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When you’re Nike or Apple, everybody knows who you are. When you’re an unestablished side gig, much fewer people are aware of how amazing your products and services are. Naturally—with few leads and even fewer clients—the best friend of any side gig is good marketing. 

Marketing in this day and age is a whole different animal than what it was five or ten years ago, though. On the plus side, digital marketing has made the game easier to play than ever. Putting signs around town or going door-to-door can be saved for the yard sale. But, there’s always a yin to every yang. Thus, the drawback of modern-day marketing is that it’s more saturated—it’s harder to get your voice heard.

So—whether you market on social media or with more traditional methods—your side gig ought to have a marketing strategy behind it. And here are three tips you need to know when you are managing your marketing. 

Don’t DIY

I’m a big believer that anyone can do what they put their mind to. But I’m also realistic. You might love the affordability and control that the DIY approach seemingly offers, but it’s not worth the blood, sweat, and tears—the truth is, no business owner can wear all the hats. 

As soon as we accept the fact that a business requires a team effort, the better off we are. We ought to spend our time doing what we’re good at, right? If you hate writing the Ad copy, for example, don’t write it. That’s not what you’ll be most productive doing. Delegate that task to a team member who enjoys writing. Even better, outsource it to a reputable outsourcing agency like All-Star Outsourcing.

It’s important to know what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. If there’s something you don’t like, there’s a 100% chance that there’s somebody out there in the world who can do it better than you. So why not allow that person to do it for you? If you don’t like marketing or you aren’t good at it, have someone else manage your marketing. It will make you much more productive and profitable.

Plus, delegating what you aren’t best at will help you to sleep easier at night. You won’t be worried about marketing efforts when you’ve delegated marketing to a marketing professional with a proven track record.

“Age Before Beauty”

If it’s not in your side gig’s budget to outsource tasks, that’s understandable. Maybe you don’t trust a stranger with an important project. 

In that case, do you have a team? If so, are there any young members in your team? Young, eager team members often make up for their lack of experience with their abundance of enthusiasm. 

First off, they have the capacity and desire to learn. Second off, they haven’t lived a full career in a certain field like your older team members. They’re still figuring their career out and will be much more receptive to trying out something new. As the leader, it’s your job to set everyone up for success; whoever you choose, make sure to give them thorough training and enough time for them to learn the task. Rushing a learning curve is a recipe for disaster, especially with something as important as marketing. 

If you can’t find young people on your team, look at colleges in your area. Most colleges have a marketing major. Young academics pursuing that major could be prime candidates—they’re often looking for an internship. They might have an enthusiasm for playing a part-time role in managing your marketing efforts, and that’s invaluable—especially in the training process. You don’t have to pay them a whole lot, either, as they’re doing it for their résumé—some people don’t pay interns at all.

Play to Your Strengths

Every business is different. Your business might be in a big pond with lots of big fish or you might be a big fish in a small pond. Figure out what works for you based on where you are. 

If you’re in a big city, there might be a million side gigs on every corner. Google might be the best way to stand out. So, if you don’t show up on Google search results, pay more for Google ad words. If you’re in a smaller town with less competition, on the other hand, you might want to focus on your community.

To play off that last tip, the same goes if you’re in an area with college students eager for internships. You can bring interns on, in that case. Likewise, if you’re in a town with a high school that loves its football team, you could sponsor events. I’m just throwing suggestions out there; the point is, play to your strengths!

Start Marketing the Right Way!

Start marketing so that people know how amazing your products and services are. The more customers you get, the more you build your brand and grow your business. From there, you can transition your side-gig into a full-time passion project.