Hey Reader,

We need to talk about “focus.”

And not the overly-simplified, bro-coded version where some guy on YouTube tells you to pick one channel, one offer, and one audience, then tattoo them on your forehead and white-knuckle your way through the next ten years.

That’s not strategic focus. That’s gambling with your business, your energy, and your optionality.

The goal isn’t to pick just one thing. The goal is to deliberately choose the right few things that actually move the needle—and to build repeatable systems around them so your growth doesn’t rely on adrenaline and coffee.

So let’s start here:

You do not need to be everywhere.
​And, just as importantly, you don’t need to disappear from the internet entirely and hope that your one funnel or platform magically holds the line.

What you need instead is a combination of two powerful, often misunderstood concepts: strategic absence and smart diversification.

This pairing creates resilience, gives you real leverage, and, maybe most importantly, removes a staggering amount of stress that comes from trying to be everything, everywhere, all the time.

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The two traps most solo founders fall into

When I look at how solo business owners operate, I see the same pattern play out in two extremes.

Trap #1: Trying to do everything

This is the “chaotic good” energy. You’ve got the ambition, you’ve got the ideas, but your strategy looks like a tossed salad of platforms, offers, and half-finished funnels. Maybe it sounds like this:

It’s a noble kind of overwhelm. But it’s still overwhelm. You’re trying to scale by stacking spaghetti on top of more spaghetti, hoping it turns into lasagna.

Trap #2: Relying on just one thing

This one feels smarter at first. You’ve picked a lane and you’re all in. Maybe it’s LinkedIn. Maybe it’s SEO. Maybe it’s Instagram reels because you finally cracked the code on what makes them hit. But underneath the surface is a massive single point of failure.

If one algorithm changes (and it will — read more about the rise and fall of social media platforms), or if the platform glitches, or if the audience migrates somewhere else, your entire growth strategy goes with it.

These two traps — chaotic overcommitment and fragile overfocus — are not opposites. They’re symptoms of the same problem: reactivity disguised as strategy.

What strategic absence actually means

Let’s get something straight.

Strategic absence is not the same thing as ignoring a platform or skipping a trend because you’re too busy or too afraid to learn something new.

It’s not an excuse to avoid. It’s not resistance pretending to be wisdom.

Strategic absence is an active decision. It’s a clear-eyed “no” that’s rooted in your positioning, your values, and your business goals — not your calendar, mood, or bandwidth on a given Tuesday.

For example, Apple doesn’t make a $99 iPhone. Not because they can’t. Of course they could. But they don’t, because it would dilute the brand. It would signal the wrong things to the wrong people, and it would cost them more than it would earn.

Likewise, you don’t need to chase every shiny new thing just because it’s working for someone else. The fact that TikTok works for one business doesn’t mean it should be part of yours. The fact that someone else makes six figures off a mini-course doesn’t mean it belongs in your offer suite.

Absence, when strategic, is a flex. It shows you know exactly where not to be — and why.

Here’s a question to sit with:
​What are you currently absent from — and is that absence by default or by design?

My own strategic absences (and why they exist)

Just to ground this in reality, here’s a short list of things I don’t do in my business — and the intentional reasoning behind each one.

• I don’t do TikTok. It’s not because I think it’s a bad platform or because I’m afraid of video (TBH, I am, just a little bit). I just don’t want to invest that much time in a content format that rewards constant posting with unpredictable reach.
• I don’t write fluffy marketing advice. I’m here for strategy, not surface-level tips that get likes but don’t create results. If someone’s looking for quick dopamine hits, they’re not my audience.
• I don’t sell random digital products. Everything I sell is connected to a bigger strategic framework, designed to compound over time — not cash grabs for one-off wins.
• I don’t have a podcast. I guest on a lot of them, though. For me, at this point in my business, the level of effort a podcast entails doesn’t make sense.

These absences are not weaknesses. They’re guardrails. They keep me honest, focused, and profitable.

Moreover, they’re not set in stone. You might see me do a silly TikTok dance at some point, but today is not that day. Tomorrow’s not looking good either.

When you’re too focused on one thing

Now let’s talk about the flip side.

Because while clarity and focus are powerful, tunnel vision is not. Over-reliance on a single channel, platform, or revenue stream is a form of strategic debt. And eventually, it comes due.

→ If you’ve built your entire presence on Instagram and the platform goes dark for a few days, what happens to your leads?

