You're doing everything "right."

You're posting on social media three times a week. You've got a beautiful website. You're networking, following up with leads, and implementing all the marketing strategies the gurus told you would work.

But your phone isn't ringing. Your inbox isn't full of dream clients. And you're starting to wonder if you're just bad at business.

Here's what I wish someone had told me 15 years ago when I was drowning in the same frustration: Your marketing isn't the problem. Your business alignment is.

You can't market a broken business effectively. And most service businesses? They're not broken, they're just misaligned.

The Real Reason Your Marketing Falls Flat

Let me tell you about Sarah. She's a graphic designer who came to me last year, completely burned out and ready to quit.

She had all the "right" marketing in place:

Professional Instagram with 2,000 followers
A website that looked like it cost $10K
Email sequences that would make any marketing guru proud
Networking events every week

But she was barely making $40K a year, working 70-hour weeks, and serving clients who questioned every design choice and haggled over every invoice.

"I don't get it," she told me. "I'm doing everything they tell you to do. Why isn't it working?"

The answer became clear within 10 minutes: Sarah was marketing a business that wasn't built for her.

She was serving small startups who wanted logos for $300 because that's what she thought she "should" do as a new designer. Her pricing was based on fear, not value. Her offers were scattered because she was trying to be everything to everyone.

No amount of Instagram posts or email campaigns could fix that fundamental misalignment.

You Can't Polish a Misaligned Business

Here's the hard truth: 85% of marketing campaigns fail, not because the tactics are wrong, but because the foundation is shaky.

When I was working in construction, we had a saying: "You can't build a straight house on a crooked foundation." The same applies to your business.

If your business is misaligned, serving the wrong clients, offering services that drain you, pricing based on fear instead of value, your marketing will always feel like pushing a boulder uphill.

The Signs Your Business Is Misaligned:

You're attracting clients who drain you. Every conversation feels like a negotiation. They question your expertise, fight you on price, and treat you like you should be grateful for their business.

Your offers don't match your energy. You've built services around what you think people want to buy, not what you're actually good at or enjoy delivering.

You're undercharging and overdelivering. You know you're worth more, but you're scared to raise your prices because you think you'll lose clients.

You feel like you're shouting into the void. You're creating content, posting consistently, and networking, but nothing feels like it's landing.

You're exhausted. Not just tired, bone-deep, soul-crushing exhausted from trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole.

Sound familiar?

Why This Happens (Spoiler: It's Not Your Fault)

Most service business owners fall into misalignment because they're following someone else's playbook instead of building something that actually fits them.

You took that course that promised to help you "scale to six figures." You implemented the systems that worked for someone in a completely different industry. You priced your services based on what your competitor charges, not what your work is actually worth.

You were sold a one-size-fits-all solution for a problem that requires customization.

In the indie publishing world, I've seen this play out hundreds of times. Authors try to write in trending genres they hate because that's "what sells." They build author brands that feel completely fake because they're copying successful authors instead of finding their own voice.

The result? Books that don't connect with readers. Marketing that feels forced. Authors who burn out before their second book.

The ones who succeed? They figure out their unique voice, their ideal reader, and what kind of books they actually want to write. Then, and only then, do they build a marketing strategy around that foundation.

The Foundation-First Approach

Before you write another social media post or send another email, you need to audit your business foundation. Here's what that looks like:

1. Get Brutally Honest About Your Current Clients

Write down your last 10 clients. Next to each name, rate them on energy drain (1-10, with 10 being "this client energizes me" and 1 being "this client makes me want to quit").

If most of your ratings are below 7, you're serving the wrong people.

2. Audit Your Offers Against Your Energy

List all your current services. Ask yourself:

Do I enjoy delivering this?
Am I good at this?
Does this align with my strengths?
Can I deliver this 100 times without burning out?

If you answered "no" to any of those questions, that offer needs to be refined or eliminated.

3. Check Your Pricing Against Reality

Are you pricing based on:

What you think people will pay? (Fear-based)
What your competitor charges? (Comparison-based)
What you charged five years ago? (Outdated)

Or are you pricing based on:

The actual value you deliver
Your expertise and experience
What it costs to run your business profitably

4. Examine Your Messaging

Read your website copy out loud. Does it sound like you? Or does it sound like every other person in your industry?

If a potential client read your content, would they understand:

Exactly who you serve
What makes you different
Why they should choose you over everyone else

If not, your messaging needs work before your marketing will be effective.

The Real Solution: Alignment First, Marketing Second

Once Sarah and I fixed her foundation: clarified her ideal client (growing businesses ready to invest in professional branding), refined her offers (brand packages instead of one-off logos), and aligned her pricing with her value: her marketing started working.

The same Instagram posts that used to get crickets started attracting qualified leads. Her website began converting visitors into clients. Networking became easier because she knew exactly who she was looking for.

Nothing changed about her marketing tactics. Everything changed about her business foundation.

That's the power of alignment.

Your Next Step: The Alignment Audit

If you're exhausted from marketing that doesn't work, it's time to stop throwing tactics at a misaligned business and start with the foundation.

Here's what you need to get clear on:

Who you actually want to serve (not who you think you should serve)
What offers align with your strengths and energy
How to price based on value, not fear
What makes you different from everyone else doing "the same thing"

This isn't about completely rebuilding your business. It's about making strategic adjustments so your business actually supports your life instead of consuming it.

Ready to Find Your Foundation?

If you're tired of marketing that feels like shouting into the void, Find Your Damn People will help you audit your business, get clear on your ideal clients, and build offers that actually align with who you are and what you're good at.

It's a fast, no-BS process that helps you stop chasing work and start attracting the clients you actually want to serve.

Because here's the thing: you're not bad at marketing. You're just trying to market a business that wasn't built for you.

Fix that first. Then watch how much easier everything else becomes.

Get Find Your Damn People for $37 →

Your marketing will thank you. And more importantly, so will your sanity.

Why Your Marketing Isn't Working (And It's Not Your Fault)