(Chair creaks. Deep exhale. Sound of a lighter flicking.)
Alright. Third installment. We’re getting into the squishy stuff now. The fear. The imposter syndrome dressed up in a cardigan and calling itself “politeness.”
Let’s rip the band-aid off.
Alright. Let’s talk about the most self-destructive, passive-aggressive, utterly infantile lie that we creatives tell ourselves on a daily basis.
It goes like this: “I don’t want to post today. I feel like I’m spamming. I’ll wait until I have something really important to say. I don’t want to annoy my followers.”
Oh, really? You don’t want to annoy them?
That’s very noble of you. Very considerate. You’re such a good person. You’re so respectful of the digital ecosystem. You’re basically a saint.
You aren’t being polite. You are being a coward. You are using “consideration” as a mask for straight-up fear. You aren’t worried about annoying people. You are worried about being seen. You are worried about putting something out there and having it land with a thud. You are worried about the silence.
So you hide. You wait for a “sign.” You wait for the perfect moment when the stars align and you have something so earth-shatteringly profound to say that the internet will part like the Red Sea.
And while you’re waiting, your competitors are posting. They are getting the work. You are sitting in the dark, not annoying anyone, and also not feeding anyone.
Let’s break this down, because you need to hear this.
The Car Salesman vs. The Friend
In your head, “selling” looks like a used car salesman. You know the guy. Polyester suit. Bad toupee. He’s in your face, he’s aggressive, he’s trying to shovel you into a ’98 Civic with a check-engine light that’s basically a Christmas tree.
And you think, “If I post about my services, I become that guy. I become the pushy asshole.”
But you’re confusing “selling” with “being annoying.” They are not the same thing.
Let me paint you a different picture. Imagine a friend of yours, a real friend, not a Facebook friend, comes over and says, “Hey, I just found this new tool that fixed my back pain. I was suffering for months, and this thing cured me in three days. You should check it out.”
Are you annoyed at that friend? No. You’re grateful. They just saved you a trip to the chiropractor. They gave you a gift. They shared value.
That is marketing. That is what you’re supposed to be doing.
You aren’t a car salesman. You are a friend with a solution. You have a tool, your design, your writing, your photography, that literally solves a headache for someone. And you are withholding that information because you’re afraid of looking like a schmuck.
You are letting people suffer in silence because you’re too scared to raise your hand.
The Applause Trap
Let’s talk about “likes” for a second, because I know that’s what’s really hurting your feelings.
You post something. You refresh. Three likes. You refresh again. Six. You feel like a loser. You swear off social media forever. You say, “Nobody appreciates my work.”
Stop it. You are looking at the wrong scoreboard.
Marketing is not about getting applause. Marketing is about starting conversations.
If you post something and two people comment, even if they disagree, even if they ask a question, that is a massive victory. That is engagement. That is the algorithm actually paying attention.
But you don’t want conversations. You want a standing ovation. You want your ego stroked. You want to feel validated.
Here’s the cold, hard truth: The world does not owe you attention just because you made something. Attention is earned. And you earn it by showing up consistently, not by waiting for a moment of viral glory.
The “I’m Helping” Reframe
I need you to do a complete 180 on your brain chemistry right now.
Stop thinking of a “case study” or a “portfolio post” as bragging.
Think of it as a blueprint.
You just solved a massive problem for a client. You took their garbage, mess of a brand and turned it into something beautiful. You fixed their conversion rate. You stopped their customers from bouncing. You saved their business.
And you think posting about that is “showing off”?
No. It’s a service.
There is another business owner out there, right now, at 2 AM, staring at their screen, crying because they don’t know how to fix their website. They have the exact same problem you just solved.
If you don’t post that case study, that business owner stays in the dark. They keep crying. They hire some hack who doesn’t know what they’re doing. They waste their money. They fail.
But if you post it, if you show the “before,” the “after,” the process, the results, you are holding out a lifeline. You are saying, “Hey, I fixed this. I can fix yours too. Here’s proof.”
That isn’t bragging. That is rescuing someone.
So get over yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about the person who needs you.
The 1-1-1 Rule (Your New Religion)
Alright. We’re going to build a new habit. Something to short-circuit that anxious little voice in your head that says, “Don’t post, you’ll annoy them.”
I want you to adopt what I call the 1-1-1 Rule.
Before you hit “post,” I want you to ask yourself one question and one question only:
Does this post do ONE of these three things:
- Educate (teaches them something they didn’t know),
- Entertain (makes them stop scrolling and laugh or feel something),
- Enlighten (gives them a new perspective on a problem they have)?
If it does one of those things, just one, you hit post.
You don’t wait. You don’t overthink. You don’t run it by your friend who doesn’t run a business. You hit the goddamn button.
Because here’s the truth: The people who don’t buy from you aren’t “annoyed” by you. They are uninformed. They don’t know you exist. They don’t know you can help them. And you are keeping them in the dark because you’re scared of being a bother.
That’s not humility. That’s negligence.
So post the thing. Be seen. Annoy a few people. Who cares? The people who matter, the ones with the problems you can fix, will not be annoyed. They will be relieved.
And those are the only people that count.
Now stop hiding. Go post something. And for the love of god, stop refreshing to check the likes.
I have become really obsessed with the lies we creatives tell ourselves, especially when it comes to marketing. I have heard them all, even said a few of them myself. It is these lies that stop so many creatives marketing effectively. All of these lies require a change in mind-set. We creatives really need to re-think this marketing.
I sat down and collated the most common marketing lies I heard creatives tell themselves. I documented 22 of these common lies, but 21 sounded better in the book title so I conveniently mislaid number 22 and came around to “The 21 Marketing Lies Creatives Tell Themselves”.
It started as a blog post, then it started to grow into a series of blog posts, but the muse was pushing hard so I just ran with it and it became a book.
I don’t just explain these lies, but I deconstruct them and then help change your mindset, and as result we’ll turbo-charge your marketing. Because that’s my goal: help you to build a marketing machine that allows you to spend more time creating, yet continue to market effectively.
The 21 Marketing Lies Creatives Tell Themselves is available at Amazon
Every week I post at least once, giving hints and tips for creatives who want to market more effectively. Pop your email in the box below to stay up to date with all future posts.
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