The #1 Reason Small Businesses Stay Stuck

What’s the biggest reason small businesses stay stuck? It’s not the economy, competition, or pricing. It’s something totally in your control—inconsistent marketing.

Most business owners fall into the start-stop cycle:

❌ They market when business is slow.

❌ Then they get busy and stop.

❌ Then sales dry up, panic sets in, and they start again from scratch.

But marketing isn’t something you do when you “have time”—it’s what keeps your business growing consistently.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about:

✅ Why inconsistent marketing is hurting your business.

✅ How to break free from the start-stop cycle.

✅ A simple plan to stay on track—even when you’re busy.

If you’ve ever struggled to keep your marketing going when things get hectic, this episode is for you.

Connect with me

Website: www.newschoolofmarketing.com
Facebook: @newschoolofmarketing
Facebook group: @newschoolofmarketing
Instagram: @bianca_mckenzie

Work with me:

🟠 NEW SCHOOL OF MARKETING BUSINESS CLUB: a supportive, action-focused community where business owners get weekly coaching, expert feedback, and co-working sessions to stay consistent, accountable, and strategic with their marketing—so they can finally see real results.
https://newschoolofmarketing.com/club

🔵 MARKETING STRATEGY & COACHING: customised marketing strategies, expert guidance, and hands-on support to help business owners attract more leads, increase sales, and grow sustainably—without the guesswork. https://www.biancamckenzie.com/coaching/

⚫️ CHECK MY WEBSITE: https://www.biancamckenzie.com/

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Transcript

Welcome to the new School of Marketing podcast. I'm Bianca McKenzie, and this is the place where we break down marketing strategies that actually work without the overwhelm. Before we dive in, I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land I live and work on, the Palawa people of Lutruwita.

I pay my respects to the elders, past and present, and I acknowledge the deep connection they have to this land, culture and community.

Let's dive in and make marketing work for you.

All right, in today's episode, I want to talk about the number one reason small businesses stay stuck.

And spoiler alert. It's not because of pricing,

competition,

the economy,

or even a lack of leads.

The biggest reason small businesses struggle.

Da da da da. Drum roll. It's because they stop marketing when they get busy.

Sound familiar?

Maybe. You go through phases where you're posting, emailing, networking, doing all the things and all the right things. But then business picks up. You get clients, you get projects, you get deadlines,

and marketing takes a backseat.

Then a few months later, things slow down, leads dry up, panic sets in, and suddenly you're scrambling to market again.

This start stop cycle is one of the biggest things holding your business back.

So today I'm going to show you why inconsistent marketing is costing you growth,

how to break out of the cycle for good.

And I'm going to show you a simple plan to stay on track even when you are busy.

So if you're tired of the feast or famine cycle, keep listening. This episode is for you.

Okay, let's start with why inconsistent marketing is so damaging to your business.

Here's what happens when you only market when things slow down.

Number one is you're always playing catch up. By the time you need new clients, it's already too late.

Marketing takes time,

so waiting until things slow down puts you in a constant cycle of scrambling for leads.

Number two is you lose momentum. If you disappear for months, your audience actually forgets about you. People need to see your brand consistently before they buy.

So when you stop marketing and then you start again, you have to rebuild trust and visibility from scratch, kind of. And number three is you create more stress for yourself.

Instead of a steady stream of Clients, you get high highs and low lows.

One month you're swamped, the next you're panicking because leads have dried up. And this cycle keeps you in survival mode instead of growing your business strategically.

If this sounds like you,

don't worry. You are absolutely not alone. There are many, many people that are in the same boat.

It's one of the most common struggles for business owners. But there's a way to fix it.

So how do we break this cycle and make marketing something that you do consistently and just when things are slow? There's one mindset shift that you need to make.

Okay, here's the mindset shift that you need to make.

Marketing isn't an extra task.

It's the engine that keeps your business running.

Get that?

I'll wait until you write it down on a piece of paper. Marketing isn't an extra task.

It's the engine that keeps your business running.

You wouldn't stop delivering your product or your service when things get busy, right? I mean, I hope you don't.

Well, marketing is just as important as the work you do for your clients.

So I'm going to tell you how you can stay consistent even when life gets hectic.

Your first step is to create a simple,

repeatable marketing plan.

So instead of reinventing the wheel every time, you need to have like a baseline marketing plan that you can follow no matter what.

And this could be, for example,

posting three times a week on social media,

sending one email per week, like to your list.

Running evergreen ads is another option so that leads are always coming in and you need to have at least one consistent lead generation strategy.

Now I am mentioning all of these and I would try to do all of these.

I know that seems like a lot. You know, posting three times a week on social media, sending one email per week, running evergreen ads, and have one consistently generation strategy.

I would do at least three of those.

Some people, you know, they don't really run ads or want to run ads. You definitely need to do all the other ones then.

So you need to create your baseline marketing plan that you will follow through with no matter what.

Step number two is, automate what you can.

And here's the thing, you do not have to scramble every single day, every single week in terms of posting on social media, emailing, that kind of thing. You can schedule posts in advance.

