You’ve Got the Guts to Run a Business—You Can Definitely Learn to Market It

If you've ever thought "I'm just not a natural marketer," or convinced yourself that marketing requires skills you don't have, this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

Here's the truth: if you had the guts to start a business, learn new skills, handle rejection, and keep going when things got hard—you've already got everything you need to succeed at marketing. You're just not applying those same strengths to your marketing yet.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why the same qualities that made you brave enough to become a business owner are exactly the qualities you need to market effectively. Because marketing isn't harder than what you've already done to build your business—it just feels harder because it's unfamiliar and requires visibility.

You had the courage to start a business. That same courage is more than enough to learn marketing. This episode proves it.

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Website: www.newschoolofmarketing.com
Facebook: @newschoolofmarketing
Instagram: @bianca_mckenzie

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Transcript

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 into this episode, 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 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.

So if you've ever thought I'm just not a natural marketer,

or maybe you've convinced yourself that marketing requires skills that you don't have.

Or if you feel like marketing is kind of like this mysterious thing that some people just get while you don't,

then this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

Today we're talking about why the same qualities that made you brave enough to start a business are exactly the qualities that you need to succeed at marketing.

Because here's the truth.

If you've got the guts to put yourself out there as a business owner,

handle rejection, learn new skills and keep going when things get hot,

you've already got what it takes to market effectively.

You just need to apply some of those same strengths to your marketing.

Let's start by talking about something I see constantly incredibly capable business owners who lose all their confidence when it comes to marketing.

You'll have someone who had the courage to leave a stable job and start a business,

or learnt how to deliver their services and create their products figured out invoicing accounting, legal requirements.

Someone who handles difficult clients with grace and solves complex problems for their customers every day.

But you ask them to post on social media or to write an email to their list and they suddenly freeze.

They second guess everything.

They convince themselves that they're terrible at marketing and always will be.

And here's what I want you to understand.

Marketing isn't harder than what you've already done to build your business.

It just feels harder because it's unfamiliar and it requires visibility.

But think about everything you've already learned since starting your business.

Skills you didn't have before,

challenges you didn't think you could handle,

problems you figured out how to solve.

Marketing is just another skill to learn. And you've already proven that you can learn hard things and do hard things.

Let's take a moment to acknowledge what you've already done by starting and running a business, because I think you're not giving yourself enough credit.

You had the courage to try something uncertain.

Most people dream about starting a business and never do it. They're too afraid of failure, too worried about others think,

too scared to leave the security of a regular paycheck.

But you did it anyway. That takes guts.

You learned to handle rejection.

Whether it's a client saying no, a proposal being declined, or a product that didn't sell.

You've experienced rejection and you kept going.

That's resilience.

You figured out skills you didn't have.

Nobody starts a business knowing everything.

You probably learnt accounting basics,

legal requirements, project management,

customer service,

and a dozen other skills that you didn't have before.

You taught yourself. Or maybe you found help. Or you just, you know, figured it out as you went.

You also kept going through the hard parts.

There may have been moments when you actually wanted to quit. You know, when cash flow was tight, when your client was difficult, when you questioned whether it was all worth it and you should just go back to a job.

But you pushed through anyway.

That's amazing.

You've also dealt with imposter syndrome. I'm guessing because every business owner wonders if they're good enough,

if they really know what they're doing.

If people find out that, they're just making it up as they go.

But you charge money.

You call yourself a business owner, you show up anyway.

Now here's my question. If you can do all that, why do you think you can't learn to market your business?

Marketing requires the same qualities that you already have.

Marketing requires courage to be visible.

Just like you needed courage to start your business,

marketing requires courage to put yourself out there,

to post publicly, to share your expertise, to tell people what you do.

You've already demonstrated discourage by starting a business.

Posting on Instagram is objectively less scary than quitting your job and hanging out your shingle.

You've done harder things.

Marketing requires handling rejection and crickets.

Remember the first time a potential client said no to your services?

Yep, it stings.

But you survived, right?

You'll also survive getting low engagement rates on a post.

