Finding My Way With Marketing:

How I Finally Learnt to Do What I Always Teach You

 

Hi, Flower Friend!

I really never thought I’d be starting a blog! I’m not much of a words person, but I realised that maybe this could be more like writing in a journal. Except, instead of writing on a blank page, I’m writing to you.

You all know that intuition is important to me. Everything I paint stems from being in tune with myself. It’s so important to me, that I created a course to help you tap into your intuition the way I do. And in a way, that’s where everything started. Because I’d learnt how to be intuitive in my art, but I’d not learnt how to apply that to my marketing.

I think everyone finds marketing a challenge. There’s a lot of advice, and it all seems to be different. When I first began to sell my work online, I was simply an artist wanting to sell her work. Launching my course was a huge step up, and that meant I had to step my marketing up, too. Learning how to understand and communicate with an audience was a steep learning curve, that was incredibly overwhelming.

So, as we all do when we’re starting something new, I looked for a guide. Someone who could show me the way. I invested in best-selling courses and followed the words of accredited speakers on how best to market a small business, doing everything they said, because ‘they knew best’.

 

Even though there was a little voice in my head saying, ‘this doesn’t feel right’.

I spent a long time ignoring that voice. I was seeing success in other people, after all, and I didn’t know anything about marketing, so I figured following someone else’s path was the right thing to do.

But what I didn’t realise was that when you follow a path that’s not yours, you fall into pitfalls you didn’t even know existed.

Because eventually, I came across something that sent me into a spiral of comparison and self-doubt. It made me question everything that I had built. Was it even worth it? Had I been doing everything wrong?

This time was such a struggle to not get stuck in my own head. I had to do a lot of journaling to get through the confusion. I took a long hard look at my business. I dug into the whys behind the decisions I’d made so far, I questioned the how comes of my own marketing, and as I did, I remembered a quote I’d seen on Instagram:

LEAD WITH CURIOSITY

It was from a post about marketing. The post talked about how a lot of marketing relied on fear as a motivator, when a better way to lead was with curiosity. At the time it had really resonated with me, but I hadn’t really known what to do with it.

But as I was taking a look at my business, working through my thoughts, I realised that a lot of my marketing was coming from a place of fear and scarcity.

From a place of hurry and pushiness, not leaving time to internalise and understand.

My marketing lived on countdown timers and missed opportunities, rather than opening doors and welcoming choice.

I’ve made so many steps forward in my marketing journey, learnt so many new things. I’ve moved from someone who just wanted to sell art, to a businesswoman who is able to make strategic decisions for herself. I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

And at the same time, I also realise that some of the decisions I made, I made because I thought I had to.

I thought there was only one way to do things.

I didn’t realise I could choose another path.

I was following the script that was handed to me. The script of, ‘be selfish with your knowledge,’ ‘hide the small print,’ and ‘rush your audience into a decision before they have the time to say no’.

And anyone who’s been in my space for any length of time knows that’s not me.

I teach intuitive painting, and relaxing in an intuitive way. I’m all about internal growth, compassion, nurturing. But the way I was marketing didn’t feel intuitive or nurturing at all.

It felt like I was just ticking a box to get it done.

It took starting a YouTube channel to realise that things could change.

Starting my channel was an accident. I had wanted to record some content for my Flower A Day Challenge but Instagram’s video limit was too short for me to upload, so I threw it up on YouTube.

It seems funny now, that something I did so lightly at the time has been so instrumental in this huge change.

The more videos I filmed, the more I realised how good it felt. It felt like I was reaching out to a friend, painting side-by-side, talking about the challenges of being an artist. It felt right.

For a very long time, I’d been hesitant to turn to YouTube as a platform because I’d been caught under the shadow of those the scripts I’d been given, of how ‘free value’ should never be given out because you don’t get anything ‘in return’.

 

But I wanted to be generous with my knowledge. Creating art is in itself a process of sharing, and I wanted to extend that to my marketing.

