You Don't Need an Agency—You Need a Plan (and a Bit of Grit)

If you've been thinking "I should probably hire an agency" every time your marketing feels overwhelming, this episode might save you tens of thousands of dollars—and give you back your confidence.

The truth is, most small businesses don't actually need an agency, at least not yet. What they need is a clear plan, solid systems, and the willingness to show up consistently. The difference between businesses that succeed with DIY marketing and those that struggle isn't budget or professional design—it's strategic thinking and persistence.

In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly when agencies make sense (and when they're a waste of money), plus giving you the framework to build your own effective marketing system without the hefty price tag.

The best marketing isn't always the most expensive—it's the most strategic and consistent. This episode shows you how to build both.

Links shared in the episode: Marketing Momentum Membership

Transcript

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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 respects to the 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.

If you've ever looked at marketing and thought I should probably hire an agency,

or if you felt like you can't succeed without spending thousands on professional help, or if you're convinced that DIY marketing will always look amateur compared to what the pros can do, then this episode might save you a lot of money and give you back your confidence.

Today we're going to to talk about why most small businesses don't actually need an agency.

At least not yet.

What they need is a clear plan, the willingness to be consistent, and a bit of good old fashioned grit.

Here's the truth.

The difference between businesses that succeed with DIY marketing and those that struggle isn't budget or professional design.

It is strategic thinking and persistence.

Let's start by talking about why hiring an agency feels so appealing.

Your marketing feels chaotic, you're not sure what you're doing, and suddenly you see ads from agencies promising to handle everything so that you can focus on your business.

Sounds perfect, right?

Hand over the marketing to the experts, pay them a monthly retainer, and watch the clients roll in.

But here's what nobody tells you.

Most small businesses that hire agencies too early end up disappointed and out of pocket.

Not because agencies are bad, but because they hired professional help before they had the fundamentals in place.

It's like hiring a personal trainer when you haven't even committed to showing up at a gym.

The trainer can't do the work for you, and if you don't have the basic discipline in place, you're just going to waste your money.

So before we dive into the DIY approach, let me be clear about when hiring an agency or a marketing professional actually makes sense.

So you should consider an agency when you've got a proven marketing approach that's working and you need help scaling it beyond your capacity so you might be making like, you know, enough revenue that a 3,000 to 10,000 monthly retainer is not going to break you.

You have clear goals, you have clear KPIs and you'll hold the agency accountable to them.

You also understand marketing well enough to actually evaluate whether the agency is doing good work or Another reason to consider an agency is when you need specialised skills that you don't have in house, like running complex ad campaigns or technical SEO search engine optimisation.

You should not hire an agency when you're hoping that they'll figure out your marketing strategy for you, or you can't clearly explain what you do, who you serve, why it matters.

And don't hire an agency if you haven't tried DIY marketing consistently for at least six months.

And don't hire an agency if you're spending more on the agency than you're making in revenue.

An agency is not going to magically solve all your business problems, right?

So if you're not ready for an agency, what do you need?

Well, three things.

You need a clear plan, you need the right systems, and you need the grit to stick with it.

So let's break down each one.

Building your marketing plan.

A marketing plan. It doesn't need to be a 47 page document.

It needs to answer just a few questions really clearly.

Question number one who are you trying to reach?

Get specific about your ideal customer. Not just demographics, but their actual situation, their challenges, their goals. If you cannot describe your ideal customer clearly enough that you could spot them in a crowd, you're targeting is going to be too vague.

Question number two what do you want them to feel, know and do?

What's the one thing you want people to understand about your offer?

How do you want them to feel when they think about your business?

What specific action do you want them to take?

Question number three where will you reach them?

So based on where your ideal customers actually spend their time, choose one or two primary channels. Not five platforms, just one or two where you'll show up consistently and well.

Question number four what will you say and show?

Plan your key messages and your content themes.

What stories will you tell? What problems will you help solve? What value will you provide?

Question number five how will you measure success?

So pick three to five metrics that actually matter to your business.

Things like leads that you've generated, conversion rates, sales that you've made.

Not just likes and followers.

And that's it. That's Your marketing plan. Five questions.

