Hello Reader,

I've heard the phrase, "I love what I do but I hate marketing," more times that pretty much anything. Maybe it has slightly different phrasing, but the meaning remains the same.

Believe it or not, I used to say the same thing!

You see, when I worked in a regular W-2 job, I was always in "Communications," not "Marketing." We comms people thought we were somehow better than folks in marketing. We were communicating, not marketing, you see. That was noble, marketing was billboards and radio spots and ti-fold brochures. The irony, of course, was that the communications department did all those things too.

When I ended up unexpectedly self-employed 16 years ago, I—of course—called myself a communications consult, which—of course—no one understood. Nice communicating, right?

Somewhere along the journey, I realized that it's all communication, or it's all marketing, and the terms don't actually matter. So I quit hating marketing.

What matters is talking about what's important about the thing you're selling to the people who care about it, whether it's your product, a service, a campaign, or a worthy cause.

Nevertheless, I still hear the "I hate marketing" refrain all the time. And I've been thinking about why—and why it's gotten so much worse in recent years.

My working theory that I've shared with clients (who've echoed this as well) is that the most visible marketing feels very disposable.

I touched on this a bit in my 'Entertainers & Experts' newsletter last year, but I've since realized marketing's PR problem is far beyond just the way platforms demand we entertain (even when that's not in our strengths), but it's the sheer volume and subsequent forgettability of so many approaches to marketing. It's post, post, post, post—just a massive volume of content for content's sake and it feels impossible and overwhelming to many people. (Me included!)

This is further influenced by the content creator model (apparently we've rebranded 'influencer marketing') that muddies the water further.

My friend and colleague Jamar often says, "Do you want to be a CEO or an influencer," and that's really aligned with what I'm saying here as well. If you won't want to follow that model, you don't have to. (And if you love that approach—awesome!)

You don't need to hate marketing.

I promise that there's a way that works with your strengths.

Your efforts to promote your work doesn't have to be disposable.

You don't have to be on a content hamster wheel.

Of course, there's no magic wand which will suddenly having clients beating down your doors (if someone tells you there is, run—fast). However, there are so many options for marketing strategies that will feel better to you, and also actually work.

Talk soon,

Sarah