Starting out in business, we all have a moment when we’re just trying to start.
We know we need things – business cards, a website, a pitch deck – but we don’t have any money to pay someone to do them, and we know there is a tool out there that can help us do it ourselves (DIY).
It feels like we should be able to do it all ourselves!
But as we get down the road, we start questioning, “is there a better way?” Or we start realizing how much time the DIY-grind is taking, and then we start putting off all of our own good ideas.
At some point, likely early on in our journey, it’s important as business owners to evaluate our situation: Are we saving money now or losing business and growth in the long run?
I believe that one of the smartest early investments you can make as a business owner is to bring in a pro – even if it’s just for a second set of eyes and some guidance toward the right direction.
I hear you – “of course! You would say that, you want more business!”
No but really – as a marketing strategist with over 15 years in the industry, I want to see your business actually succeed and grow. I’ll empower you to use DIY methods when it makes sense, or help you build tools that make it easier. But there’s no person in the world that’s got it all figured out, and I believe that business building takes a community of experts.
Let’s explore when it makes sense to DIY, what your business gains when you pay a professional, how to easily look for the right person, and how these all tie back to your ROI.
When DIY’ing your Marketing Actually Makes Sense
Sometimes, doing it yourself does actually make sense, and I’ll be the first to say it: if you’re in the pre-revenue phase or you’re in a big transition, it may make the most sense to set up a DIY solution temporarily while you work on bringing in clients.
The DIY approach may be the right fit if:
- You’re just testing an idea
- You’re throwing up a temporary landing page to create momentum or demand before a big launch
- You’re creating something like short term offers that will eventually go away
- You’re creating internally or for the behind-the-scenes portion of your business (especially if you have some sort of design or marketing experience yourself)
If and when you go this route, it’s important to have someone that can give you honest, candid feedback on how what you create looks, functions, and how it may impact your client or prospect’s experience.
Here’s the kicker: chances are, you are not your ideal client, so the person reviewing and giving you feedback should fall into that category or be someone completely unbiased.
Where things can get tricky is when the DIY solution shifts from intentionally temporary to “I guess this is good enough.” This can lead to a disconnect in your branding and create blind spots in your business’ growth. The question isn’t whether DIY is bad, it’s whether it still fits the stage of business you’re in and if it’s costing your business money and opportunities.
What are DIY Solutions Costing Your Business?
One of the main draws of choosing the DIY route is to save money.
When you’re doing everything on your own, it can be hard to differentiate between the bottom line of your balance sheet and the reflection of your time and energy.
If you equate the time that you’ve put into your marketing with your billable rate, is it balancing out for you? Just because it’s your time, doesn’t mean that it’s free; not to mention it may be taking a significant amount of time away from other important (read: revenue-generating) business tasks.
A DIY plan is (typically) going to be focused on just making things exist.
What may be missing is the strategy behind what exists.
If you were to take a step back and review everything that you’ve put together, does it all feel like it belongs together? Is everything you’re using sending the same message? Does it leverage a similar call-to-action?
Ultimately, your marketing material should guide your ideal client from curious observer to confident buyer, and doing that successfully typically requires strategy. Without it, you could be losing out on money and opportunities without even realizing it.
What You’re Paying for When You Hire a Marketing Pro
When you choose to hire a marketing professional, you’re not just paying for deliverables; you’re paying for strategic planning, clarity, and direction.
A true professional asks questions about your market, and will take the time to learn your positioning and the nuances of your audience and offers. They don’t guess, they research. They refine. They help you clarify your messaging, align your offers, and create strategic, reusable, and scalable assets that work long after they’re built.
A professional will also tell you what not to do and why.
Sometimes when we ask AI or other people what works and what doesn’t, they may give us a generic shotgun blast of answers. Instead of handing you a list of tactics, a professional will help you focus on what’s right for your business, your industry, and your clients. That alignment changes how you show up: you become more focused, confident, and intentional, and your audience can feel that. This means you sell more, set prices right, and can confidently say “no” to the wrong clients because you’re no longer guessing.
But What About the Budget?
Only you can decide when is the right time for your business to create a marketing budget and hire a professional.
A lot of business owners will identify a milestone with which to celebrate by offloading a large task like marketing.
It’s an investment, for sure, but not one that you have to make all at once. You can level up the elements you have in play strategically and in phases.
How to Vet a Marketing & Branding Professional
The first step in determining who you want to work with is to decide whether you want an executor or a collaborator. Then, there are questions to ask and qualities to look for to determine if they’re going to be a good fit.
- How do they develop strategies?
- How do they measure results?
- What does their process look like?
- What support is available after your project is done?
- Do you like them as a person?
You will find some marketing professionals are design-focused; they’re going to design, complete and move on, while other marketing professionals are strategy-focused and will advise you on what to do but not execute for you.
And then you have professionals who will do both – I’d recommend going with that person. You want someone who can make something absolutely beautiful but can also show you how to use it and help you implement it. This person is the biggest bang for the buck because you don’t have to explain your company and vision more than once.
During the consultation process, if there is no conversation about what your end goal is, who you’re speaking to, or how long the process will take, it can be a major red flag to find a different person to partner with.
What to Expect When You Work with a Pro
I can’t speak for every marketing and design professional, but here’s a look into my process:
- We start with a detailed discovery process, talking through your brand, your audience, and what you want your marketing efforts to accomplish. We’ll touch on what you’ve done, what’s worked and not, and what your budget looks like.
- The next step is design of the elements we agreed on, discussion about why they do or don’t work, and appropriate revisions.
- Finally, we’ll implement the thing(s) we’ve been working on and I’ll provide support after the fact should you need it.
The timeline for every project varies, and generally, it can go as fast or as slow as you need it to. But the right partner will generally work to keep things moving so you’re not missing deadlines or opportunities.
Finding the right marketing pro – whether they’re a designer, a strategist, or both – that makes it easy for you to understand what you’re doing and why, and that you genuinely connect with, is so important for your peace of mind.
Signs It’s Time to Stop DIY-ing
At some point, business owners hit a moment when the DIY solution doesn’t feel right anymore. It often causes them to hesitate or grimace before sharing that thing they’ve created.
Maybe you hesitate before sharing your website because it doesn’t quite reflect your brand, values, or the work you’re doing anymore.
Maybe you keep finding yourself talking to wrong-fit prospects that have found you.
Sometimes this moment shows up as a plateau: you’re working hard and doing good work, but your business isn’t growing the way you feel it should. Maybe your digital presence doesn’t feel worthy of charging the prices you know you’re worth.
Those are all quiet signs that it’s time to level up.
When your brand, messaging and online presence finally match the quality of work you’re doing, everything else feels easier and will fall into place. The right clients will understand what you offer, trust you more quickly and feel more confident in saying yes.
The best part of all this is that you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Sometimes the smartest move you can make for your business is bringing in someone who knows how to help you grow into the next stage.
What’s Next for Your Business?
If you’re reading this and thinking you’ve hit that plateau or need to make adjustments to your own business, it may be time to level up. Growth requires different tools at different stages and what you have here and now won’t always get you to the next level.
If you’re stuck or ready to scale your business intentionally but don’t want to do the guess work, let’s talk. Book a free, no-obligation consultation with me and we’ll look at where your marketing stands, where the gaps are and what it would take to build assets that actually support your goals.
I’m in your corner – let’s get started!
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