by  Dave Hiebeler and Mike Higgins  |  Apr 13, 2021 You might want to audit with a fresh eye the claims or statements your business makes about your team’s capabilities on either your Website, marketing, or in conversation. Is there anything said that comes across as things everyone else is saying? Some business claims have become meaningless and not believable because, in all fairness, everybody is saying similar things. Superlative statement claims such as the best, the largest, the fastest, the biggest, the sales leader, and award-winning. Any of these could be true about your business, but most have lost their juice since the claims are rampant. More examples that may not do your story justice are no-pressure consultation, free, no obligation, you have come to the right place, city of your choice’s best solution, in these difficult times, we are ahead of the curve, we love doing what we do, honesty, transparency, commitment, and dedication to customer service. How about these? We always put our clients first, take your _____ to the next level, we partner with you, let’s chat, let’s have a conversation, our competitive rates, our expert team of… and we want to earn your business. Blah, blah, blah.   In its own category and in its own paragraph is the term “Bespoke.” I have encountered this one several times in the last two weeks as a description of business service offerings. I had to look it up, and I did not know what it meant. “Bespoke” means a customized offering made for a client, a one-of-a-kind like a custom-tailored suit.   Come to find out, the term goes back hundreds of years. Sounds fancy. It is better to say customized just for you and tell them how you do it.   Your business’s story will strengthen when the language used is simple and authentic to your top prospects. Describe at a deeper level, for example, how it is that your prices are so competitive, or give story details on why your team gets so many customer referrals. Otherwise, you can come across as just another commodity, like a grain of wheat, because everybody says that.  Dave Hiebeler  is an Agency Principal at Align2Compete, LLC. He writes about small business marketing, audience strategy, and demand generation. Based in Colorado, Align2Compete is a specialized marketing agency that helps emerging businesses turn strangers into customers. He is also a freelance writer. Mike Higgins   is an Agency Principal at Align2Compete, LLC. For the past 25 years, he has worked in all things digital sales and marketing. Mike also founded Brushfire Sales, which assisted companies in optimizing outbound sales channel efficiencies. As a digital pioneer, he was on the ground floor at MapQuest and Weather Labs, a start-up that the Weather Channel acquired.

BY: Dave Hiebeler | June 8, 2023 Disclosure: The following article was authored 100% by a human with experience in the category; it includes proper sourcing and fact-checking. If you feel your business is in real growth mode and you wonder how much you should spend with a marketing agency per month, I have your answer. This article will give you an agency owner's view on what it will take to get started. I will assume you are already in pure messaging mode, which means you have done all the heavy lifting to build a website/brand that asks prospects to do something and nudges them along to consider you a viable option. And like many businesses right now, you are not looking to increase your overhead; you are instead looking at where you can make cuts. The other assumption is that you have a solid Google footprint, which means prospects like what they see when they do a direct search. Will Google change this due to their own A.I. adaptations? Yes, and it’s coming soon. Start at $1,600 to $3,000 per month. It's funny because I don't get asked this question often when we are in the discovery phase with clients, but I know it is at the top of their minds. And understandably, you may think you need help to afford the counsel of a marketing agency. Eventually, everything comes down to how much. And soon after that, it's either a "yes" or "no" decision. As a business owner, you may budget for Web hosting, high-speed Internet, tax advisors, employees, and insurance. Sure, marketing is a deductible expense; a better way to consider it is as a monthly utility, like electricity, heat, and water. Marketing should not be any different. Commit to a starting agency marketing budget like this for six months or more. Why that much per month? The $1,600 to $3,000 monthly agency spend level is the opinion of this agency after working on thousands of campaigns over the years. This minimum level gives your marketing agency the resources they need to get the momentum started. When you begin, you will have less profit to play with; your gross revenues are not yet significant. You could be in the friends and family funded or in a pre-venture capital pitch stage. And when budgets get more extensive, your agency can add more channels and frequency to get things buzzing for you. In a recent Forbes article about "How Much You Should Spend On Marketing," Thomas Minieri recommends that businesses have two advertising-level budgets: "If you want to maintain your current sales level, then do 5 to 10% of gross revenue. If you want rapid growth, then 20% or more, depending on your industry and type of business." I agree with his budget advice. When your business is in its early years, your goal will be more ambitious to grow your brand. Or, if you are an established company launching a new product or service initiative, your budget could be much larger than $3,000 per month. Why start at this budget if things are tight for you? You'll get a more actionable critical mass of data from your agency campaigns on how prospects are relating/reacting to your most viable product (MVP). This data is precious to you, the failures especially. It puts time on your side to build demand generation in one channel, maybe two, if you are very efficient. Proper marketing involves trial and error. Trial and error require time. Every one of us hates the error part, especially. We have found that the most successful