Three Business Strategy Myths Debunked 🧐

Hello Reader,

Thank you all so much for your replies to my newsletter last week—I'm definitely incorporating nearly all of them into what's now looking to be a series about marketing outside of social media. (Which is really exciting, honestly!) If I didn't reply to you, I probably have a reply in drafts and I'm working on it!

Out on these internet streets, misinformation is everywhere, and that includes in my industry. Which is why I thought it would be useful to share a handful of the most dangerous business strategy myths I hear about.

Myth #1: Sales and marketing are two business silos.

Like many of the biggest problems of modern business, this misconception has its roots in the corporate world, where different departments handle each of these functions.

I see the problems of this myth in action in small business all the time: Someone may be great at actually signing on new clients, but they don't have a regular system for actually attracting new clients. They're coasting on referrals, and inevitably those dry up or become inconsistent.

The reality: Sales cannot exist without marketing and marketing doesn't matter if you can't make a sale. Or, think of it like this: if you aren't creating a pipeline, the best sales skills in the world can't help you, and if you don't know how to look at a potential client and ask for a sale, amazing marketing won't do you any good. They work together.

My client Natalie, a sales expert, talks about this brilliantly all the time on her Facebook page (follow her if you use that platform) and it's one of the most financially damaging marketing myths out there.

Myth #2: Everyone needs a complex funnel.

Absolutely no disrespect to the funnel strategists out there (because I think your work is important), but I have seen firsthand far too many people resist marketing their thing because they don't have a fancy funnel. If you're not familiar with this term, what it is at its essence is how a potential customer moves from discovering you to taking action.

Loads of marketing agencies make big bucks building complex funnels with buckets of conditional logic, tagging, and triggers. And that's wonderful for larger companies with complex offers and sales processes. But you're still legit with a simple, clear marketing process—I promise!

The reality: If you're a consultant or a coach and you have maybe three ways people can work with you, this is wholly unnecessary. Keep it as simple as possible to 1) be able to tweak and adjust easily and 2) keep your overhead in check—that tech gets very expensive! Also—hot take incoming—complex funnels when executed poorly take out the element of understanding our clients' thinking and needs. I'd rather you keep it simple and focus on addressing your audience with authority than automating the humanity out of it.

For more about my take on a simple way to rethink funnels and human behavior, read this.​

Myth #3: You need an up-sell/down-sell/cross-sell/course/only one offer/an ascension model/group program/membership/whatever.

This is me sliding out of the marketing lane a bit, but marketing and business strategy are so entangled, I believe it's actually irresponsible to not look at marketing in context of business strategy.

The phenomenon of various experts claiming their way is THE way crosses the online vs. "real world" business lines all the time, which is interesting to me. I don't care what industry you're in, I would bet cold, hard US Dollars (and I don't bet) that at some time someone has told you X Way is The Way.

The reality: There is no right way. Full stop. I've worked with people who've succeeded with $200 courses and people who've succeeded with six figure consulting contracts—and everything in between. What's mission critical is that you develop the right model for you—and the marketing system that matches it.

If you need to dive deeper into this thinking, a good place to start is this article as well as this one.

I believe that everyone is better off if they have the right information—that's why I encourage you to trust yourself and question advice that feels "off" or irrelevant to your situation. (Even if it's advice from me—it won't hurt my feelings!)

And, as always, if this resonated with you, hit reply let me know—and if you're ready for hands on support in developing a strategy that makes sense for you, reach out to book an Alignment Call with yours truly.

Warmly,
Sarah

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