Today’s guest post is from Erin Steiner is a freelance writer from Portland, Oregon. Figuring out her finances took her a while, too. |
Marketing and promoting others is easy. Of course you want to talk up the projects your friends are working on. You’re proud of them and you want them to succeed. Marketing yourself, however, is trickier. Marketing yourself feels icky. The idea of setting money aside just to market your book or your profile feels selfish.

It’s the piece of the puzzle that’s easiest to put off…but it shouldn’t be.
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
Still, you need to do it. Here’s why.
- What you are effectively doing is creating a “business of you.” Setting aside money for marketing and promotional purposes helps cement that in your head. It forces you to see what you’re doing as a real and serious enterprise and not just a hobby that you’d like to “go pro” with someday.
This doesn’t stop with you. Separating out your marketing budget and business expenses from your personal finance helps others draw boundaries between the you that is their friend/parent/spouse/neighbor and the you that is a successful author/artist/entrepreneur. - Setting up a marketing budget helps you make sure you always have enough on hand to pay for promotional needs. That way paying for things won’t feel like “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.”
- Your taxes will be much easier. Remember: Money that is spent in the name of building and marketing your brand is often tax deductible. By separating your expenses, you can keep your professional taxes separate from your family’s personal taxes, which will save everybody at least a few migraines.
So how do you do it? How do you create this mythical marketing budget for you and your projects? [Read more…]
Follow Us!