Marketing with

Confidence
How to eliminate fear and
procrastination when it comes to
marketing your products, services,
and yourself

By Jennifer Barthé
Marketing with Confidence Jennifer Barthé

This eBook is based on the blog posts found on:

© 2009 By Jennifer Barthe

Copyright holder is licensing this work under the
Create Commons License, Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Special thanks to Steve Pavlina and David Meerman Scott . Steve helped me realize the
importance of marketing from the conscience and David helped me understand the power of
transparent marketing.

share this book with your friends!

Tweet about it, share it on Facebook and MySpace, email to your friends, and post it on your
blog. Send it to anyone you think may need it.
 Marketing with Confidence Jennifer Barthé

Table of Contents

Page 1 Introduction
Page 3 Playing the Waiting Game
Page 5 Sincerely Believe in Your Product or Service
Page 8 Get Out f the Wrong Line of Work
Page 12 Get Rid of Your Excuses
Page 22 Focus on Social Contribution
Page 24 About the Author
 Marketing with Confidence Jennifer Barthé

Introduction

“What lies
Alright, so you’re having a really hard time putting yourself out there and asking
for what it is that you want. Perhaps you’re self-employed and need new clients. behind us and
Or maybe you’re unemployed or underemployed and need a new job. Whatever
the case, the idea of facing rejection is strong enough to keep you in your what lies
comfort zone. before us are
Some of us were taught as children that it’s rude to toot your own horn or bring small matters
attention to yourself. Growing up in the Southern part of the US, I was always
told by adults that “Children were to be seen and not heard”.
compared to
what lies
As adults, many of us are still remaining unseen and unheard. We prefer to
remain in the background, in our comfort zones, avoiding failure. Who wants to
within us.”
fall flat on their face and experience the pain and discomfort of disappointment?
But by staying in our comfort zone, we deny ourselves of the opportunity to Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Poet
grow and live full lives. We prefer to remain timid and in return subject
ourselves to long-term disappointment, frustration, resentment, and even
jealousy.

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 Marketing with Confidence Jennifer Barthé

The purpose of the book is not to teach specific marketing tasks. Instead my aim
is to help you recognize why you’re procrastinating and letting fear keep you
from marketing yourself, your services, and your products. There are tons of “Whether you be
marketing books that will tell you what steps you need to take in order to man or woman
promote yourself. However, very few of them describe the type of mindset you
need to have in order to feel good about what you’re promoting. This eBook you will never do
aims to fill that void. anything in this
world without
courage. It is the
greatest quality
of the mind next
to honor.”
James Allen
American Author

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 Marketing with Confidence Jennifer Barthé

Playing the Waiting Game

“Waiting is
Perhaps you’re waiting for the right business painful.
opportunity or job to show up. Lots of people
think that all they need to do is create Forgetting is
something and people will automatically
come their way. Unless you already have an
painful. But
extensive network, only telling a handful of not knowing
people about your product or service is not
going to get you far. You must be willing to which to do is
promote yourself on a daily basis, no matter
how hard or slow it can be. the worse kind
of suffering.”
Does this describe you current state of mind?
- You’re often stuck in “planning mode” and unable to action. Paulo Coelho
- You’ve read business books but rarely implement the lessons learned. Brazilian Author

- You think something “out there” needs to change before you can succeed.
- You consistently ask others for advice before you’ll take action.
- You believe that talent and experience is all that one needs in order to succeed.

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What if I told you that the only thing you needed to succeed in life was simply
passion combined with self-discipline? Passion by itself is not enough to get us
to the finish line. Our level of passion is dependent upon our present mood.
Some days we may be extremely passionate about something, but on the next
day we may not. Passion by itself is not very reliable without self-discipline to
back it up. “You win by
Self- discipline combined with passion helps us get things done when we don’t
working hard,
feel like it. It allows us to stay up until 5 in the morning to finish an important making tough
project. It makes us exercise even though we’d rather stay in the house. It pushes
us to go to work in the morning, despite our a long commute or a boring job. decisions and
Self-discipline combined with passion creates a consistent flow of action.
building
How can you develop the habit of self-discipline and combine it with passion? coalitions.”
John Egler
American Politician

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Sincerely Believe in Your Product or Service

