Advertisement Ideas: Go Fund Yourself!!!
Many people want to be entrepreneurs but they forget the one fundamental principle needed to succeed and that is you must have funding for all aspects of you business. So many people open the doors and don’t have a marketing plan and then wonder why they have no traffic to their brick and mortar business. Part of the reason is that they didn’t adhere to the idea of funding themselves. I have watched countless businesses open only to close their doors with 3-5 months of opening. Those that closed all shared one common thread they did not set aside funds for marketing and advertising. Yes people there is a difference Marketing is primarily done to build brand recognition to put your brand on the top of the consumer’s mind while advertising is done to not only build your brand but to also drive traffic to your business. It is important to fund yourself so that you can have a solid marketing/advertising mix so that you don’t end up shuttering your doors. The key is to set aside money strictly to fund your marketing and advertising campaigns.
As someone who has been involved in some form of advertising and marketing for over 30 years I can tell you that I am always amazed when a business owner tells me they do not advertise and I ask what to you do to let people know who you are, what you do, and why they should use your products or services. I usually hear oh I do word of mouth. Word of mouth is a good start but should not be the form of advertising you do. If you are a local business you should be involved with activities in the community that attract your target demographic. It is important to fund yourself to reach your desired target audience as you do not want to be dog walker advertising in a cat magazine though some cat owners do own dogs. I asked a shoe store owner who his desired audience was and his answer was anyone who needs shoes. My answer was that this is to broad of a statement and that perhaps finding his niche market and planning to fund himself to reach that niche market might be helpful. I remember working for Footlocker and knowing the lay of land of the Wellington area and the surrounding communities. I asked the district manager if my store could have funding for 144 white tall tees in XL and XXL because one of the biggest football games of the year was being played in the area, The Muck Bowl, and the kids from both high schools shopped at The Footlocker where I was an assistant manager and had a tradition of decorating their own shirts. At first he hesitated and made excuses why not to do it and then I said well as a district manager you can fund yourself and he said what and I said you have a district marketing budget why not take the expense for the 144 shirts from there and make a sign for the window Prepare For the Muck Bowl Tall Tees available here. He finally agreed and my store received the 144 tee-shirts and in 2 days sold out. The key is know your audience and deliver what they want and to always find a way to fund yourself.
Sometimes funding yourself can be around $100. I recently approached a pizza restaurant located about 1 mile from where the basketball team I represent about doing min-basketballs to give out to fans at a game. At a cost of $.89 per ball and a $25 art charge they could do 100 ball and the cost would be $114. I was told I don’t have a budget, I don’t think that will work for me, and how do I know they will handed out. I answered him if you had a budget would you do this, how much does a new customer represent to you, you don’t know until you try, come to the game and see how we distribute the mini-basketballs. He said no thanks. I said okay. As I walked away I thought wow here was a great opportunity to be on the top of the mind of the consumer the game is at 7 PM and ends around 9 PM and if I am hungry and all throughout the game I heard XYZ pizza’s name and received a mini-basketball with their address and saw the banner in the gym I might go there. I did some math and figured it would take the pizza restaurant 12 large pizzas to recoup all his costs associated with sponsoring the min-basketballs. I tell this story as it is important to go fund yourself. This owner missed an opportunity to inexpensively and effectively promote his business. I know that he spent about $250 to hang fliers on people’s doors at an apartment complex, which can be effective but in many cases does not generate a return as the average consumer throws a flier on the door away.
As you make plans to build your brand and increase revenue take the key and unlock some money so you can go fund yourself. Stop making excuses and begin to understand that marketing and advertising need to be funded. You need to be frequent and consistent with your message. Stay Positive!!!
