Why Your Marketing Is Probably Underperforming
Chances are — with about 90+% probability — that your flyers, website, adverts, social posts and other marketing are underperforming for one simple reason:
They were written for “everyone.”
When I ask business owners who their marketing is aimed at, the most common answer I hear is:
“Everyone really… anyone who needs the service (or product).”
That answer almost always explains why their marketing struggles.
Because when marketing is written for everyone, it connects with no one in particular.
The result? … Not enough Enquiries or Not Great Enquiries, due to
• Vague messaging
• Price-shopping customers (because you leave them no niche benefits to compare with).
• Marketing that you feel “should be working” but isn’t.
The 10-Minute Exercise That Reveals The Real Problem
After helping business owners with marketing for 30+ years, there’s one exercise that almost always reveals what’s actually going wrong.
It’s simple, takes about 10 minutes, and exposes:
• who your best customers really are
• what problems they were trying to solve
• what nearly stopped them buying
• what they actually valued about your service
Once that becomes clear, something interesting happens.
Most business owners suddenly realise:
their marketing isn’t written for those people at all.
What You’ll Walk Away With
By the end of this short exercise you’ll have:
• A clearer picture of your best type of customer
• The problems they most want solved
• The language they naturally use to describe those problems
• A much clearer direction for what your marketing should actually say
Want to Try the Exercise?
The full exercise takes around 10–15 minutes.
Enter your email below and we’ll send you the worksheet so you can try it.
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Page Synopsis
• Most marketing fails before a single advert or social post is written
• Our simple 10-minute exercise fixes the root cause
No, we’re not selling anything 😏 — But after helping business owners with marketing for 30+ years, we can say with confidence that the exercise below always reveals why “marketing isn’t working”.
(FYI: most of the businesses we’ve advised over the years were £1–10m turnover. We’re now on a mission to help micro businesses, communities and altruistic individuals with the same thinking.)
MAIN CAUSE OF POOR MARKETING
Most businesses try to market without being clear who they’re talking to.
They write social posts, website pages, flyers, adverts etc…
…but they’re effectively writing for “everyone.”
When that happens, the message becomes vague and enquiries stay low.
IMPORTANT RULE
When doing the exercise below, write the first thing that comes to mind.
Don’t analyse it.
Don’t overthink it.
Your subconscious usually already knows the answer.
MY FREE EXERCISE (10–15 minutes)
Before hiring anyone, spending money, or producing marketing — do this first.
1️⃣ Write the name of the first customer that pops into your head.
Ideally one you really enjoyed helping.
2️⃣ Now write everything you remember about them:
a) Where did they come from?
b) What problem did they originally contact you about?
c) What questions did they ask you first?
d) What nearly stopped them buying? (pricing concerns etc.)
e) What did you actually help them achieve?
f) Roughly how much did they spend with you?
g) Anything else you know about them
– what car they drive
– where they live (distance from you)
– lifestyle, family, vocation etc.
3️⃣ Now repeat the exercise with another real customer.
Try choosing someone who bought a slightly different service or product.
WHAT YOU’LL NOTICE
Patterns start appearing surprisingly quickly.
That becomes your real target profile — not a made-up marketing “avatar”.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Once you know exactly who you’re talking to, writing posts, ads and website content becomes 10× easier and far more effective — because you’re speaking to someone real.
Most marketers skip this step, especially when advising micro businesses.
Please comment what you discover once you’ve tried the exercise 🙏
Steve
Small Business Helper, UK
PS: What type of business are you running? (comment below)
