The Real Cure for Marketing Overwhelm

In this episode, we talk about what to do when marketing feels nonstop but results still feel out of reach. I share a simple system to cut through the noise, reduce overwhelm, and focus on the work that actually moves the needle. Instead of adding more tasks, this conversation is about choosing what matters and letting the rest go.

We walk through practical steps to help you plan realistically, prioritize with intention, and create momentum without burning out. I also share how small, consistent actions can compound over time when your energy is focused in the right places. If your marketing feels heavy or scattered, this episode will help you reset and move forward with more calm and clarity.

Episode 81: Marketing Strategy for the Overwhelmed Entrepreneur 

Chapters

• 1:36 The 10x Reframe And What Matters
• 4:26 Priorities Over Trends
• 5:32 Make SMART Goals Work
• 6:19 Progress Beats Perfection
• 7:27 Plan For Obstacles

Transcript

Janice Hostager: 0:04

I'm Janice Hostager. After three decades in the marketing business and many years of being an entrepreneur, I've learned a thing or two about marketing. Join me as we talk about marketing, small business, and life in between. Welcome to My Weekly Marketing. Hey, hey, and welcome to another episode of My Weekly Marketing. Today we're talking about something I think we're all pretty familiar with. Marketing overwhelm. I have five steps that will not only help you with that feeling of overwhelm, but actually move you forward so it's no longer an issue for you. Honestly, the core of marketing is actually not super complicated. At its simplest, marketing is about getting in front of the right people, in front of an offer they're genuinely interested in, so they can benefit from it. That's it, that's a job. Sounds simple, right? And honestly, it is simple. But simple doesn't always mean easy. Because getting everything to line up, the audience, the message, the platform, the timing, that's where things start to get a little messy. And things can get out of control and you can start feeling overwhelmed. You know, ads, your website, messaging, sales pages, none of these things work in isolation. They all have to work together, so it's not a matter of doing one thing, it's trying to keep all the plates spinning, right? It can feel overwhelming pretty dang fast. If you're a solo entrepreneur or running a small team, feeling behind isn't a personal failure. It is the norm. You're juggling strategy, execution, tech, content, sales, all at once. That's a lot for one human. And here's the important reframe. Realistic goals aren't about doing less. They're about setting clearer, more focused goals and sticking with them. There's a book I recommend all the time, it's called 10X is easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. And one idea in it completely changed how I think about growth. The authors explain that if your goal is to improve by 20%, you'll probably just tweak what you're already doing and make minor improvements, right? More effort in the same direction. But if your goal is to improve by 10x, you have to rethink everything. You're forced to ask, what actually matters? What's holding me back? What needs to go? I used to hear the phrase, what got you here won't get you there, and assume it meant I needed to do more things. More platforms, more content, or more offers. But now I understand what it really means. Doing all these things probably did get you to here. But now you've hit capacity. So now it's time to rethink what you need to do in the new year to move forward. Growth doesn't come from piling more on, it comes from focusing on what's important. Let me say that again. Growth doesn't come from piling more things on, it comes from focusing on what's important. So today I want to talk about five ways to sidestep marketing overwhelm in your business. First, define what realistic actually means for your business. One of the best questions you can ask yourself is do I have to time the budget and the bandwidth to actually execute this? Every time I get a new idea or want to launch something new, and everything I put on my calendar should run through this filter. Number one, can I delegate it? Number two, can I automate it? Or number three, should I eliminate it? Because trying to do everything yourself is a recipe for burnout. And let me say this clearly, hard work does not automatically equal success. My parents worked really hard. My grandparents worked really hard. They worked their entire lives, but it did not make them rich. Effort alone is not the answer. Focused effort is. Your goals need to fit your actual life, your resources, and your current season, not some imaginary version of you with unlimited time, which I think we all have in the back of our heads. Start with what's doable and delegate the rest. Number two, identify core priorities and ditch the nonessentials. Not every marketing trend is meant for you. Not every tactic deserves your attention or your energy, at least for right now. The goal isn't to do everything, it's to choose intentionally. Take your big goals, break them down by quarter, then by month, then by week. Once you do that, it's easier to identify the non-negotiables. And then, this is the hard part, stick to those. You can't be everywhere, it will wear you out. Entrepreneurs are idea machines. I think we're all a little bit ADHD. I know this because I have ideas all the time and I kind of want to act on them. I have a note on my notes app on my phone where I could record all my ideas for another day. Otherwise, I'd be completely derailed trying to implement them or even just entertain them with thoughts. One great idea executed well will serve you far more than 10 ideas done halfway or even started. Shiny objects are always going to be there, but your energy is a limited resource. Number three, use SMART goals and break them down. I'm sure you've heard of SMART goals. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. They're helpful, but they don't need to feel rigid or overwhelming. For example, instead of your goal being to get 1,000 new Instagram followers, SMART goals will look like this. Increase Instagram engagement by 20% over the next three months by posting four times a week. And if a goal feels too big, break it down some more. Smaller goals create momentum. My personal motto is if a goal isn't small enough to schedule it as a task on a calendar, it's not useful and needs to be broken down further or removed. Number four, embrace progress over perfect perfection. I'd love to do that again. Number four, embrace progress over perfection. I'd love to 10x all my goals. And maybe I will someday. But if I aim for 10x and hit 5x, is that a failure? Of course not. Would I hit 5x if I didn't set the goal in the first place? Probably not. Progress matters a lot. One simple tracking habit I love is a weekly check-in. This is something I learned from Brendon Burchard. He has something called Friday Finishers that have made a big difference for me. At the end of every week, he recommends identifying one, two, or three crucial tasks that must be no, I said that wrong. Maybe reread that. At the beginning of every week, he recommends identifying one to three crucial tasks that must be completed by Friday afternoon. Not only does that push the important task forward, those are the needle movers, but it gives you a sense of accomplishment for the week so you can relax and enjoy the weekend. Once I break down my goals for the week, no. Once I break down my goals and then break them out by the week, then I add them to my calendar. If it's not on my calendar, it doesn't happen. In fact, in order to get my new online course done, Modern Marketing Mastery, I booked a private co-working space three times a week just to focus on writing for that course. Nothing else, just the course to make sure I got it done. If it's not built into my calendar, it won't happen. Plus, I always like to give myself a little rewards like maybe a shopping trip after I finish a big project. Whatever works, right? Number five Okay, number five, plan for obstacles without spiraling. You will hit obstacles. That's not pessimism. That's the reality. That's business. Here are a few here are a few big ones and how to handle them. Number one, the obstacle of lack of time. Focus only on high impact activities. If you've set goals and broken them up by week, it's easier to identify your non-negotiables. But there are a few areas that we can get sucked into wasting time on things that don't have a big impact on our business. For example, social media. If you're trying to be active on every social platform, stop right there. Think about your audience for a second. If you've ever spent weeks or months posting on Instagram and getting little or no traction, you already know that this is not a post more problem. It's a fit problem. Pick the platform where you already have traction with your audience, and then post content that has engaged your audience in the past. This isn't a recipe to go viral, but it's a recipe for you to still be present on social media without burning yourself out. Next, delegate where you can. A virtual assistant is far more affordable than most people assume and frees you up to do what only you can do. I started very small with my first VA, doing only a few tasks each month. Now I have a fabulous marketing assistant who I couldn't run my business without. Literally. And I outsource my podcast editing and other tasks that I know others can do better than I can. And it frees up time. Your business is an investment in your future, but if you constantly pile tasks on your own back, you will never grow. It will become impossible at some point unless you share the burden. As someone who has waited way too long to hire, I can only think about how much further ahead I'd be today if I would have hired sooner. As authors Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy say in their book, ask who, not how. Next, the obstacle of tech issues. Heaven knows how much time you can spend trying to figure out why your printer or your computer isn't working the way it should and then trying to fix it. Unless you have a background in tech or desire to learn it, I highly recommend outsourcing it. It's a lot to learn and it will change, even once you learn it. It's a little like marketing in that way. Reach out to tech support or online communities for assistance, or find a neighborhood kid who's good with tech to help. Or go to Upwork. I personally know that I'll never be a tech person, so it's never worth my time to learn it. And finally, the obstacle of self-doubt. This one's personal for me. One small criticism or one mistake, and suddenly I'm thinking, why am I doing this? Is this even helping anyone? Anyone else? I grew up with a perfectionistic parent. I'm sure it was how they were raised too, but somehow I twisted this in my head that if I wasn't going to be the best at something, I needed to quit before I fail. I just stopped trying. So as an adult, that's what I did. I jumped ship a lot. And that was really hard for me to unlearn. Entrepreneurship cured me of that, but it took time. Because in marketing, one thing is guaranteed. Some things will not work. And it's hard to not see that as failure. The mindset shift that got me past this was it's either the result that you wanted or the lesson you needed. I say that to myself a lot, and I say that to anybody who's listening. I think that mindset was so important in entrepreneurship, as well as just in marketing as gener in general. Results are just data. It's not a verdict on you. If something didn't convert, there's a reason. So ask, where do people drop off? Was it the ad? Maybe the landing page? Was it the message? Done right, a debrief is golden. It's an insight as to what happened and why it happened. Also, understand that self-doubt is a common experience shared by many entrepreneurs. It's hard. You're blazing a trail, and it's really difficult. Okay, I hopped around a lot on this episode, but here are the main points to cure marketing overwhelm once and for all. Number one, define what realistic actually means for your business. Number two, identify core priorities and ditch the non-essentials. Number three, use SMART goals and break them down. Number four, embrace progress over perfection. And number five, plan for obstacles without spiraling. If this resonated with you, I have another full podcast episode on managing marketing overwhelm and feeling less behind and more in control. You can listen to that, it's at episode 81, and I'll put the link to it in the show notes. Thanks so much for joining me today. For more information and links about anything we talked about, visit myweeklymarketing.com forward slash one forty one. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.