Write it down in, you know, two to three pages maximum.

And if it's longer than that, you're overthinking it.

Once you've got a plan, you need a system that will make execution sustainable.

And this is where most DIY marketers fall down. They try to wing it every day instead of actually building repeatable processes.

So your first system is content planning.

Set aside two to four hours once or twice a month to plan and batch your content.

Don't create content on the fly every day. That's exhausting and it's just going to lead to inconsistency.

Create a simpler content calendar.

It can be a spreadsheet, a trello board, maybe even a physical planner.

Just have somewhere that you track what you're posting and when.

Develop content buckets.

So three to five themes that you rotate through, for example client success stories, educational tips, behind the scenes, problem identification, service promotion. And that makes content creation much faster.

Now tune into last week's episode because I spoke a lot more about content and what stages of the journey that you need to create content for.

All right. System number two, scheduling and automation.

Use scheduling tools to batch your posting. Whether it's meta, business suite, later, buffer or whatever, just pick one.

Use it to schedule your posts in advance.

Set up email automations for new subscribers so even a simple three to five email welcome sequence is is better than nothing.

Even one email is better than nothing.

And create templates for recurring content.

If you post testimonials regularly, have a template. If you share tips, have a format.

Templates are going to save you so much time and they also create consistency.

System number three is engagement and follow up.

Block out specific times for engagement. Make Maybe it's like 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening.

Don't let social media engagement eat your whole day, but do it consistently.

Have a system for capturing leads and for following up and it could be as simple as a spreadsheet where you track your inquiries when you last contacted them.

I use asana. An asana board for mine could do a trello board.

Create a routine also for asking happy customers for testimonials and for referrals.

Don't leave this to chance. Systemise it. If you've worked with them, send them a follow up email like have it all templated just so you can just email them straight away after your session.

System number four Measure and review.

So set a recurring monthly appointment with yourself to review your metrics.

Track what's working, track what's not Working.

If you don't do this, you're just going to get into like, this hamster wheel and you just like, keep moving, moving, do it.

Keep literally a simple wins tracker Note when content performs well, when you get an inquiry, when you make a sale. Because that will help you spot patterns and make adjustments based on data, not on your feelings.

Just because you love the post doesn't mean it was effective.

Let the numbers guide your decisions.

Now, here's the uncomfortable truth.

Even with a great plan and solid systems, DIY marketing requires grit.

It requires showing up consistently, even when you don't feel like it, even when engagement is low, even when you're not seeing immediate results.

And here's what grit looks like in marketing.

It looks like consistency over perfection.

So posting regularly with good enough content beats waiting for perfect content that never goes out.

Done is better than perfect. When it comes to marketing,

it's literally one of my favorite sayings. Done is better than perfect. Get it done.

Another one is persistence through the plateau.

Most people actually quit right before things start working.

They post consistently for two months, they don't see massive results, and they give up. But the reality is, it often takes three to six months of consistent effort before you build real momentum. You need momentum.

The next one is learning from failure.

Not every post will perform well.

Some campaigns will flop.

And that is not a reason to quit.

That is data to learn from.

Businesses that succeed with DIY marketing are the ones that test. They learn, and they adjust.

And if this is something that you really struggle with because that's normal, that's okay.

Not everyone has marketing under control.

That's exactly why I have my Marketing Momentum membership.

Because data tells stories.

And inside the momentum. Marketing Momentum membership.

We go through every stage of marketing that you need to sell. Your course, your membership, your coaching, and also we look at the data. Every month we have calls with each other and we look at the data. What does the data tell us?

Oh, not enough people clicked. Okay, well, we need to work on our messaging. Oh, lots of people clicked, but they didn't take the action.

Oh, we need to look at the landing page.

So learn from your failures, but see them as data.

Data tells the story.

The next one is doing the boring work.

I know, it's just, you know, grit.

Do the boring work.

Respond to every comment.

Follow up with every lead posting, even when engagement is low. The unglamorous consistency is what actually separates successful DIY marketers from those who give up.

And grit also looks like staying the course, despite the shiny objects.

Every week there's going to be a new platform, a new trend, a new something or other that someone talks about.

