Advertising - Get Results Without Spending a lot of Money!

By: Judy May, IFDA

If you’re like many design professionals, you feel compelled to advertise. I mean, everyone else is doing it, right? 

Here is a question my clients pose regularly: 

I’ve been in business for several months and things are moving in the right direction; however, I want more business. I’ve thought about advertising, but it seems so expensive. Do you have any advice on where to advertise and how much to spend?

Many design professionals equate advertising with marketing. They are not, in fact, the same thing. While advertising may be a component of an effective marketing strategy, the terms “advertising” and “marketing” are NOT synonymous. 

In most cases advertising is expensive, and – without repeated ad appearances – fails to provide the new business you hoped for. As a result, I highly recommend focusing your efforts on other marketing strategies that are more effective, such as speaking or writing.

But, to the extent your budget is large enough to support an advertising campaign (as opposed to haphazard occasional placement of “an ad here and another ad there” – otherwise known as “shotgun advertising” which is NOT at all effective), I have a few things you should keep in mind:

•  Advertising budget - The Small Business Administration suggests that 5% of your gross sales should be budgeted for advertising. For instance, if you project $50,000 in gross revenues, the SBA recommends that your annual advertising budget be $2,500 (or just over $200/month). While you can use this as a “rule of thumb,” don’t fret if your available funds do not support this kind of expenditure. Instead of investing hundreds of dollars per month in traditional advertising, spend your time & efforts seeking to get in front of your target market as much as possible (by, for example, speaking, writing or networking.)