Advertising Amplifies What You Have Already Built

Advertising does not fix a weak offer. It works best on top of a product, a reputation, and a group of clients that are already strong. Spending on ads before that is an attempt to speed up a business with money instead of time.

Marketing and advertising are different things

I separate marketing from advertising. Marketing, for me, is communicating a clear and consistent brand message. It includes working out who the right clients are and who should not apply. Advertising is money spent to put that message in front of more people. A business can do the first job well before it spends much on the second. The price and wording of an offer also influence who responds; I explain that audience filter separately.

When I was asked what percentage of my revenue went into marketing, I took the question to mean advertising. At the time of this 2023 recording, the answer was less than the questioner might expect. I also thought I could do more of it. That was not because I saw ads as a substitute for the work behind the offer.

Build the product first

I did not build a minimum viable product and immediately run ads to it. I focused on programs I believed were good enough to stand on their own. Most sales had come organically when I recorded the video in 2023. That is my account of how the business had grown at that point, not a claim about its current sales mix.

The sequence mattered to me: develop the programs, serve people well, build a community and reputation, and then consider paid advertising to reach more of the right people. A clear message also helps people decide whether they fit the offer. I describe that in setting expectations before the work begins. The product has to deliver after someone clicks.

When the plan is to raise money for ads

Someone asked how to raise money for an education and content business. My first question was why that business needed outside capital. I had built my own business without raising outside money, so I wanted to know what the capital would actually fund.

If the answer is advertising, I would start by examining the product and the results clients get. A clearer offer, a body of work, and a reputation take time to develop. Ads may expand the reach of something that already works; spending more cannot prove that it works. I thought the founder in that question was trying to accelerate the business with money instead of time.

I would also look at it from the investor’s side. Before funding a new business, I would want evidence that it can sell and deliver its offer. That question is different from finding a larger budget for traffic.