How to Market Your Business

Marketing is one of the topics I get asked about most often by business owners.

Many people start a business because they are passionate about what they do. They love creating, teaching, coaching, designing, helping clients or delivering a service that makes a difference. Then they reach the point where they need customers and suddenly find themselves faced with a challenge they weren’t expecting: marketing.

For some people, the word itself feels uncomfortable. They worry about being pushy, salesy or constantly promoting themselves. Others feel overwhelmed by the number of marketing strategies, social media platforms and expert opinions available online.

The good news is that marketing doesn’t need to be complicated.

In fact, one of the biggest shifts I help business owners make is changing the way they think about marketing altogether.

What Marketing Really Is

Marketing is simply telling people about your business.

It’s helping people understand who you help, how you help them and why your product or service matters. If you genuinely believe your business can make a positive difference to someone’s life, then marketing becomes much less about selling and much more about connecting.

I often encourage business owners to think of marketing as an opportunity rather than a chore. Every piece of content you create, every email you send and every conversation you have is an opportunity to help someone discover a solution to a problem they may be facing.

Helping people is exciting. Marketing gives you the chance to reach the people who need what you do.

Why Great Businesses Sometimes Struggle

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through running businesses and supporting entrepreneurs is that having a fantastic product or service isn’t enough.

I’ve seen incredibly talented people create brilliant offers, develop exceptional services and pour their hearts into their businesses, only to struggle because very few people knew they existed.

The problem wasn’t the quality of what they were offering.

The problem was visibility.

People cannot buy from a business they don’t know exists.

A Real Example

I worked with a business owner who had created a fantastic creative programme focused on helping pre-teen girls develop friendships and social confidence.

The sessions were thoughtfully planned, highly valuable and addressed a genuine need. However, attendance was lower than expected because the business owner was focusing most of her energy on creating the programme rather than helping people understand why it mattered.

Once we shifted the focus of her marketing towards parents of pre-teen girls who were worried about friendships, confidence and social challenges, things began to change.

Instead of talking about the classes themselves, she started creating content that helped parents understand the issues their daughters might be facing and offered useful support and guidance.

As trust grew, marketing became easier. Parents could see that she understood their concerns and genuinely wanted to help. The result was increased interest, stronger engagement and more enquiries.

The lesson was simple: people need to know you exist, and they need to understand how you can help them.

Start With Your Ideal Customer

One of the most common marketing mistakes I see is trying to speak to everyone.

When your message is aimed at everybody, it often resonates with nobody.

Successful marketing starts with understanding exactly who you want to help.

Ask yourself:

– Who is my ideal customer?

– What challenges are they facing?

– What questions do they ask?

– What are they worried about?

– What outcome are they looking for?

The clearer you become about your audience, the easier it becomes to create content that speaks directly to them.

Your ideal customer isn’t everyone.

The more specific you are, the more relevant and effective your marketing will become.

Help First, Sell Second

Another common mistake is treating every piece of content as a sales opportunity.

Many business owners worry so much about generating customers that every post becomes a promotion.

Unfortunately, people tend to switch off when they feel like they’re constantly being sold to.

Instead, focus on building trust by helping people first.

Share your expertise.

Answer questions.

Offer useful tips.

Provide encouragement.

Teach people something valuable.

When people consistently gain value from your content, they begin to see you as someone who understands their challenges and can help solve them.

By the time you make an offer, you’ve already built credibility and trust.

Selling becomes easier because the relationship already exists.

Build an Audience Before You Need One

If there is one piece of marketing advice I wish every business owner would follow, it’s this:

Build your audience before you need customers.

Many business owners spend months creating a product, service, programme or course and only start thinking about marketing when they’re ready to launch.

The problem is that trust takes time to build.

Relationships take time to build.

Audiences take time to build.

The earlier you start, the easier marketing becomes.

As you develop your business, begin creating content, sharing your knowledge and connecting with potential customers. By the time you’re ready to launch, you’ll already have people who know who you are and what you do.

Why I Believe Email Marketing Matters So Much

If there is one marketing activity I encourage almost every business owner to focus on, it’s building an email list.

Don’t get me wrong, I love social media and use it regularly in my own businesses. It’s a fantastic way to meet new people, share your expertise and grow awareness of what you do. However, social media platforms are constantly changing. Algorithms change, accounts get restricted, reach fluctuates and sometimes businesses spend years building an audience only to discover that a very small percentage of their followers actually see their content.

That’s why I believe it’s so important to build an audience that you own.

When somebody joins your email list, they’re giving you permission to communicate with them directly. They’re choosing to hear from you because they’re interested in what you do and how you can help. Over time, your email list becomes one of your most valuable business assets because it allows you to build genuine relationships with people without relying on a social media platform to decide whether your message gets seen.

I’ve seen many business owners spend years chasing followers whilst neglecting their email list, only to find that when they launch a new product or service, they have very few ways of reaching the people who have shown an interest in their business. In contrast, business owners who consistently focus on list building often find it much easier to generate enquiries, launch new offers and maintain regular communication with their audience.

For that reason, whenever I’m helping someone market their business, I encourage them to think beyond followers and focus on building an audience they can stay connected with for years to come. Social media is a brilliant tool for reaching new people, but your email list is where many of the strongest business relationships are built.

Consistency Matters More Than Perfection

Many business owners give up on marketing because they don’t see instant results.

They post for a few weeks, don’t receive many enquiries and conclude that marketing isn’t working. In reality, marketing is rarely about one post, one email or one campaign.

Marketing works because of consistency. Every helpful post builds awareness. Every email builds trust. Every conversation strengthens relationships.

Most people won’t buy from you the first time they discover your business. They need time to get to know you, understand what you do and decide whether you’re the right fit for them.

The businesses that succeed are often the businesses that continue showing up consistently while others stop too soon.

What To Do If Your Marketing Isn’t Working

If you’ve been posting consistently and aren’t seeing results, my advice is to go back to your audience.

Ask yourself:

– Am I clear about who I’m trying to help?

– Am I creating content that solves their problems?

 – Am I helping more than I’m selling?

– Am I building an email list?

– Am I being consistent?

Often, the issue isn’t the platform or the algorithm.

The issue is that the message isn’t speaking clearly enough to the right people.

When you understand your ideal customer and create content specifically for them, marketing becomes significantly more effective.

Final Thoughts

Marketing isn’t about convincing people to buy something they don’t need.

It’s about helping the right people discover your business and understand how you can help them.

The most successful marketing is built on trust, consistency and genuine connection. Focus on helping people, building relationships and growing an audience that you can serve over time.

Most importantly, remember that your ideal customer isn’t everyone. The better you understand the people you want to help, the easier it becomes to create marketing that resonates, builds trust and ultimately grows your business.