For some reason, when people are starting a new business venture, they usually fall into two camps when it comes to marketing budgets: tightwads or splurgers.
Typically, the tightwads don’t want to spend money on anything, thinking their grand business concept will appeal to everyone and magically lead all these fascinated customers straight to their sales door.
At the other extreme are the splurgers, who throw money at their new concept and buy a bunch of promotional items they call “marketing” with the business name plastered all over everything. If I gave you a keychain with my business name on it, how can you possibly NOT buy something from me? Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
If you even remotely recognize yourself as falling into one of these categories, listen up: run to the middle! Marketing is not just tee-shirts and mugs, those are promotional items. And please know that I will always, do you hear me, always accept a tee shirt and mug from you with no intention of buying whatever it is you’re selling.
In order to generate sales for your business, you need to market your business.
Your budget doesn’t have to be extravagant (mine isn’t) but you have to at least have a dedicated percentage of your total estimated revenue put aside as your marketing budget. This can be used for promotional items, conference fees, networking events, ads, etc. You must identify a marketing budget and use it wisely in order to market your product or service.
Don’t know where to begin? You are not alone. Many business people really don’t understand they need a marketing budget, nor do they understand what to do with it. Call me, I’ll help you figure it out!
Your competition has a marketing budget, and they know how to use it…
Ciao,
Miss Kemya
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What would you say is a good estimate of a % of revenue to devote to marketing for a new solopreneur? Let’s say a business consultant or graphic designer in a major market.
Hi Christyna, that’s a good question that people ask often. I wouldn’t use a fixed percentage of your revenue as a new solopreneur, because your marketing needs change as your business grows. Think of your marketing expenses in terms of what you need for your business. For example, if you’re new with little to no revenue, you need to get exposure to build your brand, so your marketing expenses will be heavy to get your business up and running. But if you don’t have much revenue, even 50% of your revenue will be too small to get the job done.
If you’ve been in business for a while, have a developing brand that’s getting exposure, and/or have a steady customer base, you will probably need a different set of marketing services because you have the basics of a marketing plan already in the works. So look at what you can afford to spend on marketing, and a marketing consultant can recommend that best way to maximize your current budget. Your marketing expenditures will grow as your revenue increases. Only then, once your revenues are steady, would I recommend using a % of revenue for marketing, usually between 20-25%.
I hope that helps! Thanks for asking!