Bloom Where You Are Planted

Working with What You Have

I’ve always enjoyed business signage that takes a risk of not generating tangible returns for the business. Recently I drove by a sign for a small farm that read “Bloom Where You Are Planted”.

At that moment, the message resonated with me because I have one tulip that blooms in the middle of my yard every year. The soil in my yard is infertile, covered in shade and my landscaping company even said: “…nothing will grow here”.

So I have this tulip in my yard that defies all odds and I have these questions that run through my mind every year. Was it planted there by a person? Did it get there naturally by storm water run-off? Does it get more nutrients because it’s the only living thing in my yard?

This flower was a living example of the statement on the farm sign.

Here’s the Point …

As marketers or business owners, it feels like we always have a small or less-than-ideal budget for marketing and business development.

Rather than finding excuses why marketing isn’t performing, or sales aren’t increasing we should make the most of what we’re given. Instead of spreading our budget thin, maybe we should put a majority or all of our budget where it will return the most.

Typically, digital marketing is the best place to optimize a small marketing/business development budget because it’s highly measurable. Start off by building an email list of all your contacts that include family, friends, clients, partners, vendors, and prospects that you’ve connected with. Depending on your target audience, you may also want to boost or start a search engine advertising program through Google AdWords, Microsoft Ad Center, Yelp, or other equivalents.

Let digital marketing help your budget bloom.