Avoid These 5 Common Marketing Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make

Building your new business is exciting, a challenge to conquer. One of the many things you will do as you get going is market your business to potential customers. Some things seem fairly obvious, while other marketing strategies may not be as familiar to you.

Here are some of the marketing mistakes we often see from new business owners.

Mistake No. 1 - Not creating a website. Every business needs a website. Think of it as not having a listing in the phone book in the 1980s. No one would find you if you weren’t listed. Today, that’s what a website is. Some business owners prefer to create only a Facebook page. While we understand the reasoning behind that, you don’t own that page or have the same control over it as you do with a website. A website stands out as more professional and, most importantly, a website has Google search. While your Facebook page might be found via search, it’s not going to give you the same overall SEO.

Mistake No. 2 - Not setting up social media profiles. While you shouldn’t use Facebook in place of a website, you should create a social media profile on at least one platform. Facebook is the most common, though we also recommend setting up your Google+ and business pages for SEO purposes. Even if you aren’t using your social media profiles at first, go ahead and create them so you can claim your business name. (Though really, you should be posting.)

Mistake No. 3 - Using your personal Facebook page as your business page. However, many business owners just turn their personal page into a business page by changing the name. Do not do this. First, Facebook may shut your page down. Second, your friends might not appreciate suddenly seeing all your business stuff instead of you and your family. Third, as your business grows, you will probably want to keep your business and personal information separate.

Mistake No. 4 - Not keeping a list of email addresses. Email marketing remains one of the best ways to reach your audience. Start a spreadsheet of email addresses and add to it regularly: every friend you meet, every potential client, every current client. Set up email marketing on an easy platform such as MailChimp, which is free at first. If you’re not ready to do this from the start, that’s OK, but you’ll be far better off when you do get going if you have a list of valid email addresses.

Mistake No. 5 - Not figuring out a way to manage the marketing grind. Marketing takes more work than most business owners realize. A solopreneur, for example, might want to work 40 hours per week. But he or she won’t be able to bill for 40 hours. Some of that time is administrative, and some of that time he or she will be marketing. Either that person works 50 hours per week or gets paid less than he/she expected. The alternative: hire someone to help with marketing. Remember, marketing is an investment in your businesses.

What questions do you have about marketing? Talk to us to get answers.