Champ Savage is a marketing expert. It says so right on his business card. He has traveled the world bringing ideas to business owners of all kinds, and his accolades are even more numerous than his passport stamps. Now, Savage lends his expertise exclusively to CAR WASH Magazine and its readers.
Things are heating up at my wash these days. Volumes are up, and we’ve recently added another location to our mix. I’m feeling stretched a little thin already, and I know I need to spend some time on figuring out a marketing strategy as we continue to grow. Any advice?
– Overworked in Ohio
Have you ever taken a moment to value your time? As in, if you had to pay yourself to do what you do, what are you worth? This is an excellent exercise to undertake for any business owner, but it’s especially valuable for entrepreneurial types.
I’ve done this exercise. I’m extremely valuable. At least I think so.
Unless you’re a marketing genius, you should probably start thinking about how you might be able to pay for someone to help you with your marketing challenges. You know, best use of your best resources and all that.
Yes, I know, we all want to be marketers. Why can’t we just write a few blogs, keep active on our social accounts and rely on our excellent customer service to keep our brand where we want it?
Because all of those things take legitimate amounts of time. Time is a finite resource and it has value associated with it. You need to focus on running your business. Unless, like I said earlier, you’re a marketing genius. Then, you should hire help to run your business and do your thing!
Keep in mind that we’re not talking about a one-time investment. Just like you continue to evolve your wash business, marketing needs constant attention. Finding the perfect marketing strategy is a bit like finding a unicorn … you’ll search for a long time trying to find something that doesn’t actually exist.
The upside is that with some continued resource (yours or others) you can stay ahead of the game when it comes to having a marketing strategy that meets your business goals and sets you on a path for success.