Kickstart your marketing plan with these 5 steps and zero dollars.

As small business owners, we typically engage in what we know best, or what comes easy, and we make excuses for the rest. 

Our weaknesses don't have to prevent our companies from growing. Here are five steps you can take today, that regardless of your budget, will breathe life into your anemic or nonexistent marketing plan.

Step 1. Get your team together. 

Draw from the strength and creativity within the walls of your own company. Commit to an annual S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Getting your entire team engaged and on the same page develops the first step in brand loyalty. When your team buys in, they get others to buy in as well. 

Step 2. Study, don't copy, your competition.

Many miss this step. It's not enough to be aware of your competition. With little effort and some google search savvy, you'll discover significant details about your competition. For example, you can find insight into their marketing strategy, their target market, how much they spend on marketing, the effectiveness of their customer service, and where they might have weaknesses. This research will give you insight into your marketing, and how you need to compete. Be careful not to duplicate; you want to differentiate from the competition, not be the same. 

Step 3. Get uncomfortable.

As previously stated, we gravitate towards things that come easy. If you are just getting started or have a minimal budget, you'll need to engage in some activities that may be outside your comfort zone. I recently explained to a friend, "anyone can do sales, it's a discipline like any other. The more you exercise that discipline, the better you will become." If you need content, invest 30 minutes a day reading content that you feel would interest your market. Then, create new content based on your reading. If you're not a writer, take your phone and record your thoughts. Then, give those thoughts to a writer and ask for a blog. There are creative and inexpensive ways to accomplish any marketing discipline. Google your idea and find the most economical way to achieve the task.

Step 4. Don't be the marketing expert.

One of my most difficult tasks is getting clients past the idea that they need to be the marketing expert. Marketing is an evolving process based on evolving business objectives. As a business owner, the more you understand your business objectives, the better you will be at defining marketing goals. The more clearly you set your marketing goals, the better chance you will have in achieving your business objectives. When you understand this, then marketing will merely become an exercise you manage for success.

Step 5. Don't allow dollars to cripple your execution.

No company on earth has enough money for marketing, yet every company has enough money for marketing. Why? You can always do more, and you can still do something. Regardless of your company size or the size of your wallet, every company can engage these steps and grow their business. If you have no money, invest in marketing that doesn't require a financial commitment. If you have some money, be selective, but don't hold those dollars hostage into forcing each dollar to produce three. Start simple, and grow. When you do grow, don't starve the plan. Make revenue goals that increase your marketing dollars. In time, commitment, and above all, patience, the results will justify the expense.

There you have it. Five steps you can implement today that will increase your business with zero dollars. There are additional steps to take. What steps have you have chosen, and what was your approach? Post your comments below and let's help each other out. 

If you are a small business owner and have questions about your marketing plan, I would encourage you to see my website at STAK-media.com or contact me directly on LinkedIn or email at [email protected]. We're all in this together!