Why Marketing is Essential for Small Business Owners

This week, I wanted to talk to small business owners about marketing. Why is marketing necessary and why do we sometimes hesitate to do it?

What is marketing and why is it important for your business?

Marketing is a cornerstone of business and it is everything you do to promote your business, not to be confused with branding, marketing is getting your product in front of your target audience.

Imagine that you have taken your talent and skill and created an outstanding product, but no one ever sees it. If you choose not to market your company or business to the public, you won’t attract customers or create new customers, and your business will die. If you did market in the beginning, it only lasts among your initial customers for a certain time because there’s a natural attrition rate. In order to generate new clients, you must market your business, product, or service.

Marketing can begin grassroots; start by visiting your local chamber of commerce and attending meetings, attend industry specific meetings, and small business workshops. Kiwanis or rotary clubs, and small business networking events are also great ways to meet and mingle with others in the industry and to get the word out about your business. Print advertising has proven itself over the years as a great marketing resource. Place an ad in small neighborhood magazines, use social media, Google ads, forums, online communities, and blogs to spread the word and make yourself known.

Marketing is the best way to tell the world what you have to offer. If you hide your genius, by not marketing, the world doesn’t have the opportunity to respond to you, to find you, or to benefit from you and what you have to offer. As a small business owner and an entrepreneur, you have something to offer to people; you have something good, so shout it from the mountaintop and let people find you. Establish yourself as an expert in your field, keep yourself up to date on current trends, be willing to share your gift, be seen, and your clients will find you.

The reason some business owners are hesitant to market may have to do with strengths. For me, I don’t like to write, I prefer to talk. Written material is not my strength and I don’t do it well, so I don’t spend my time doing it. However, I recognize that I have a gift to offer small business owners and the world so I talk via my radio show and use my strengths to market. So, become aware of your strengths, and don’t worry about being ‘salesy’ or pushy, just fulfill your vision and your purpose and let people find you, they will pay you for your expertise.