10 Things To Cut Before Marketing

UK firm Chart Lane is doing a series about Ten Things To Cut Before Marketing; as of today they're on 8 of 10, so I will post an update in a few days when the completed list is in.

The series is based on the premise that marketing is not an "optional expense" that can be cut when times are tight. Research shows time and time again that companies that spend more on marketing during tough economic times realize more success when things improve. I like the analogy of the distance runner hitting a hill; if you can speed up while everyone else slows down, you take the lead when the ground levels out.

That's all well and good, but you still have to pay for it somehow, right? From Ross Sturley, here are some places to start looking to cut expenses:

8. Postal expenses
7. Golf days
6. IT projects
5. Turn stuff off
4. Executive costs
3. Administrative costs
2. Meetings
1. Association memberships

As Sturley points out, "Turning off the new-work tap, you see, is just as bad as removing your capability to do the work when you win it." Oh, and his point about association memberships is not to avoid them entirely, but to focus on the most useful umbrella organizations - such as CSI and AIA - or those most central to your mission.