I Know I Need to Market My Business... So Why Do I Keep Putting It Off?

You know marketing your business is important — so why does it keep falling to the bottom of your to-do list? In this episode, we’re diving into the real reasons behind marketing procrastination. (Hint: It’s not laziness.) From perfectionism and fear of failure to self-doubt and burnout, we’ll explore what’s really holding you back — and how to break the cycle with simple, sustainable action.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, guilty, or overwhelmed about showing up, this one’s for you.

You’ll walk away with fresh clarity, mindset shifts, and practical ways to move forward — no shame required.

And if you’re ready to stop struggling solo and get the support, structure, and strategy that actually moves the needle — come join us inside the New School of Marketing Business Club.

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

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Transcript

Hey. 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 respect to elders past and present and acknowledge the deep connection they have to this land, culture and community.

Now let's dive in and make marketing work for you.

All right, today's episode is for the business owner who says, I know I need to be marketing my business, so why do I keep putting it off?

If you've ever opened up your laptop with the intention of posting on Instagram, writing an email, planning your content, and then you kind of found yourself deep into a scroll hole or organizing your inbox instead, you are absolutely not alone.

In this episode, I'm going to dig into why we procrastinate on marketing, even when we know it's important.

I want to talk about the emotional layers underneath and underneath that resistance, and most importantly, how we can gently move through it. So. So let's go.

Let's be real.

This isn't about laziness. It's not about poor time management.

More often than not, procrastinating on marketing is a symptom of something deeper.

And here are some of the real reasons I see all the time.

The first one is fear of failure, or sometimes fear of success.

You might be thinking, what if I put myself out there and nobody responds?

Or even scarier, what if it does work and I can't keep up?

And that kind of keeps you in that safety zone of inaction because, you know, you don't want to get too busy sometimes. You don't want to get too visible.

And we have that fear of rejection in a way, too.

Another one is perfectionism.

And I see this so often. You want the perfect post, the perfect caption, the perfect strategy, the perfect reveal, the perfect video.

And, you know, you kind of have to have some skills these days to make really cool videos.

It's like, it's easier than ever, but it's also harder than ever.

And we kind of, yeah, have that Perfection, that perfect strategy. And because you don't have the time or the energy to do it perfectly, you don't do it at all.

And really, perfectionism is just procrastination wearing a fancy hat.

And you're not the only one.

I record a lot of videos that never see the light of day. They just stay in my phone.

Another one is shame and self doubt.

So you've told yourself you're not good at marketing. And the amount of times I hear these, I do a lot of mentoring, like often like two or three people a week.

And like a lot of the times I just hear that, oh, I'm not good at marketing, that's your thing. I'm not good at marketing or I'm not creative enough or I'm not as polished as others in the industry.

And when that story is playing in your head, of course you're going to avoid marketing because you're making it mean something about your worth.

Everybody can do marketing. Honestly, everybody can do marketing. And I know you all can do it too.

If I had a real life conversation with you and I asked about what you did and you know, what you sell and what it does for someone, you would, I know you would light up and tell me all about it.

And that's marketing.

It literally is marketing.

All right, now that we know why it's happening, let's see what we can do to shift out of it. Because this is the main thing.

There's lots of reasons why you are not doing your marketing, but I don't really want to focus on that. I want to focus on, well, what can we do to move through it, past it and out of it.

The first one is to lower the bar.

I need to give you, and I need to need you to give yourself permission to do a B minus job.

Done is always better than perfect.

A simple post, a quick email, a 10 minute planning session, you're building momentum, you're not writing a novel.

And this is almost a daily reminder.

Like since becoming a mum, it's like, yes, you're not good at this yet, or, or maybe you haven't quite gotten it yet. I have a 7 year old daughter and the amount of times that it's like I can't do it, I always ask her, how did you learn to walk?

It's steps. You get up, you fall a few times, but the more you do it, the better you get. And that is, it's literally repetition, repetition, repetition.

If you want to get better at marketing, you're gonna literally have to lower the Bar right now, start doing it and the more you do it, you start flexing that muscle really and the better you get.

So I am giving you permission and I need you to give yourself permission to do a B minus job.

That done is better than perfect.

If I look back to my first Instagram post and please don't go scrolling back to my first Instagram, I know you, I know you will.

But if I look back to my first, you know, everythings that I put out there, it's not perfect, but doing it makes you get better.

It's like going to the gym.

The more you go, the better it gets. Right?

Okay, next one is to create structure and accountability.

So if we're left to our own devices, most of us will choose the easier thing.

But when you have a plan, and better yet, when you have people who are on the same path, everything gets easier.

So can you join a co working session, map out your content for the week, put your marketing time on your calendar and literally treat it like a client meeting.

Strapchart doesn't box you in, it actually supports you. So your mission is to book in that time and literally treat it like a client meeting. You have to show up for it.

And little hint, AI can make things so much easier and so much quicker. Once you have your content mapped out, you can get AI to help you write it. You can also help get AI to help you write multiple versions of it so that you have content for a few weeks.

I have a course for this. I'll pop it at the end in the show notes. But yeah, it makes everything faster.

The third one I want you to do is to shift the story.

So instead of saying I'm not good at marketing, I want you to start saying, I am learning how to show up consistently.

I'm like, I'm a big fan of affirmations, so make these affirmations or however you, you know, however you work with this best. But yes, I'm learning how to show up consistently.

Another one is I'm willing to experiment because marketing is a whole lot of experimenting to see what's working, what's going to stick. And then once you figure that out, you do more of that.

And this one is a really important one. I want you to write this one down too.

Marketing helps me help more people.

People need to know what you do. They need to, well, they need to know what you do, otherwise they can't buy it.

But you're helping people with whatever you're doing, whether it's a service, whether it's a product, you're helping people either by actually helping them or by making their lives more fun or more exciting. Or like, if you have, you know, amazing food products, like, you lift them up.

So marketing helps me help more people.

You don't need to love marketing, but you can stop making it mean something negative about you.

I do not want to hear I'm not good at marketing anymore because it's kind of like my daughter saying I'm not good at drawing. I'm like, well, I'm not good at writing.

Keep practicing.

Keep practicing. Keep. Keep flexing that muscle and you will get better.

Okay, here are three quick wins you can do today.

Yes, today.

To start feeling momentum again.

The first one is post one thing that's helpful or honest, even if it's not polished.

So post one thing that's helpful or honest.

The second one is send one email to your list or to a segment of your list, sharing a tip or checking in one email.

And the third one is review one piece of content that did really well and see how you can repurpose it. Whether that is, you know, creating a new image and using the same copy.

But yeah, review one piece of content that did really well and then repurpose it.

Momentum builds motivation, not the other way around.

So start building momentum.

And then you can keep doing this multiple times a week or have that weekly date where you do your whole, like, all your content for the week just in, you know, one batch.

Because batching really does help.

All right, to wrap up.

If you've been stuck in the cycle of I know I need to market, but I just can't seem to do it.

I hope this episode helps you feel less alone and hopefully more equipped to take the pressure off and to take some action.

It's not about doing more. It's about doing the right things consistently.

And if you're ready to stop struggling solo and get the support, structure and strategy that actually moves the needle, come and join us inside the new School of Marketing Business Business Club.

You'll get access to all of my courses, weekly accountability, monthly masterclasses, expert feedback, and the community that's here to lift you up and cheer you on.

You can find everything at newschoolofmarketing.com/club.

And until next time, make sure that you keep marketing your business every day.