Why you should focus on profitability over scaling

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲-𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮. Let’s be real: those stock “b-roll” videos and generic quote images with tiny, unreadable text flooding your page every day? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 “𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭.” Here’s what’s really happening behind the curtain: These auto-posted clips are churned out by bulk “multi-professional” agencies overseas. One company runs content for hundreds of insurance agents at once. Same posts, same hashtags, same broken links, only your logo swapped in. 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬. 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝. Google sees the same recycled articles and links, flags them as low-value, and your reputation gets dragged down right along with the blog farm they’re sending traffic to. Even worse? Those “lead capture” links often route through the agency first, not to you. Meaning the leads you’re paying for are being siphoned off before they ever reach your inbox. 𝐈𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭: 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩, 𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥... 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. If you want to win on Facebook, stop outsourcing your voice. Show up with content that’s real, local, and useful. People buy from people, not from stock footage of a handshake.

Last week, I met with a small business owner, Leticia, who was unhappy with her website. We opened it up together and I asked her, “Who does your website talk to?” “Everyone,” she replied. Cue the record scratch! No wonder she didn’t like her website. It was generic and forgettable. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: 👉🏼If you market your business to everyone, you market to no one. We spent a fair amount of time digging into precisely who her customers were. As it turned out, she was a health insurance broker who found most of her business through referrals from health care providers. A few individuals came to her, but they were few and far between. As it turned out, those also came through word-of-mouth referrals. However, her website addressed individual consumers and totally disregarded doctors' offices and other trusted sources. I encouraged her to refocus and rewrite her website to speak directly to the healthcare providers who would send her referrals. Are you like Leticia? If you have two, three, or even several types of customers, and you're trying to speak to all of them with a single approach in an attempt to capture all of them, I encourage you to stop and think. Follow these three steps:  1️⃣Identify your customers and segment by groups based on their shared interests or problems.  2️⃣Ask yourself which group represents the largest number of people for the problem you solve. (Or the greatest opportunity for you.)  3️⃣Focus your marketing and messaging on that group. For example, your business might help teachers, tutors, and school administrators. If your product or service helps mostly teachers, then focus on the teachers. Don’t worry that you will drive away the other audiences. Strangely enough, when you start to speak specifically to one type of customer, you will also attract other customers who have adjacent or complementary interests. (Crazy, I know!) If you can't bear to let go of the secondary audiences, set up a button or section on your homepage that directs them to interior pages that are tailored to them. But don't go beyond one or two, max! Make sure you focus on your marketing and messaging on the group that represents the biggest opportunity. You'll find yourself pleasantly surprised. Instead of driving away customers with one-size-fits-all messaging, your targeted marketing will attract new ones like a magnet. Who does your website speak to? ------ Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Wendy Maldonado for more. Join the list for Marketing That Matters, a weekly mailing where I share a mini digital marketing lesson like this one, curated jobs, productivity and wellness tips, and inspiration for changemakers - subscribe here: tinyurl.com/WendyMTM

If You Haven’t Heard From Your Agency in Months - Sack Them. Last week I had three separate conversations with business owners. All of them paying marketing agencies every month. And all three said the same thing: “We haven’t heard from them in months.” “I have no idea what we are getting for our money or if it's working!” No reports. No updates. No strategy reviews. Nothing. Just invoices. Let’s call it what it is - that’s not marketing. That’s daylight robbery. If your agency isn’t communicating with you, showing you the data, or explaining what’s working (and what isn’t)… they don’t deserve your trust or your money. Because marketing should never feel like a mystery. You should know what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how it’s performing at all times. It’s why at Altitude, we built everything around ROI, communication, and culture. Our clients don’t have to chase us for updates, they can literally log in and see results in real-time and we speak to them weekly at a minimum! If your agency’s gone quiet, don’t make excuses for them (especially if they are 'mates' or you've worked with them for years!). They’re not busy doing the work. They’ve just stopped caring. Time to find someone who does.

