No Marketing Budget?

Car salesmen are famous for asking what’s in your budget when you buy a car. Hospitals ask what is in your budget when they want to know about your health insurance. Budgets are important not for what they include but for what they don’t.

My business is primarily online and offline marketing for SMBs. I have chosen this line of work because it is so needed. All of my clients know this or they wouldn’t be my clients.

When I interview a potential client, one of my first questions is “what amount or percentage of sales have you designated to increase sales”. All too often I get a blank stare. When they finally do come up with a number, I ask my second question. “How often can you dedicate that amount to increasing sales”.

Those two questions tell me everything I need to know.

· Is it worth going any further with this meeting?

· Do you look at marketing as an expense or an investment?

· Have you built a marketing budget into your selling price?

If I receive an answer such as: I am big into networking, then they have created more questions for me.

Do you network because you want to keep your operation local? (This is understandable for many businesses like hair salons and insurance companies.)

If the answer is no, I ask: Is it because you love that hour or two away from the office when you can meet people and socialize? (The answer is always yes)

My last question is: Would you still network if your business doubled or tripled?

The answer to the last question tells me their real intent in networking.

Networking has its merits. It is a wonderful institution for anyone who has determined their address on easy street. It is the address where satisfaction has been achieved and dreams are no longer needed.

By setting a marketing budget and investing in your company you will never have to settle for any particular address. You will always be on the move.

Galen