I met an accountant at an event a few weeks ago.

Nice guy, senior partner in smallish practice. Very good accountant it seemed. But his business was struggling.

I asked him a few questions about what he'd been doing marketing-wise and the answer was the same as you'd get from most struggling practices. He'd been picking up the odd client from recommendations. And the occasional one from the breakfast networking group he went to.

And that was about it for marketing. Oh, he had an old website that wasn't getting any traffic either. But other than that, nothing.

As we chatted it became clear that he was hoping to find some kind of silver bullet solution to his lack of clients. Not because he really believed in silver bullets, but mainly because he didn't want to do anything different.

Going to a regular breakfast meeting with friends and hoping they'd pass him referrals was inside his comfort zone. As was waiting for clients he'd done a good job for to recommend him to others.

But proactively asking for referrals. Doing presentations to groups of potential clients. Meeting people he didn't know. He just wasn't comfortable with that.

I'm certain he knew that he'd get results if he just started doing more of those activities. But he didn't feel comfortable with them, so he kept looking for something else. A kind of “easy button” he could press to get more leads and clients without having to step out of his comfort zone.

I think we're all a bit like that sometimes. I know I spend too much time fiddling with my website because I enjoy it and I'm good at it, when there are other much higher payoff activities I could be doing.

It takes a lot of courage to try something new. Especially when it comes to marketing as it impacts something we all care about deeply: what others think of us.

We don't want to be seen as pushy. Or desperate. Or needing the help (even if we do).

It takes courage to overcome that fear. To step out of your comfort zone and do something that might not work. To stop worrying so much about what others think about you.

Not heroic levels of courage. We're not putting our lives at risk or anything.

But more courage than most people manage to muster.

If you can develop this vital trait, to be just a bit more courageous with your marketing, you can make a big difference.

I have clients who are trying out video, direct mail, running seminars, blogging. All things they've never done before. And they might not work the first time or even the second.

And like any new skills, while they're learning how to do them it won't feel comfortable. They won't be brilliant straight out of the gate.

But their courage (and a little bit of support from me) will see them through the challenges.

How can you develop this kind of courage?

In my experience the best, perhaps the only way, is to start small.

Try something new that's just a bit outside your comfort zone. Get help and support to make sure it's a success.

That'll give you the confidence to try something bigger. And then something bigger.

And pretty soon you'll be taking on things you never thought you'd be able to do. And it won't seem all that courageous (even though it is).