→ If you only offer 1:1 services and suddenly get sick or burned out, what happens to your revenue?

→ If you get 90% of your traffic from Google and they drop an algorithm update, are you prepared?

This is the fragility that hides inside “I’m focused” because all marketing channels decay with time.

If you’re relying on ONE platform or one funnel, please (PLEASE!) read the examples below. These are people like you, who thought they had a solid business, until they were forced to pivot overnight.

• Twitter creators who had six-figure launches until Elon changed the feed and their reach dropped by 80%.
• DTC brands that crushed it on Facebook Ads until iOS14 pulled the rug out from under their tracking.
• SEO-first businesses that got wiped out overnight when Google tweaked one core update and shifted page one.
• LinkedIn die-hard fans who get ALL their business from the platform. While LinkedIn is far from dead, organic reach isn’t what it used to be.

What smart diversification looks like

Strategic absence is the term I coined to go hand in hand with smart diversification because together they help you avoid both chaos and collapse.

Smart diversification doesn’t mean spreading yourself thin. It means adding intention and insurance to your business model.

Here’s what it looks like in practice:

• Be active on two to four high-leverage platforms that you can actually maintain, that serve your audience, and where your message lands. A few examples here.
• Have one primary offer, your goose with the golden eggs, and focus on selling that 90% of the time. Everything else should support it.
• Serve one core audience, maybe with some variation, but avoid trying to market to “everyone who might possibly buy something someday.”

This isn’t minimalism for its own sake. It’s creating focus with backups.

It’s the business version of wearing a seatbelt. You may never need it, but you’ll be glad it’s there if something hits.

Are you overfocused or spread too thin?

Here’s a quick, actionable exercise you can do today. Set a timer for 15 minutes, grab a notepad (or open a blank doc), and run through these five steps:

1. Identify your core revenue driver.
​Where does your money actually come from? Not where you wish it came from. Be honest.

2. List your current channels and offers.
​Write down where you’re showing up and what you’re selling.

3. Highlight what drains you.
​Which platforms, offers, or processes feel heavy — but haven’t delivered results in a while?

4. Cut one. Right now.
​Kill it. Archive it. Take a break. Whatever. You don’t need a committee vote.

5. Add one strategic backup.
​Pick one thing to diversify with, intentionally. Maybe that’s finally starting a newsletter. Or turning your 1:1 offer into a productized service. Or testing a second platform where your audience already hangs out.

This isn’t about doing more; it’s about making fewer, better bets.

How others do it

• Apple built a brand by saying no to cheap products, but still expanded into complementary services like Apple Music and iCloud, without diluting its positioning.
• Pat Flynn didn’t jump into random channels. He went from blog to podcast to courses, layering each one in only when it made strategic sense.
• Your business doesn’t need to be on ten platforms. But it should have at least two that can hold the weight if one slips.

TL;DR: stop trying to be everywhere. But also? Stop being vulnerable.

You don’t need a presence on every platform. You don’t need a new offer every quarter. You don’t need to launch a podcast because someone said it’s “the next big thing.”

But you do need a strategy that can survive turbulence.

Strategic absence is how you cut the fluff.
Smart diversification is how you build a foundation that lasts.

Want help with this?

If you’re tired of juggling 47 tactics and still not seeing results (or worse, stuck hoping your one “thing” doesn’t break), then let’s fix that.

Inside Growth Intensive, my 1:1 program, we spend two months doing exactly this.

We build your core growth engine. We identify the few levers worth pulling. We set up your marketing system so it runs with clarity, not chaos.

You get strategy, systems, and structure that don’t rely on platform mood swings or personal burnout.

If you’re ready to grow without adding more noise, start here:

👉 Join the Growth Intensive​

🔦 Community spotlight

Speaking of smart diversification, is YouTube a platform you’ve been considering for a while? If so, you need to grab this guide from my brilliant friend Asiya Miart. She built a $1 million business on YouTube and she’s sharing her playbook for exactly $0.

🎙️ My podcasts and interviews

I recently joined Clerisa Varghese on her podcast to talk about the way trust can shape a business. It ended up being a funny conversation about using trauma to sell (yep, I’ve been pitched that) and also about how my childhood shaped my reading habits. Tune in here.

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That's it from me today! See you next week in your inbox. Here to make you think, Adriana ​

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