The Curse of Being a Marketer (Some People Are Just Nuts)
When you're a marketer who sees every problem clearly, staying in your lane becomes nearly impossible. The smartest path isn't always the one you can actually follow.
When you know the smart move is to specialize and stay in your lane, watching yourself do the opposite feels like a curse. The formula for success is simple: pick one thing, get really good at it, stick with it forever. There’s always that competitor who followed the formula perfectly, built a great business doing web design for twenty years, and makes you jealous with their steady success. But some people can’t help themselves. Once you see a client struggling with their brand messaging, fumbling through conversations about what makes them different, you can’t just build their website and walk away. You see how fixing their positioning would transform their business. You understand exactly what they need to say and how to say it. Every skill you develop reveals ten more problems you could solve. The more you learn, the more you have to do. It’s not about chasing shiny objects or lacking focus. It’s about seeing problems so clearly that ignoring them feels impossible. You watch clients leave money on the table because they can’t articulate their value, and you know you could fix it. That knowledge becomes a burden you can’t put down, even when the smart money says you should.