Regardless of the size of your business, your niche and what you offer, if potential customers and clients don’t know you exist, they can’t buy your products or services.
How visible you and your company are has a lot to do with how effective your marketing is. Marketing your business is a must.
Many solo entrepreneurs think they should be the person doing their marketing. In some cases, this may be true. But more times than not, trying to do your own marketing can be a huge bottleneck in your company. The very bottleneck that prevents you from growing.
With micro and small businesses, marketing may be delegated to a staff person who neither has the skill, experience or desire to effectively market. However, with the right training, they may come up to speed.
An alternative to doing the marketing yourself, or delegating the job to an unqualified staff member, might be to hire an expert to walk you or the staff person through the process. This is what is referred to as Done with You programs.
Yet another alternative is to hire someone to do Done for You programs. As the name implies, the consultant or company does your marketing for you. A costlier way to get your marketing done, but for many entrepreneurs and companies, this is the best choice.
Regardless of what choice you make, you need to consider ROI – return on investment.
You might be wondering which is most effective. It depends.
Information Products
If you’re on a limited budget, and you’re willing to do the work yourself, information products will likely 
be the most likely solution.
You name it, there’s an information product for it.
The greatest challenge with information products is finding the time to study the information. If you don’t prioritize the learning, you won’t get a good ROI.
A solution to not having the time is to delegate the learning and implementation to a virtual assistant. Obviously costlier than doing the study and work yourself, but still cost effective compared to other choices.
Marketing Coach
If you have more to financially invest, hiring a coach or mentor may be the next indicated step. A mentor who works on your marketing strategies can get you further along in a few hours than you will likely do on your own. For example, a one-on-one strategy planning day can result in great ideas.
With clients I mentor in this way, we meet, either in person or via a platform like Zoom. The meeting lasts several hours.
Many coaches end with the meeting. Myself, I love putting the best ideas that surfaced into blueprint.
This is a written document that outlines step-by-step actions the client needs to take to achieve their outcome in the most time effective way possible.
Virtually every client I’ve developed a blueprint for has used it for months, even years, to grow their businesses.
Done for You
Another option for those who have limited time or human resources, is a Done for You program. This is where you contract with a company to take care of all the details in achieving an outcome based on your specific goals.
When a client hires my company to do their marketing, I always start with a full assessment to determine the outcomes they seek. I also need to know if they are realistic in their expectations.
To assure the best results, I look at an integrated approach to how I help my clients.
In-house Contractor
Another, very specialized option, is in-house contractor also known as fractional marketing director (FMD) or Fraction Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
For many small organizations, it’s not financially feasible to hire a full-time marketing director or CMO.
Contracting a highly specialized and skilled FMD may be just the solution a company seeks. An experienced FMD can quickly identify areas most in need of attention. Many companies may find their marketing needs vary based on the time of year.
A FMD may be just the solution for companies who may not need to hire a full time CMO, but need marketing expertise and strategies.
According to Rachel Dukeman, “Fractional Marketing means you get the skills and experience of a full-time CMO AND access to their network of marketing professionals to tackle all kinds of projects, from content strategy and execution to impartial executive marketing development.”
For those of us who enjoy working on larger projects, this is a win/win. The company receives outstanding solutions and the consultant works in a capacity where we can help our clients receive a great outcome.
Trainers
An option for many small, midsize and large companies is to contract a trainer, or trainers, to facilitate specialized training. The training could be done one time, or over a period depending on a number of factors including how complex the problem and the budget.
Choose What Works Best for You
No matter what your budget, there is a solution. However, avoid the mistake of thinking the least expensive (or most expensive) solution is the best one.
The best solution is the one that gives you an excellent ROI, helps you achieve your outcomes in an efficient way, and helps your company gain the visibility, traffic and results you desire.
