Why Entrepreneurs Need a Structured Marketing Strategy to Stop Working 24/7

You created a business to have more time and freedom, not to work 24/7 around the clock without seeing any results.

Does this sound familiar? You’re constantly frustrated and overwhelmed because you’re taking on so much. You’re posting on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and all these other social media platforms. But you’re not seeing the return on your efforts and investment. No new leads coming into your email list. No clients coming through the door.

I get it. I’ve been there too.

Marketing without a plan is like building a house without a blueprint. You may hammer a few nails, put up some walls, but eventually, you’ll realize the bathroom is in the wrong place and the foundation isn’t strong enough to sustain the house itself.

Without a marketing plan, you’re doing all the work with no structure in place. When you have a marketing plan, you have the blueprint to your success. Everything you create, everything you build actually works together toward one main goal.

The Problems When You Don’t Have a Marketing System

There are a few problems that arise when you don’t have a marketing system:

• Hitting a wall: You pick a strategy, go full force on it, and then hit a wall. Maybe you don’t fully understand what’s required to acquire your ideal clients, or you can’t replicate your success because there’s no structure in place.
• No clients at all: You feel overwhelmed doing all the things – posting here, posting there, creating content – but it’s not working because it’s not cohesive to one main goal. It’s not strategic in the way one piece of content should work with the next to help clients make a buying decision.

Let me tell you about Sarah. She’s been a wellness coach for about two or three years. Despite working 50+ hours a week in her business, posting constantly, being consistent, and doing the work, she was exhausted. She was creating five different types of content for every platform – TikTok, Instagram, sending cold DMs, attending networking events.

When she came to me, she had tears in her eyes, saying, “I’m doing everything, but nothing is sticking. Nothing is working.”

In our first coaching session, a marketing intensive, I quickly diagnosed the issue. Sarah was implementing and being consistent with all the tactics, but she wasn’t being strategic about them. She didn’t have a cohesive strategy that would help her replicate getting clients over and over again.

So we stripped everything back and built a marketing strategy that would actually help her get clients on repeat. Instead of focusing on all platforms, we focused on the ones where she already saw the most engagement. We went all in on that.

Within 90 days of implementing this plan consistently, she was able to book premium clients at her new rate. She replaced random marketing strategies with a structured, proven system that’s going to help her repeat the process over and over again.

3 Benefits of Creating a Marketing Plan

1. It Creates Ease and Safety

When Sarah created her marketing plan, she knew exactly what she needed to do in her business. She wasn’t coming to her laptop every day thinking, “What new decisions do I need to make? What do I need to do now?”

We completely eliminated the decision fatigue that created that hard experience for her – where everything felt difficult to do.

A marketing plan helps you create results much faster because when you know exactly what to do and when to do it, you eliminate the fatigue of constant decision-making.

A marketing plan also creates safety because you’ve already precisely mapped out all the strategies you’re implementing. It’s easy to feel safe knowing that what you’re doing is taking your business from this level to the next, and you know exactly how you’re doing that.

2. Motivation to Take the Next Step

Instead of feeling stuck (“I don’t know what to post today” or “I don’t know what to say to my ideal clients so they’ll buy”), your mind shifts to, “I know exactly what I need to do. This is my next best step,” and so you’re motivated to move forward and create more momentum in your business.

When you create ease and safety, you also feel motivated. You’re more prone to take the next step because you know exactly what that next step is going to be.

Don’t get me wrong – having a marketing plan isn’t about knowing exactly what to do in every piece of your business. It’s about knowing exactly what to do in your marketing to bring in clients. You’re no longer sitting there thinking, “I don’t know what to do to get clients. Let me buy this other course, let me get this other coach, let me try this strategy.” You’re no longer looking for that secret thing that’s going to help you get clients because you know exactly what you need to be doing and focusing on.

3. A Repeatable Sales Process

The third benefit is having that repeatable sales process that you can replicate over and over again. When you understand exactly how you got that first client, and you have that system and structure in place to replicate it and get your second, third, and fourth client – that’s when you have a business that’s going to work for you long-term.

That’s when you have a business where you can take time off, have the freedom you want, and be able to actually deliver on the things you’re promising.

The Buffet Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make

Most entrepreneurs treat their marketing like an all-you-can-eat buffet. They pile their plate with a little bit of everything – TikToks, Instagram Reels, Stories, YouTube strategies – all these different tactics in an attempt to get clients.

By the time you want to execute and go all in, you’re overwhelmed by all these moving pieces. Nothing is working because you’re putting your attention in all these different places instead of focusing on that one thing that’s going to help you move the needle forward much faster.

The way I like to add things to my business is: once I have one strategy down, once I see that strategy helping me get clients consistently and growing my business, then I’m able to stack more strategies on top.

But not until I see that first one I’m working on fully executed and see it through. When I’m able to focus on one marketing strategy at a time, I can see how to refine it, focus it, tweak it, and move people much faster through my marketing cycle. I get more results without putting more hours into working more systems and strategies.

Creating Your Marketing Plan: 3 Key Elements

When creating your marketing plan, there are three elements to consider:

1. Understand how you’ll show up for your ideal clients
   • What’s the first touch point you want to create with your audience?
   • Is it through content? One-on-one reach?
   • Understanding this helps you realize you don’t have to be everywhere at once – just consistent with that one thing that creates the first touch point.
2. Understand how you’ll nurture your leads
   • Once someone discovers you, how are you building that relationship?
   • How are you providing value and building trust?
   • This doesn’t mean being everywhere – it means being valuable consistently in one place.
3. Know how you’re driving people to take action
   • Many of us don’t tell our audience how they can work with us – we create content for value and think that’s enough.
   • We need to tell people exactly what to do and how to start working with us.
   • Are you being clear with your calls to action?
   • Are you telling them the exact next step after consuming your content?

The Consequences of Not Having a Marketing Plan

Remember what happens without a marketing plan:

• You feel like you need to be everywhere at once
• You feel scattered and overwhelmed
• You want to book clients but have no idea how
• Even if you know what you’re supposed to be doing, without structure you’ll always come to the table empty-handed
• Eventually, you’ll feel tired of constantly working hard to see zero to no results

Your Next Step

If you don’t have a marketing plan, your next step is to figure out these three things:

1. How are you going to attract clients?
2. How are you going to nurture your clients?
3. How are you going to drive them to take action to work with you?

If you feel this is exactly what you need – if you don’t have a clear marketing plan, structure, ease, or that repeatable sales process to bring in clients – I would love for you to take me up on this offer. I’m accepting five new clients for my marketing intensives.

This is for you if you are a service-based business looking to attract more high-paying clients by creating a marketing plan, structure, and ease in your business. Focus on one simple strategy until it works, instead of doing all the things.

Book a one-on-one intensive with me at janetano.com/marketing-intensive or book a discovery call at janetano.com.

Thank you so much for reading! I’m Janet, a marketing coach helping clients simplify their marketing for a profitable business.

What about you? Do you have a marketing plan? Is it simple, strategic, and helping you get clients? Let me know in the comments!