What’s your marketing budget? Are you now uncomfortable? You’re not alone. This post is not for the faint of heart.
Marketing does not grow on trees
It requires money to be effective. Marketing spend creates sales results.
It’s the first question I now ask potential clients: “What’s your marketing budget?” If they can’t answer that question they stay “potential” and not actual clients. I don’t work for cheap or for free. As business owners we have to make a living. No revenue, no living. No budget, no revenue. No budget, no client. Don’t waste your time or mine. Clients that have a budget get priority and help. Time is more valuable than money yet critical marketing needs money. No budget, little or no success. Period.
I’m sorry if that sounds harsh. The truth rather than wishful thinking creates far more successful businesses.
Social media is no longer free. A Facebook page alone will not grow your business anymore. Like many other social media tools, the organic reach of a Facebook post is almost zero. That means even if you have thousands of fans or followers, without spending advertising dollars, few if any will ever see your posts. You have to pay to play. You must boost your posts and place ads. If you don’t spend your competition is and will.
If you can’t answer this question your not doing marketing and you may not be taking your business seriously. You’re scrambling. You must have a marketing budget. There’s no escaping this fact of business life. Without it, your sales will wax and wane, stop and start, and ultimately drop in a downward trend that will either cost you money or your business. It’s like leaving for a long road trip without a gas budget. You will end up on the side of the road going nowhere. It was fun while it lasted but you didn’t get far.
Marketing is not an afterthought. A marketing budget is a cost of doing business. I see this all the time with potential clients. They ask for help yet have not committed to spend money. Often the cry for marketing help comes too late because they see marketing as a fix instead of a fact. Marketing becomes a panic repair tool. It’s applied after rather than before and during. You have a budget for rent, utilities, insurance, payroll, equipment, and your daily lunch yet you may not have a marketing budget. Without a marketing budget you may not need all the other budget items because your business may not survive. Your putting the fixed cost cart before the marketing horse.
Here are the questions you must ask yourself:
- What is your monthly marketing budget?
- If you don’t have one, what would you expect to pay on a monthly basis to grow your business?
- If you need advertising, what would you expect to pay for the creation and placement of the ads?
- If you need a new website, what would you expect to pay for the messaging, content, design and development of this site?
- Am I in a state of after-the-fact panic marketing?
- Am I proactively doing marketing every day? Part of that do involves action plus money.
- Am I always looking for the cheapest marketing services? If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait till you hire an amateur.
- Am I really serious about finding new customers and growing my business?
Good marketing pays for itself over time.
So let me ask one more time: What’s Your Marketing Budget?
By Stuart Atkins
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