Marketing means that sometimes you'll put content out there and it'll flop.

Someone will unsubscribe from your email. A webinar will have low attendance. That's not a rejection.

That is not a reflection of your worth. It's just data to learn from.

You already know how to handle rejection in your business.

Apply that same resilience to your marketing.

Marketing also requires learning new skills.

But you've already proven that you can learn business skills you didn't have before.

Marketing is just another set of those learnable skills.

It includes copywriting, content creation, email marketing, social media strategy.

They're not mystical talents that you're born with. Nobody is.

They're skills that you develop through practice.

Just like every other business skill that you've acquired.

You learn to create invoices.

You learn to have sales conversations and deliver your service.

You can learn to write compelling content and create an email sequence.

Marketing also requires persistence through the plateau.

Building a business requires showing up consistently even when you're not seeing immediate results.

And you may have done that in the early days when you had no clients,

when you were working for free to build your portfolio.

When you're investing time without seeing returns,

marketing is exactly the same.

You post consistently, you show up, you provide value, and then one day it clicks just like your business did.

You already know how to persist. You just need to apply that same persistence to your marketing.

Marketing requires problem solving.

Every day in your business, you solve problems.

A client has an unexpected issue, you figure it out.

A process isn't working,

you adapt it.

Something breaks, you fix it.

Marketing requires the same problem solving mindset. If a strategy isn't working,

you adjust. If one platform isn't converting, you try another.

If your messaging isn't landing, you refine it.

You're already a problem solver.

Apply those skills to your marketing.

Marketing also requires authenticity.

The best marketing comes from being genuinely yourself and genuinely helpful.

You know how to do this in your business. You show up authentically for your clients. You deliver real value.

You build genuine relationships.

Marketing is just doing that, but at scale.

So instead of having one on one conversations with potential clients, you're having one to many conversations through your content.

But the authenticity and helpfulness are exactly the same.

Now let's bust this myth once and for all that you know you're not a natural marketer. Because there is no such thing as a natural marketer.

People who seem like natural marketers aren't born with special gifts.

They've just practiced more than you have.

They've made more mistakes than you have, and they've learned from them.

They've just been doing it longer than you have and they've overcome the same fears that you're currently facing. That's it. That's the whole secret.

You know the truth about so called natural marketers and I'm using air quotes here.

They were terrified the first time they went live on Instagram.

They also second guessed their first email newsletter.

They worried that people would think their content was stupid.

They got crickets on posts and felt embarrassed. They compared themselves to others and felt inadequate,

but they kept going anyway.

They posted even when they were scared. They sent emails even when they weren't sure about, you know, whether anyone cared. They showed up consistently even when engagement was low.

That's not natural talent. That is just the same grit that you used to build your business.

But applied to marketing,

here's something powerful to consider.

The same qualities that make you excellent at your work are exactly what will make you excellent at marketing.

If you're a great problem solver in your business,

you can solve marketing challenges.

Client work requires you to diagnose problems and create solutions.

Marketing is exactly the same. You diagnose why something isn't working and test solutions until you find what does.

If you're empathetic with your clients, you can create resonant marketing,

the ability to understand what your clients are struggling with and truly care about helping them.

That's the foundation of great marketing.

You already do this naturally in client conversations.

Now just write content as if you were having those same conversations.

If you're persistent in your business,

you can be persistent with your marketing.

You don't give up when a client project gets difficult, you work through it.

Apply that same persistence to marketing.

One failed launch doesn't mean marketing doesn't work for you. It means you learn something for the next one.

And if you're willing to invest in learning for your business, you can invest in learning marketing.

You've probably taken courses, read books, hired mentors to improve your core business skills.

You can do exactly the same thing for marketing.

It's not a frivolous thing. It's essential business education.

If you're ethical in your business dealings, you can do ethical marketing.

One reason business owners resist marketing is that they associate it with being pushy or dishonest. But marketing is just communication. That's it. It's communication you can market ethically, helpfully, and authentically the same way you run your business.

It's not unethical. It is just communication.

