When marketing feels overwhelming and impossible, start here

the start with one rule + the worksheet to get you unstuck fast

Apr 25, 2025

Marketing is the part of running a business that makes most solopreneurs want to cry, quit, or go back to a normal job with free snacks and health insurance.

(You can be honest if this is you, I won’t be offended.)

I get it. You started your business because you love what you do and you want to share your gift with others.

Apparently you missed the fine print where you also signed up for a life as a full-time content creator, algorithm schmoozer, video editor to rival Spielberg, and funnel-builder (whatever that is—tbh you’re still not 100% sure).

But now here you are, trying to get clients, trying to grow, and feeling totally overwhelmed by the mess of it.

You’re not broken, my friend, and neither is your business. You’re just buried under a giant pile of well-intentioned, but ill-fitting advice.

You’ve just been sold a version of marketing that’s built for people with full teams, massive budgets, and 40-hour workweeks to spare. That’s not you.

You’re one lovely person trying to build something you care about on a shoestring budget—and keep it all afloat in the meantime.

You don’t need some 30-email sales funnel and budget-busting ad campaign. You just need one good move to get the ball rolling.

That’s where the Start With ONE Rule comes in.

It’s what I turn to when things start to feel too big, too loud, or too dang complicated. It’s what I teach clients and students when they’re spinning out and feeling like nothing’s working.

It’s simple. It’s doable. And it will get you moving. Pinky promise.

(I even turned it into a worksheet you can grab for free here.)

Grab yourself a matcha or a cold brew and settle in.

1. Start with ONE offer 🧁

I see you over there with your 40 gazillion products collecting dust on the proverbial shelves of your Shopify store or Thrivecart page. You might feel like the solution to your sales woes is to offer even more stuff but I’m here to tell you it rarely is (spoken from personal experience).

If you’re trying to sell fifteen things at once, you’re probably not selling any of them well.

I used to bounce between offers, tweaking things constantly, hoping something would finally take off. It took me years before I realized it wasn’t what I was offering that was the problem. It was how I was offering it and the lack of clarity around it.

The more things you try to sell at any one time, the more muddled and fractured your offer becomes, the more you split your focus, and the more you split your audience’s focus, too.

Pick one thing to go all in on first. One service. One clear solution. Build your message around that.

You can switch your focus to a different product later. Right now, pick the one offer that’s the clearest, easiest “yes” for your ideal person—and run with it.

2. Talk to ONE person 🎯

Forget your “target market” for a sec and all those demographics someone else told you to map out (“Her name is Lisa, she has three kids and drives a Honda Pilot…”).

That kind of target audience has its place, for sure. But in order to simplify we’ve gotta make it personal.

When I sit down to write anything—an Instagram post, an email, a landing page—I picture one specific person. Someone I’ve worked with, someone who DMed me, someone I know I can help.

And I write just to them.

(Fun fact: This whole post was written from a comment I received from one of my subscribers the other day. I’ve had that person in mind the whole time I’ve written this.)

The BEST thing you can do from a marketing standpoint is create in a way that makes your perfect people feel seen, heard, and understood. That is how you attract them to you instead of feeling like you have to chase after them.

That becomes a near impossible task when you’re trying to do that for everyone. And it won’t work.

If you’re trying to write for everyone, you’ll end up connecting with no one and burn yourself out trying.

3. Solve ONE painful problem 💥

I see a lot of fluffy copy on the internet these days—things like “get clarity” or “build confidence” or my personal favorite “amplify your results.”

(No shade, I’ve been guilty of this myself.)

It might sound great, but if you’re wondering why it doesn’t sell it’s because you’re not being clear about what is it you actually help people get or fix.

People buy solutions to real, tangible problems. Things like “you’re wasting hours making content that’s not converting” or “you’re bored with all of the other run-of-the-mill romance novels out there” or “you’re tired of doing battle with your kids over trying one green bean at dinner.”

