I used to feel like a failure at marketing. And it was really hard to not get incredibly disappointed, to even quit.
If that’s you too, this pep talk is for you.
It’s not your fault if someone else’s template doesn’t work for you
In the early years of my business I tried out a lot of marketing templates and content calendars. I listened to all the podcasts. I researched hashtags and tried to be everywhere all the time.
And I could never keep up.
It took me pretty long to figure out that I didn’t need to feel guilty about that. That I wasn’t necessarily failing—it was merely a matter of someone else’s template not fitting in with my life, my needs, my business. I was working 4 days a week in higher education and tried to build my business in 1. My mental health fluctuated wildly. I got easily overwhelmed by social media. I was burning out on marketing before my business had even really started.
If this sounds familiar, I promise you: you are not a failure. You just haven’t found a way of marketing yet that fits you, your business, your life.
Marketing is really personal, and needs to be flexible
If, like me, you’ve been reading lots of marketing blog posts or listening to marketing podcasts, you may get the idea that there are right ways and wrong ways to market your small business. But marketing isn’t like driving a car, or playing an instrument.
In my work with clients and participants of my gentle marketing programme Grow, I’ve seen again and again how personal marketing is. And marketing burnout almost always comes from trying to force yourself into someone else’s system.
How much difference there can be between how one person markets their small business and how another does—and how both can lead to results.
What you need isn’t a 10-step plan or template that you need to follow to the letter.
What you need is the sweet spot between structure and flexibility. Between having support to see options and gain confidence, and the time and space to experiment with what works for you.
In Grow, we do just that.
I’ll never pretend there’s only one way to market. Instead, through self-led modules, monthly recorded office hours and monthly planning calls I’ll offer enough structure and support to help you make your own blueprint.
And even that blueprint won’t be set in stone. Some weeks or months you might need to take some tasks off your plate, and during other times you might have the time and energy to do more. All of that is fundamental to Grow, which models marketing for humans.
If you want to explore what your marketing actually needs right now, my marketing quiz is a good place to start—you’ll get a free e-book with strategies tailored to your situation. And if you’d like to hear more about my own marketing journey, I talk about it in depth in episode 1 of the Female Owned podcast.
And if you’re ready to build a marketing strategy that’s truly yours—gentle, sustainable and built around your life—I’d love for you to join me in Grow, my gentle marketing programme for small business owners, freelancers and creatives. Join the waitlist to be the first to hear when doors open.
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