When you are in the begging stages of building a thriving business, one of the things you absolutely must do is promote it. You have to get your name out there in order for people to find you and to know what you offer. Yes, Universe will give you a hand, but you must take the inspired actions.

For many lightworkers, the idea of selling yourself, or promoting your business is scary.

When you put yourself out there, you run the risk of being rejected. And, you run the risk of people thinking negative thoughts toward you or your business. As highly sensitive people, we can really internalize the hurt that rejection can cause. Being rejected can make us want to run and hide – it can make us instantly want to give up because we don’t want all that negativity coming at us.

Also, for lightworkers, it may not feel natural to actively promote your business. It may feel like you’re being pushy, or intruding on someone. Sometimes, we feel that in order to be really successful, we’ll have to give in to those selling techniques that feel dishonest, or aggressive.

It is possible to promote yourself without the fear of rejection, without feeling like you’re leaping on everyone that walks by, and without feeling like you’re selling your soul.

Many times, when we think of promoting, what we’re really thinking of is selling. When you think of promoting your business, you may think of putting fliers up, or talking to people about your business with the hope that they buy your products or services.

In reality, selling is different than promoting, or marketing your business. Selling is the act of trying to persuade someone to buy something from you. Marketing, on the other hand, is about reaching and making a connection with the people in your target market. If you can make a connection with someone, you won’t have to persuade them to buy from you. They will get to know, like and trust you, and the business transaction will happen organically.

Did you know that we are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages per day? Just the sheer volume of that forces us to tune out most of the messages. You couldn’t possibly process all of that information on top of what you already need to get done in a day. Think about how many commercials, print ads, billboards, and internet marketing messages you see in a day. Do you stop and take notice of all of them?

Your voice – your business voice – must be heard above this din. That’s why building relationships, and marketing your business, rather than just selling, is so important.

By following the four easy strategies outlined here, you’ll begin building relationships with your potential clients, making connections, and attracting more and more people to your business.

First, know who your niche clients are. A niche, or a target market is a defined segment of the market that is the focus of a business. So, a niche is a select group of people that you are going to focus your marketing efforts on.

But, by narrowing your focus you will be able to market your business more effectively. You’ll know where to find them, and you can listen to what their needs are, and then create products and services to meet those needs.

Next, get very clear about what you do for your clients. The more clearly you can communicate what you do, the easier it will be for people to remember your business. Try to be as specific as possible.

For example if you are a Reiki Practitioner who wants to focus on pre and postnatal treatments, the better you can articulate what you do and who you help, the more people you will attract. When you meet someone, if you say “I’m a Reiki Practitioner,” you will be lost among all of the other Reiki Practitioners out there. However, if you say “I’m a Reiki Practitioner and I specialize in helping expectant and postpartum moms de-stress and relax…” that’s more memorable.

Next, use a newsletter as a vehicle to connect with your niche.

You can develop an online newsletter fairly easily and for little to no cost. If you are worried that you can’t write, there are article banks and blogs out there that will let you publish content by other authors.

Be sure you’re giving your niche something of value with your newsletter – remember, its purpose is to build a relationship with your potential clients and make a connection. Once you’ve given valuable information, it’s totally fine to promote your products and services.

You are in business to serve your niche. The people that subscribe to your newsletter want to know how you can directly help them. Having small ads in your newsletter is a great way to let your niche know what you can do to help them.

It’s also ok to reach out to the people on your newsletter list beyond just sending the newsletter. Provided you don’t reach out too often with just a sales message, they’ll be happy to hear about your offerings in a special edition of the newsletter.

Finally, choose marketing activities that you love. It’s not worth the time and stress to engage in activities that are frustrating to you. You should spend 2 to 3 hours per day on marketing activities. When you’re starting out, it will be more than that. The majority of your time will be spent promoting your business until you start to get regular clients through the door.

If you choose marketing activities that you love, you will be continually motivated to carry them out. You do not have to engage in activities that aren’t authentic to you. There are plenty of activities to choose from.

There are many things that you can do to market your practice.

You can post fliers on bulletin boards, or put an ad on a free advertising site like Craigslist. You can purchase advertising in a holistic publication. Or, you can put your business cards in places, like yoga studios, whole foods stores, or metaphysical gift shops.

As part of your overall marketing plan, these strategies can add to the exposure you receive. However, to receive the most exposure, you’ll want to combine these strategies with things like networking, teaching workshops, giving speeches, and writing articles for well-known publications.

Also, remember to be consistent with your marketing. It takes 7 exposures of your marketing message before people respond.

Promoting your business can be stressful, frustrating and scary. But remember, you are here to serve your niche. You’ve been guided to be a lightworker because there is a whole population of clients out there that you were meant to serve.

You can market your business in a way that is authentic to you. You can reach and make a connection with your potential clients. Using the strategies outlined above, you can create an inspired, powerful business that lovingly serves your clients.