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What is ‘Vanity’ marketing? Are you guilty of doing it?

‘Vanity’ marketing. Are you guilty of it?

Now, before you go looking it up – that term is not a real thing out there in the world. I made up the terminology myself. But it has a ring of truth to it, right? ‘Vanity’ marketing is marketing you do that strokes your ego and feeds your vanity, that makes you feel good rather than bringing work in. And it’s easy to kid yourself that the marketing you’re doing is the good sort and not the vanity-driven sort.

Now I’m Jon. I’m from Small Fish Business Coaching. I run the ‘Tradies Toolbox’ Coaching Program. And part of helping people grow and scale their trades business is watching out for traps like ‘Vanity’ marketing. And watching out for wasting your marketing money on activities and stuff that doesn’t bring work in.

So ask yourself:

Have you ever done any marketing that might be properly considered ‘Vanity’ marketing, that might have been a waste of money?

I’m sure I have. In fact, I know I have. I’ve paid for beautiful ads that look great, in a corporate and grownup sense, that made me feel grown-up and special but that brought me f#%k all. I know I’ve done that, right? And I get reasonably consistent calls and emails from people inviting me to be on their podcast or to advertise in their magazine, either business coaching magazines or trade-related publications.

Recommended Reading: You Can’t Make them Choose You – So Don’t Put So Much Emphasis on it

And I know that where I need to spend my money is not there. It’s exciting. It makes me feel quite cool and wanted, but it’s not necessary.

And I think for trades, there are very easy traps to watch out for.

I think most of them are regarding advertising.

Advertising on Facebook I think is a potential trap. Advertising in magazines, doing big paid ads in the newspapers are traps to be wary of. They’re not necessarily wrong. I don’t necessarily disagree with all of them, but watch out.

One in particular is sponsorship. And I know a number of people sponsor local football teams or school things. And I think that’s a big one. I had a friend here in Byron who sponsored a local football team (I think my son was in it). And he spent quite a lot of money. And he got to stand on stage in front of these kids and talk about business, and success, and striving, and stuff. And it was great. It made him feel lovely.

But, I don’t think it brought him any work at all.

So from a marketing perspective, it was a pointless waste of money. And I think that’s what we need to be careful about here, right?

If you’ve got enough money spare and you want to spend it sponsoring somebody’s team, consider it a gift, or a donation, or a lovely contribution to your community. Don’t pretend it’s good marketing because I don’t think it is.

Good marketing is work that brings enquiries. And for a trade business, it focuses on a few things which I teach in my program. It focuses on being found when people go looking and on building the relationships for people who can feed you work. They’re the primary focuses.

I don’t want to go into too much detail now. Partly because this is a two-minute video. And partly because you need to pay for that stuff really, if I teach you all of it in one go.

So look, if you can’t wait for a webinar or for our next 2-day workshop, give me a call. We’ll have a chat. And maybe coaching is the right thing for you.

See you!

There are four ways you can engage with me:

1. Subscribe to these emails and get them once a week in your inbox so you never miss a video from me.

2. Join the Trades Business Toolshed Facebook Group where you can watch these videos, ask me questions or talk to your peers.

3. Attend my next Tradie Profit Webinar.

4. Book yourself a 10-minute chat with me. We’ll talk about whether coaching is right for you now and if it is, we’ll go further into the process before you have to make your mind up.

See you later.

Click here to book a money maker call with Jon.