If you’ve stopped marketing your business, don’t try to restart everything at once. Choose one core piece of content, focus on the problems your customers need you to solve, and rebuild your marketing rhythm from there. Consistency comes back through doing – not waiting until you feel motivated.
I have a confession. I stopped marketing my business.
Which is slightly awkward when you’re someone who spends a lot of time telling other business owners how important it is to be visible, create content, send emails and consistently market their businesses.
But over the last few months, I did exactly the opposite. I didn’t make a conscious decision to stop. I didn’t announce that I was taking a break or devise some clever strategy to step away from social media.
Life just happened.
And somewhere along the way, my own marketing slipped further and further down my to-do list.
When you’re too busy to market your own business
It had been a pretty crazy few months.
There was a difficult court case with my ex-husband. I was preparing to move house, only for those plans to change at almost the last minute.
Then came the summer holidays.
September arrived, my son started secondary school and needed time to settle in.
Meanwhile, I was busy working.
I was building websites, funnels, courses and memberships for clients. I was helping other people market their businesses.
Then, just to top everything off, I became really ill with a horrible cough and cold that knocked me sideways for weeks.
And gradually…
The podcast stopped.
The emails stopped.
I wasn’t talking about my offers.
I wasn’t marketing Flowelle in the way I wanted to.
And suddenly I looked up and thought:
Where on earth did the last few months go?
The longer you stop marketing, the harder it feels to start again
This was the bit I hadn’t expected. The longer I didn’t create content, the harder creating content started to feel.
I’d look at other people’s posts and think:
“They’re absolutely nailing it.”
Then I’d wonder what I should talk about.
And as a single mum I know it’s hard to do all the things… read more here
I’d consume instead of actually creating. I’d tell myself that once I felt better, had more energy or got my mojo back, I’d start marketing properly again.
Except I eventually realised something. I’d got it the wrong way round.
You don’t wait until you get your mojo back before you start.
You start – and that’s how you get your mojo back.
You haven’t forgotten how to market your business
This is really important.
If you’ve stopped marketing your business for a few weeks or even a few months, you haven’t suddenly forgotten everything you know.
Your expertise hasn’t disappeared.
Your audience hasn’t stopped having problems you can solve.
You’ve simply lost the rhythm of showing up. And rhythms can be rebuilt.
You don’t need to come back with a 90-day content strategy, a rebrand, a new lead magnet and seven social media channels.
You just need to start somewhere.
Read my productivity tips for more inspiration as a solopreneur
Beware the feast-and-famine marketing cycle
There’s another reason this matters, particularly if you run a service business.
When you’re busy with clients, marketing is often the first thing to disappear from your to-do list.
You think:
“I’ve got loads of work. I don’t have time to market right now.”
But then those projects finish.
Suddenly you look at your pipeline and realise there’s nothing coming next.
Cue panic.
You start posting everywhere, emailing everyone and desperately trying to drum up new business.
Then the clients arrive and you stop marketing again.
Busy → stop marketing → work dries up → panic → market like crazy → get busy → stop marketing.
It’s exhausting.
And I’ve realised I don’t want to run my business that way.
I’m not coming back by doing MORE
My solution isn’t to start creating three TikToks, seven LinkedIn posts and daily Reels.
Quite the opposite.
I want to simplify my marketing.
For me, that starts with one piece of useful content.
This podcast is a perfect example.
I can record one podcast episode each week.
That episode can become:
- an email to my list
- a blog post like this one
- several LinkedIn posts
- content for YouTube
- shorter social media content.
Instead of waking up every morning wondering “What on earth shall I post today?”, I’m starting with one idea and using it in different ways.
That’s much more manageable.
And it’s exactly how I want my business to work: simpler, not busier.
Check out my podcast on simplifying my business and life
Stop asking “What should I post?”
There’s something else I’ve noticed from spending so much time behind the scenes in other people’s businesses this year.
We massively overcomplicate marketing.
I’ve seen brilliant experts with websites that don’t clearly explain what they do.
Businesses without an obvious buy button.
People drowning in technology.
Freebies nobody particularly wants.
Courses being created because somebody thinks they should create a course rather than because their audience actually needs one.
We keep creating more.
More content.
More products.
More funnels.
More tech.
But often, what our customers need is less.
So instead of asking:
“What should I post today?”
Try asking:
“What is my ideal customer struggling with today?”
What problem can you help them solve?
What question do they keep asking?
What are they frustrated by?
What do you know that would make their life easier?
Start there.
Suddenly, marketing becomes much easier.
Here’s some ways to market your business that may feel aligned and easier
If you’ve disappeared from your email list, podcast, YouTube channel or social media for a while, you might feel as though you need to explain yourself.
You don’t.
You don’t need a dramatic:
“I’M BACK!”
You don’t need to apologise.
You don’t need a massive relaunch.
And you definitely don’t need to wait until Monday, next month, January or some mythical day when you finally feel organised enough.
Just start.
Send the email.
Record the podcast.
Write the LinkedIn post.
Turn the camera on.
Do one thing.
Then do another.
Confidence comes after you start
Years ago, when I was going through a particularly blue patch, my dad sent me a postcard with elephants on it.
On the back, he’d written:
“Put one foot in front of the other and keep going.”
I’ve never forgotten it.
And I think it’s just as relevant in business.
There will be peaks and troughs.
There will be periods when you’re incredibly productive and others when life takes over.
There will be times when you’re visible everywhere and times when you go quiet.
That’s okay.
The important thing is not waiting for confidence, motivation or your “mojo” to magically reappear.
Confidence comes from doing.
The more you do something, the more competent you become.
And the more competent you feel, the more confident you become.
So this blog post is part of me putting one foot in front of the other again.
The microphone is back on.
The emails are going out.
I’m talking about my business again.
Not perfectly.
But consistently.
And that’s enough.
What are you going to restart?
If you’ve lost your rhythm too, I want you to choose one thing.
Not ten.
What’s the one thing you could restart this week?
Your weekly email?
Your podcast?
Posting on LinkedIn?
Talking about your offer?
Following up with potential clients?
Whatever it is, don’t wait until you feel ready.
Take the first step.
Because sometimes that’s exactly how you get your mojo back.
Like this? Here’s some more ideas:
Why I Quit My 9–5 Job to Build a Freedom-Based Business
How to Keep Going as an Entrepreneur During Life’s Hardest Seasons
Coaching After 50 – Why Your Life Experience Is Your Superpower
Tired, Burnt Out & Broke? Here’s How I Turned It All Around (Without Hustling Harder)
