My Marketing Agency: Why Yes Isn’t Always The Best Answer
If you’re anything like me you’re a people-pleaser. Sometimes I feel like I don’t remember one of the most popular words in the English language: NO.
I’m not just saying that. It causes problems in my friendships as well because I say “yes” all of the time. “Yes, I can come to your party”, “yes, I can totally help you with that”, “yes, I’ll be there in 15-minutes”… does this sound familiar to you?
This people-pleasing “problem” has also been an eye-opener when it comes to owning a digital marketing agency. I’m learning now in my 3rd year, that YES isn’t ALWAYS the best answer.
Let me know if you can relate:
By the time we reach our 40’s, most of us have a pretty long and varied resume. We collect a lot of work experience along the way and pick up many talents and skills that allow us to be successful in our professional lives. One of my favorite life quotes is… “just because you can – doesn’t mean you should.” Think about that one, it makes a lot of sense. Especially if we are people-pleasing-types..
So here’s why YES isn’t always the right answer. I entered into entrepreneurship with literally no money. Business opportunities starting coming to me and I was saying “YES I can” to every job and every skill that it required — even when I wasn’t quite sure my brand new marketing agency could handle the requests.
Did I know how to run Google Ads? Guess what I said? “YES”… even though I was familiar with them and had done them in the past, but I wasn’t really an expert. (fast-forward 3 years later and I’m MUCH more adept at Google Ads!)
I was hungry (sometimes quite literally), and I am tech-savvy so I could do EVERYTHING right? Well, the answer to that question is a big fat NO. I spread myself so thin saying YES to everything that I forgot what I really LOVE to do and I started to say “no” a little bit at a time.
Didn't Happen Overnight... But I Was Finding My "No"
- I said NO to doing work for free
- I said NO to potential clients when immediately I knew we wouldn't be a good fit
- I said NO to bartering for services out of feeling obligated
- I said NO to accepting less than I deserve in my relationships
- I said NO to things I actually really wanted to do
- I said NO to unnecessary ZOOM meetings
- I said NO to filing a charge against someone who stole intellectual and design property from me
- By saying NO, I've said YES to abundance and to establishing that my work and expertise are worth a lot!
- By saying NO, I've avoided stressful work relationships and have opened myself to working with clients who's values are inline with mine.
- By saying NO, I've charged what I'm worth and have found other beautiful ways to collaborate instead of bartering at times when it wasn't inline with my goals.
- By saying NO, I've found richer and deeper relationships where I feel heard, seen, and loved.
- By saying NO to things that I actually wanted to do so that I could rest and focus on another activity to get me closer to my goals
- By saying NO, I am able to maintain my dignity and avoid the negativity that legal conflict would bring into my life and work.
So what does saying NO have to do with being successful in business?
This is easy for me to answer actually. Remember that saying from earlier? Just because you CAN do something/anything (you fill in the blank) doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it. I’ve learned to say NO to the areas of work that don’t light me up. You read that right… I say NO to work that doesn’t light me up.
This allows me to focus my time and energy on the areas of my work that I enjoy the most, which leads to more referrals, people actually commenting on how I “light up” when talking about branding, and a portfolio of projects I’m super proud of!
I’d love to hear what you are going to start saying NO to! Care to share?
Email me at aimeemmcgrath@gmail.com! Looking for a way to streamline your business and all of the things you CAN do? Contact me for a free consultation about branding or rebranding your business to determine your vision!