What to do if you can’t afford a marketing team

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The Chicken and Egg Conundrum for Small Business Growth

Today’s Marketing Minute addresses a huge problem that small businesses face and why, for many, it feels nearly impossible to overcome.

Whether you're a solopreneur handling all of your business tasks on your own or even if you already have a small team that can help you…?

Your time is going to be stretched thin.?

If you’re like many, you likely haven't put the resources needed towards marketing to grow past your current stage. You’ve done this because agencies are expensive. Hiring in-house is expensive.?

You may not know what to do or where to start anyway AND it’s crazy expensive to work with marketing agencies.?

It’s a chicken and egg conundrum.

How can you grow if you neither have the funds, marketing expertise, or the time that provides the ability to delegate and scale?

In other words - you KNOW you need help to grow, but you can’t get help until you grow.?

So the question is - how are some able to do it?

How is it possible for small businesses to have their own marketing team? Is it possible for you to have your own marketing team?

I have an answer you’re gonna love. It’s a way you can realistically have your own marketing team as a small business owner or solopreneur so that you can leverage the time and expertise of proven marketers - without breaking the bank.

In fact, I’ve found a way to cut 90-95% of the costs involved so that smaller businesses can finally have their own marketing team to help them out.?

I’m hosting a live webinar next week to go over exactly how it works, how much time you are going to save, and how I was able to cut the costs so significantly. Click here to register.

Why Rely On Outside Help

The key idea here is leverage. When you leverage the expertise of others, you are able to do so much more than you could accomplish on your own. Working with others who have proven knowledge of how to reach your goals not only shortens the learning curve of DIY marketing, saving you money and time, it allows you to focus on other things. You are also leveraging time.

New and smaller business owners are almost always limited in two key areas of business that limit their growth

1. They don’t have enough help. No matter how passionate you are about your product, service, or the people you serve and impact, and no matter how much experience and expertise you have in your industry, you simply cannot do everything on your own if you want to grow.?
2. They can’t afford it. Small businesses don’t have the cash flow or budget to hire the marketing help that they need for consistent growth.?
3. They lack a strategy. Most people don’t become entrepreneurs because they’re already great marketers. They tend to learn that as they go. This learning curve does have a cost though and many businesses don’t survive that cost. Either the growth comes too late or not at all. This is why it’s smart to leverage the expertise of others who’ve already figured it out.

According to US Bank, 82% of business failures are due to issues with cash flow. So ignoring the problem isn't an option. If you are not bringing in new clients every month, with a plan to increase that number, then you’re not going to last long.?

As your small business grows, at some point you’ll need to take your marketing strategy to the next level. While many leaders of new and smaller businesses are used to taking on a variety of roles, there will come a time when it makes sense to pass marketing roles down the ladder. You just can’t continue to do everything yourself. Getting the right help is vital for making sure that your business continues to attract new customers, build its brand, and stay competitive in your industry.

Doing so gives you the time freedom to run your business and handle other tasks that need to be taken care of. But herein lies the problem. Many, if not most, small businesses don't have the kind of budget to hire on this help. I’ll address that in just a second.

Another problem is that too many businesses don’t really know where to start…

What Kind of Expertise Should You Look For?

We all know that it takes more than one tactic to be successful…

To grow a business

To build awareness

To get leads and clients and clients consistently.?

There’s no magic button for growth. No single silver bullet to tap into. It’s not just one thing that will get you there. But there are a few key components you must ensure that the people you work with understand. Content is one.

So, what type of expertise do you want??

First of all, we follow a formula that keeps us focused:

Awareness + Problem + Solution = Clients

To gain momentum in your market - and get more clients - you need to build awareness of you, your business, and what you stand for. No one will work with you if they don’t know who you are. Then you need to understand the pain points and the problems your prospects face and offer solutions (that’s obviously where you come in).?

Secondly, remember that your focus needs to be on trust. In today’s market, you are working with savvy buyers. They have a VERY sensitive BS radar and a low tolerance for hype. That means that you must use marketing that counters that.?

That includes creating content in the form of blog posts or social media posts.?

Here are some stats that might help you focus on what is working for businesses -

• According to 90% of marketers, their social media marketing efforts have increased the exposure of their business, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic.
• 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.
• 21% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that they can reach on social media.
• 74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media.
• 80% of social marketers say their key strategy is to increase engagement across social channels.

That’s just for social media. As for other content -

• 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing, 10% report not using content marketing, and 8% are unsure if their company uses content marketing (HubSpot)
• 60% of marketers report that content marketing generates demand/leads. In addition, 70% of marketers say that content marketing helps to educate the audience, and 60% say that it helps build loyalty with existing clients/customers (CMI).
• Although 32% of respondents say they are overwhelmed by the amount of content available, a majority (44%) say they typically consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with a vendor (DemandGen).
• 81% of marketers view content as a core business strategy (CMI).

The problem is… you and I know that to grow you are going to need content, a consistent social media presence, email marketing, ads, youtube, Instagram, blogs, events, and tradeshows, etc. I could go on. The “gurus” say that you need to be everywhere at once.?

Frankly, for small businesses and entrepreneurs with limited budgets. This is impossible. There’s just no time or budget for it.

Your Outsourcing Options

An in-house marketing professional offers in-depth knowledge of your business. This person (or these people) will know exactly what your team does and exactly what your team is about.?

Additionally, every moment will be spent on your business, and they’ll be fully invested in your business’s success.?

Here’s the thing though, while a rock-solid marketing manager is an integral piece of your company, it’s really only a single piece of a much larger puzzle. If you hit the jackpot and find a smart, hardworking, superstar who can manage every task needed for your marketing efforts (unlikely) and understand your business from the start (even more unlikely) you still only have one person. And that person will be expensive.?

Another option is to hire an agency. When working with a marketing agency, you’ll get access to an entire team of marketing professionals with an array of expertise. While you might not get the same level of knowledge and investment in your business, you will get a team with a variety of applicable skill sets. In addition, you’ll get a fresh perspective and a new look at what your business is doing.

But to hire an agency you are looking at spending at least $5k a month. Many times much more than that. This is a sobering statistic from the Content Marketing Institute,?

37% of companies are spending up to $10,000 in their content marketing efforts, 19% put in $10,000-$25,000 and 16% invest $25,000-$100,000.?

This just shows how big companies value content marketing - but how can a small business possibly compete at these prices?

So if hiring an internal team is too expensive. And hiring a traditional agency is too expensive. Then what are small businesses supposed to do??

A Better Solution To Have Your Own Marketing Team

As I mentioned before, over the last few years, I've figured out a solution to the problem that has plagued small businesses for years.?

A way for smaller businesses to get access to the help that they need, including access to a full marketing team without the cost of hiring internally or being price gouged by an agency.?

It’s a new service we’ve created that cuts 90-95% of the costs involved in your traditional agency service and still provides huge value for your business. I’ll be going over everything in detail in an upcoming meeting in my personal meeting room.?

If you are struggling with getting the marketing help you need. Whether that issue is rooted in time, money, or both, then I urge you to sign up and come hear what I have to say. I think you’ll be blown away.?

All of the details and registration info is at the link below. Go right now and sign up to make sure your seat is saved.?

Click here to learn how you can realistically have your own marketing team.

I am really looking forward to sharing this because it will allow you to sidestep the chicken and egg conundrum and create the momentum you need.?