Alone in marketing? Pick fewer channels.

According to BrightLocal, 54% of SME owners handle their marketing entirely alone. If that's you, you've probably been told you "have to" be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google, the newsletter and the blog. All at once.

It's the most expensive advice in modern marketing. Seven channels done halfway earn less than two channels done consistently — and they burn through the one resource you can't buy back: your attention.

How to choose your two channels

• The first chooses itself: where your customers already look for you. For most local and service businesses, that's Google — search and your business listing.
• The second is where your customers spend time and where you can stay consistent. A visual, local clientele? Instagram or Facebook. A business clientele? LinkedIn. A loyal clientele? The newsletter — the most underrated channel there is.

The criterion that settles everything: consistency

One post a week for a year beats fifteen posts in January and silence after that. Choose the rhythm you can hold in your worst month — not your best. That's the honest test.

What about the other channels?

They don't disappear: they wait. You add a channel when the first two run without strain — not before. And if a channel produces nothing after six months of real effort, you close it without guilt. A channel is an employee: if it doesn't deliver, you don't keep it because "everyone has one".

Fewer channels means less noise, less guilt — and, almost always, more results. Spreading thin is a tax. Focus is a strategy.