It Takes Money To Make Money, Honey

It can be, well, infuriating sometimes when working with people who don’t understand and value you work. When I work with a prospect for weeks and deliver a custom proposal only to get an email back that says, “Sorry, we went with someone cheaper”… this is my face:

We don’t consider ourselves expensive when you compare our services to those on the market and really look at what you are getting. We’ve had client’s send us competitors quotes and what they were getting in a year we fulfill in one month – for the same price!

Why Going Cheap is Actually Even More Expensive

As a business owner myself, I get it. Small businesses don’t have big budgets. But, sometimes going with the “cheaper option” can cause major problems with your business. I talk to startups all of the time and they seem to NEVER have prepared for the cost of marketing. They are generally way under on their estimates and can’t afford marketing because they didn’t ask for enough funding. Once they see the cost of hiring a pro, they “shop it” and they think they can get the same thing cheaper by hiring someone less experienced to do the job.

Do you really know what you’re getting? With marketing, it’s NEVER apples to apples.

Is it an individual or an agency?
Who is working on your account specifically?
How much experience do they have?
Do they practice what they preach?
Can they provide proof of work?
Are you certain they can deliver on time and get results?

An amateur can destroy your business. They might be enthusiastic and offer a competitive price, but all-to-often after they realize they are in over their heads it’s too late. And, by then you could have wasted a year of marketing dollars with nothing to show for it. Instead, an experienced marketing agency can finish the work three times as fast, costing the company less before getting results and seeing an ROI.

If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur! – Red Adair

Why Most Small Businesses Fail

Did you know that eight out of ten small businesses fail in the first eighteen months? Why is that? Unfortunately, over the years I have seen many businesses come and go and there seem to be some commonalities:

Lack of product understanding
No company vision
Mismanagement of marketing
Poor sales model
Ineffective business strategy

Startups are also generally limited on funds, adding to the common problem of mismanaged marketing. However, if you want to be successful, I hate to break it to you, but you’ve got to invest into professional marketing.

You might hear me often saying this around the office because all too often business owners call with great ideas and products but no marketing budget. When you were making your business plan did you budget for marketing? If not you might want to rethink your business strategy.