The ability to manage your website and social media platforms competently is an effective goal in the beginning, when money is tight and customers are few. But there comes a time when one must avoid going down the website and social media rabbit hole and turn over the reins to a competent vendor or qualified employee. Time is money, so below are the common errors in marketing your own business.
Mistake #1. No budget
The budget is generally the most basic necessities in marketing, it's therefore especially important to be careful when starting out. To start you have to draw up your own budget for each month, make each month realistic for your market segment. Summer may not be very active and may not require a high spend or the opposite might be true. In forecasting your needs, do it for the entire year or two to make sure it is sustainable; one time ads are never encouraged. As a solopreneur, cut back on the personal side of your life's expenses (the wants) and carve out a manageable chunk for services or ads; it's a start and you will not need to sacrifice too much that it makes a psychological impact.
Mistake #2. No set asides money for contingencies
"When people borrow, they think that they should return it as soon as possible," said Sofia Bera, a certified financial planner and founder of Gen Y Planning company. And that it's repayment spends all that you earn. But it's not rational". If you don't have money on a rainy day, in case of an emergency (e.g. emergency machine or vehicle repairs) you have to pay by credit card and this adds new debt. After each paycheck set aside a small amount say $50-100. Keep an amount of at least $1000 in case a promotion is really working, you can add money to that promotion that is working well and bringing in good leads. Gradually increase the "airbag" to an amount equal to 15% of your revenues for three-six months. Advertising should always be a percentage of you gross income; as an (must have) expense.
Mistake #3. Thinking only of profits from ad investments
Usually when people plan to advertise or hire a marketing vendor, they only think about it as an expense, and rightly so. Accountants record advertising expenditures as expenses when the ads are run. (A prepayment of a future ad would be recorded as an asset until the ad is run.) The reason advertising is recorded as an expense and not an asset is the problem of measuring the future value of an ad. When you buy an asset for your operation, it is not an "expense" in your mind it is an investmen. So it must be with advertisements.
Rethink your strategy and check up on your competition, what are they doing, that you should be doing as well? Every ad you place has a commulative effect on your future prospect, your message is seen and thus delivered; affectiveness comes with repetition. Ever notice how big brands run their ads? Big brands run their commercials over and over virtually hypnotizing their audience with images and sounds.. Below is an old list to refer to based on a little humor and consumer psychology for advertising:
1. The first time people look at an ad, they don’t even "see it".
2. The second time, they don’t notice it.
3. The third time, they are aware that it is there.
4. The fourth time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it somewhere before.
5. The fifth time, they actually read the ad.
6. The sixth time they thumb their nose at it.
7. The seventh time, they start to get a little irritated with it.
8. The eighth time, they start to think, “Here’s that confounded ad again.”
9. The ninth time, they start to wonder if they’re missing out on something.
10. The tenth time, they ask their friends and neighbors if they’ve tried it.
11. The eleventh time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads.
12. The twelfth time, they start to think that it must be a good product.
13. The thirteenth time, they start to feel the product has value.
14. The fourteenth time, they start to remember wanting a product exactly like this for a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, they start to yearn for it because they can’t afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
17. The seventeenth time, they make a note to buy the product.
18. The eighteenth time, they curse their poverty for not allowing them to buy this terrific product.
19. The nineteenth time, they count their money very carefully.
20. The twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what is offered....
Thanks for reading this one and we hope it helps.... if it is missing something, let us know and we'll update it.
