A cook starts with a recipe. A tourist starts with a map. So why do many small business owners think they can run their business without a marketing plan?

Many small business owners think marketing equals expensive advertising. Some advertising is costly, but marketing also includes less costly ways to engage prospective customers, thanks to the internet. With some research, planning and execution, business owners can market successfully without enormous spending.

Be sure to include some marketing in your budget, but it have to be a major amount.

Here in brief are four main insights that can lead to marketing success:

First: Identify your ideal client

Who are you trying to reach? What is their age, their gender, their marriage status, their income level, their spending history and where do they get what you are selling from now?

Second: Create a brand identity

You have to have a way to hook your customer quickly. Your company’s name, logo, website, and social media are your branding tools. You want to stand out from your competition. If you develop a strong brand, you have a strong foundation for your marketing strategy.

Third: What are you going to charge?

This is an eternal question. There is no easy answer. What is the quality of your product or service, the cost to provide it, your location, the market rate others charge, your expected profit and lots more questions.

Pricing is as much art as science. Too low and you lose profits. Too high and no one walks into your establishment. A common mistake newbies make is to lower prices to encourage traffic. People resent it when the costs go up.