Non-Sleazy Ways to Always Be Marketing

On numerous occasions, people have come up to me and said, “Hey! You’re wearing your branding colors!”

I’ve even gotten emails from people who think it’s cute that I wear pink and yellow when I share photos of me on the blog.

Interesting… Do I tend to wear my branding colors? To be clear, here are the colors they’re talking about:

Let’s review the evidence, shall we?

This color coordination couldn’t possibly be planned, right? 🙂

Well, as you’ve probably guessed, it’s all part of my grand marketing scheme. Mwahahahaha!!! Always be marketing, as they say.

I seriously consider how I want my business to be perceived, and a lot of that has to do with the visuals on my website. I make sure I’m using the same fonts and colors for my worksheets in the Editor’s Toolkit that match my website theme.

OK, so there are plenty of times when I don’t wear pink and yellow, but if it’s an important event or if I’m promoting a product, I’ll put a bit more thought into my outfit choice.

When I’m working with my clients, I encourage them to have consistent branding on their websites and marketing materials. I don’t push them to actually wear their branding colors, but every little bit adds up to a cohesive image.

It sounds funny, but your customers aren’t buying whatever you’re selling (coaching, jewelry, art, ebooks, etc.). They’re buying YOU.

You could have the greatest products and services the world has ever seen! But if your marketing is crappy, no one will buy from you.

The same goes for you corporate ladder climbers—it’s less about what’s on your resume and more about how you present yourself.

Admit it, you know plenty of people who got their jobs because they’re charming and not necessarily the most qualified.

Marketing tends to make people feel yucky, like they need to put on a tacky plaid sports coat and sell used cars.

That’s one kind of (bad) marketing; however, marketing done well is anything but sleazy. No need to scream at people to “Come on down!” or lie about how great something is.

And you’ll never get ahead in your business or your career unless you get nice and cozy with marketing.

Here are some non-sleazy ways you can always be marketing.

Marketing for Entrepreneurs

  • Dress up even if you work from home while watching your kids. It will make you feel more productive and capable. I do video calls with my clients so I’m extra motivated to look good.
  • Coordinate your website’s colors, photos, fonts, etc. across your social media platforms.
  • Choose a niche instead of trying to market to everyone, and write your blog posts for those specific folks.
  • Create a 1-sentence “elevator pitch” about who you serve and the results your customers get so you can easily answer the question, “So what do you do?” My elevator pitch is at the top of my website sidebar.
  • Reach out to other business owners and do interviews and guest blog posts on their websites. Entrepreneurship is all about relationships, and their followers will become your followers.
  • Give away the bulk of your work. Say what??? It’s true—giving away your content for free is a fantastic way to build trust and loyalty. I provide lots of freebies in the form of blog posts, ebooks, worksheets, videos, and one-on-one calls. The more I give, the more I get.

Marketing for Corporate Professionals

  • Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. Even if you’re a low-level assistant, step up your game and dress as well as your boss. When promotion time comes around, you’ll have an extra edge that will get you noticed.
  • Schmooze with the senior staff. Don’t blow off the company picnic or that meeting you don’t need to be at. Position yourself where the higher ups are and they’ll start to recognize you.
  • Be vocal about where you want to go in the company. I remember getting promoted to editor after only 6 months because I was constantly telling people that I wanted to be an editor, and I took the time to learn what the requirements were.
  • Be friendly with people other departments. You never know when you’ll need a favor from someone.
  • Do things that aren’t in your job description. It shows you’re a team player and ready to help out when they need you.
  • Overdeliver on your projects instead of half-assing your work. (Yes, even if it’s not your dream job.)

Want more help marketing like you mean it? Join the Life Editor Clubhouse for dozens of video classes to help you edit your life and business.

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10 Comments

  1. Ashley urke on September 24, 2014 at 6:17 am

    I love that you do this sage! So cute! Meeting you in person has only confirmed your brand is the real deal!



  2. Katie on September 23, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    I love how you are so consistent with your brand, right down to the color of your outfits. Clever! I wore a green dress for my business photo shoot to coordinate with my website as well. Your colors for your brand are bright, cheerful & fun just like you!!



  3. Jennifer Kennedy on September 23, 2014 at 8:28 am

    I always love your bright colors! That suits you so well.

    I actually have to revamp my website on my To Do List — I want to make it more cohesive as a whole with brand colors & fonts. I haven’t really been too mindful about that.

    One of the things I’m beginning to notice is that I always need to ensure that I present myself well in public. Not that I walk outside with a shower cap on and sweatpants, but I’m still getting emails from viewers of CreativeLive and I realize that your presence has an impact on how people view you. So, it’s obviously up to you to ensure that you have “your best foot forward”. 🙂



  4. Lori on September 23, 2014 at 7:10 am

    I love this, Sage! I never considered myself a “sales-y” type person, but in blogging, I realize that there is a little bit of a sales/marketing aspect to it. Every time I share my post on FB or Twitter, I’m marketing my blog and pitching to people why they should read what I wrote. Sometimes this makes me uncomfortable, but I just have to do it anyways.

    What I love about you and your blog/brand is that it’s very consistent — the colors, fonts and feel of everything. I’d like to know, how did you land upon that consistency – specifically in regards to your colors and font styles? Overall, I love the colors of my website (turquoise and pink are my favorite color combination), but I’m having a hard time deciding on how to integrate those colors into any photos that I add to a blog post. I’ve tried many different things, but nothing has stuck with me so far. Should I just keep trying until I find something I absolutely love? Or should I be okay with always having things look different on my photos?



  5. Sarah @ Long Island Nerd on September 22, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    I love this!! You are so right, in your face marketing can be really sleazy and abrasive. The color coordination of your wardrobe with the colors of the blog is genius and subtle. I LOVE it! It’s funny that you mention dressing for the job you want because I was just talking to my mom today about updating my wardrobe a bit to get some nicer pieces for work 🙂

    I also totally agree with giving away your product. I love doing this, when I have the time doing giveaways of homemade things has been really fun for me. I also love the giveaway posts because it pulls the lurkers out and they actually comment and become part of a conversation and I really enjoy that 🙂 This is a sign that I really need to make a fall giveaway happen!



    • Sage Grayson on September 22, 2014 at 7:05 pm

      Hey Sarah! Feeling good in your work clothes is HUGE. I’ve noticed that people who dress a little nicer seem more competent and capable. You should totally do a fall giveaway! Freebies make me happy too. 🙂



  6. Janet on September 22, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Hi Sage

    That’s a great way to market your business without actually marketing your business 🙂 Plus the people who actually asked about your brand colour vs your clothing colours are very much into your business and what you have to offer.

    Great other marketing tips you shared also. Looks like my twitter followers are going to learn about them too

    Blessings Janet



    • Sage Grayson on September 22, 2014 at 6:59 pm

      Hi Janet! Thanks so much for the share. I appreciate it. 🙂 When I think about my marketing, I like to do a “gut check” and ask myself how a certain tactic makes me feel. Wearing my branding colors makes me feel awesome!



  7. Erika on September 22, 2014 at 4:50 pm

    You rock the subliminal marketing technique, Sage! I’m going to start looking for outfits in my brand colors. Sounds fun!

    And you are right about giving away your work. People like me love going through a content-rich site – it does help one get to know and trust the author. And in Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like An Artist he mentions sharing “your dots” but you don’t have to connect them for people as a way of sharing your stuff.



    • Sage Grayson on September 22, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      Haha! I’m like an evil super villain, always plotting. 🙂 Austen Kleon is incredible, and Steal Like an Artist is one of my favorite books.