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If you’ve got a knack for marketing, chances are you’re interested in starting a marketing business of your own. And why not? Marketing will never go out of style; every business relies on marketing to continue to explore growth and outshine their competition. Today, many small businesses are intimidated by marketing and don’t know where to start. They’re competent and passionate about their industries, but have no idea how to educate and attract consumers.
That’s where you come in. And when you start your own marketing company, you’ll find that it can become lucrative fairly quickly. A small business with a minimal budget would likely be able to afford, on average, $1,500 monthly for part-time work. And once you’ve got a system and team on your side, you can leverage your resources to take on multiple clients and continue to grow. With that in mind, here are five tips for starting your own marketing company.
Find a Niche
Finding a niche for your marketing business can help you set yourself apart from the crowd, and allows you to hone in on a specific industry and reap the benefits. For example, if you only wanted to work with organic food companies, consider who those food companies are more likely to choose: a marketing agency passionate and laser-focused on their industry or a one-size-fits-all company that dabbles in any industry? Focus your niche on a category that you feel personally invested in, and stick to it. Remember, you can always pivot later if you change your mind or want to branch out into other categories.
Develop Diverse Marketing Packages
As you build out your business, you’ll find that different clients want different things and have different budgets. To accommodate this, create a variety of package deals, ranging from basic service to a full VIP platinum package. You can also include a la carte marketing features to help clients pick and choose what they’d like. For example, perhaps business is developing a website from scratch, and want you to handle end-to-end solutions, including hosting. Offer your own web hosting packages, and turn to web hosting support teams to like IP Geeks to help manage those services and handle hosting customer service.
Outsource Your Help
Outsourcing can make a dramatic difference to your bottom line and turnaround time. Tim Ferriss, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek,” praised outsourcing as a powerful tool for increasing productivity and improving work cycles. On a limited budget, you can also outsource for a fraction of the price without compromising quality.
For example, if you need web design help, you might turn to Upwork to place a free ad requesting hourly or per-project web design help. You’ll be able to scour dozens of resumes, cover letters, and portfolios until you find the perfect web designer to help you take your business to the next level—within your budget. You can outsource other types of services, too, and even bring on an admin assistant. Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing doesn’t relinquish your control over your business, and with a middleman like Upwork, your contracts are protected and your finances remain in escrow until released by you upon submission of any work.
Perfect Your Pitch
Acquiring clients is never an easy task. Even the biggest marketing agencies have teams dedicated to outreach and customer acquisition. Knowing how and who to pitch is important. And one of the first things you’ll need to understand is that every pitch should be customized and tailored. Sending cookie-cutter templates and copy-and-pasted content to every business in your area won’t work. Instead, carefully select businesses you’d be most interested in helping.
Analyze their web presence and social media, pulling stats using online competitor research tools to glean detailed insight about the sort of traffic and inbound links websites are currently getting. This way, not only are you offering an introduction, but you can provide a bulleted list detailing what you can do to improve their business specifically, and how you can help them build brand awareness and revenue. Starting locally gives you the upper hand because you can actually meet the people you reach out to.
Build Your Portfolio
One of the first things potential clients will want to see is your portfolio. They want to know what work you’ve done in the past, and what results those projects garnered. Your portfolio should be visually appealing and enticing. If you’re a new business, consider offering your services for free in exchange for favorable reviews, thorough feedback, and inclusion in your portfolio.
