I recently had the chance to sit down with Katey at Broker Tools for a podcast episode, and it was one of those conversations that reminded me why I love this work.
We talked about something I genuinely believe most small businesses are missing – not another tactic, not a new platform, not a content hack. We talked about marketing as a system.
And for the advisers and brokers in the audience, a lot of what we unpacked translates directly to any small business owner who’s ever felt like their marketing is… just kind of happening to them.
Here's a bit of what we covered.
The real problem isn’t effort – it’s alignment
Most business owners I work with aren’t lazy about marketing.
They’re actually trying really hard. The problem is that the effort isn’t connected to anything.
They see a new platform, they jump on it.
They hear a podcast is a good idea, they start one.
They get told LinkedIn is where it’s at, so they start posting there too.
This is what I call “spaghetti at the wall marketing” – and it’s exhausting, expensive, and rarely produces results that feel meaningful.
The shift I always try to make with clients is this: stop starting with where to show up, and start with why you exist and who you serve.
When your marketing is anchored to your actual business goals, every decision gets easier. You stop second-guessing which platform to prioritise. You stop chasing every shiny new thing. You have a through-line.
The "circular economy" of content
One of the concepts I talked through in the episode is something I’ve been building into client strategies for years – creating what I call a circular content economy.
The idea is simple: you don’t need to create original content from scratch every single time.
You take one core piece – a video, a client conversation, a talk you gave – and you spin it into everything else. A blog. Five social posts. A newsletter intro. A quote graphic.
This is how smaller teams punch above their weight. It’s also how you create consistency without burning out.
The content isn’t disappearing after one post – it’s cycling through, showing up in different formats, for different people, on different days.
Crispy Tip
If you’re going to do something more than once, make it a template. Document the process. Record it on Loom. Future-you will be genuinely grateful.
Consistency beats intensity, every single time
Something I’m pretty passionate about (as anyone who’s worked with me will confirm) is this: a “rollercoaster” marketing presence doesn’t just frustrate you – it confuses your audience and confuses the algorithm.
I see it a lot. A business goes hard on content for a few weeks, then goes quiet for two months because life got busy.
Then they’re back, then they’re gone again.
And they wonder why nothing is building…
The trust that converts to clients isn’t built in a burst of activity. It’s built over time, through consistency.
The businesses I see growing through their marketing are rarely the ones with the most polished posts – they’re the ones who just… keep showing up.
Assign numbers to magic
One of the lines I used in the episode that seemed to land well: if you want “more leads,” you need to define what that actually means. Is it three new enquiries a week?
Ten a month? A specific revenue figure?
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. And you can’t build a system around a vague wish.
Getting specific about your KPIs – and not just “engagement” – is one of the most practical things any business owner can do. It changes the whole conversation from “is our marketing working?” to “here’s exactly where we’re on track and here’s where we need to adjust.”
Why I loved this conversation
The Broker Tools audience is one I have a lot of respect for. Mortgage and finance brokers are busy. They’re compliance-heavy. They often got into their field to help families, not to become content creators. So when we talk about marketing strategy in that context, it has to be practical, sustainable, and connected to what actually matters.
But every single thing we talked about in this episode applies to any small business owner who’s feeling like their marketing is chaotic or disconnected from their goals.
If any of it resonates, I’d love you to go and have a listen. The full episode is up on YouTube and Spotify – links are below.
Are you marketing from a system, or are you just marketing when you remember to? If it’s the latter – that might be worth sitting with.