So like, really there's no excuse of, you know, I forgot to post this week. You can schedule posts in advance. You can literally spend,

you know, a few days scheduling your posts for the month.

It's not that hard anymore, especially with the help of AI.

You need to have email sequences that actually nurture leads while you're busy with client work.

If you have ever downloaded one of my free downloads, you will have gone through a nurture sequence or a welcome sequence and then a nurture sequence. My emails keep going, they're automated.

I don't have to be there for it. You can do that as well. And then your other one is to repurpose content. You do not need to reinvent the wheel every single time.

You can literally have one message delivered or like written out in multiple different ways. I will often now in, you know, in a software like ChatGPT, put one of my messages that I've written, like one of my social posts that I've written, and I will ask it to write,

you know, five different versions of it. So I can be saying the same thing in different ways. So automate what you can. And then step number three is you need to set marketing non negotiables.

So pick two to three marketing tasks that you commit to every week, no matter what.

And here's what those tasks should be focused on. They need to focus on keeping you visible, they need to keep your audience engaged, and they need to drive sales.

So pick two to three marketing tasks that you do every single week, no matter what that drive visibility or audience engagement and sales.

So this way, even in your busiest weeks, you are still doing something to keep your marketing running.

And your goal isn't to do everything, but it's to create a sustainable, repeatable system. And this is why I love automation so much. Because literally, once you have your base plan marketing, your baseline marketing plan,

you can already implement so much of it and automate so much of it that it will keep going. And then you will focus on your 3:2 to 3 marketing tasks that you do every week.

And you know, it doesn't have to take long because your baseline marketing plan is keeping things running. All right, so you have a simple marketing plan and a system in place.

How do you actually stick to it?

Your first step in that is to schedule marketing time, like a client project.

If it's not in your calendar, it probably won't happen. So you need to block out dedicated time each week for marketing, just like you would for a client meeting.

This is what I do with my podcasts every month. I book in time to record my podcast. I batch record, because I want it to be simple, I want it to be efficient, and I don't want to have to do it every single week and be scrambling.

I do this in advance so that I know that you know if something happens and I can't actually record on a certain day, there is content scheduled in advance. So you need to do the same block out dedicated time each week for your marketing.

The second one is you need to set bare minimum weeks for when you're swamped.

So instead of going completely silent when you're busy,

have like a bare minimum plan. Maybe it's one social post instead of three.

Maybe it's like a quick email instead of like a long newsletter. Or maybe it is something repurposed. I do that sometimes. I have over 200 email marketing episodes in my podcast.

Like surely I can find some topics in there to send when it's a busy week. So you need to have a bare minimum plan because you know what? Small actions are better than nothing.

When you go silent quiet, that's when people forget about you and you have to start again. So keep it moving, keep it going. And then another one is get support and accountability.

It is so much easier to stay on track when you have people holding you accountable.

And I'm not talking, you know, like someone's cracking the whip.

You do need to have some accountability. Whether it's a community, a coach, or maybe an accountability partner, having someone to check in with makes all the difference.

So if it is you doing the marketing and you cannot outsource it yet because you know you might be at that point at some point. But if you can't outsource it yet,

have your bare minimum plan, make sure it still keeps ticking along and get some support. In terms of accountability,

marketing consistently isn't about doing more. It's literally about having a system that you can stick to no matter how busy you are.

So the number one reason small businesses stay stuck is because of inconsistent marketing. And really the fix, it's not that hard. You need to create a simple, repeatable marketing system that keeps running even when you're busy.

So I want to give you a task this week and you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email. Helloiancamckenzie.com but I want you to think about one small marketing habit that you can commit to every week, no matter what.

Maybe it's one email, maybe it's one post, maybe it's one Life Video. Whatever it is, stick to it.

I do want you to think about the type of marketing activity that you will do.

Because as much as I like social media,

I don't think it should be the only thing that you rely on. I do think that and this is probably a whole different podcast episode. I do think that you need to build your own assets in terms of like an email list, website, that kind of thing.

Social media is great, but you do need to also consider what, what happens if my account gets shut down or like one of those things. What, what happened if Facebook or Instagram disappeared right now?

If that is where you are building your entire marketing ecosystem,

then that is dangerous. But like I said, that's a whole different podcast episode. So. But do think about that, okay?

If you're tired of doing it alone, if you need accountability, strategy, support to stay consistent, that is exactly what we do inside the new School of Marketing Business Club. You get monthly calls with me where we can do accountability check ins.

We have co working sessions that we actually, you know, use to get marketing done,

expert feedback so that you stay on track. So no more stop start marketing clear, consistent action that leads to growth. You can find all the details@newschoolofmarketing.com club and that is the end of this episode.

If this resonated with you, let me know. Send me a DM on Instagram comment on this episode. I would love to hear what marketing habit you're committing to. And as I said, if you're ready to finally stay consistent and and grow without the stress, join us inside the new School of Marketing Business Club.

You'll find all the details@new schoolofmarketing.com thank you so so much for tuning into the new School of Marketing podcast. If you found it helpful, make sure that you subscribe, leave a review and share it with a fellow business owner.

All right, until next time, stay consistent and keep marketing your business every day.