Grit means sticking to your plan instead of chasing everything new.

If you are going to do something like you're going to start a podcast, stick to it for at least six months.

You got to stay to course, you got to build momentum.

All right, this can be tricky.

One reason people feel they need an agency is because marketing feels really intimidating and complex.

But most marketing skills aren't actually that hard to learn.

They just require time and practice.

So for example, basic graphic design tools like Canva have made it so accessible to everyone.

You don't need to be a professional designer to create clean, professional looking graphics.

So spend a few hours learning Canva and you're going to be set. And it's actually really fun to play inside of Canva. There's always new things to learn, but it's just, it's fun.

Another one is copywriting.

You don't need to be a literary genius, you just need to be clear.

You need to speak to your audience's problems and include calls to action.

So you can read books on copywriting, or you might do a course on copywriting, or, you know, we've got AI now as well, but, and I love AI, but you really have to be mindful of what you ask it to do.

The better your prompts, the better your outcomes. So yes, I love AI for things like copywriting,

but you still need to know enough about it before I think you can get good results from things like ChatGPT.

So learn the copywriting formulas, practice.

It's not that hard, but you do really need to know it.

Another one is social media management.

The platforms want you to succeed, so they basically provide you free resources, teaching you how to use them effectively.

So you can spend a little bit of time in like the help centers or the creator academies, like they all have, you know, best practices and how to do things.

So learn, spend a little bit of time learning.

Another one is email marketing platforms like Mailerlite, which is my favorite. I use it myself. ConvertKit, Flodesk.

They are designed to be user friendly, follow their tutorials, use their templates and you can actually build effective email campaigns.

The more you do it, the better you get at it. I know it's a big learning curve upfront, but it's gonna pay off tenfold.

And then another one's basic analytics. You do not need to be a data scientist.

You just need to understand what metrics matter and to track them consistently.

Google Analytics has Free courses and so do most social platforms.

And then the last one is photography basics.

With a decent smartphone and some natural light, you can take really good photos for your marketing.

Maybe watch a few YouTube tutorials on like smartphone photography and composition and that's it.

Like you have all the tools. Most of us have all the tools. If you have a laptop and you have a phone, you can get started. You do not need to outsource to an agency.

And these, they're not, you know, mystical skills that need years of training.

They're learnable.

Yes, they take some grit, some dedication, some practice, but they are learnable.

Now just because you don't need a full service agency doesn't mean you should do absolutely everything yourself.

There are smart, affordable ways to actually get help with specific tasks.

So here are a few things that I think are worth outsourcing early.

One of them is professional photos.

If your business really relies on visual presentation, invest in a professional photo shoot and get enough images that will last you like 6 to 12 months, which is much more effective, cost effective than an ongoing agency retainer. So some things are worth investing in. Another one is website.

If tech isn't your thing, hire someone to set up your website properly and then maybe with some training you can maintain it yourself. It's a one time cost, it's a long term value.

Another one is logo and brand basics.

Work with a designer to create a logo and to have basic brand guidelines and then you can use them consistently in your DIY marketing. If you are diying your logo and your brand basics without knowledge of branding, it's going to look like a bit of a hodgepodge and it will look very diy.

So some things are worth investing in. Another one is like specific technical skills. So if you need something built in code or like any of that, hire a developer for that specific project or if you need like complicated spreadsheets or automations, get a special in a specialist in for that task.

Now there are a few things that I think you should keep in house and that is content creation.

So your content needs your voice and your expertise and an agency can't really replicate your unique perspective and knowledge.

And I have quite a few examples of this.

I am a mentor here in Tasmania for a government funded program and I've worked with a lot of businesses that started with agencies and they quit because the agencies couldn't get their voice.

They just didn't understand the voice. And the business owners in the end just got, they got frustrated because they were not getting the result because There was this misalignment by kind of like the values, the personality, the way the business owner is.

Because if you have a small business, it's generally a reflection of who you are.

And the agency kind of just tried to do everything in a polished, professional way and it stripped the business basically off its personality. So it's just like super dry, boring.

Nobody wanted to engage with it.