Find the ONE big, real life problem that your offer solves. Make sure it’s something that’s costing them time, energy, money, or peace of mind. If it solves multiple problems, focus on the one that is most annoying or urgent for them.

And then make sure your message speaks directly to that.

4. Promise ONE juicy outcome 🍒

You know what people really want?

It’s not another course. It’s not another meal plan. It’s not two-and-a-half hours in the chair at the salon (even if those 2.5 hours are kid free with a glass of cab 🍷, that’s still a looooong time).

They want a result. Something they can point to and say, “Yes. That’s what I got.”

The moment I started naming clear outcomes—like “a website that actually sells your offer” or “a content plan you’ll actually follow”—everything changed.

Your person wants to know what life looks like after working or doing business with you. Identify the ONE juicy outcome or transformation. Paint that picture. Make it tangible. Make it specific. Make them salivate over it.

Because if the result isn’t clear to you, it won’t be clear to them.

5. Share ONE clear message 📣

Your message is your through-line or red thread. It should show up in everything—your website, your bio, your posts, your pitch.

It needs to communicate what you do, who it’s for, and the result it gets them.

I’ve been known to tweak mine to death, or get stuck trying to sound clever or ultra-original. But honestly? The more I simplified it and used real people speak, the better it worked.

Your ONE message should feel like a lightbulb moment for your ONE person.

It could be a business level message, like: “I help burned-out solopreneurs simplify their marketing so they can step into their CEO era, scale sustainably, and build a business they love to work in.”

Or an offer level message: “The face moisturizer that packs all the benefits of five products into one powerhouse formula, for age-defying radiance without the pricy, multi-step routine.”

But think of this as your marketing anchor. Everything else builds from here.

6. Pick ONE place to share it 📍

Here’s where most people start panicking: “But don’t I need to be on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube??”

Nope. You need ONE platform that you don’t hate and that your ONE person already uses.

Tune out the: “Instagram is where the money is!” and “I’m growing like crazy on TikTok!” fanfare and just get honest with yourself on what makes the most sense for you at this moment in your business.

If you like writing, dig into Substack, a newsletter, or LinkedIn.
If you’re more visual, maybe it’s Instagram or Pinterest.
If you like teaching, YouTube, TikTok, or podcasting might be a fit.

The key is to stop spreading yourself so thin so you can actually show up consistently somewhere.

Pick the platform you’re most comfortable on. The one your audience already uses. Then show up there on purpose.

7. Create ONE post that sells 💌

When I say “sells,” I don’t mean sleazy or pushy. I mean useful. Honest. Clear.

Something that shares your offer with the ONE person who needs it (and all the other people like them who need it too) in a helpful, human way.

It could be one post that teaches something small, shares a personal story, or breaks down how your offer helps. Then invites them to take the next step.

That’s it.

If writing that post feels weird or scary, start by imagining you're explaining it to a friend. That’s usually where your best content lives anyway.

8. Send them to ONE destination 🧭

Please, for the love of all that is good in your business—don’t give people six different links or seven different CTAs.

ONE offer. ONE next step. ONE clear place to go.

People are busy. You need to make it super simple for the right people to get what you’re offering.

When I streamlined this in my own business, I saw my conversions double. Not because my offer changed, but because I made the path to the offer so much easier to follow.

Give them one front door—and make sure it’s easy to walk through.

This is how you build momentum, friend. One small move at a time.

I know how easy it is to get overwhelmed. To feel like nothing’s working and maybe you’re just not cut out for this.

But I promise you—you don’t need a bunch of fancy Canva templates, a complicated funnel, or an expensive rebrand. You just need a place to start.

One offer. One person. One problem. One outcome. One message. One platform. One post. One path.

This is how real businesses grow. Not through magic or weird business voodoo. Through simple and sustainable movement.

Stop trying to build a mansion on no foundation.

Start with laying the first brick. Then the next. That’s how you build something lasting, friend.

Grab the free Start With One worksheet and let’s get to work.

Over here rooting for you. 😘