Your first 30 days of marketing, before you spend a pound on ads

New businesses often jump straight to paid advertising, which is like pouring water into a bucket before checking it for holes. Spend your first month building the free foundations. Ads work far better afterwards, if you still need them.

Week 1: be findable and credible

Claim your Google Business Profile and start verification. Secure your business name on the one or two social platforms your customers actually use; you do not need to be everywhere. Make sure your phone number, email and service area are identical everywhere they appear. Set up a professional email address on your own domain.

Week 2: proof

Photograph your work, your products or yourself doing the job, in daylight, from several angles. Write down the three questions customers always ask and answer them on your website or profile. Ask your first customers, even friends and family you have genuinely served, for honest reviews.

Week 3: tell people, personally

Make a list of fifty people who know you: former colleagues, neighbours, other local business owners. Send each a short personal message saying what you now do and who you help. Do not ask them to buy; ask them to keep you in mind and pass your name on. Referrals from this list will likely be your first customers, and they arrive with trust already built in.

Week 4: a repeatable rhythm

Pick a rhythm you can sustain: for most new businesses that is one useful post a week and one batch of review requests a week. Put both in the calendar. Consistency for six months beats a burst of enthusiasm for three weeks, every time.

Then, and only then, consider ads

Once you are findable, have photographs and reviews, and know which enquiries turn into paying work, a small paid campaign has something to land on. Start with a modest budget on one channel, measure enquiries rather than clicks, and turn it off without sentiment if it does not pay for itself.