Stop Doing Things You Hate in Your Business

Every small business owner and non-profit director has a list of marketing tasks they keep putting off.

Updating the website.
Posting on social media.
Writing newsletters.
Figuring out SEO.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And you probably don’t need to do all of those things yourself!

Sometimes not even cupcakes can make doing a task you hate better.

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that successful business owners do everything.

We wear “busy” like a badge of honor.

We convince ourselves we’ll save money if we just figure it out ourselves.

We spend three hours watching YouTube tutorials to avoid paying someone who could have finished the job before lunch.

We’ve all done it.

Sometimes learning a new skill is absolutely worth it.

Sometimes it’s just keeping you from doing the work only you can do.

Not everything should be outsourced.

Before I go any further, I want to make something clear.

There are plenty of things that feel uncomfortable simply because they’re new.

Networking.
Speaking.
Raising your prices.
Trying a new marketing strategy.

Those things might deserve more time before you decide they’re “not for you.”

But there are other tasks that drain your energy every single time.

You procrastinate.
You dread them.
You avoid them.
You finally force yourself to do them.
And then you promise yourself you’ll never let them pile up again.

Until they do.

That’s different.

Your marketing shouldn’t depend on willpower.

One of the biggest myths in small business is that consistency comes from discipline.

I don’t think it does.

I think consistency comes from having a system that works for you.

If you hate writing captions, maybe you shouldn’t be writing every caption.

If updating your website makes you want to throw your laptop across the room, maybe that shouldn’t be your job.

If you never remember to send a newsletter, maybe the problem isn’t you.

Maybe the system is broken. (Hint, this is the truth)

That’s where I come in.

I work with small businesses and nonprofits throughout Exeter, Portsmouth, the New Hampshire Seacoast, and southern Maine that are tired of trying to do every part of their marketing themselves.

A lot of my clients hire me because they need a website.

Or brand photography.

Or help with social media.

What usually happens is they realize those weren’t actually the problem.

The problem was carrying every piece of marketing themselves.

Instead of trying to become a website designer…
A copywriter…
A photographer…
A graphic designer…
An SEO specialist…
A social media manager…
An email marketer…

…they finally have someone whose job is making sure those things actually get done.

Not because they can’t.

Because they don’t need to.

I don’t just manage one piece of marketing. I build websites, create brand photography, help with messaging, write content, improve SEO, and keep everything moving together.

Instead of coordinating five different freelancers, my clients have one person making sure their marketing actually happens.

Your time has value.

If spending four hours trying to update your website means you aren’t serving clients, following up on leads, creating your product, or taking a day off, that website update wasn’t actually free.

Neither was spending your Saturday trying to figure out why your Facebook post reached seventeen people.

Every hour has a cost.

Sometimes paying someone else is actually the cheaper option.

If hours and minutes were postits and lists, where would your time be counted?

What should you keep doing?

The things only you can do.

Building relationships.
Serving your clients.
Sharing your expertise.
Making decisions.
Growing your business.

Those are the things people hire you for.

You don’t have to love every part of running a business.

There will always be paperwork.

Taxes. (This is not my forte; I outsource this 100%)

Insurance. (Also very important, don’t run your small business without insurance)

Things that simply have to get done.

But your marketing doesn’t have to feel like another item on that list.

The best marketing system isn’t the one someone on the internet tells you to build.

It’s the one you’ll actually use.

If your marketing has become another full-time job, let’s build a system that works for your business instead of against it.

Can you help me stop doing things I hate‽