The Marketing Mindset: Why Hustling Harder Won’t Fix Bad Thinking

A preamble (hear me out). I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve seen a lot of ‘what not to dos.’ Clients never cease to amaze me with their ability to make poor choices, throw blame in the wrong direction, listen to the wrong piece of advice, impulse-buy the “100 New Client Guarantee” that landed in their inbox at midnight, or just throw around a lot of buzzwords and hype tactics without really understanding what any of them mean. I built the Ember Channel because I was, quite plainly, tired of the “I messed up – can you fix it?” conversations and proceeding to mop up whatever digital disaster came across my desk that week. When this was all somewhat preventable.

There's almost always one common thread in the avalanche of ‘what not to dos’ – Mindset. Personal responsibility. Taking the steps to approach challenges with presence, mindfulness, ownership and growth mindset. There was SO much these clients could do to help themselves before they hit disaster zone and called me for cleanup.

Get yourself right first and you’re a step ahead before you even start to address those everyday challenges, questions and growth opportunities. It sounds so simple, but it turns out to be more than complex when applied to life as a small business owner. So let's talk about this.

Hustling harder is not going to fix bad thinking. Marketing Mindset is your solution.

Let’s Talk About The Problem Nobody Talks About

You’re up at midnight, scrolling TikTok for ‘marketing hacks’ or the latest viral trend. One guru says post 5-7 times a day. Another swears email is dead (it’s not). A third insists you’ll need funnels, tripwires, thingamabobs and seventeen upsell pages before you’ve even made your first sale. Also don’t forget to buy his easy 37-Step Master Strategy plan for $37.

You grab a notebook, scribble frantically, schedule it all to fit, and swear tomorrow you’ll do it all. You even manage to get up before 6am the next day to get a head start. You try, oh boy do you try. But by the weekend, you’re burnt out, broke (why’d I waste that $37?), and weirdly resentful of Canva/Tik Tok/Meta/(insert other thing that you spent too much time on, with zero results).

The problem? It’s not your hustle. It’s not even the tactic. It’s your mindset.

Hustling harder is not going to fix bad thinking.

Most entrepreneurs think they have a marketing problem when what they really have is a mindset problem. You can learn every strategy on the planet, but if the lens you’re using to apply it is cloudy with stress, doubt, or perfectionism? It won’t matter. The strategy fizzles.

What Not To Do (From the Entrepreneur Files)

I once had a client who spent six months redesigning her logo. Six. Months. Every shade of blue on the internet auditioned for the role. Meanwhile, her website gathered dust, her offers sat unseen, and her social media bios still said “Coming soon.”

Her problem wasn’t branding. It was mindset. She wanted everything perfect before she showed up. But in business? Done beats perfect every time.

Another founder, a dear repeat client of mine, swore he just needed “the right” marketing tactic. We’d meet, and every week he had a new magic bullet: TikTok this week, podcasts next, then back to Facebook ads. He’d fallen sucker to the viral hype mindset and wasn’t prepared to stop and invest in quality or consistency. To make matters worse, this dear client of mine had learned a pile of new buzzwords and wanted to spend more time arguing about his funnels and FYP than on building quality, consistent content. No amount of Namaste could save me there. He never gave any channel time to work. The result: half a million half-starts, no traction, SUPER frustrated me.

This wasn’t a strategy issue. It was mindset. He believed there was a shortcut — that success was a tactic away, instead of a rhythm built over time. Consistency? That was where he failed.

I walked away from that client, sadly.

The Real Fix: Marketing Mindset

Mindset isn’t a fluffy add-on. It’s the engine. It’s how you see, interpret, and respond to the ups and downs of business. It’s also how you prepare yourself. Think of it like a camera lens. If the lens is dirty (overwhelm, stress, ego), every photo comes out warped or fuzzy. The original subject (AKA your messaging) might be brilliant, but nobody can see it. Clear the lens, and suddenly the same tools — the same strategy — look sharp.

In marketing, this means:

• Showing up consistently, even when it feels like no one’s watching.

• Treating setbacks as data, not failures.

• Taking ownership instead of blaming algorithms, competitors, or “bad timing.”

Entrepreneur Mindset in Action

Bad mindset: “My post didn’t go viral in 3 days. Clearly I’m not cut out for this.”

Better mindset: “Okay, it reached 200 people I didn’t know last week. That’s 200 more than last week.”

Bad mindset: “SEO takes too long. Forget that. I heard about this new Fifty Funnel thing…”

Better mindset: “SEO takes months, so let me plant those seeds now and water them consistently.” And let’s steer clear of those viral traps and buzzword soup while we’re at it.

Bad mindset: “I’ll start my marketing after my rebrand/new website/podcast launch/next full moon.”

Better mindset: “Imperfect action is better than no action. Start where I am, with what I’ve got.”

My Own Confession (Because I’ve Been There Too)

Early on, I was the queen of “I’ll post once I…” excuses. Once I had the perfect colors. Once my copy was polished. Once my schedule calmed down (spoiler: it never does).

The day I dropped the excuses and committed to showing up — imperfectly — everything changed. I stopped obsessing about doing it all and started focusing on what mattered: clarity, consistency, ownership, quality.  That was more than 10 years ago and I have not looked back. That shift in mindset created more traction in 3 months than the previous 2 years combined.

Problem → Solution (The Loop You Need to Break)

Most entrepreneurs live in this exhausting loop:

1. Feel behind.

2. Panic-scroll for new tactics.

3. Try them half-heartedly.

4. Burn out.

5. Repeat.

The solution isn’t more tactics. It’s a mindset reset:

• Intention: What’s my actual goal here?

• Ownership: What am I responsible for, instead of blaming luck, competition or algorithms? What have I brought to the table, and what can I improve upon?

• Consistency: How can I keep showing up, even when it’s boring or hard?

• Metacognition: Am I paying attention to my own patterns of thinking — and are they helping or sabotaging me?

This is where mindset becomes your competitive advantage.

Success isn’t a destination. It’s a rhythm. Your mindset lets you choose the beat.

So the next time you’re tempted to chase a shiny new tactic, pause. Ask yourself: “Is this really a strategy problem — or is this my mindset?” Because strategy gets you started. But mindset? That’s what keeps you going.

And remember: your marketing mindset is the secret weapon most entrepreneurs ignore. Don’t.

Pick one mindset shift you’re making this week. Write it down. Share it. Make it real. Not sure where to start? That’s why I built the Ember Learning Channel — free lessons, resources, and step-by-step guides to help you build both the skills and the mindset to grow your business.

If you want help, you don’t have to do this alone. We offer free Spark calls to talk through mindset that might be holding you back, and chart out a more positive way of moving forward. Don’t forget to Subscribe to our emails for a weekly mindset download and all the inspiration you need to stay on track.

📩 Reach out here. As always, I reply to all emails.