Is your pitch working?

I’ve been slowing down a little lately - not in a “disappearing into a cave” kind of way…

But more in a “thinking, planning, and preserving energy” kind of way. Sometimes scrappy doesn’t mean sprinting — especially if pausing means stopping long enough to see where the system isn’t working.

One thing that became really clear in this pause? My event series, Scrappy Systems has been the most fun I’ve ever had interviewing experts, but it hasn’t been sustainable. 

As much as I love this series, it’s also a costly experiment that hasn’t brought in the level of leads to justify keeping it in its current format. (That’s the “why,” for those of you who love the behind-the-scenes.)

👉 But before we close the chapter, there’s ONE last episode — and I’m genuinely excited about it. I’ll be chatting with one of my Candid mentees, Dakota Snow, who migrated his community off Circle to a platform he now owns and runs himself. It’s the ultimate scrappy move, and I can’t wait to dive in. RSVP here to join us.

And don’t worry — the learning doesn’t stop here. As we finish up the user research (thank you to those who already jumped in 🙏), the newsletter will be where I keep sharing the next iteration. If you haven’t added your input yet, there’s still time to sign up and contribute.

A Scrappy System for Confident Client Pitches

I used to treat every discovery call like a guessing game: ask 100 questions, go build a custom solution, then try to convince them it was the answer. Exhausting. And honestly? Not that effective.

Now, I pitch completely differently — and it’s landed me my biggest clients yet. The secret: I don’t sell solutions, I sell my proven process.

Here’s exactly how my pitch flows now:

1. Start with their context.
   I ask about their business, their audience, and their goals. Are they trying to fix operations? Grow marketing? Monetise? This tells me why community matters for them.

2. Show the framework.
   I pull up my Notion process: Design → Build → Launch → Grow. No matter the client, these phases always apply, deliverables are custom.

3. Rework the framework together.

   • If they’ve already done parts of the process, we exclude them.

   • Then we identify what they haven’t done and have a clear idea of our next steps immediately.

   • We can also customise the process according to their unique needs at this point.

4. Position the build as an investment.
   From there, I show how the “Build” phase works — construction, onboarding, courses, paywalls, integrations, automations — all housed in my repeatable Notion template.

The effect?

• Clients feel secure because they can see a roadmap, not a mystery proposal with unclear outputs.

• I feel confident in my own process and offer, because I’m not reinventing the wheel every call.

• And the work sells itself, because I’m the guide with the system, not the freelancer scrambling for a custom fix.

👉 Confidence is contagious. 

Don’t pitch bespoke magic tricks — pitch the proven process that gets them to the right solution.

Ready for a new season?

📸 The Gallery Content Challenge: Marisa just dropped a content idea that even your most camera-shy self can pull off: photo galleries. Share your own gallery post on LinkedIn (or create one fresh) to join the challenge. Prove you can do it here.

👩‍💻 $100K for Women Tech Founders: Lionesses of Africa is offering up to $100,000 in equity-free grants, mentorship, and visibility for women (co)founders across Africa. Deadline: September 30, midnight. Apply here.

🤝 Mentorship Ops in Notion? I’ll be speaking at the Her AI Era Summit this October (13–17) on how to operationalise a mentorship program in Notion. If you’ve ever thought about launching one, this is your chance to learn the behind-the-scenes. Join the waitlist for update.

Always build community, never alone!

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