A few months ago if you had asked me to name one thing that I hated with the fiery passion of a thousand dying suns, I would probably have chosen roaches. Yuk. Today, my answer would probably be marketing (don’t worry roaches, you are still a very close second).
Marketing.
Not a great look for someone who is trying to bootstrap a new initiative.
I love the concept of The KarmaBazaar. I have loved designing and building it. It is my baby, and I adore it, warts and all. What I don’t like is marketing my baby. When I market The KarmaBazaar I want to feel like one of those fancy real estate ladies in impossibly high heels from one of those Netflix reality shows that I would never ever actually admit to binge watching. What I actually feel like is a sleazy dealer in a dark alley sidling up to people and going psssst.
My Marketing Moves
Thus far I have tried the following marketing avenues for The KarmaBazaar:
- Self-promotional posts on assorted Amsterdam facebook groups (adhering strictly to the published self-promo rules).
- Getting the message out on a handful of whatsapp buy/sell groups for parents (many of our members have joined from these posts, hi!!)
- Having my sister put up promotional flyers on a couple of notice boards at the university where she works.
- One post on the Amsterdam subreddit.
- Printing out a bunch of flyers and paying my daughter a few euros to toodle around the neighborhood and stick them in mailboxes.
- Spreading the word to my friend circle and asking them to broadcast as they see fit.
But what exactly about it don’t you like?
Why is it that I would rather step on a piece of lego in the dark than do a bit of marketing?
First of all, I am not particularly good at it. It isn’t my area of expertise. At my relatively advanced age I have developed skills in certain areas. There are things I am good at, and I enjoy doing those things in part because I am good at them. Doing something you are good at is extremely satisfying. Conversely, wrestling with something you suck at, well, sucks. Every time I’m doing a marketing related task I am fighting off the temptation to go back to writing code, to building, to adding a new feature. I want to do what I love. I don’t want to be creating graphics or videos. I don’t want to stare at my latest Canva creation wondering how, after two hours of labour, I have created an eyesore worse than an infected pimple at the end of a witch’s nose. I don’t enjoy feeling dimmer than a flickering candle in a thunderstorm while I attempt to crack the elusive code of engagement on assorted social media sites.
Secondly, praising myself – even indirectly – by extolling the virtues of The KarmaBazaar, makes me cringe. I have been brought up and socially conditioned to believe that blowing your own trumpet is just not done. The attention grabbing, look at me! look at me! nature of advertising feels about as comfortable to me as walking around with a permanent wedgie.
Excuse number three: I’m an introvert. I have social anxiety. The idea of putting myself out there to tell the story of The KarmaBazaar makes me feel sweaty and uncomfortable.
Venting is fun, but what is the plan?
I want to be like Jack. Chuck some magic beans out my window, get a good nights sleep, and voila, the next morning peek outside to find a thriving community of like-minded purveyors of second hand goods.
Unfortunately, in the world of marketing I’m more like the other Jack. The one who, in an attempt to perform a relatively simple task, rolled unceremoniously down the hill sustaining multiple head injuries.
Enough with the whinging though. This isn’t about me. This is about the idea. If I want The KarmaBazaar to grow, I’m going to have come to terms with the fact that I don’t possess the Jedi powers necessary to simply make it so.
My ideas for the future include:
- Some form of advertising on Kings Day.
- Holding an IRL version of The KarmaBazaar. I could rent out a community hall and members could bring their goods in to earn and spend karma face to face.
- I’m going to talk to a friend who does marketing for a living about the world of paid advertising on Facebook or Instagram.
I’m going to do my best, but I would really (really, really) appreciate your help.
If you believe in the idea, I would love it if you could spread the word to your social circle.
If you are an entrepreneur, and have been through this yourself, I’d love to hear what you tried and how you navigated these murky waters.
If you have thoughts about things I could be doing to spread the word, I’d be grateful for your ideas.