Are you making this marketing mistake almost every South African business makes? Trying to sound professional instead of clear. That’s why your website says things like “cutting-edge solutions for modern challenges” and your customer just goes... huh? Here’s what I tell every small business owner I work with: If you confuse, you lose (shamelessly stolen from Donald Miller). That’s why I use StoryBrand in South Africa—a messaging framework that helps you: ► Stop sounding like a corporate brochure ► Start speaking your customer’s language ► Get more people saying “That’s exactly what I need” And no, you don’t need a funnel, agency, or flashy logo to do it. You just need one sentence that actually makes sense. Here’s how a StoryBrand one-liner works: [Problem]. [Solution]. [Result]. Some quick examples: ► Most people feel overwhelmed by money. Accounting Choice creates a clear plan so your finances feel simple and secure. ► Your inbox is a disaster and your to-do list is judging you. EVA gives you a trained virtual assistant so you can run your business like a CEO, not a sleep-deprived intern. ► Small business owners waste money on vague marketing. Strategic Marketing Tribe gives you a clear message and system that has clients lining up to work with you. Your one-liner is not just a tagline. It’s your entry point into trust. And it works—especially in South Africa, where trust is the marketing. Want to write yours in 5 minutes? I built a free tool to help you do exactly that. Link in comments. 👇 👉 Full scoop: https://lnkd.in/dpnqYqbA 🔥 Question: What’s the most cringe line you’ve seen from a business? I’ll go first: Some of the Pineapple Insurance billboards. “This billboard used to be funny”. Really? Are they sure about that one? Your turn. 👇 What’s the worst thing you’ve seen?

I wrote an email for a client last week that compared outsourcing marketing to Grandma coming to babysit. In February, I wrote website copy for an upholsterer that referenced Dirty Dancing. And back in the early days of my business, I used to describe messaging strategy as helping you figure out the picture on the jigsaw box. So you know what you’re actually trying to build. Why? Because we’re simple creatures. We like to make quick connections. But I’ve sat through so many Zoom calls with founders and marketing leads tying themselves in knots, trying to explain what they do. Especially when what they do is unique, complex, or innovative. They think their message needs to be clever, technical, or revolutionary. But often, the clearest way to get your audience to feel your value is to reach for an everyday reference they already understand. Some messaging frameworks will encourage you to say things like “We’re the Uber of pest control.” (Or the Duolingo of anything, right now...ugh) Sure, that kind of shorthand can work. But it’s become noise. And it’s not always grounded in your customer’s actual worldview. I prefer something more human. It doesn't matter if I’m working with a SaaS platform or a life coach, I’m thinking about the people who read your copy on their phones while walking to the bus stop. Or who save it for later and then forget. Or who are trying to book a dentist appointment, make dinner, and understand what the hell your homepage is trying to say. Real people, with real lives. Sometimes, the best way to say something new is to connect it to something familiar. But when you’re deep inside your business (especially as a founder or coach), it’s hard to do that. You’ve got too much background, too much context, too many ideas. What if I could discover a fresh and unexpected analogy that would immediately make your clients go, "I get it! And I want it right now!"?

7 Marketing Rules Every Marketer Should Live By: 1. People don’t buy insurance. They buy peace of mind. People don’t buy noise-cancelling headphones. They buy silence in a noisy world. People don’t buy cleaning services. They buy time for what matters. People don’t buy budgeting apps. They buy relief from money stress. 2. The best marketing doesn’t feel like an ad. It feels like a friend giving advice. 3. Give away your best tip. Make people think: If this is free, imagine what’s behind the paywall. Example: Free Tip: Never send a cold DM without first commenting on 3 of their posts. Now imagine what the full client acquisition system looks like. 4. Marketing isn’t about tricking people. It’s about helping them see why they can trust you. Earn that, and the sales will come. 5. You’re not the hero. Your audience is. Talk about them, not about you. 6. Your numbers impress the brain. Your story moves the heart. Great marketing does both. 7. People don’t buy the best product. They buy the one they understand in 5 seconds.

