The only no-BS revenue system built for B2B businesses.
A BOOK ABOUT WHERE SMALL BUSINESSES FIND GROWTH
THE CONVERSATIONS THAT STARTED EVERYTHING
MAPS® Didn't Start in a Boardroom. It Started in the Real World.
It usually starts with frustration.
A CEO pulls me aside and says something like: *”We’ve tried three agencies. We’re posting on LinkedIn. We just redesigned the website. And I still can’t tell you if any of it is working.”*
Or a business owner looks me dead in the eye and says: *”Karyn, we’re the industry’s best kept secret.”* And every single time I say the same thing back, “That’s a stupid strategy.“ Thank God most of them laugh. Because I’m not joking.
Over the last 30 years, I have sat across from thousands of hardworking small business owners, CEOs, sales leaders, and marketing teams. They are smart. They are committed. They are not lazy. And they are exhausted from marketing that feels like a black hole — expensive, unpredictable, and impossible to defend.
I kept asking myself, “Where is this actually breaking down? Where is the tension coming from?”
The answer wasn’t one thing. It was five.
– Karyn
THE 5 REASONS MARKETING BREAKS DOWN IN SMALL BUSINESSES
1. No ability to make strategic, calculated decisions.
Marketing decisions get made by reaction. A competitor runs LinkedIn Ads so you do too. Someone goes to a trade show and feels “inspired” so you buy a bigger booth. Someone’s nephew knows Canva so suddenly your brand looks like a lemonade stand.
That’s not strategy. That’s motion. And motion is very expensive when there’s no destination.
2. No measurable ROI so marketing becomes underfunded and undervalued.
When leaders can’t see what marketing is actually producing, they do the only rational thing: they hesitate, then cut, then trust marketing even less.
The cycle repeats. The budget shrinks. And eventually someone says, “We tried marketing.”
3. Business goals and marketing activities aren’t aligned.
Marketing is often operating without full visibility into the company’s real growth priorities. So they fill the vacuum with what’s easy to measure impressions, followers, engagement while sales is fighting stalled deals, price pressure, and long buying cycles.
Sales and marketing aren’t two departments. In B2B, they’re one growth engine. If they’re not running off the same playbook, you’re leaving deals on the table.
4. Inconsistent branding and messaging.
Your website, trade show booth, capabilities deck, and social media look and sound like they came from four different companies. Buyers don’t remember you. They don’t trust you. And you blend right in with every competitor.
“Innovative next-gen solutions that leverage synergy.“ and “Quality service since 1972.” Sound familiar? That’s not differentiation. That’s corporate wallpaper. No one cares and it’s costing you deals.
It’s a system problem
Why a wave?
A few years ago, I was sitting on the beach — just watching the water.
I wasn’t thinking about business. I wasn’t solving a problem. I was just sitting there, watching waves build, roll in, and land.
And something clicked.
I had been wrestling with how to describe what happens inside a company when the MAPS system is working. It’s not a moment. It’s not a campaign. It’s a feeling — this shift that happens when goals are clear, the team is aligned, and execution finally has a direction. It builds slowly, then all at once.
And watching those waves, I realized: *that’s it. That’s the metaphor.*
A wave doesn’t start at the shore. It starts far out at sea — with energy that builds over distance, gains momentum, and by the time it reaches you, it’s unstoppable. You can’t force a wave. You can’t rush it. But when the conditions are right and everything is working together, it moves with a kind of power that nothing can stop.
That’s what MAPS creates inside a business.
Not a sprint. Not a hack. Not a campaign. A system that builds — stage by stage — until marketing stops feeling reactive and the business starts moving with the kind of steady, compounding force that’s hard to slow down.
*Like a wave, a business with momentum is unstoppable.*
That’s why a wave is on the cover. And that’s the promise of this book.
What the book is. and isn't.
No Jargon. No Guru Fluff. No Magic Ads That Print Money.
MAPS® won’t turn you into a logo designer, a copywriter, or a social media influencer. It won’t hand you a viral campaign or a magic funnel.
What it *will* give you is a repeatable system to make better decisions, align your team around real sales goals, and stop wasting budget on disconnected tactics.
If you love the creative guesswork, this is not that.
If you want clarity, alignment, and marketing that actually ties to revenue so you’re in the right place.
MAPS® moves your team through seven sequential stages:
**Goals → Intel → Clarity → Platform → Plan → Action → Optimize**
Every stage has a purpose. Every stage connects to the next. And by the time you’re done, marketing will stop feeling like chaos — and start feeling like a business discipline you actually trust.
Why a wave?
30+ Years. No Fluff. Built for People Who Are Done Guessing.
Karyn Olsson is the CEO of Marketing Department, Inc. and the founder of the MAPS® Revenue System. She has spent over 30 years helping small and mid-sized B2B companies stop winging their marketing and start winning it.
She is not a theorist. She is not a social media guru. She is a practitioner and someone who has sat in the rooms, heard the frustrations firsthand, and built systems that real teams in real companies can actually use.
Her approach is direct. Her standards are high. And her commitment to the people she works with is, frankly, a little relentless.
This book was written in honor of every business owner and marketing professional who ever shared their frustration with her and trusted her to help them find a better way.
“Thank you to all the clients and business leaders over the years who have confided in me about your frustrations with marketing. This book is being written in your honor.“ — Karyn Olsson
100 free copies. Summer Presale. no purchase required.
Momentum is releasing in 2026. For a limited time during the summer presale, we’re giving away 100 free copies to the small B2B businesses who need it most.