Caution Rant Ahead: I have to say it makes me crazy when I call a business owner up to discuss their advertising and they act like they don’t have time to talk and usually say ‘let’s just keep it like it is’. Come on! Then, the next time I call they give me a sob story about how the advertising is not working. No way really? Of course it’s not working. You can not expect to not spend any time marketing your small business and p;am to get results. It does not work!
Now I realize that small business owners have busy lives. I understand that you have 10 to 20 sales reps calling on you each day. But that is no excuse! If you do not have the time to devote to marketing your business than you need to find someone that can help you do it.
Business owners often try to handle their own marketing and advertising in order to keep expenses down. What they don’t realize is that by marketing their small businesses properly they would actually be generating much more then the cost.
I am not saying that every small business owner needs to hire a marketing firm or advertising agency. Small business owners can learn what they need to do to market their business if they have the time to devote to it. Most don’t. So they end up having to take the advice of every media rep that comes along and hope that they make the right decisions. Usually it comes down to what sales rep has the cheapest deal, which is usually a bunch of crap. It’s cheap for a reason; because it doesen’t work.
Do yourself a favor and invest in your business. Most businesses have other businesses and specialists that help them to be successful. You have your lawyer, and your bookkeeper, and maybe your nephew handling your website. Why would a small business owner take something as important as their marketing and try to do it themselves while they are also tiring to run the day to day operations of the business. Even if you have managers and don’t have to run the day to day operations you are still better off having an expert help you with your marketing. I mean would you try to figure out all of the legal need of your business in order to same money? You could but would it be smart? Would it be the best use of your time?
The answer is no. As the owner of a small business you are responsible for driving the ship in the right direction. You direct your crew so that everyone on your ship is working towards the same end result. You have the vision and if you are too busy tyring to bring in the anchor and set the sails you will loose track of that vision.
My frustration with seeing small business owners make these mistakes over the years has inspired me to start my own marketing business. I want to be able to take the burden of marketing off of the small business owners so they can concentrate on running their businesses. I am immersed in marketing everyday. I know the elements of a good advertisement. I know how to create the correct image in the minds of consumers. I know how to reach the customers that want to do business with you. Like I said, I study this everyday. I am the expert. What would take the small business owner years to figure out about marketing, I can implement in a short period of time.
What does this do for you the small business owner? Well let’s see. Instead of meeting with 67 media reps a year I can tell you what media will hit your target market. Not only that I can usually place your advertising so you don’t have to meet with any media sales reps. And now all of your marketing and advertising will be carefully constructed. You will have a strategy to take market share from your competitors. And so many more things that I won’t go into on this blog but you get my point. Now you as the business owner have more time, more money, and can go spend more time on the golf course.
