What marketing should I do first?
A one-minute answer, a plain-English fix, and one thing you can do today — pick how you'd like to take it in below.
Get found before you get fancy. Nail three things — a claimed Google Business Profile, a clear one-page website, and a way to ask happy customers for reviews. That's your foundation. Everything else (ads, funnels, TikTok) comes later, when the foundation is holding weight.
Marketing without a foundation is like pouring water into a bucket with holes. You'll spend money on ads that send people to a confused website. You'll post on TikTok before Google even knows your address. Get the free basics right first — they compound quietly, forever.
A brand-new physio in Papatoetoe rang wanting help with Instagram Reels. She had zero patients. I asked to see her website — there wasn't one, just a Facebook page with a stale opening-hours graphic. Google didn't know her. We spent one Saturday building a one-pager, claiming her Google Business Profile, and texting her twelve friends for reviews. Two weeks later — booked out. She never made a Reel.
The foundation, in order
Do these five things before you spend a dollar on marketing. They compound. Each one makes the next one work harder.
1. Claim your Google Business Profile
Free. 30 minutes. Biggest single win of all the free stuff. Puts you on the map for every "near me" search.
2. Build a clear one-page website
One day. See Topic 07 for the exact recipe. Just: what you do, where you are, one photo, one button.
3. Ask 10 happy customers for a Google review
20 minutes of texting. Reviews are what turn a listing into a booking. Nothing else builds trust faster.
4. Pick one channel and post weekly
See Topic 06. One channel — chosen because your customers are there — updated once a week. That's it.
5. Track one number every month
Bookings? Calls? DMs? Sales? Same number, every month. Simple. Otherwise you'll never know what's working.
Write your foundation checklist on paper — and circle the one you don't have.
Google Business Profile. Clear website. 10 reviews. One channel, weekly. One number, monthly. Which one is missing? That's your next job. Not every job — just that one.
- Foundation first, fancy stuff later.
- The free basics compound forever.
- One channel done well beats five done badly.
- Track one number so you know what's actually working.
You've got the plan. But how much of your money should you actually spend on all this? That's Topic 09.
Topic 09 — How much should I spend on marketing?