What if your rent became your marketing budget?

The same money, two ways

Imagine a business with a set amount available each month, purely as an example.

• Option A: it all goes to rent and the costs that come with the premises. Customers are whoever walks past.
• Option B: a small part covers a website, $15 a year for the domain and $10 a month for hosting with MatSiteBuilder, and the rest goes to reaching customers.

What marketing money can actually do

• Boost posts to people in your town who fit your customer
• Pay for proper product photographs you keep using for years
• Fund delivery, so distance stops being a reason not to buy
• Print flyers, signage on your vehicle or branded packaging
• Give a small discount to first customers in exchange for reviews

Why this is not automatic

Spending on marketing does not guarantee sales any more than rent guarantees foot traffic. The difference is that you can measure marketing. You can see which post brought the calls, stop what does not work, and do more of what does.

You cannot turn rent off in a slow month.

How to test it for one month

• Pick one offer with a clear price
• Put it on your website and your WhatsApp catalogue
• Spend a fixed, small amount promoting it locally
• Ask every enquiry how they found you, and write it down
• At the end of the month, compare what you spent with what you earned

Common mistakes

• Promoting a page with no prices and no way to order
• Spending on adverts before the photographs are decent
• Changing the offer every few days, so nothing can be measured
• Treating a single quiet week as proof that marketing does not work