It's tempting to start marketing by opening Instagram and posting into the void. We'd start somewhere less exciting and a lot more useful: the places people already look when they need what you sell.
The short version: before you spend a dollar, set up a free Google Business Profile, ask your first customers for reviews, and put up a simple website that says what you do, where, and how to reach you. Then pick one social channel you can keep up every week. Leave paid ads until those basics are already bringing in calls.
What should you do first?
Write one sentence about who buys from you and why. Not "everyone in Calgary", but something closer to "busy parents in the northwest who need a reliable dog walker on weekdays."
That one sentence decides the words on your website, the channel you pick and what you say when you ask for a review. Skip it, and every later step turns into guesswork.
How do people find a new local business?
For most local businesses, Google is the front door. A Google Business Profile is the listing with your hours, photos, map pin and reviews, and it costs nothing. Google's own FAQ says it plainly: "Yes, creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free."
Fill in every field, pick the right category and add photos of real work. In our view, it's the highest-return hour you'll spend on marketing this year.
Why do reviews matter so much?
Because a stranger choosing between you and the next listing has very little else to go on. A profile with two reviews from three years ago says less than one with twenty from this year, however good your work is.
So ask. Your first 20 happy customers are your marketing plan for the next month. Send a short text with your direct review link the day after the job, not a generic email three weeks later.
Don't offer discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews. Google's contribution policy doesn't allow it, and Google removes those reviews from Maps.
Do you need a website if you're already on social media?
Yes. On Instagram or Facebook you're renting space on someone else's platform, under their rules. A website is the one place you control: your words, your prices, your contact form.
It doesn't need to be big. One clear page with what you do, where you do it, proof (reviews and photos of real work) and a way to reach you beats a ten-page site that never gets finished.
Which social media platform should you start with?
One. Choose the platform where your customers already spend time and where your work shows well. Pick a pace you can hold for three months, like two posts a week, before you add a second platform. We go deeper on this in Basic Social Media Strategy for Small Businesses.
Should you run ads right away?
For most new businesses, not yet. Ads send people to your profile and your website. If those don't convince anyone, you're paying to show more people something that doesn't work.
Get the profile, reviews and site turning visitors into enquiries first. Then ads become a way to turn up the volume on something that already works. The exception is a dated launch or event with a page that's ready; a small ad test with a hard spending cap can make sense there.
How much should you spend when you're starting out?
Less than you'd think on ads and tools, more than you'd think in time. Ignore big-company rules of thumb that set marketing as a percentage of revenue. In your first year, you probably don't have steady revenue to take a percentage of.
Our suggestion: set a fixed monthly amount you won't miss and a fixed weekly time block, say two hours. Spend money first on things that last, like a website, good photos and a logo you won't redo in six months. Things that disappear, like ads and boosted posts, can wait.
How will you know it's working?
Track one number that means money: calls, booking requests or quote forms. Once a month, write down what you did, what it cost and how many enquiries came in. Then compare that with the sales those enquiries turned into.
Then ask every new customer, "How did you hear about us?" It's free, and it's more honest than most dashboards.
What to do this week
Claim your Google Business Profile, text five past customers for a review, and write your one-sentence customer description. That's an afternoon, and none of it costs anything.
If you'd rather have someone build the pieces that last, that's what we do at Loud Launch. Websites start from $1,600 and brand starters from $300, and every project gets one fixed price before we begin. Prefer to do it yourself? Everything above works without us. When you want a second set of eyes on your plan, book a free call.
Drafted with AI help from Julian's notes and checked against the sources above.
