The Creator’s Dilemma: How to market your business without draining your creativity

it is possible to create more AND grow more. here's how.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt torn between marketing your business and actually doing the creative work you love.🙋‍♀️

Oh, you too? If it makes you feel any better, I’m a marketer for a living and I still occasionally feel this way.

The juggle is real—and exhausting. It’s hard enough to create something meaningful without the added pressure of figuring out how to market it effectively. (Can I get an amen?)

And as much as we’d all probably like to throw up our hands and say, “To hell with the algorithms and social media trends!”…

The (harsh, but true) reality is that marketing isn’t *exactly* optional if you want to grow a profitable business. No marketing = no sales. Thems the facts.

But it also doesn’t have to be a massive drain on your creative well. When you approach it the right way, marketing can help fuel and replenish your creativity.

I mean, what’s more energizing than people you’ve never even met falling in love with your work? I’ll eat that up all day and I bet you would too.

So without further ado, here are my best tips for how to market your business and protect your creative energy. They might require you to embrace some alternative ways of working. But it’ll be worth it—promise. 😘

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1. Do you have to show up or do you get to show up? You decide.

You might be sick of hearing it, but the fact remains that mindset is everything.

For a long time, I saw promoting myself as a necessary evil—something I had to do if I wanted my business to survive.

Every time I sat down to write an email or plan social media posts, it felt like I was pulling myself away from the client work I actually wanted to do.

But things started to shift when I began to think about it a little differently. I realized is I don’t have to show up anywhere. I get to show up where I choose.

Consider that just 30 years ago, if you wanted to open a small business, your customer pool was typically limited to the people in your close geography. Unless you had the budget for TV ads or a willingness to call hundreds of people on the phone, there was a cap on how much you could grow.

Friend, your business now has the potential to reach people all over the dang globe without you ever leaving the comfort of your freaking couch. If that’s not a reason to do a creative business owner happy dance, I don’t know what is.

Sure, it’s not without its challenges. But the minute I start getting frustrated at the state of marketing, I remind myself that I don’t have to hitch up a wagon, grab my musket, and spend half a day driving to the nearest town in a blizzard just to sell my stuff.

And that small shift in perspective—that tiny tweak of gratitude—goes a long way in improving how I show up.

Algorithms suck. It’s true. But you have an opportunity to wake up every day, slap some words and a photo on a website or social platform, hit a button, and instantly share your creativity with hundreds, thousands, even millions of people.

That’s damn powerful.

When you start seeing marketing as something you get to do instead of something you have to do, it feels less draining. Instead of feeling like you’re interrupting your creative flow, it starts to feel like you’re sharing and expanding it. ✨

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2. K.I.S.S.—Keep it simple and sustainable

If you went to school in the U.S. in the 90s, you probably heard the KISS acronym—Keep It Simple Stupid.

In my business, I’ve amended it to Keep It Simple and Sustainable. Which can apply to everything. But mainly it needs to apply to your marketing strategy.

I don’t care what anyone says. As a small business owner, you one million trillion percent NEED a strategy.

But for the love of all that is good in your business, keep that strategy simple. The simpler it is, the easier you’ll be able to get started and stick to it. Build on to it later.

At one point, I thought having a long, detailed marketing strategy was a sign of being professional.

So I spent weeks trying to build a strategy that covered everything—every platform, every media type—only to feel overwhelmed and nauseous every time I looked at it. Which means I never did a thing with it.

Five years later, I’ve cut it down to one page with five simple questions:

1. What am I trying to accomplish here?

2. Who is the specific audience I can help?

3. What is the message I want to share with them?

4. Where will I show up consistently and communicate that message?

5. How will I track my results?

That’s it.

As a solopreneur who’s constantly switching between the identities of creator and business owner (not unlike Bruce Wayne and Batman 🦇), simple beats complex every day of the week.

A simple, focused strategy cuts out unnecessary decisions, puts an end to shiny object syndrome, and keeps you from saying yes to the wrong opportunities. Which leaves you more time and energy to create.

When you’re not constantly switching gears or second-guessing every single decision, it’s a lot easier to stay in your creative flow.

