Marketing can seem very scary, especially if you are a small business owner who does it all on your own. Where do you begin? Do you really need all that "stuff"? Should you hire someone to do it in-house? Or maybe a company to do it for you? Here a few tips to help you out!

This is probably something you've heard many times, but in today's world, you need social media. Don't worry about having a profile on every social media network available (but that's perfectly fine, also). Just focus on one of the better known platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Depending on what your business is, one may work better than the other. This is a simple way to market your business that is inexpensive, and can get you great results.

No matter what kind of marketing you are doing (traditional or social media), you must know who your target audience is and create a plan to reach those specific people. If you are trying to reach everyone in the world, your marketing efforts won't go very far. But if you know you want to reach the parents of small children to plan their next birthday party, you can create a plan of action that is specific to that demographic.

Sit down and make a marketing plan. You most likely created a business plan or model when you began your business. You have to create some type of plan when you are working with customers. Your marketing strategy should be no different. Start with your overall goal of your marketing plan, and from there work on strategies and tactics, aka the small steps it takes to achieve your goal. This is where you can decide what audience to target, what social and traditional media to use, and a timeline so you know what has to be done to reach your goal in a timely manner.

These are all simple things you can do to market your business by yourself. If you still aren't sure where to start, check out some other maketing tips on the WPN Professionals Blog, from social media help to marketing to millennials!