This is the third part of a seven-part series designed to help creative professionals succeed in doing their life’s work…for a living. New here? Start at the beginning. The third deadly sin is…

Using Ineffective Marketing Tactics

Many new business owners make the mistake of limiting their advertising to low-cost or free opportunities. They mistakenly think that cheaper = better. Banish this idea from your head. Think on it no longer. I’ll tell you why.

When you have your own business, the purchases that you make are investments. That $500 suit is an investment in your brand. That $1500 computer is an investment in your efficiency. Whatever you put toward marketing is an investment in future projects…which really might be the most important investment of all.

There’s that “target audience” phrase again

Remember when we figured out who our ideal clients are? Find out how the people you want to serve get their information. Do they read blogs? Do they spend hours stuck in rush hour traffic? What magazines do they read? What keywords do they use in the search engines?

Take some time to step into your client’s shoes. Put on their glasses and see the world as they see it. Ask yourself the above questions and make up your own. Then brainstorm all the possible ways that your business could fit into their natural ways of finding information.

If you want specific ways on how to market yourself and your business, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide is a solid resource with tons of good information. Yeah, the title is kind of hyped up (what do you expect from a marketing guide?) but it’s absolutely packed with great ideas.

Why “free” isn’t (necessarily) free

How much is your time worth? You know where I’m going with this. If your time is worth $100 an hour, and you invest 7 hours in promoting yourself (for free, no less!) in places where nary a soul will notice, how much did you really spend? $700. Not cheap.

If you spent that same $700 on an advertisement on a well-targeted high-traffic blog and got $2400 of new business out of it, how much did you really spend? Nothing. In fact, you made yourself $1700.

Bottom line: if you find a marketing avenue that effectively reaches the people you want to serve, cost should not be the first thing you consider. In fact, it should probably be the last.