You Get What You Pay For… And For What You Don’t

“ The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”- Benjamin Franklin

If I had a penny for every time I had a new customer come to me with a story of how they were screwed by some web guy or someone designed a terrible logo for them… I would be rich. Truth is, you get what you pay for… especially when it comes to marketing. As a professional media and marketing company in San Antonio, we have great competitive prices for all of our creative services (web development, graphic design, video production, and marketing/pr consulting.) That being said, we also have some of the most talented designers, developers, and producers in the country, so our prices reflect that AND our work speaks for itself. I highly advise against going with ‘ a guy you know’ just to save a few pennies. You will end up paying more money to have someone fix it or start a whole new project from scratch. Better yet, you will attempt to do it yourself and waste hours of your time learning how to do it and end with something you do not want representing you or your company.

I happen to know a marketing expert AS WELL AS a financial guru who knows exactly where your investment in marketing should go… Ms. Shauna Zamarripa. Just read about her take on getting what you pay for and you will see exactly why you will never make the same mistake again…

 You Get What You Pay For…And What You Don’t.

 

There is an old adage that goes, “You get what you pay for”. It’s true. You also get what you don’t pay for. Where does this apply to business owners both large and small? Marketing. Multi-billion (and million) dollar companies pay beau coups of bucks for their marketing. Why? Because these corporate titans know that successful marketing is vital to their business. They know that in today’s information age of the ever-fickle-attention-span-challenged consumer that staying top of mind is crucial to making money.

You Say You Want It, But….

I bet that you sat down toward the end of 2014, or even as recently as a few days ago, and outlined a plan for success in 2015; to make it “your year”. I also bet that you put marketing on the back burner – as most folks do. I would also be willing to wager that you are saying to yourself, “When I close that deal or when I have ‘X’ in my bank account, then I will worry about marketing.” Am I getting warmer?

Thing is, you have it all wrong. You are living in a scarcity mentality. You are wondering where that next client, that next dollar is going to come from and you are lost in the personal hell of your “short term”, instead of focusing on the bigger picture.

And that is why you will continue to struggle.

Because you don’t want it bad enough (success) – even though you say you do.

Now, if you see where I am headed with this, and if you are nodding your head in agreement with the last few “bets” I made with you, I would also bet your next question will:

“Where Do I Start?”

First off, we need to switch your mindset. What if you created an environment that brought customers to you, based on your knowledge and expertise? How would you feel knowing that your ability to pay your mortgage or make your car payment didn’t hinge on that one deal you are waiting to get, because you have so many other people in your pipeline?

I want you to think for a moment about some of the most successful folks in your industry – whatever industry that might be. Really think about this for a moment. What do they do that you aren’t doing? You probably already know the answer, but in case you don’t, here it is: They are prioritizing their marketing, they are flooding their advertising budget with dollars and hiring industry experts – who are actually good at what they do – to help them leverage their online presence; keeping them top of mind with our aforementioned fickle consumers, while you are already forgotten. (Yes, I know that hurts, but the truth usually does.)

Now, look at you. Take a good, hard look at you and your business. Think about all the time you waste trying to do things yourself in the marketing arena. Tally that up. Now, admit to yourself that you are wasting time; valuable time that you could be using to interface with customers, gain new clients and do the activities you need to do in order to grow your business, in order to reach your 2015 goals.

It’s All About Leverage

Having worked (and having trained) many real estate agents in the great state of Texas, I have seen more than my fair share of these lovely folks do nothing but waste time trying to do their own marketing. Hours upon hours wasted making flyers, sending postcards, trying to figure out blogging, social media and trying to learn new technology. On the flip side, if they had simply put out the money and hired a professional in the first place, they would never worry about leads again. They would be free to focus on their business. And they aren’t alone. Business owners around the country are guilty of the same self-marketing sins.

You get what you pay for. You also get what you don’t pay for.

Ouch.

Here is The Bottom Line

Lead generation is the number one problem that most business owners face today. Leverage is the only way to solve that problem. So what are you going to do differently today, this quarter, this year? Are you going to make your marketing budget a priority and hire a professional so that you can put your time back into your business? Or will you continue to get what you don’t pay for, get back down on your knees and pray that next deal goes through so you can “eventually” hire a marketing pro? Which way do you want to ring in the New Year for your business? Do you want to start on top, or end at the bottom…again?

Think about it, and let me know.

Shauna Zamarripa is CEO and founder of Valkeryie Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping business owners monetize their marketing and a content marketing expert. Her book, “How to Make Big Money Blogging in 90 Days or Less” is available for purchase through Amazon.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.

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