I’m back. Rested and clearer-headed!
But before I get into the Marketing Mix Lab, which is what this post is really about, I want to start somewhere else. I want to start with the problem.
The marketing problem that most small business owners have
You’re brilliant at what you do. You started your business because of a skill, a passion, an expertise — something you’re genuinely good at. And then you quickly discovered that being good at the thing and getting people to know about the thing are two completely different skills.
So you started posting on Instagram. Maybe you ran some ads. You tried a few different things, spent some money, put in some time, and got inconsistent results. Or no results. Or results that worked for a while and then stopped.
And the harder you try to figure it out, the more overwhelming it gets. Because there’s so much noise. Every platform is telling you to be there. Every guru is selling a different system. Every week there’s a new trend you’re apparently supposed to be across.
All of this while actually running your business. Managing clients, doing the admin, chasing invoices, doing the school run if you’ve got kids, trying to remember to eat lunch.
Sound familiar?
What’s actually missing, and it’s not more content
In my experience working with small business owners, the missing piece is almost never more content. It’s not another social platform or a better hashtag strategy. It’s a clear, joined-up marketing strategy that covers the whole picture, not just the bit that’s easiest to see.
Most small businesses focus almost entirely on social media. Which is understandable, it’s visible, it’s free, and there’s always something to post. But social media is just one part of a much bigger marketing mix. Email marketing, SEO, your website, offline marketing, local visibility, these are the things that build long-term, sustainable growth. And most small business owners either don’t know how to approach them or don’t have the time to figure it out alone.
This is why I built the Marketing Mix Lab
I built it because I was the person I’ve just described. I have nearly twenty years of marketing experience and a CIM postgraduate qualification, and I still found it overwhelming to apply all of that to my own business. Because knowing the theory is one thing. Doing it consistently, alone, while running everything else, is another.
The Marketing Mix Lab is an eight-week group programme for small business owners who are ready to stop guessing and start marketing with a strategy that actually fits their life and their business. Not someone else’s six-figure blueprint. Yours.
What you cover in eight weeks
- Week 1: Strategy foundations — who you are, who you’re for, what makes you different
- Week 2: Content strategy — what to say, where to say it, how often, and how to make it sustainable
- Week 3: Social media — building a presence that actually works for your business
- Week 4: SEO — how to get found by the people who are already looking for you
- Week 5: Email marketing — building and nurturing a list that converts
- Week 6: Your website — what it needs to do and how to make sure it’s doing it
- Week 7: Paid advertising — when it makes sense, and how to not waste your budget
- Week 8: Offline and local marketing — one of the most underused parts of a small business strategy
That last one is worth highlighting. The offline element is something most marketing programmes skip entirely. But for small and local businesses, it can be one of the most powerful parts of the mix. We cover it properly.
What makes it different
It’s a group programme, which means you’re learning alongside other small business owners who are dealing with the same challenges. There’s a live Q&A every week and a WhatsApp community between sessions, so you’re never stuck waiting until the next call to get a question answered.
It’s practical from week one. Every session gives you something you can actually do in your business that week. No fluff, no theory for the sake of it.
And it’s priced to be accessible. At £250 for eight weeks of live, expert-led training with a community included, it’s genuinely good value. I set it at a price that respects where most small businesses actually are financially, not where the six-figures-a-month crowd assumes you are.
What happens when you have a proper strategy
I could describe it, but the people who’ve been through the Lab describe it better than I can. The themes that come up again and again are clarity, confidence, and consistency. Not overnight success. Not viral moments. Just the steady, sustainable feeling of knowing what you’re doing and why, and starting to see it work.
That’s what changes when you have a strategy. Not necessarily everything all at once. But the groundwork is there. And groundwork compounds.
The doors are open now
The Marketing Mix Lab reopens this week. We start at the end of April / beginning of May, which gives you enough time to get set up properly before we begin.
If you’ve been watching from the sidelines and wondering whether now is the right time, I would ask you this: what does the next six months look like if nothing changes? And what could they look like if you finally had a clear strategy?
Doors are open. All the details are at the link below. And if you have any questions at all, DM me directly, I read every message.
Not quite ready? The free ideal client finder is a great first step and it’s waiting for you at the link in bio.