For more tips and grassroots marketing ideas check out chapter five of The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit—How To Find & Grow Your Side Hustle in Any Economy (Amistad/HarperCollins) by Kimberly Seals Allers on sale everywhere January 2009.

Learn How to Market Your Biz
Like the Pros!

Ladies, if you can’t sell it, nobody is going to buy it. And if nobody buys it, whether it’s a good or a service, you are not in business. Learn about the graceful art of self-promotion and business promotion and doing it all without breaking the bank.

What to Do:
You may need to brush up on your writing and presentation skills as you’ll need to talk to people and write ads, website copy, and press releases about your business. One of your best marketing tools is your mouth. Speaking about your business whenever you can, putting yourself out there to network, and approaching would-be clients on the street can be a great way to market yourself. For many of us, this is easier said than done. In general, women tend to have difficulty talking about themselves. Most of us aren’t good at tooting our own horns, because we’re taught that good girls don’t brag. Or that the Lord wants us to be humble. While boys grow up vying for the limelight and learning how to one-up each other, we are taught that good girls share the glory. We aren’t supposed to the center of attention. We blend in. We defer compliments. So often in the work world, we sit idly by, mad as hell, as we get passed over for promotions, high visibility assignments, committee chairs and so on because we don’t draw attention to ourselves and our accomplishments. You don’t have time for this when you’re the boss and your income is dependent upon your own performance.
If you can learn the art of tasteful self-promotion, and “work through” whatever is holding you back, you’ll be a business superstar. Whether you are marketing a business, a service or yourself, you have to get out there generate buzz and network.