies and vehicles and messages all the way to the micro-level decision of how does marketing fit into my day today.

The Role of Information

The role of information is that it’s potential. Acting in the world based on that information is power.

Let me illustrate with an example of my own. In one of the courses I took, the content was available via audio which meant that I could take the lessons, plug in my earbuds and take off on a hike with my pup, Roo. I loved the feeling of efficiency, like I was able to accomplish business-work, being active and taking care of my soul all in one fell swoop. So much done and it felt so good to be so productive. And at the end of several of these audio business/hiking sessions I realized that nothing had actually changed in my business.

Imagine that. I had done all this learning, but it hadn’t made a difference.

Once I realized this I decided to create a layer of safety and did a little experiment in the world with the information I had gained. I started having genuine conversations and I started to develop a depth of understanding that I couldn’t have gained from simply listening to the lessons. I started to expand and ideas started to be crated in reality. I got my first cohort for a new beta program. And the courage it took to test it gave me new skills and competence. It has evolved into The Courageous 10. But it wouldn’t have been possible to get to this steps without first having the safety in place to start to practice connecting with others.

I began to deeply understand and embody at a new level that I can’t build a business alone. That success is a function of relationship. And taking our information and safely exploring how we use it in the real world with others – that’s where power and momentum come from.

The Next Episode

In the next episode I’m going to be sharing the right way that everyone does marketing. Spoiler: That’s a myth. There is no right way. I hope you’ll tune in. 

Until then, 
Stay Courageous