7 Marketing Rules Every Marketer Should Live By: 1. People don’t buy insurance. They buy peace of mind. People don’t buy noise-cancelling headphones. They buy silence in a noisy world. People don’t buy cleaning services. They buy time for what matters. People don’t buy budgeting apps. They buy relief from money stress. 2. The best marketing doesn’t feel like an ad. It feels like a friend giving advice. 3. Give away your best tip. Make people think: If this is free, imagine what’s behind the paywall. Example: Free Tip: Never send a cold DM without first commenting on 3 of their posts. Now imagine what the full client acquisition system looks like. 4. Marketing isn’t about tricking people. It’s about helping them see why they can trust you. Earn that, and the sales will come. 5. You’re not the hero. Your audience is. Talk about them, not about you. 6. Your numbers impress the brain. Your story moves the heart. Great marketing does both. 7. People don’t buy the best product. They buy the one they understand in 5 seconds.

💡 7 Marketing Rules Every Marketer Should Live By — timeless truths by Chase Dimond These aren’t just tips — they’re principles every brand should live by 👇 🔹 People don’t buy products. They buy outcomes. 🔹 The best marketing feels like a friend giving advice. 🔹 Give value first — make them think, “If this is free, imagine what’s paid.” 🔹 Earn trust before you earn sales. 🔹 You’re not the hero — your audience is. 🔹 Great marketing speaks to both the heart and the head. 🔹 Clarity beats complexity — always. Brilliant framework from @Chase Dimond 👏 #Marketing #BrandStrategy #Storytelling #DigitalMarketing #LinkedInTips #ContentMarketing #DilanReads

Posting to your blog, email, or social media without a strategy is like underwriting a policy without risk data. It burns your budget. A strategist makes sure your content: ✔ Drives the right traffic ✔ Converts leads into customers ✔ Connects directly to your business goals That means you’re not just creating “content.” You’re creating revenue-producing assets. Because in insurance, every wasted blog = wasted premium dollars. And every smart piece of content = ROI that keeps growing.

Last year, I started working with a personal injury firm doing $2M annually. When I asked about their marketing strategy, the managing partner pulled out a binder. 186 pages. Multiple agencies. Dozens of campaigns. Tracking spreadsheets I couldn't understand. Their problem? Despite all this complexity, their revenue had flatlined for 18 months. So I asked one question: What's actually working? Silence. They had no idea. Here's what we discovered after digging through the data: Out of 12 different marketing channels they were running: 2 were profitable 4 were break-even 6 were losing money They were spending $15K monthly on tactics that generated zero cases. The fix? We killed everything except the two channels that worked: Google Ads for high-intent searches Strategic referral partnerships with medical providers That's it. The result after 6 months: Revenue jumped from $2M to $2.8M. Marketing spend dropped from $25K to $12K monthly. Case quality improved dramatically. The lesson that changed how I approach every law firm: More marketing doesn't equal more clients. Better marketing equals more clients. What this managing partner taught me: I was so busy trying to be everywhere that I forgot to dominate somewhere. The complexity trap is real: You think more channels mean more opportunities. You believe more tactics create more safety. You assume more activity equals more results. Wrong. Complexity kills clarity. Clarity drives results. Here's what I now tell every law firm I work with: Don't ask "What else can we try?" Ask "What's working that we can double down on?" Don't chase every marketing trend. Master one or two channels first. Don't spread budget thin across everything. Invest deep in what converts. The firms generating $5M, $10M, even $20M annually? They're not doing 50 things okay. They're doing 2-3 things exceptionally well. Your marketing shouldn't look like a buffet. It should look like a laser. What could you eliminate from your marketing right now that wouldn't hurt your results at all?