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3. When you like where you’re showing up, showing up becomes loads easier

There’s a lot of pressure to be everywhere these days—Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Threads and every new platform that pops up.

But spreading yourself too thin isn’t just stressful and ineffective. It’s like pulling the creative tap and watching the keg run dry. 🍻

All the gurus who tell you to show up everywhere and do everything? They mean well, but they’re also supported by teams of people. They have a dedicated Instagram person and a TikTok person. You do not. You can’t hold yourself to their standards.

The truth is, you don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to find one or two places where your audience is and where you actually enjoy showing up.

When I stopped trying to be on every platform and focused on the ones I liked, marketing stopped feeling like a chore and started feeling (dare I say it) enjoyable. I got better at it. My audience grew and my results exploded.

So if you’ve been looking for a permission slip to cut the crap that drains you, this is it.

Find the places and spaces where you like showing up and where your audience spends time. (If that’s not social media—that’s okay.) Pick one or two to focus on and let go of the rest, at least for now.

Consistency becomes loads easier when you stop splitting your focus and you actually show up in a way you enjoy. Trust me.

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4. Systems create structure, structure provides room for growth

If you’re a creator, you either love systems or you hate them. Rarely do I find someone who hovers in the middle.

Some people feel like systems are straitjackets, that somehow having a system kills creativity because they’re boring and monotonous. To each their own, but in my experience, I’ve found the opposite to be true.

As a parent to a toddler, a business owner, and someone responsible for the marketing of other business owners, systems make my world go round.

I create systems for everything. From making my breakfast, to starting my day, to planning and executing my marketing. Why? Because they save me massive amounts of time.

On Monday morning, I don’t think about what I’m having for breakfast. I already know. I don’t think about what I have to do when I sit down at my desk. I already know.

I’m not reinventing the wheel. I’m doing what I already know works. And I just do. Which means it gets done faster, with less brain power. Which means I have more left in my creative reserve to actually create.

Listen, there is a time and place for flying by the seat of your pants, absolutely. Like on vacation. Or Saturday brunch plans.

But flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to marketing your business and making money? That screams stressful to me. And you know what’s really hard to do when you’re stressed? Be creative.

Systems free up your mental bandwidth. When you automate or schedule repetitive tasks, you leave more room for the creative work that really matters.

Here are a few marketing systems I swear by:

• Batch your content: Set aside one day a month to create content for the next 30 days. (My upcoming mini course will show you how to create and schedule all your content for the month in a single afternoon. Message me if you’re interested!)

• Use templates: Create a few go-to templates for social posts and emails.

• Automate: Use scheduling tools (Buffer and Plann are my favorites) to keep things running smoothly without needing your constant attention.

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Outsource What Drains You

There’s a lot of pride tied up in the idea of outsourcing. At least there was for me.

For a long time, I felt like I should be able to do everything myself. That no one could do it better than I could (I know, I’m so modest and humble 😏).

Truthfully, though, I think I was scared of taking that leap in my business and having to lead and delegate to someone else.

But the reality is that once you hit a certain spot in your business, trying to do it all burns you out, overextends you, and holds you back.

Hiring help—even just a few hours a month—was one of the best decisions I made for my business and my creative energy.

Whether it’s handing off social media scheduling, editing podcasts, or just getting help with graphics, outsourcing frees you up to focus on the parts of your business that you actually enjoy.

It’s not about relinquishing control—it’s about valuing your time and energy enough to focus on what you (and ONLY you) do best. When you let go of tasks that drain you, you’re left with more energy for creating.

Make a list of tasks that drain your energy the most. Start with outsourcing just one of them, even if it’s just a few hours a month.

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TL;DR: Your creative energy is valuable

Marketing is essential if you want your business to grow, but protecting your creative energy is just as important. With the right mindset, a simple strategy, and some smart systems, you can market your business effectively without burning out.

Your creative energy is what fuels your business. It’s worth protecting—so be intentional about how you use it.

Action Step:
Choose one tip from this list to try this week. Even a small change can make a big difference in how much creative energy you have left for the work you actually love.

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So tell me…

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