When everything’s available, nothing stands out

Reader,

You walk into a holiday party and do what most of us do before we’re ready for small talk. You head straight for the bar.

It’s a generic open bar. No menu. No signature drinks. Just rows of bottles, top shelf to bottom shelf, every option technically available.

And then the bartender asks what you want, and you freeze.

Instead of getting creative or ordering the thing you actually love, you default. A white wine. A vodka soda. Something safe, familiar, forgettable.

When the options are endless and nothing is curated, it’s easier to choose something generic and move on.

For the record, this is exactly when a Negroni shines.🥃

I’ve been noticing this same pattern with marketing lately.

Smart business owners with good ideas, solid experience, and plenty of effort behind them… staring at a crowded bar and feeling oddly stuck. Not because they don’t know enough, but because everything is competing for attention at once.

I get it. You’ve tried to do the “right” things (post consistently, follow the trends, keep showing up) but lately it all just feels... noisy. Like no matter what you choose, it blends in instead of standing out.

For a long time, my subscription service, The Marketing Bar, existed to help with that. One small, actionable insight at a time. A lighter lift. A way to keep things moving without committing to a massive new strategy every few months.

And it worked.

But as I’ve leaned deeper into my own Signature Brand over the last two years, and helped clients do the same, something else became impossible to ignore.

The moments when marketing suddenly felt easier weren’t about choosing a better tactic; it was having a strong base that everything else could build on.

When the base is right, the rest of the drink comes together. Ideas flow faster. Decisions feel cleaner. Consistency stops feeling like something you have to force and starts feeling natural.

You can feel it when a brand has that foundation. There’s confidence in the voice. Clarity in the choices. A sense that everything in the glass not only mixes well together but really belongs there.

That’s what a Signature Brand does.

Once I saw this so clearly, it changed how I wanted to support business owners moving forward.

So at the end of this year, I’m closing The Marketing Bar.

And in January, I’m opening something new.

The Brand Bar is coming.

A behind-the-scenes support system, designed to quietly maintain what makes your brand unmistakable as your business evolves.

As you update your website, share content, send emails, and experiment with new ideas, it works in the background, using my two decades of distilling what actually makes brands memorable, to notice what your brand needs next. The kind of upkeep that keeps everything sharp, aligned, and tasting like you… without you having to micromanage it.

If marketing has felt busy but unsettled, this next chapter is for you.
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Keep an eye on your inbox in January. I’ll share how to get first access.

Cheers,
Kristin