So some things are worth keeping in house. Another one is community engagement. So responding to comments and DMs, it needs to be you, at least the first few years.

I know it's a lot of work, but it's relationship building. It's not busy work.

So you really need to be the one responding to comments and DMs.

And another one is strategy decisions. You know your business better than anyone, so you need to keep strategic decisions in your hands. It doesn't mean that you have to do it all by yourself. It doesn't mean that you can't get advice that you can't get around.

Maybe you can join my membership or another membership or a mastermind where you can have feedback, but you, you're ultimately the person where the strategy needs to come from.

All right, let me share some examples of businesses that actually succeeded without agencies.

The local vizio started posting educational content about, you know, common injuries on Instagram.

They're using Canva for graphics, posting three times a week consistently for 18 months.

And now they have a wait list and they had to hire another practitioner.

No ads, no agencies, nothing. It is just literally persistency, consistency and some grit.

Online Bookkeeper built her entire business through LinkedIn, so publishing one article per week on accounting tips for small businesses.

She engaged thoughtfully in the comments and then really started building relationships.

So now she has 15 ongoing clients and she contracts more work than she can handle.

So it's literally a total of zero marketing spend plus her time.

I do recommend that people have websites, so invest in that at least.

But it is not necessary at the start. You can start working first and then do it later. The trap you might fall into though is that you then get too busy and then you also don't do it.

So just be mindful of that.

A handmade jewelry maker used absolutely nothing but consistent Instagram posts showcasing her work and showing stories and reels showing a process and just had a simple email list like with a monthly newsletter.

And now she's at 10k monthly revenue before even spending money on ads.

Still does all her own marketing.

Doesn't mean that they haven't had help,

but what they have in common is they have a clear niche, consistent execution and the grit to keep going even when growth felt slow. And it is going to feel so slow at the start. And I do know a lot of them, a lot of business owners, because you know, I do mentor a lot of them.

They start and they like start posting in like random groups and things like that. But it feels really salesy, not personal.

So at the start, just start producing content, start creating content, but also start reaching out, not in a salesy way, because we all know those creepy emails that we get.

Build real relationships. I go to networking events. Still not for the networking, but it happens. Like the networking is not my priority. I'm there to build relationships and sometimes those relationships mean that I am referring other people. I'm like, oh yeah, oh you need a website.

Oh, you need to contact so and so. And you just build relationships and you get to know people, you know what they do, they can refer you. That is how I have gotten a lot of my work over the years.

So when it feels slow, keep going.

So as your business grows, your DIY marketing should evolve.

And here's how to think about leveling up without jumping straight into an expensive agency.

So your first phase, which is like your starting out phase, do everything yourself, keep it simple, focus on one or two platforms and you learn as you go.

It will feel hard, but keep going.

You are very slowly climbing up that hill.

Phase number two is when you start getting a bit of traction.

That's when you can start outsourcing specific tasks like graphic design or video editing or something like that.

Keep strategy and creation still in house, like you're still doing that.

Then phase number three is when you have consistent revenue. You can hire a part time marketing assistant or a VA to handle, you know, scheduling or engagement or some admin tasks.

And this is kind of like really the sweet spot.

You focus on strategy and content creation while they do like the scheduling, the posting, like the bits that kind of take you quite a bit of time doesn't really need you anymore.

And then phase number four is your scaling and that's when you consider and specialists for specific channels.

So maybe hire a Facebook ad specialist like myself or maybe an SEO expert while you actually still keep your other marketing in house.

And then phase number five is when you're an established business now you might be ready for an agency or a full time marketing hire, but you'll be in a much better position to manage them because you actually understand what works.

If you go straight to an agency, you haven't gotten any of the basics yet. You're basically kind of asking someone else to build a business for you.

It's going to cost you a lot of money.

Success with DIY marketing requires a specific mindset shift.

You need to think like a marketer, even if you're not one professionally. And I know super tricky.

So there's actually going to be five shifts that you need to make.

Shift number one is going from perfectionism to progressivism.

Stop waiting for perfect. Start improving progressively.

Version 1.0 is better than version 0, right?

So get started.

Shift number two is from sporadic effort to systematic consistency.