So let's get specific about business skills that you've already developed and how they directly translate to marketing skills.

The first one is client conversations translate to marketing copy Every time you have a sales conversation or Explain your services to a potential client. You are practicing marketing.

The words you use, the problems you identify, the solutions you offer. That's all marketing copy. You just need to write it down instead of only saying it.

Another one is customer service translates to email nurture sequences.

When you follow up with clients, when you answer their questions and help them get results,

you're demonstrating exactly what email marketing could and should do.

Your email sequences should sound like helpful customer service conversations.

The next one is delivering results. It translates to case studies and testimonials.

You're already getting results for clients.

Marketing just means talking about those results, obviously with permission.

The transformation you create every day in your business is your best marketing content.

So ask your clients for testimonials and create case studies.

Another one is explaining what you do translate into content creation.

Every time someone asks what you do and you explain it, you're basically creating content.

The questions that people ask you repeatedly,

those can be like blog posts, social media posts,

podcast episodes, or email topics.

You're already creating content in conversations.

Now you just need to document it.

Another one is handling objections translates into sales page copy.

When a potential client expresses concerns and you address them, you're practicing sales copy.

All those objections that you've learned to handle,

put them on your sales page with your responses.

Another one is adapting to client needs translates into testing and optimizing.

So you adjust your approach based on what works for different clients.

That's exactly what marketing optimization is.

Trying something,

seeing what works and adjusting it accordingly.

Because you know every client that you speak to is different. So you know, make you change your approach exactly the same for optimization.

Another one is following up with clients translates to marketing automation.

So your client follow up process is basically a marketing funnel.

You have touch points, you're checking in at different intervals.

You provide value along the way. That's the same structure as an email sequence or a sales funnel.

So you can automate a lot of these things.

So if you have all these skills, why does marketing still feel so hard? So let's address the real obstacles.

Obstacle number one.

Marketing requires public visibility.

When you run a service based business and you offer a service, delivering that service happens mostly in private.

Marketing requires to put yourself out there publicly.

And that feels vulnerable. And I totally, totally get that.

Most of us, when we start in business,

we do it baby steps. We go to the chamber of commerce or we go to networking events and it feels safe enough because there's not that many people.

But marketing, really,

that is marketing too.

But putting yourself out there on a Bigger scale. It feels vulnerable.

So I want you to reframe this. Because you're already visible as a business owner. Your business exists publicly.

Marketing just means being intentional about how people discover you instead of leaving it to chance.

You want your business to keep running, right?

So people need to discover it.

And if you are constantly chasing the next client,

that's exhausting, but it's also not sustainable.

So marketing means being intentional about how people discover you.

So start being intentional about people discovering you.

Obstacle number two, Marketing results aren't immediate.

When you do great client work, you get immediate positive feedback,

or at least immediate feedback.

Marketing can take months to show results, and that is tricky. So I want you to reframe it.

Building your business didn't happen overnight either.

You probably invested months or years before you actually had some steady clients. Or maybe you're still in that trajectory.

And marketing is the same. It's an investment with compound returns.

It takes time, but it.

I like to think of it as like snowballing.

You start with a small one, you keep going, and it starts rolling, rolling. And it gets bigger and bigger.

Obstacle number three,

Marketing feels like bragging.

Talking about how great you are feels uncomfortable. I know,

especially if you're, like, modest by nature. Nobody likes to, you know, shout from the rooftops how amazing they are. Well, some people do. But anyway,

I want you to reframe this. Marketing isn't bragging.

Marketing is helping people who need your services find you.

If you genuinely help people and you keep it a secret,

that's not doing anyone a service.

People need your help, so you need to actually help people find you.

Obstacle number four is marketing mistakes are public.

A typo in an email to 500 people that feels worse than the typo in a, you know, client deliverable to one person.

But here's the thing.

Everyone makes mistakes.

And your audience is more forgiving than you think.

And honestly, most people won't even notice.

You're not required to be perfect,

but you are required to be consistent.

And you know what? Sometimes those mistakes make for great engagement.