One of the main reasons people procrastinate

when it comes to marketing, is because they
don’t really believe in what they’re
promoting. It doesn’t matter if they have
“Self-confidence
years of experience. Being talented is not is the first
important when you lack faith in yourself. requisite to great
Even having connections won’t matter if you
don’t believe in your ability to create and undertaking.”
provide quality products and services.
Samuel Johnson
English Author
Let Go
No one wants to admit that they’ve invested a significant amount of time into a
project, task, skill, or product that’s mediocre. Instead of facing the truth, we try
to justify our lack-luster results. We hear ourselves say that “It’s the economy
that’s to blame. If more people were interested in what what we had to offer,
then business would go up. If companies we’re hiring more, it would be easier
for us to get a job” and etc. But why do we like to hold to our excuses?

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Why is complaining so comfortable? Complaining protects us from making

mistakes.

How to Let Go “Working

You know it’s time to let go of a product, service, job, or just about anything
when you:
hard and
working smart
- Cringe every time you tell people about what you’re promoting.
- Pray that people don’t call you back complaining about what you sold them.
sometimes can
- Spend all of your spare time immersed in leisure activities to avoid reality. be two
- Find yourself unable to get past fear, procrastination, and worry. different
- Do just enough to get by or not get fired.
- Don’t take the time to cultivate our abilities or talents. things.”
- Complain about what’s not working, but do nothing to change the situation.
- Talk about what you’re going to do instead of actually doing it. Byron Dorgan
American Politician
- Continue to invest in a business that’s not working but you stay to save face.
- Do the same things over and over again but expect different results.
- Keep yourself busy when all you’re really doing is spinning your wheels.

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Just because you’ve invested time and effort into a project, product, or your
career, it doesn’t mean you have to stick with it if it’s not working out for you.
“Risk means
I’ve written plenty of blog posts that have never published. In 2008, I created
everything from
three other blogs before launching Jennifer Barthe.com in 2009. It took me being honest about
weeks to re-design the layouts of my old blogs and to come up with writing your faith, to
topics. Yet, because I didn’t really believe in what I was doing, I took all of the moving, to quitting
old blogs offline.
a job that's paying
Even though I worked really hard at creating nice web designs, the quality of my you a fortune but
content was sub par. I had invested time and money into these blogs and read it's not what's in
plenty of blog marketing articles, but I never did anything with what I learned. your heart. Risking
I could have saved face and kept on blogging for months, putting out superficial
posts and building a bit of web traffic. However, I didn't want to live my life that
things is one of the
way. It was the same story with my marketing career. I had invested years into biggest fears we
my identity as technology marketer, I didn’t like my job anymore, and I knew it have.”
was time for me to walk away. I was too scared to do anything about it though.
John Tesh
TV PersonalityMusician
So for months, I didn't do anything but focus on figuring out why I was having
such a hard time getting ahead. After 9 months of intense journaling and
reading, I realized that I letting go of what no longer served me was only the
first step, to really make progress I would need to go a step further.
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Get Out of The Wrong Line of Work

No matter how hard I tried, I could not operate

at my fullest potential while being in the wrong
career. Duh! I had to allow myself to let go of “You have to
the ledge and move on to something better. I
needed to find out what I really wanted to do risk going too
with my life. Sometimes we can fall into the
right line of work through trial and error. Or we
far to discover
might have to try out ten things before finding just how far
that which we’re good at. It’s precisely for this
reason that being between jobs and careers you can really
could be a blessing in disguise.
go.”
Turn Around and Change Direction
If you’re self-employed and not doing well, then maybe you’re in the wrong -T.S. Eliot
type of business. Or you could be in the right line of work, but your products American Poet and Critic

need to be upgraded or replaced. If your career has become stagnant, then get
out of your current job or upgrade your skills. Whatever you decided to do, take
a step back and ask yourself how you can do things better. It makes no sense to
hold on to your old way of living if it prevents you from experiencing true joy.

