The Most Dangerous Time to Stop Marketing
A consultant told me to never stop marketing, even when I’m full. I ignored him, and it cost me half my revenue.
When I started out my solo journey as a fractional CMO, a seasoned consultant I knew gave me one piece of advice: never stop doing business development, even when you’re full.
I nodded. I agreed. And then I did the exact opposite.
Within three months of full-time biz dev, my roster was full. Good problem, I thought.
Then guess what quietly dropped off to make room for the client work? The biz dev. The outreach, the marketing, the conversations I’d been so diligent about. All of it.
Three months after that, I wrapped up a couple of projects, and my revenue was cut in half.
I had some of my worst months right on the heels of some of my best. That was my first ride on the revenue rollercoaster. I had to start the whole marketing engine over from scratch, and it took a while to fill back up.
I hear a lot of solos treat low business development as a perk. “I only work with a few clients at a time, so I barely have to market. Everything comes from referrals.” They file it under upside to their business model.
I see it the other way. It’s one of the biggest weaknesses in most fractional businesses.
Business development is a muscle, and it’s the lifeblood of any healthy business. The strongest owners I know, plenty of them solo, keep at it constantly, in good months and bad. That steadiness is what keeps them off the revenue rollercoaster.
Here’s the trap (and it’s a quiet one): When you’re full, marketing feels optional. You have the work, the money’s coming in, and prospecting is the easy thing to drop. So you drop it.
That’s exactly backwards. The most dangerous time to stop marketing is when your roster is full.
The fix is boring (but it works): you continue marketing and biz dev on a consistent schedule, whether your roster is full or empty.
Staying in front of your ICP when you have no room for them feels pointless. But it’s one of the most valuable things you can do for your business.
Here are a few things that make it realistic, even if you’re full:
15-30 minutes a day. It doesn’t take much. A few minutes a day of outreach and/or content is plenty. Just be consistent with it.
Focus on active + passive marketing. You need active marketing (outreach you control) and passive marketing (content that earns trust over time). Most solos from a marketing background run only the passive and wait for inbound. But waiting isn’t a very good plan.
Count conversations. Aim for two to four calls with your ICP every week. That’s the number that keeps the biz dev muscle warm. (More on where those calls can come from in The 5 Conversation Engines.) Remember: These are conversations, not sales pitches. (See below.)
Don’t pitch. Most of these calls shouldn’t be sales calls, and they land better when they’re not. Focus on the other person: what projects are on their plate, what their priorities are, what paths they’re exploring. (That’s the demand pattern in the 5 P’s of true demand.) You’re subtly looking for the same demand shape as your best-fit client. When you spot it, softly ask if they want to run your free intro offer, and book the time.
And the objection I hear most: what if someone wants to hire me and I’m already full?
Truthfully, only good things come from that. Here are some options:
Refer it out. Send them to another solo you trust and take a 10% referral fee. They get work handed to them, you get paid to say no, and you strengthen a relationship you’ll want later.
Waitlist them. Tell them you’re full now, and you’ll reach back out in a month once you wrap up a project. Real demand will wait for the best.
Raise your price. Quote above your current rate. If they still say yes, wrap up your lowest-paying client and trade up. A prospect who wants to hire a booked consultant is proof that you can keep raising your prices.
Your invitation this week: book two conversations with your ICP, even if you have zero room for another client. (Especially if you have zero room.)
That consultant was right. I just had to lose half my revenue to believe him. Don’t be like me.
Keep building,
Garrett
P.S. When you’re ready, here are two ways I can help you:
Join the 10x Solo community. A private community of full-time B2B solos, fractionals, and small agency owners. Weekly workshops, honest peer feedback, and referrals. Apply here.
Work with me 1:1. For maxed-out consultants, fractionals, and agency owners who want to make more money in less time by refining their business model, offers, and systems. I currently have one spot open. DM me to set up a time to chat.
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