Can a Business Owner do Their Own Marketing? 

In theory, a business owner can do their own marketing, but should they do their marketing is the better question. A big part of marketing success is consistency and accountability. What I have noticed repeatedly is that when business owners do their marketing, they will do a decent job with it at first, but then they get off track.  

It is easy for the business owner to get stuck in billable work and client commitments than to make marketing a priority. As a business owner, your number one priority is taking care of your clients, and with limited time in a day, your time will go to serving your clients, and marketing will take the back burner. 

Business is cyclical. When your business is in a lull, you may be able to find time for marketing, but when your business is crazy, you will neglect it.  

So, can a business owner do their own marketing? Yes, they are capable, but should they do their own marketing? No.  

A great solution for hiring marketing help for a “small” law firm, accounting firm, or financial advisory firm ($2 Million to $10 million in revenue), is hiring a fractional marketing officer such as myself.  

An entry-level marketing professional will cost you about $65,000 annually once you add in payroll taxes and benefits. That equals $5,416 per month. Not included in that price is your time. You can expect a lot of handholding, testing out different strategies, and a lot of time for them to learn about your profession. Tack on your time as well, and what is the actual cost?  

A typical retainer fee for my clients is $1,500 to $3,000 per month (10 to 20 hours’ worth of time).  

Most of what a small professional services firm needs marketing-wise can be carried out in 10 to 20 hours.  

If you compare the cost of $3,000 for my 20-plus years of experience (which is almost 50% less than what you would pay for an entry-level person), hiring a fractional CMO becomes a no-brainer.  

A typical engagement with me includes:  

  • Strategy development and building a marketing foundation 
  • Marketing implementation, including social media, email blasts, blogs & SEO 
  • Misc. Marketing events, webinars & podcasts 

Interested in seeing how I can help? Give me a call at 562-232-4375 or email me today at lauren@lhoandco.com to receive a marketing analysis.