I feel like I’ve had the same hair style for years. That is until about six months ago. Since then I’ve unleashed my inner Linda Evangelista and played around with a few different styles and even colors! A few months ago, I decided I would try the Victoria Beckham style – you know the one – it is shorter in the back and angles to a longer profile in the front.

I went into the salon ready for this drastic cut (for me anyway) and told my hairdresser what I wanted. While she was shampooing my hair, I started to get cold feet. “What if it looks horrible on me?” “Am I really that edgy?” “Short hair doesn’t really look good on me!” When the scissors came out, I blurted out my objections and talked my hairdresser into a very slight angle – almost unnoticeable. She reluctantly agreed and I was happy as I walked out. The next day as I was styling my hair, I realized that the cut was OK, but it didn’t really give me what I truly wanted. I had allowed myself to get scared and ultimately, I was not happy with myself for not going all the way.

It was a good lesson for me though. I often find myself teaching people to “go all the way” with their marketing. For me, it’s easy. It’s within my personal comfort zone and I find it to be extremely enjoyable! However, for others it’s a stretch. I hear objections like “What if it doesn’t work on the first try?” or “I’ll just do one e-newsletter a quarter – I don’t want to overwhelm my clients,” or “I can’t ask people to buy something from me.” All of these objections come down to the same reason I didn’t get my hair style: Sometimes we get too scared to go all way, even when we really, really want it.

To get what we want, there are times when we have to step outside of our comfort zone and go all the way. Some people call it a leap of faith. Nike says, “Just do it!” The truth is that it is very unlikely that something really bad will happen. This is not brain surgery. It’s marketing. And if you believe in the value that you provide to others, you can’t help but help people to truly need you. And the bonus is that you’ll come out the other side stronger and more confident than you were before. Your subtle push to go all the way may be something like deciding to do a 3-part direct mail campaign instead of just sending out an email to promote your next event or workshop. It may be that you decide to place phone calls to a three people who may be great joint venture partners. Or you may decide to create an entire boot camp for your clients!

I urge you to look at your marketing efforts and your business model for the last six months and ask yourself, “Did I go all the way?” Or better yet, “Am I currently going all the way?” If you are only reaching out to your clients and prospects through one or two strategies, you are not going all the way. Or if you aren’t looking at how to leverage your business, you are not thinking big enough.

Marketing your business is just as important as working “inside” your business. Ongoing attention to marketing is a high-payoff activity that will help you sustain your business over the long run. If you need to step outside of your comfort zone to do this, you may need a coach, consultant, an advisory board, mastermind or someone to gently push you into taking new steps and celebrating your successes.

I do understand being scared of doing something new. But if you find yourself holding back on your marketing, creating an information product or conducting that workshop you’ve always dreamed of, I sincerely hope you will branch out and take steps in those directions. Taking these kinds of actions a fantastic way to grow personally and professionally.