Do-It-Yourself Marketing – How Hard Could it Be?

Some business models have the principal of a start-up company adding his name into every box on his organizational chart.  The idea is that as the business grows, new names will replace the owner’s in those boxes.  

The concept of doing things yourself when you have more time than money works if the things you do have a positive impact on the bottom line – in other words, if they are done effectively enough to generate the income needed to provide more money than time.

For example, hiring an accountant to keep an eye on finances, or a clerk who can answer phones and do administrative tasks may actually save both time and money.

What about Marketing?

Many business owners believe that inbound marketing is a function they can easily handle themselves. They can publish a DIY website with Facebook and Twitter accounts linked to it. DIY websites are inexpensive to create and publish. Social sites are free and easy to set up and use. They can easily use blogging software to write a blog. How hard could it be?

But are they doing the right things right?

How many visits is that DIY website getting?  Is it attractive and functional? Is it really optimized for search engines? Are blog posts titled in such a way that they appear in web searches?  Are they written and structured to attract customers?  How many “likes” are being generated on Facebook? How many posts are getting shared or, better yet being commented on?  How many Twitter followers? How many times is the business mentioned in Tweets?  How much business has been generated through the inbound marketing efforts?

The truth is that having the right tools is just the first step.  For example, anyone can buy a set of carpenter’s tools, and may have a basic understanding about how to use them.  (Hammers hammer nails.)  However, most of us could not build a house even with the best set of tools.  Only those who have spent the time and effort to learn how to use the tools effectively will be able to get the results they seek.

Marketing professionals not only have the tools available, they also know which ones to use to get the job done – and they have spent and continue to spend the time and effort needed to become educated on how to use those tools to build an inbound marketing strategy that gets results – so the business owner will finally have both the money and the time to enjoy his life.