I recently had a client who,

you know, pre scheduled all their content and they wrote something along the lines of,

it's a beautiful sunny day here.

And the comments start coming in like, it's not a sunny day here, it's raining.

Great engagement.

And you just kind of go, yep, cool.

You just respond with a fun, you know, response. And people love it,

so it's okay to make mistakes.

Obstacle number four is marketing feels like it has too many options. And I totally know this There are so many platforms, so many strategies, tactics, it's overwhelming to know where to start.

But I want you to reframe this.

Because you know what? Your business probably has multiple possible paths too. But you chose one and you just did it. You started.

Do the same with marketing. Pick one platform, one strategy,

and get good at it before you change or expand.

It's just one thing. Just choose one thing. You don't have to do all the things.

Here's the mindset shift that will transform your relationship with marketing.

Stop thinking of marketing as a separate skill that you don't have.

So start thinking of marketing as an extension of what you already do.

When you're helping a client solve their problem, that's your business.

When you're teaching someone about that problem through content,

that's marketing.

When you're having a sales conversation,

that's your business.

When you're writing an email that walks someone through the same conversation,

that's marketing.

When you're delivering amazing results for a client,

that's your business.

When you're sharing that client's transformation story,

that's marketing.

Marketing isn't a foreign language that you need to learn. It's your native language.

And your native language is helping people solve problems.

It's just expressed in a different format like content,

emails, social posts instead of one on one conversations.

So how do you actually build your marketing confidence and overcome that fear?

Start by marketing the way you already work.

If you are great in one on one conversations,

start with video or voice notes.

It's the same skill.

If you love that you know one on one interaction and talking,

pretend that your computer screen is someone that you're speaking to.

If you are an excellent writer with your client communications, then start with email marketing or blogging because you're already a writer.

If you love teaching or creating educational content,

you're already a teacher.

Don't try to market in a way that's completely fine. Foreign to your natural style. Start where you already have strengths.

Set confidence building milestones.

You didn't start your business expecting to land your dream client on day one.

You probably started with smaller wins and you need to do the same with marketing.

So your first milestone would be to post consistently for a month regardless of your engagement. Just post.

Your second milestone would be to send your first email newsletter.

Your third milestone would be to have one sales conversation that came from your marketing.

Your fourth milestone would be to get your first testimonial from a client who found you through marketing.

And then your fifth milestone would be to generate consistent leads from your marketing.

Each milestone proves that you can do this,

and it's going to build confidence for the next challenge.

You just got to start.

You also need to reframe failure as data. A post that flops isn't a failure, it's data.

You learned that that topic or that format doesn't resonate. Then you just try something else.

It's all about trying what works and do more of that.

A webinar with low attendance isn't failure, it's data.

Maybe the topic wasn't compelling, or maybe the timing was wrong. Or maybe you need to build your audience more first.

In your business, you've learned from projects that didn't go as planned. Marketing is exactly the same.

Every failure is just information about what to try next.

Remember, done is better than perfect.

You launch client projects that aren't perfect because done is better than perfect.

Apply that same standard to marketing Your first email does not need to be a literary masterpiece. Your first Instagram post doesn't need to go viral.

Your first webinar doesn't need to be flawless.

It just needs to exist.

You can improve it next time,

but you can't actually improve something that you never started.

So you need to get started.

Also, collect evidence of your capability.

Keep a record of marketing wins no matter how small.

You know things like someone commented on your post or a person said the email was helpful. Or someone joined your list. Like they actually took the time to fill in the form and actually get on your list.

Or you got an inquiry from social media.

Or maybe a client mentioned that they've been following your content.

They are proof that you can do this.

And on hard days where you like having one of those oh, I can't do marketing moments,

look at the evidence.

You can do it.

Let me tell you what I see when I work with business owners who think they can't market.

I see someone who had the vision to start something from nothing.

I see someone who learned complex skills they didn't have before.

I see someone who faces fear regularly and does hard things anyway.

I see someone who's resilient enough to handle setbacks and to keep going.

I see someone who cares enough about their work to want to do it well.

