Marketing exists for the ultimate purpose of getting leads in your door and turning those leads into sales.
We’re a company who specializes in marketing, so we’ve seen it all. Everything from… logos done on Word, websites still live that were cobbled together back in 2010, Facebook ads that aren’t producing leads, not showing up until 4 or 5 pages into a Google search, businesses trying to grow without any marketing plan in place.
And these people wonder why they are in the same place they were this time last year (or 3 years ago).
Truth be told, there is a lot that goes into effectively marketing a business, including things like a dynamic website that works just as well on a mobile device as it does a computer, promoting and delivering fun events, producing quality videos, capturing testimonials, a creative and professional logo and brand, an engaging newsletter, writing blogs, managing social media accounts, creating landing pages, writing eBooks, showing up in the first three of the Google search, banners, t-shirts designs, email automation software with campaigns, scheduling software, FB ads that actually convert, understanding solid analytics. To 95% of small business owners, this list is both overwhelming and exhausting.
But the problem is… if you don’t pay attention to these things, you will get left behind.
So, can you DIY your marketing?
I recently started a podcast. I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours I spent (wasted) trying to learn how to publish a podcast. Just creating the website alone and connecting it to the hosting software and iTunes took me an embarrassing amount of research and time, only to finally throw my hands up in frustration. I don’t even want to think about how much that DIY cost me. My intention was to save money because we were on a limited budget (like $0), which clearly did not happen. In my frustration, I reached out to my nephew who does this for a living. $50 and 2 days later (obviously, that’s the family discount), he had me up and running. But, more than just “up and running”, his work gave me the confidence that it was actually done right.
It needs to be noted that there is a big difference between something that is an expense and something that is a critical value add. Cable is an expense. Electricity is a critical value add. Starbucks is an expense. Vegetables are a critical value add. LuLuLemon clothing is an expense. Clothing is a critical value add. You get the point.
An expense is an added nice to have or luxury, a critical value add is imperative for success.
How can you know if investing in the effective marketing your gym is an expense or if it’s a critical value add?
Given the fact that based on the majority of conversations we have with gym owners, the number one thing they need help with is getting leads, I’d say marketing is a critical value add component of your business.
We’ll ask the question again… can you DIY your marketing?
Sure, but only if you have the right tools and know how to use them. When learning new skills, you have to ask yourself the question, is this something that will benefit me in the long run? Or is it a “trendy” thing, like Facebook ads, that always changes and I’m going to have to keep re-learning it to stay current?
Setting up my podcast was something I only needed to do one time. It would have made a whole lot more sense to hire it out in the beginning rather than waste my time – and essentially money because time is money – trying to learn it myself. (and I should know this.)
We want to help. That’s why we’ve spent the last year and a half developing the Hub platform. It’s our solution to you being able to save money while upping your marketing game. The affordable monthly cost gives you access to an extensive library of video courses, and a litany of plug-n-play templates. If you only watched the step-by-step “How to Create Facebook ads” or downloaded the Staff Handbook template and applied it to you business, that’d be well worth the amount of a year subscription to Hub. Instead of searching Google for hours, Hub is a one stop shop. It also gives you access to our private FB group, which is unlike any other FB group page resource in the industry.
So, one more time… can you DIY your marketing by piecemealing and Google searching and cobbling together what you’ve learned? Sure. Anyone can do it. But, you have to look at what results your current efforts are producing for you. How many leads are coming in your door? The real question then is should you DIY your marketing?
Check out a Free 7 day trial of Hub today! If you don’t like it, you can cancel. No strings attached. 🙂 And for only $99 more/month, you can add a M3 group for weekly accountability with peer gym owners and a 321Go Business Coach to make sure you’re implementing what you’re learning.
You’d probably never attempt to build a house – even if you had the blueprint and tools – if you didn’t have any experience. Surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing and the going will be much easier… we promise.