So, I’ve had to do more shoveling in the past few weeks than in the rest of my life, combined.  Forty-five inches of snowfall in less than 10 days will do that to you.  And while I was huffing and puffing away, digging my car out of drifts taller than the car’s windows…I thought about how easy shoveling is.

I mean, when you shovel, you see results immediately.  Shovel, shovel, shovel…I see pavement!  Shovel, shovel, shovel…I see my car!  It’s a gratifying task because x leads to y, which leads to hot cocoa the minute you step inside your nice cozy home.

De-icing, on the other hand…you just have to throw some salt on the sidewalk and wait.  And wait, and wait.  Did you buy the right salt? Should you have purchased the premium salt? Did you use enough?  How long does this stuff take to work?  Should I just go out there with a shovel and try to chip the ice away instead of waiting?

Marketing your business is a lot like the shoveling and de-icing process.

When you’re first starting out…you get to do branding, yay!  Hire peeps to make a logo, get a website, compile a portfolio, make major decisions for your business and shape a brand that’s awesome.  It’s all shoveling snow, baby!  Immediate results are awesome, aren’t they?

A year or two later, you’re sprinkling the sidewalks with salt.  Sure,  your blog hits are growing, your clients are great, and you’ve distributed postcards to the tri-county area…but are they the right postcards? Is it the right message you’re sending?  What if you could have better clients?  Or more, even-awesomer-than-awesome clients?  What if you’re tired of photographing newborns and want to give weddings a try, or vice versa?

By year three, you’ve probably tired of your website, your logo, and your marketing techniques.  You’re quite possibly a bit bored.  You’re ready to go out there with a shovel and just chip the hell out of the ice in the hopes that this whole deal will turn into shoveling again.

Truth be told, starting is the easy part.  Sitting with your own doubts, then overcoming them to sustain and grow your business is exponentially more difficult.

How are you working to overcome your own doubts? How can you keep pushing, keep growing, keep guiding your business without being able to see obvious progress?  (I’ve had clients hold to my business card for two years before calling.  Two years is a long time to wait for ice to melt!)

This post doesn’t have any answers…I would love to hear your thoughts on tough business bits, working on your patience, or how you balance your business processes with grace.