How to Avoid the “Do-it-Yourself” Trap in Marketing

As a small business owner, we all know that we must wear many different hats — the from the president to the human resources officer to the salesman to the accountant. When it comes to marketing, however, many business owners fall short of time to do the necessary activities to move their businesess forward. Why?

Here are a few of my theories:

• Back Burnered: Marketing is often seen as a “nice to have” – but takes a back seat to other activities which are mandatory (such as payroll or paying taxes).
• Overwork: Business owners are so overwhelmed with running the business that they leave no time for marketing their business
• No Direction: The business has no marketing plan to know which marketing activities will generate the greatest results, so the business takes little action
• Confusion: Rather than take the time to learn new marketing strategies such as SEO or social media, the small business opts to do nothing, leaving them on a long “to-do” list
• Expense Myth: With the perception that marketing costs money, the business chooses to focus on seemingly low-cost activities such as cold calling or networking to bring in business.

Of the business owners who spend some time handling the marketing activities, they are acutely aware that they should be spending more time promoting their business, but have no extra time in the day. This is a sure sign that you should be outsourcing some of your activities to a marketing professional.

If marketing is not an activity you enjoy, than by all means, you should delegate this task to someone else.

If you are confused by all of the options out there, it’s time to create a marketing strategy to guide your activities so that you are not shooting in the dark and wasting valuable resources.

Remember: Your time is also a valuable resource, so spend it on the activities that you enjoy or do best, and outsource or delegate the rest.

The bottom line:  Ensure you are devoting enough time and resources to marketing your business. Create a strategy if you have one, and if you need help, or are overwhelmed, delegate the task of marketing to a professional, rather than try to do it yourself.