If You Want To Be An Entrepreneur, You HAVE To Be Ok With Marketing
There are times I feel I need to bust out the “tough love” teacher voice and be very real, honest & transparent about this whole entrepreneurship thing.
I’ve been at this for 5 years now.
I started my little side gig business as a freelance content writer; working from the kitchen counter, learning how to start an email list, learning how to market myself, learning how to build a sales automation, learning about customer experience, learning about branding & messaging & client management & back office organization and what the hell a CRM was.
I learned through Google, YouTube, books, professional memberships, online experts and good old trial & error.
I learned fast, applied it and my little business grew.
At the time I was in a membership for freelance writer moms. There was always so much talk, venting and frustration around marketing. NO ONE wanted to do it.
Meanwhile, I friggin’ loved it!
I loved creating content - writing about writing. I loved figuring out exactly who I wanted to work with and how to speak to them. I loved the science & psychology behind human behavior (which is at the core of marketing). I loved building a brand around my little business.
Eventually I went back to my roots (my BA is in Marketing & PR but a 2004 BA in Marketing means nada in 2025) and got a certification in Digital Business Marketing. I realized I wanted to help other women business owners learn to successfully promote themselves online.
And here’s where the tough love comes in…
I’ve worked with dozens of small business owning women to help them better market their businesses and I can say that for about half of them, their biggest struggle was that they simply didn’t want to “do marketing”.
And I get it. It’s a lot. It’s a lot to learn, it’s a lot to plan, it’s a lot to implement and it’s a lot to be consistent with.
But if you want to grow a successful business, marketing has to happen.
Saying you want your business to grow, that you want to make money, that you want to reach your goals but that you don’t want to do the marketing is like saying you want to pass the bar but you don’t want to study for it.
It’s literally not possible.
Unless you are in a position to hire someone to do all the marketing, content creation and selling for you, learning the basics of marketing your business is just as essential and creating the product or service you’re selling.
Meghan Lamle, a business coach I connected with on Threads put it perfectly: “There is no business without sales - that is an expensive hobby.”
And in order to make sales, you have to market your business.
“Ok fine, but what if…”
These are a few of the most common marketing objections I hear:
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t know what I’m doing”
Fair! This is where you decide to dedicate some of your business building time to learning the basics of content marketing online (digital marketing).
Start with a simple Google search
Follow marketing experts (like me) who produce educational content or provide resources
Invest in marketing courses specific to your industry or niche. But please take your time and do your research before purchasing so you can be sure it’s a good fit.
Start a small business marketing TBR…I’ll get you started:
This Is Marketing - Seth Godin
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini
The 1-Page Marketing Plan - Allan Dib
Content, Inc. - Joe Pulizzi
“I’ll just focus on going viral! Won’t that work?”
Um, I guess? But if you’re in business to make money the ROI on going viral is pretty terrible. Please don’t make this your marketing plan.
“I’ll just ask my cousin to post on social for me. They’re good at Instagram!”
Please ask your cousin if they can also:
define your ideal customer avatar
layout your customer journey
plan for a seamless user experience
write engaging email copy
create a landing page and collect email addresses
build out a sales automation
set your content goals & align them to your sales goals
If they can do all of that, and they won’t charge your for it, sign them up and never let go!
All Of This To Say…
Entrepreneurship is exciting. It’s like a new frontier waiting for you to discover and make yours. It’s a great topic for inspirational Reels and fodder for predatory quick-fix solutions that promise $100k in 2 weeks.
But entrepreneurship is a major decision that you deserve to be
well-informed about before you dive in.
I truly believe that if you have the drive, the passion, the patience and the resilience, being a business owner is a wonderful thing! But I will never lie and say it’s a good fit for everyone.
If you want to start a business you will have to sell and market and create content and do it again and again and again - no exceptions.
Are you an Entrepreneur Mom ready for some community?
Check out The Haven!
The Haven is small business stuff - marketing how-to, content creation, biz basics - but also the kind of support, empowerment and community that business owning moms truly need.
We laugh, we cry, we heal and we build our empires.
And if you’re not quite ready to join us, totally cool, subscribe to this newsletter - Inside The Haven - for a taste of what we do in our community!
Yep... You have to market yourself in order to sell, which is what qualifies you as a business instead of just a hobbyist!