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If you don’t really believe in:

- Your products or service, I mean really believe in them

“Many are
- Your abilities and talent stubborn in
- Your right to success and true happiness
- The fact that you can make a difference in the lives of others
pursuit of the
- Putting your conscience ahead of money path they have
- Proving people with social value
chosen, few in
Then you will always procrastinate and make excuses pursuit of the
when it comes to market your business or yourself.
goal.”
The only thing that’ll be easy for you to market is what’s not working in your
Friedrich Nietzsche
life. You won’t have problems telling people about the bad economy, the lack of German Philosopher
jobs or business. It doesn’t matter how many business books you read. It doesn’t
matter how many blogs you subscribe to. It doesn’t matter how much education
you have. If you don’t have faith in what you’re promoting, you’re just wasting
your time and giving people sub par service. Let go of what’s not working and
see how much fun authentic, conscious marketing can be. Don’t be so stubborn.

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Get Rid of Your Excuses

Excuses are comfortable because they allow us to

justify our actions. We get sympathy from well
meaning folks and that make us feel good.
Unfortunately, excuses only lead to long-term
“Several
denial and resentment. When we hold on tight to
our reasons for why we can’t do something, we
excuses are
settle for life’s bread crumbs instead of the whole
loaf. Isn’t it better to just let go, face our fears and
always less
go after what we really want? Here are some of
the common reasons why we don’t let go:
convincing
than one.”
Excuse #1: “I’m scared of being rejected.
So what? If someone rejects your offer or product, then move on to someone
who does want it. If you’ve got a worthwhile product or skill and market it like Aldous Huxley
English Novelist
hell, then in the end people will come looking for you! Please remember though,
that not everyone is your ideal customer. Trying to sell to anyone with a pulse is
a waste of time.

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Excuse #2: “Only Marketing people know how to do Marketing.”

Everyone knows how to market a product, service, or person. When you
badmouth a certain former US president (you know who), you’re practicing “Complainers
word-of-mouth marketing. You didn’t read a book or get a degree in mass
communications to learn how to do it. You just opened your mouth and let your change their
opinion out. Marketing is simply telling people about a certain something .
Every time you tell someone about the latest sale at Macy’s, why you don’t like
complaints,
McDonald’s burgers, or post videos of your new car on YouTube, you’re
marketing.
but they never
reduce the
Excuse #3: “I’m only looking for a job, I don’t have time to learn
marketing.”
amount of
If believe that you don’t have time to learn how to market your skills, then you time spent in
could be costing prospective employers millions of dollars to NOT be
employing you. Think about all the great things you could be doing for a
complaining.”
prospective employer, how much money you could make for them and yourself,
and how you could improve their product line. If you’re really good at what you Mason Cooley
American Writer
do , then get out there and let people know. Screw sending out resumes
whenever a job opening pops up. Network with recruiters and companies on
social networking sites, in person, blog, podcast, do whatever it takes.

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Excuse #4: “I don’t know how to market.”

Earlier, I showed that bad-mouthing a certain former US president is considered
to be a form of marketing. Anyone can get good at marketing themselves and “If you have
their products, provided their willing to learn. When you first start out, it can be
a bit scary, but if you keep trying, you’ll build up the skills needed to succeed. time to whine
and complain
Improving your marketing skills is easy, just as long as you really believe in
what you have to offer and you’re willing to work hard. There are plenty of about
great books, CDs, blogs, podcasts, college courses, and real life situations to
help you get your feet wet. Even if it takes you a while to get results, don’t give something
up. then you have
The benefits of learning how to market what you really believe in includes: the time to do
something
- Helping millions of people improve their lives (the Internet can help with that)
- Becoming an expert in your field
about it.”
- Being in able to meet your physical, emotional, and financial needs
Anthony J. D'Angelo

The only benefit of not learning how to market is that

you get to complain about everything. But who wants to
be around a complainer?

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Excuse #5: “I’ve read marketing before, they don’t work.”

Perhaps you bought a book and did what most people do after reading it,

NOTHING! “Action and faith

enslave thought,
One of the worst habits you can develop is to be addicted to buying self-help both of them in
and business books and not using them. You’ll fool yourself into thinking you’re order not be
making real progress because:
troubled or
- Buying books feels like you’re really doing something about your situation inconvenienced
- You get to tell all your friends about which trends and authors are hot by reflection,
- You entertain yourself by reading interesting material criticism, and
- You let other people borrow your stiff, which makes you look smart
doubt.”
But here are the REAL The benefits of the habit: Henri Frederic Amiel
Swiss Philosopher

