We’re back with another installment of “Reasons Not to Advertise,” where we, a marketing and advertising agency, let you know when maybe you shouldn’t pull the trigger so fast.
Why do we do this instead of blow smoke about how excellent everything will be? Because we live in the real world and want everyone out there to have a full scope of both sides of advertising.
Clients who know the full range of what can happen and prepare their business before taking on new advertising avenues make the world a better place for the client and the agency.
In the end, it will make client-agency relations better, and we’re willing to wait a few months on that great relationship instead of rushing people into something that is going to wreck their business and possibly their life.
Today’s topic is chiefly about the business owner him or herself. If the business owner is not ready to be inconvenienced and their schedule shifted due to an advertising push, they are much better off not starting campaigns.
What does this mean? Let’s dive into a real example here.
Day 0: Build a campaign for a client.
Day 1: Deploy the campaign
Day 30: Spoke to the client, she said she’s scheduled two weeks in advance for her services.
Day 45: The client called and wanted to cut back some advertising because they are too busy.
Let’s focus on Day 45. The business owner is too busy.
Most of the time, but not every time as we cover later, it’s a false statement.
What they mean to say is, “this is starting to interfere with the normal routine that I have been doing for years.”
That routine could be evening cocktails with colleagues, Thursday 4:00 pm cigars at the Country Club, or two-hour lunch with friends. What it is doesn’t matter; it’s just the fact that the swell of business is starting to get in the way of some of the business owner’s leisure activities or hobbies that have become normal within their routine.
We should note quickly; we’re talking time that isn’t accomplishing anything. One could argue 4:00 pm cigars is essential networking time, but hang with us here and assume it’s not that important in the long run.
We’re also not talking family time, religious time, and events of that nature. If work starts cutting into those, then yes, the business owner is too busy, and something needs to happen and scaled back, or they need to build out their system where business tasks can be accomplished without their involvement more frequently. The latter is generally referred to as “scaling,” another item we touch on later in this series.
With that stated, generally speaking, business owners who are motivated to advertise should have some extra time on their hands or be ready to cut some non-essential events out of their life to build their business in the short term.
Some may read this and laugh because they are ready to turn their world upside down to get some new business in the door, work it and grow their business to the next level.
You’d be surprised at how many people “want” that, but when the rubber meets the road, they aren’t ready to put in the work and shake up their routines for just even a few months or years.
They’ll perpetually stay in the same place they have always been and always wonder why their competition is growing.
On the other side, the business owner may be inconvenienced for a bit, but that inconvenience will allow them to see what needs to be done in their business to work without them touching it constantly.
The goal is to have the machine running while they’re away smoking cigars at the club, right? Then the business owner will have to sacrifice a few of those events now if they choose to advertise and build their business into something that can hum without their involvement.
