For many women business owners, marketing is like sex. Sure, it can be fun—or even an opportunity to get creative. Too often, though, it’s surrounded by stigmas stemming from generations past. Nice girls, we’ve been taught, don’t brag about their accomplishments. Nor do they do attract attention to themselves.
Lancaster, Pa.–based marketing consultant Kelly Watson is determined to change that. Over the past three months, Watson has been interviewing successful women from all fields in preparation for her book, Womenwise Marketing: The Feminine Way To Market Your Business And Yourself, Online and Off.
This October, Watson launched the online companion to the book: a web site with a blog, podcast and other free resources for women in business located at www.womenwisemarketing.com. The book is scheduled for release in 2010.
The inspiration behind Womenwise Marketing stems from Watson’s own experience three years ago, when she quit her job as the editor of a local entertainment magazine to start a copywriting business. Back then, her efforts at self-promotion felt awkward and unnatural.
“Most marketing books I read were written by men, and most marketing ‘gurus’ were men, and their methods didn’t always feel natural to me,” Watson recalls. “It took over a year to develop my own marketing style. Along the way, I realized that many women in business feel uncomfortable with marketing.”
Watson decided to create a resource for women that would challenge those feelings and reveal how traditionally feminine qualities can be marketing strengths. Women, for example, tend to be excellent communicators—
Watson plans to interview as many as 100 women before the book is published. “As little girls, we’re still influenced by that unspoken rule that the boys should do the asking, and girls should sit around and wait for the phone to ring,” she says. “That philosophy rarely works in the business world.
“Today, employees who make their talents known are more likely to get promotions and raises. Likewise, entrepreneurs who use every opportunity to market their businesses are much more likely to succeed.”
At a time when women are starting new businesses at roughly twice the rate of men, Watson’s advice may come at the perfect moment.
High-resolution publicity photos, interviews and more information can be obtained by calling Kelly Watson at 717-606-3929 or by e-mailing kelly@womenwisemarketing.com. The Womenwise Marketing web site, blog and podcast can be found online at www.womenwisemarketing.com.
