For many holistic business owners, marketing their business is the cause of a great deal of stress. Actively putting ourselves out in front of people – telling them about our business, being bold about what we do – often seems counter-intuitive. We want to help people, but we don’t want to seem intrusive or aggressive.

The fact is, you must market your business. You must tell people about what you do, and how you serve them. If you don’t actively market yourself, your business won’t grow – no one will know about you and your gifts.

My definition of marketing is, it’s the process of making connections, and building relationships with people. The more marketing you do, the more people you can connect and build relationships with.

This is different than selling. Selling is the art of trying to persuade someone to purchase your products or services. And, it’s no wonder spiritually conscious businesses don’t like selling. Who wants to be pushy and face rejection?

With marketing, you’re not being pushy or aggressive – you’re connecting with people.

How do you make a connection with enough people to create a sustainable business? There are a variety of ways; we’ll address some of them later in the article.

The first thing you must do is choose a target market. And, there is sometimes resistance around doing this because it doesn’t feel right to say that you will serve one certain group of people, when in reality, you can probably serve many different types of people with your gifts.

Choosing a target market is not about exclusion. The truth is, you can truly serve anyone that resonates with your business. Choosing a target market is simply about narrowing your marketing focus. If someone comes to you outside of your target market, you can, of course, serve them.

But, narrowing your focus is going to make your marketing efforts much easier, more effective, and more cost effective.

There are several ways that you can choose a target market. First, think about the client base you’re already serving. Do a majority of them have a common trait? For example, are they women athletes, or dancers, or small business owners? If this is the case, you may have developed your target market without even realizing it!

The other thing to think about when choosing your niche, is, who are you passionate about serving, and why are you passionate about that group of people? For example, are you passionate about serving stay-at-home moms because you are part of that group, and you acutely identify with their needs?

Your target market can be based on demographics, psychographics, age, region, social commonalities, hobbies, or any combination of factors.

Once you have your target market chosen, you can begin finding groups of these people, connecting with them, getting to know their needs as they relate to your business, and then specifically addressing their needs.

You can find groups of people with common interests either online or offline. For example, if you want to serve mom’s, you might look in your local area for mom’s clubs, and join a few. Or, online, you can find discussion forums and web sites specifically geared toward moms and their needs. Another example is dancers. If you’re a massage therapist who wants to serve the dance community, take a few dance classes in your area, or join online dance discussion forums. You can even find blogs geared toward your target market.

There are many places to find your specific target market. Once you find them, go join their groups and begin getting to know the people in the group. Intend to make connections within the group and build relationships. When a topic comes up that demonstrates your expertise, respond to the topic, or when it comes up in conversation, you can naturally talk about what you do.

Through making connections with people and building relationships, they will naturally get to know you and what you do, and how you can serve their specific needs. Then, business happens organically. You won’t have to “sell” because people will already know you, they will trust you, and they will know that you understand them.

When you choose a target market, you can also advertise more effectively. Did you know that we are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages per day? That’s a lot of noise for your ad to cut through. Think about how many ads you ignore on a daily basis. We can’t possibly process it all.

Also, it takes anywhere from 7 to 9 exposures to your marketing message for it to even register with people. You could be spending a lot of money if you’re placing ads where the right people won’t see them.

If you choose a target market and advertise in publications that they read, or on web sites that they frequent, you have a much better chance of getting through the marketing noise and really reaching people.

There are a variety of ways to connect with your target market. As mentioned before, joining groups of people in your niche and getting to know them is a great way to start connecting. You can check out any number of online groups. Yahoo Groups has thousands of groups, and is usually a great place to find a group for any interest. You can also check out Google Groups or MSN Groups.

The blog community (or, blogshpere) is also a great way to connect with your niche. Many bloggers build communities around their blog. You’ll see people posting comments – you can post comments too, and leave a link to your web site. That way, if people resonate with what you say, they can check out your web site to learn more about you.

When you’re thinking about marketing yourself in this way (through groups or blogs), be sure that you’re leaving comments and posting messages that offer value. For example, don’t just post a short message like “Nice blog” for the sole purpose of leaving your web address. People won’t be able to connect with you through that post, and it truly won’t help drive traffic to your web site.

Locally, think about your niche and determine where they may hang out. You might look for Reiki Shares, dance classes, mom’s clubs, sports teams, or any group where your niche would congregate. Meetup.com has a list of many local groups that meet on a regular basis.

Also, check out publications related to your target market. Many times, there is a calendar of events that lists local happenings. Many areas have regional publications that are niche related.

As far as advertising is concerned, now that you’ve chosen a niche, not only can you be very targeted about where you place your flyers and advertisements, but you can write them with language that really speaks to your niche’s needs.

For example, if you’re an aromatherapist, and you’ve been talking to people in your target market, and they are all telling you they would love a class on using essential oils, you can develop and offer a class on that subject. Then, develop an ad for that service, and place the ad where you know more of the same types of people congregate.

You’ll have much better results from your advertising when you can speak directly to your niche’s needs. The best way to find out what people in your target market need is to ask them. Within a conversation, simply ask what their challenges are as they relate to your business. You’ll be able to then speak directly to those needs in your advertising, and you’ll be able to connect with people as you tell them how you can help them with their challenges.

Fear of marketing is something that holistic businesses struggle with. But if you think of marketing as making connections and building relationships, it doesn’t seem so overwhelming and intimidating.