- You waste money and time

- You stay in denial
- You’ll experience emotional highs and lows whenever the novelty wears off

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- People will start to see you’re all talk and no game

- You’ll lose faith in yourself
“Faith is to
Excuse #6: “I don’t want to feel like I’m selling something.”
believe what
When you’re promoting anything you believe in, whether it’s your business or
yourself as a job applicant, then you’ll feel bad if you don’t tell others about you do not
what you have offer. Now that doesn’t mean you try to make everyone your
customer or you apply for every job in sight. However, it means you focusing on see; the
providing real value to the people who need your services most. reward of this
Excuse #7: “I’m shy and don’t feel comfortable promoting myself. faith is to see
Read books on self-confidence and get over the shame of tooting your own horn. what you
If you’re doing something worthwhile, don’t feel bad about telling other people
about it. People can tell how you feel about yourself by the way you speak, believe.”
dress, and by what you talk about. If you don’t come across as confident, you’ll
have a hard time getting what you want. Perpetual shyness is just a way to avoid St. Augustine
rejection.

Excuse #8: “I’m too old, young, live in a small town, am broke…”
It’s never too late or too early to learn or do anything new. There are people 16

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and 60 years old using Facebook. I’m 28 and am writing this book. It costs next to
nothing to market a product online and you can promote it from any location, just
as long as you have Internet access. Money, age, location, and skill level is not an
excuse for doing nothing.

Excuse #9: “I DO believe in what I’m promoting, shut up.” “Life is

Then how come you’re not dying to tell everyone about what yourself? If you’re
spending more time talking about why people aren’t buying your products, hiring hard. After
you for a job, or even taking you out on dates, then you’re right, you do believe in
what you’re promoting. Trouble is you’re promoting bad news that no one wants to all, it kills
hear but you!
you.”
Ultimate Excuse: “The economy is bad, ain’t no jobs, and business is dead.”
Opportunities are available for those who really want them. It may not be easy to Katherine Hepburn
American Actress
create your own luck, but it’s certainly not impossible. Lot’s of people have
prospered in bad times and through personal hardships. Want to know what really
hard times looked like?

Life During and After the Civil War

President Lincoln had to deal with a war-torn nation and the economic tensions
between The North and The South. The Southern states (Confederacy) were cash

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poor and depended upon forced slave labor to feed its economy. The Northern
states (Union) had skilled laborers and its economy was depended upon
Industrialization. During the Civil War (1861-1865), money was tight for both “America will
sides, but the Confederate states suffered the most.
never be
When the Confederacy seceded from the Union, it started printing its own destroyed from
currency. But when the Union began to block the Confederacy's trade routes, the outside. If we
preventing Southerners from getting food, clothing, and weapons, widespread
panic and inflation took place. Basic food staples such corn and bread became
falter and lose
too expensive for the average family. In addition, farmers could not afford the our freedoms, it
grains needed to plant crops and many of them went bankrupt. will be because
we destroyed
As the war progressed the number of slave
revolts increased (a good thing) and more slaves ourselves.”
ran away. However, many of the slaves whom
stayed behind, were subjected to increased Abraham Lincoln
violence and diminished food supplies. They Former American President
were forced to work barren lands and weren’t
even allowed to keep the small amounts of food
they grew. Damage from the war also accounted
for failed crops. Soldiers from both sides

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slaughtered farm animals, crops, and stole food. Everybody in the South was
either going hungry,bankrupt or crazy.And to think, for what? They weren’t
even winning the war! There were riots and protests all over the place. During “An institution or
The Richmond Bread Riot of 1862, 3,000 hungry people people went into the reform movement
streets of Richmond, Virginia, shouting “Bread or Blood!” At that point,
people were more concerned with eating rather than fighting a losing war. that is not selfish,
must originate in
But despite all of these problems, a few individuals made good of what they the recognition of
could find during and after the war. These people created their own good luck. some evil that is
adding to the sum
of human suffering,
Clara Barton or diminishing the
Clara Barton was a nurse for the Union during the war. She sum of happiness.”
created a program to help bring medical supplies and health
care to soldiers located in remote battlefields. After the war Clara Barton
ended, she established a relief program to help relocate Nurse and Philanthropist
missing soldiers. She personally went into battlefields and
searched for the dead and wounded who were left behind.

