What a bowling league taught me about upskilling in marketing
I joined my first bowling league last year.
Important context:
My husband is very good at bowling.
His best friend is also very good at bowling.
I am… very much not good at bowling.
But it was a handicapped league, and I wanted to learn something new. So they became my personal coaches. Solid plan.
Here’s where it went sideways:
The moment the dudes in the league noticed me — a newbie, a woman, and very clearly bad at bowling — the “helpful advice” floodgates opened. Every time I stepped up to the lane, a different guy chimed in:
“Square your shoulders.”
“Keep your chest up.”
“Take another step.”
“Straighten your backswing.”
“Tuck your wrist.”
All technically correct. All well-intentioned. All happening at the same time.
And — surprise! — instead of improving, I got worse.
My average dropped. My handicap became useless. And bowling (which was supposed to be fun) turned into a confusing, frustrating mess.
This is exactly what’s happening with marketing these days.
My whole bowling league experience in a nutshell
Why this matters (and how it gets you stuck)
Marketing advice is everywhere right now.
Every influencer post, course, and webinar is telling you:
What to say
How to say it
Where to say it
Which format to use
And why their way is the way
Instead of getting better, you just get overwhelmed. So you:
Half-ass everything
Chase the wrong priorities
Or freeze completely because you can’t decide what to start with
Just like bowling, marketing gets worse when you try to fix everything at once.
Because progress doesn’t come from more advice, it comes from focused, intentional practice.
How to use this influx of marketing tips to your advantage
Here’s the framework I use — for myself and my clients:
1. Be picky about who you listen to
Listen to experts, not influencers. The difference:
Experts speak from lived experience
They don’t gatekeep their best insights
Their advice still makes sense even if you don’t buy anything
To clarify: A CTA at the end of an article, post, or email is fine. But advice that intentionally leaves you confused (unless you buy their thing) is not.
2. Fix the basics before you try anything fancy
Don’t:
Add a quiz funnel before your website copy is clear
Launch a complex email sequence without a solid welcome flow
Obsess over SEO hacks if your messaging doesn’t resonate
Nail your foundations first. Resist shiny object syndrome.
3. Apply one new thing at a time
Marketing skills build like muscle. Slow, steady progress leads to real growth — but too much intensity from the get-go will inevitably burn out.
Choose one improvement, work it until it’s solid, then move on.
That’s how confidence (and results) compound.
4. Always look for the simplest route
If something feels overwhelming, it’s probably over-engineered.
Clarity beats cleverness, consistency beats novelty, and momentum beats perfection.
5. If you’re stuck, get outside your own head
No matter how great a marketer you are, proximity blindness is real.
If you can’t tell what you should focus on first, sometimes you don’t need more advice. You need someone to tell you:
“This matters.”
“This doesn’t.”
“Start here.”
(That “someone” might be a trusted colleague, a friend in your industry, a mentor, or an expert you trust.)
P.S. If you want blunt, prioritization-first feedback on your site or copy, my Copy Roasts are designed for exactly that — and they don't include buzzwords, pushy upsells, or gatekeeping.
This article was originally shared in my embarrassing, brutally-honest newsletter: Sloppy Copy.
If you want to get totally-transparent copywriting lessons like this every week, pop in your email to join the party. 👇