Marketing is not something that you do when you feel inspired because, you know, really be honest. How often do you feel inspired?

It's something that you systematize and then execute consistently.

You have to.

And if you need help with that, come and join us in the Marketing Momentum membership.

We definitely will hold you accountable.

Shift number three is from hoping to testing.

Don't hope that your marketing works.

Test it, measure it, and then optimise it based on the data. Like I said, data will tell you stories. It will help you improve.

Shift number four is from imitation to adaptation.

Don't copy what works for others.

Learn from it, then adapt it to your unique situation and audience.

Don't copy.

It's going to land you into legal trouble.

It's not Fun.

Shift number 5 is from scattered activity to actually strategic focus.

Do less, but do it better.

And one platform done well is going to be five platforms done poorly.

Focus always leads to better results.

Now, let's be honest.

Let's talk about cost, because people often underestimate the real investment of DIY marketing.

So we're going to run a comparison side by side.

So agency costs, generally the retainer is anywhere from 3,000 to $10,000 per month.

Usually there are setup fees of, you know, about 2 to $5,000, typically.

And then if you're running, if you're getting them to run ads, then there's ad spend on top of the retainer.

And a lot of them have minimum commitments, you know, three, six, 12 months.

So for your first year, you'll be looking at anywhere between $40,000 and $125,000.

What are the costs of your DIY?

Well, your costs are your time, usually five to 10 hours per week.

You need your tools, probably between 50 to $200 per month. That's like your scheduling tools or your design tools like Canva, your email, that kind of thing.

Then there's education.

Could be courses, memberships, books that's usually between 5 and $2,000. And that can either be a one time fee or it can be an ongoing, you know, membership kind of thing.

And then that could be the occasional outsourcing which you know, might be like, I don't know, 500 to 2,000 per year, maybe slightly more if you getting your website done, depending on what the website requirements are.

So for your first year it'll be 3,000 to 7,000 plus your time. And look, your time is valuable, but it is really about the investment in starting and growing your business.

And the question isn't just about money, it's about whether you have the time and the willingness to invest it in learning and actually executing. But for most small businesses, especially in the early stages, DIY is the smart choice.

So there you have it. Just talked about why you probably don't need an agency yet and what you need instead.

The key takeaway is that, look, agencies are brilliant.

They're brilliant for businesses that have proven marketing systems and they need help scaling. But if you're still figuring out what works, you will get more value from building your own knowledge and building your own systems.

So here's what I want you to do.

If you've been considering hiring an agency, pause on that decision and instead create your two to three page marketing plan using the framework that I shared.

Answer those five key questions really clearly.

Then commit to executing that plan for yourself for at least three months before you make any hiring decisions.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed by everything that we've covered today and you might be thinking, oh, I need help figuring out where to start, or any of that, I've got something for you.

My Marketing Momentum membership is designed specifically for people like you who want to take the DIY approach, but they don't want to figure it out all alone.

And here's the thing.

The reason your marketing feels chaotic isn't because you're not doing enough.

It's because you might be doing too many of the wrong things.

So inside the membership, you'll get frameworks, templates, step by step guidance to build your marketing system without the overwhelm.

I'm going to help you to identify what to do, who to talk to, all of the parts.

You're not doing it alone.

You get monthly group coaching calls where you can bring your specific DIY marketing challenges. You get access to a community of other course creators and other business owners who are building their marketing systems.

You and ongoing support as you implement.

This is exactly what you need if you're going to DIY your marketing but you're confused and you want expert guidance and accountability to make sure that you're actually focusing on what works.

No more wasting hours on like marketing tasks that get you nothing.

If you want to know more about the marketing Momentum membership you can go to the new school of marketing.com membership and I really can't wait to actually help you with your marketing.

Remember you are more capable than you think.

With a clear plan, the right systems, some good old fashioned grit you can absolutely succeed with DIY marketing.

Save that agency money for when you really need it, when you're ready to scale when it's already working.

Until then do it yourself.

All right? If you found this episode helpful, please share it with someone else.

Sometimes we all need permission to just trust ourselves.

Start where we are and as hard as it is, DIY the things. We can do hard things.

See you next week.