That person is absolutely capable of learning to market their business.

The only difference between where you are now and where you want to be with marketing is practice,

persistence,

and the willingness to be imperfect while you learn.

You've already demonstrated all of those qualities in building your business.

Your marketing doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't need to be the most polished or the slickest. It just needs to be the most authentic and helpful.

Your marketing doesn't need to look like it's a big brand's marketing or that it's, you know, using the latest trends of fancy tactics, or it doesn't need to be perfect before you put it out there.

And it doesn't need to sound like anyone else's marketing.

Your marketing needs to sound like you.

It needs to genuinely help your ideal clients.

Your marketing needs to be consistent enough to build momentum and it needs to make it easy for the right people to find you.

You already know how to be yourself and to help people. You do it every day in your business.

That's all your marketing needs to be.

I think a lot of business owners are waiting for permission to market themselves.

Permission to, I don't know, take up space to talk about what they do, to claim their expertise, to ask for the sale.

So here it is.

You have permission to tell people about your business.

You have permission to share your expertise publicly.

You have permission to be imperfect while you learn.

You have permission to be visible even when it feels uncomfortable.

You have permission to ask people to work with you.

And you have permission to keep going even when. When it feels hard.

You don't need to earn these permissions. You already earned them by having the guts to start a business in the first place.

So there you have it.

Why having the guts to run a business means you absolutely have what it takes to learn marketing.

The courage,

resilience,

problem solving skills, and the persistence that you've already demonstrated.

Those are the exact qualities that create marketing success.

So here's your action step for this week.

Identify one marketing task you've been avoiding because you don't feel confident enough.

Maybe it's posting on social media,

or maybe it's sending an email to your list or reaching out for a collaboration.

Identify that that one thing you've been wanting to do but you don't feel confident enough.

Then ask yourself,

what business task have I already done that was scarier or harder than this?

Because I guarantee you've done something actually more challenging.

So once you've identified that harder thing that you've already accomplished, use it as proof that you can definitely handle this marketing task.

And then do the marketing task not perfectly. Just do it.

Because you're capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for.

All right.

If you found this episode helpful and you want more practical, confidence building marketing advice, I have two favors to ask. First, make sure you subscribe to the new School of Marketing podcasts so you don't miss any future episodes.

Every week we break down marketing in ways that make it feel less overwhelming and more doable.

Second,

if this episode gave you the confidence boost you needed, would you please leave me a review and tell me about it?

Share what resonated with you or what marketing task you're finally going to tackle. Your review might be exactly what another business owner needs to hear and build their own marketing confidence.

Here's the thing. I read every single review and I want to say thank you.

So if you leave a review and send me a screenshot via email or DM on Instagram, I will send you my Marketing Momentum playbook for free.

It's not just another template, it's the complete strategic framework I use with my clients to build their entire marketing foundation from scratch.

Inside, you'll get clear worksheets and prompts to nail down your goals. Define your ideal customer beyond basic demographics.

Clarify your offer and positioning so that you stand out.

Map your complete customer journey from stranger to buyer. Create your traffic plan for getting discovered. Build your content plan around what actually works.

Set up your email and lead generation system.

Identify the metrics that matter for your business.

Allocate your budget and your resources strategically and create a realistic 90 day action plan that you'll actually follow.

It's everything that you need to stop feeling intimidated by marketing and and start approaching it with the same confidence you bring to the rest of your business.

Just take a screenshot of your review. Send it to me@helloyancamckenzie.com or DM me on Instagram @biancamackenzie and it's McKenzie and I'll get the Playbook over to you straight away.

Now remember,

you've got the guts to run a business.

That same courage,

resilience and determination you show up with every day.

Apply that to your marketing. You've already proven you can do hard things.

Marketing is just another hard thing that you can absolutely learn to do well.

And thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the new School of Marketing podcast. Remember,

you are way more capable than you think. You just need to give yourself permission to be imperfect while you learn.

I'm Bianca McKenzie and I'll catch you in next week's episode.

Until then, keep making marketing work for you.