Next, she set up a program to help war-torn families on both

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the North and the South get food, money, clothing, and emotional support. Later
in life, she established a little organization you’ve probably never heard of, The
Red Cross. “A man's
Years on non-stop work for a cause greater than herself and all of the toiling in character
the battlefields looking for missing soldiers, diminished her health. Yet despite
this she continued her work. She traveled all over the world to establish Red
always takes
Cross offices in Europe, Turkey, and China. In addition to her selfless
dedication to the Red Cross, she tirelessly fought for the equal rights of freed
its hue, more
slaves and for women’s right to vote. Clara was an un-married woman, living in or less, from
war damaged 19th century America, and yet she managed to accomplished quite
a lot. the form and
color of things
Frederick Douglass about him.”
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland in 1818.
He illegally learned how to read as a child and taught other
Frederick Douglass
slaves how to read in secret as a teenager. He was American Author/Activist
repeatedly beaten with whips because of his kindness
towards others. On his plantations, he was always tired
instill hope in the other slaves, convincing them that
slavery would one day end. He taught them that they were
human beings who were being stripped of their basic rights.
He escaped slavery at age 21.
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After becoming a free man, he built a prolific public speaking career at the age
of 23. He published his autobiography by age 27. He was not only a tireless
advocator for the equal rights of slaves and but also for American women. “A battle lost or
won is easily
After the Civil War ended, he served in public office as the President of the
Reconstruction-era Freedman's Savings Bank, a bank set up by the US described,
Government to help the freed slaves become financially independent. He was understood, and
also the first African-American to be nominated for President by a major party
roll-call vote during the 1888 Republican National Convention. He later lost to
appreciated, but
Benjamin Harrison for the final Republican Presidential Nomination. the moral growth
of a great nation
Douglass, a former slave in the 19th century,managed to accomplish quite a bit. requires
He was also married to a white feminist at a time when women weren’t allowed
to vote and interracial marriage was illegal in some parts of the country. reflection, as
well as
If Clara Barton and Frederick Douglass could shake things up at a time when observation, to
minority groups were oppressed, the nation was in ruins due to a brutal war, and
NetFlix wasn’t invented (ok, bad example), then what’s stopping you? appreciate it.”
Frederick Douglass
American Author/Activist

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Focus on Social Contribution

“Men value
Once you decide to stop pimping so-so products or things in three
services, and are ready give up your excuses, then it’s
time for you to start focusing on what you can do to ways: as useful,
make a difference in the lives of others. as pleasant or
Your main concern should be to focus on creating or sources of
providing a valuable service to others. The product can pleasure, and as
be your skills, something your company has created, or
a service you want to offer.
excellent, or as
intrinsically
admirable or
But what if you don’t know what you want to do?
Ask yourself the following questions until you can come up with answer: honorable.”
What am interested in? Mortimer Adler
What do I have offer? American Philosopher

What are the real benefits of what I’m offering?

How am I denying people of the services they need when I don’t market myself?
.

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If I need to improve my skills, how can I get started today?

Am I willing to price my services accordingly?

Keep asking yourself these questions until you can come up with answers that “To succeed in
makes sense to you. life in today's
Conclusion world, you must
It’s doesn’t matter how much time you spend learning how market yourself or
business, you will not be able create consistent results if:
have the will
and tenacity to
- You’re not passionate about what you’re doing
- You don’t want to develop the self-discipline necessary to market on a finish the job.”
consistent basis
- You’re marketing a mediocre product or service and you know it Chin-Ning Chu
Chinese Businessman
- You like to make excuses for why why you can’t make it in life
- You’re not interested in proving real value to other people

I’ll close this book with a wonderful quote from the Buddha:
“A good person gives in five ways: out of faith, with respect, at the right time,
generously, and without denigrating the other."

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About the Author

Jennifer Barthe is a former a technology marketer
who now spends her time teaching others how to
perform authentic online and viral marketing.

She is dedicated to taking the fear out of marketing,

thereby helping people market their skills, services,
and products with greater ease.

She blogs and podcasts at www.jenniferbarthe.com

and can be found on Twitter several times
throughout the day. She currently resides in Boston,
but loves to hang out in NYC on the weekends.

Find Jennifer on: