How to Market Your Business without Feeling Pushy

Learning to market your business and increase sales is crucial to surviving year after year. 

I started my business because I was good at something (putting thoughts into words and organizing information so it looked pretty online) and I loved doing it for others – not necessarily because I was great at the ins and outs of running this business. There was so much I didn’t know!

Maybe the same is true for you? Whether you’re a coach, consultant, author, course creator, healer, or other service provider, I find the best people to actually work with in their field can often know the least about online business–and that’s frustrating for you and your customers!

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by fancy business jargon, so I want to take time to break down two parts of a business in conversational language so you can learn to market your business without feeling pushy.

Today we’ll demystify the difference between marketing and sales and how they work together on your website to help turn website visitors into customers. 

First, let’s go over the basics between these two terms. Then I’ll show you exactly what parts of your website or email marketing strategy support each purpose.

Marketing is brand awareness that makes the people you want to impact feel genuinely interested about what you offer. Then, once people know about what you do, sales builds relationships with them to help potential customers make a decision to purchase from you or not.

A website and a good email marketing strategy can help both your marketing and sales goals. Let's dive in.

How a website helps with marketing

A website is a fantastic marketing tool, and I often argue that marketing is its strength. That means that a good website will communicate to people that you deeply understand their challenges and invite them to take action towards their goals.

Let’s go into more detail using our definition of marketing. I defined marketing as “brand awareness that makes the people you want to impact feel genuinely interested about what you offer.”

Here are 4 ways a website helps you accomplish that. A well-built site will:

1. Clearly communicate what you offer and problems you solve

2. Organize information in an easy to digest structure

3. Help visitors feel safe and trust you with consistent messaging and brand cohesion 

4. Communicate empathy about the challenges potential customers face so they feel deeply seen and understood

5. Attract people who are genuinely interested in learning more by encouraging them to take an action

Notice that in the realm of marketing, your website doesn’t have to turn everyone into a customer right away. It just needs to clearly communicate and be compelling enough to inspire taking the next step. Example: inviting people to sign up for your newsletter, download a resource, or schedule a call with you.

When I understood this, I realized my website can make sales but doesn’t have to be a sales machine. It’s really a connection creator. That took the pressure off and eliminated any salesy feel to my content and invitations.

How a email marketing helps with sales

Email marketing, and at times a website, are great tools to help with sales. In fact, I often argue that for most service providers, coaches, and consultants a website will not be your primary sales engine – automated or one-on-one emails will.

Let’s go into more detail using our definition of sales. I defined sales as “building relationships with people who already know about you to help potential customers make a decision to purchase from you or not.”

Here are 4 ways email marketing helps you accomplish that. Well-written emails will:

1. Personalize and tailor communication

2. Deepen conversations to better understand people’s unique challenges

3. Share information to address common concerns, hesitations, or objections

4. Teach people how to buy from you by highlighting the entire process

5. Provide links and the ability to actually purchase and pay you

With this approach, there are no salesy or pushy boundaries that get crossed.

Your emails – through email campaigns, regular email conversations, and sending invoices – serve the people who are already asking to learn more. Your conversations feel genuine and supportive, and less you-focused and more them-focused.

If you’re a do-gooder like me, understanding and implementing these strategies in your business will bring new life into how you show up online.

Instead of feeling pushy, you’ll step into openly solving problems and serving solutions to the people you most want to impact.

You can do this — and you’re not alone.