I didn’t want to be a looming gatekeeper like everything I’d learnt was telling me to be. I wanted to be a welcoming friend who would be there to hold your hand.

I finally made the choice to take my own path.

I worked for days changing the way my marketing was set up, finally letting my inner voice guide me, and it felt so good. I felt right. Like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and I could finally see again.

I removed the countdown timers that were pressuring you to buy, and replaced them with — well, nothing, actually. I wanted to give you all the time you needed to make your decision and for you to feel calm, reassured and happy that you are following your dreams.

I brought my sales page back to the light again, making sure everything you’d need to make an informed choice was available to you.

I changed the pricing to make my course more accessible to everyone wanting to get serious about their artist career.

I included a more in-depth video to give you a look at my coaching style, so that you can decide whether I suit your way of learning before you commit to spending. It gives you a glimpse at how I teach and also talks you through the three secrets to find your artistic style that are the common roadblocks to creative recovery. Because finding your style is about unlocking your inner artist.

I added a free gift, because I wanted to value your time and presence. Of all the landing pages and courses you could be looking at, you’re at mine, and that means so much to me.

I reshaped my marketing to allow your decision to buy be a decision for you. I wanted to remove any external factors that might push you into a purchase. I decided that I didn’t want you to click ‘buy’ because of my words: you should be clicking ‘buy’ because you want to BE that aspiring artist you see on Instagram.

Finding my guiding values

I always show how journaling helps me organise my thoughts, and uncover things that have been hidden. This was such a significant change that I had to journal. And as I explored myself through the words, I realised four words in specific were coming to mind over and over.

Trust.

You can only learn from someone who you feel you’re in safe hands with. I want you to be able to trust that you can open up about your struggles without judgement. I’m not going anywhere and I’m here to help guide you like a friend!

Curiosity.

I want to show you what you could be achieving if you commit yourself. This is coming from a person who painted her first EVER watercolour flower in 2016 and found her style in just one year (2020) I want you to see inside who you could be. And I want you to want that, too, because that passion/drive is the thing that will elevate your skill along side my helping hand!

Nurture.

Growth happens when you feel supported enough to let free and experiment with ways you’d never thought of before. I want to you to feel encouraged to explore the possibilities in a gentle way with my guided roadmap.

No Pressure.

Art is a protected space for me. It’s where I feel most relaxed and in tune with myself. External pressures only negatively impact that, and I want you to feel just as good about your time with me as I do with you. I want you to feel so calm and happy that you’re actually excited to unlock your potential.

(I know that last one is two words, but oh well!)

These four words were what guided me in making the changes that I did. I wanted my marketing to reflect all of these, to make you feel like you’re in safe hands. I wanted it to sound like a friend was showing you the way.

Was it all a mistake?

I don’t see my old marketing structure as a ‘mistake’. If you’re part of my course, you know I don’t believe in that.

It was a stepping stone that I’ve built on to become the person I am today.

Just like I teach in my course, it’s about taking all the information you’ve learnt and putting it into boxes, but leaving all the lids open, ready for you to pick and choose what you need. It’s about being in tune with yourself and listening to your inner voice, even if everything else is trying to drown it out. It’s about being present with the possibilities, and taking the space and time to find your own unique path.

I teach you to do that with art.

And now, even though it took me a long time to listen to myself, I’ve learnt how to do that myself with marketing.

This isn’t the end of the process, because processes never end. I’m always finding my way in everything that I do, but now I feel more on the right path than I did before.

I know this was a long post for my first ever blog, but I felt this was really important to share with you, because I wanted to show that this sort of journey happens to everyone, with everything. And even though it might seem impossible when you’re stuck in the middle of it, there will come a time when something sparks, and suddenly you can see your way again.

Always by your side

Safiyyah 

P.S: if you’d like to learn more about my course, you can do so by clicking the button bellow.