A note for SBDC advisors, SCORE mentors, and anyone else who advises small business owners. When a client says their marketing isn't working, the natural move is to suggest more of it: a new website, ads, posting more often. Sometimes that's right. In my experience, more often the money goes to the wrong step. Three questions I'd want them to answer before they spend anything: Can they say in one sentence who they help and what changes for them? Do they know where customers drop off... before calling, after a quote, after the first purchase? Are their numbers real? (Analytics that count the owner's own visits as traffic is common. Mine did it for months.) If any answer is "not sure," that's the problem to solve first, and it's usually cheaper than whatever they were about to buy. Marketing and automation is the work I do with small business owners, and I always appreciate an intro when a client is wrestling with one of these. What's the marketing question your clients bring you most? #SBDC #SmallBusiness #Marketing