Leaving Academia: Becoming a Freelance Editor2 Apr

How to Market Your Academic Business... Without Feeling Gross

You think marketing will be gross. But what if it doesn't have to look the way you imagine?

If the word "marketing" makes you cringe—if it conjures images of pushy salespeople, empty promises, and Instagram influencers claiming you can make $250K from a $47 mini course—I get it. Completely.

But here's what I want you to consider: the resistance most academics feel toward marketing isn't really about values. It's about fear. And once you see marketing for what it actually is (hint: it's just letting people know you exist), it might stop feeling so gross—and start feeling like something you actually enjoy doing (and you're really good at).

In this episode, I'm breaking down:

💡 Why academics are conditioned to distrust marketing—and why that's not entirely wrong

💡 The sneaky second layer of resistance that's really just self-doubt in disguise

💡 What marketing is when you strip away all the noise

💡 How you've already been doing it your whole academic career

💡 How to make marketing feel like connection instead of a transaction

💡 Your first concrete homework assignment to land your first private clients

Whether you're terrified to put yourself out there or just convinced that marketing requires you to become someone you're not, this episode is for you.

📌 Resources Mentioned:

Episode 72: Niching Down https://youtu.be/EWbD4y9j378

Episode 77: How to Land Your First Coaching Client https://youtu.be/yK_mRRAFmTo

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a new episode, and if this resonated with you, share it with a colleague who's thinking about leaving academia.

🖥️ Save Your Seat for my 3-Day Live Training, April 8-10, 2026. Go to AcadiaEditing.com/live

1:35 - Facing Your Marketing Fears

3:10 - Values vs. Self-Doubt Resistance

5:05 - The Truth About Marketing

7:40 - How Academics Already Market

10:15 - Your Marketing Control Center

12:00 - Overcoming Rejection Fears

14:30 - Warm Outreach: Your First Step

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