Does it sometimes feel like not only do you have to be brilliant at what you do, but you also have to be brilliant at marketing (and selling and managing and technology and…) to succeed?

You really don't. Despite what it feels like sometimes, and despite what people selling you marketing training would like you to believe.

Millions of people find their life partners and fall in love every year without ever being brilliant at chat-up lines or romance.

What shines through is their good intentions and their love. That's what gets them their partner; not clever words or “pick up” techniques.

It's the same with your marketing. You could invest decades of study into getting brilliant with words, or hire a highly paid copywriter to write you the best ever sales page, elevator pitch or descriptions of your services.

You can have the most seductive, most perfectly written stuff on your website. And still it wouldn't hold a candle to the impact you can get from regularly adding value to your potential clients.

A “lead magnet” that people sign up for and that gives them incredibly practical tips on their key challenges. Regular emails or personal contacts that are interesting and useful.

They're much, much easier for us regular folks to produce than world-class copywriting.

But done repeatedly over time, “actions speak louder than words”.

They prove to your potential clients that your ideas or services work because they see the results in action. They build your credibility and create the desire to work with you far more than any brilliant advertising could do.

So next time you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought that you have to learn even more clever new marketing techniques, just remember that the best form of marketing is to do useful stuff for people.