marketers identify their audience patch, soak it, and own it over their competition. We have an East Coast luxury auto franchise we work with that advertises to local "auto intender" residents by local counties with email blasts once per month, every month since 2014. They 'soak their patch.' An agency budget of $1,600 to $3,000 per month will allow you to use channels like Permission-Based Email or Instagram with some modest frequency. Larger monthly budgets above $3,000 enable your agency to add channels you could be unfamiliar with, like Podcasts, YouTube, and Connected TV (CTV). You will be happier doing marketing yourself if: Unfortunately, there is this expectation that marketing is easy, "Just spray and pray to an audience, set it, and forget it." There are also numerous sexy rags-to-riches articles. These are tales of significant revenue gains that occur overnight. What gets omitted from the story is how long it took said owner to succeed; those details are boring, aren't they? In my morning Flipboard app regimen of reading many articles (a pleasure and a curse), I see them too. One would think, "If only I could find the same magic elixir they have found; it seemed clear how they were successful." But as business founders, we pride ourselves, especially on DIY actions; it's how you built your thing, sweat, brains, dark days, and grit. You are my sisters and brothers. I love you. It is also sometimes hard to gauge whether your current upward trend in revenue will sustain itself, gulp. If so, hold on investing in agency expertise; you will be putting too much short-term results pressure on yourself and your agency. Stand-down. Marketing effectively is challenging and time-consuming. It is hard. What worked so great last quarter could have worked better this quarter. Is it my competition? Is it the economy? Did the audience channel lose its mojo? Did I over-fish the pond I've been in? The sexy stories you see can cause quick-fire judgments on what works and does not. Too often, time gets removed from the equation when the only goal is lead generation over demand generation. Do marketing yourself in-house if a committed agency budget makes you nervous and your team has a fair amount of time. Your current revenue and cash flow may not support a dedicated budget with an agency's expertise. It's a ‘nice to have’ down the road for you. Are your expectations of what marketing can do realistic? Your expectations of marketing's proper role and effectiveness are crucial. If you think an agency will drive immediate conversions to sales for your business, you need to be more realistic. On average, only 3% of your best prospects are buying right now. We call that a low-funnel conversion. Your agency will guide you to the correct demand generation strategy to move the 40% that are just starting to look for what you got. That takes time. Your agency is responsible for the top of the sales funnel; your business is responsible for mid and low-funnel conversions to sales. Fewer businesses want to own this, but it's true. What defines an emerging business? It can be a start-up in its 3rd year, an early-stage company that just got a second round of funding, or an existing business with a new product or service to grow market share. Any business with a unique market opportunity with new funding for expansion or a time-sensitive event that needs to get the word out is in the emerging category. You could have a familiarity problem. Low familiarity is widespread, especially with emerging businesses; if you ask them what they wish they could have more of in their business, they would say: "If only more of our best prospects knew about the unique service or product we offer and how it will solve their problem." More brand familiarity is a legitimate desire and lament. It speaks to why anyone markets and advertises anything. Mike Higgins, Co-Founder of Align2Compete and my business partner said it best: "There are more people in the world not on your website right now than those on it." A cold and undeniable truth. In a client discovery meeting, we will ask, "OK, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, where do you think your company ranks on the familiarity Index with your best prospects?" The client pauses and fires back, "I think we are a 2". We then ask, "Where do you want that number to be in two years?" If you say, "I want to be at a 7 or an 8 ". That is an ambitious goal, and we all have extensive work to do. That work requires money, resources, and an equivalent measure of expertise. But everyone wants easy, correct? Growing brand familiarity requires time and consistent, agile actions; there is no easy way around this. Getting the word out the right way. Getting the word out the right way requires disciplined audience message repetition that a talented agency is ready to handle, just like you know how to run your business like no one else. Agencies have channel, audience, and messaging cadence expertise you most likely need. A one-time or annual big event could be coming up, or you have to nail a limited time frame open enrollment period as a success. I call that significant short-term pressure. Allow me to share a story of when I was in the newspaper industry decades ago. A local air show featured the famous UNITED STATES NAVY Blue Angels flying their jets. Excellent stuff, yeah. The problem was that I was an Ad Director for a chain of suburban papers that was temporarily understaffed. We promised The Air Show leadership a 16-page section published to our audience on a particular date, which meant we had to sell 12 advertising pages to meet our advertising/editorial profit matrix. If there are not enough ads, then there could be no section. Time was short, and my team needed to move the needle. I had to step up and sell 10 of the 12 pages myself. The Air Show folks loved our section. I didn't sleep well for those two weeks; that was real pressure. If you need to turn up the messaging flame fast, then a monthly budget does not make sense, but a more extensive project budget does. In this case, your agency can do many good things for you on a $4,000 to $10,000 budget. You may not remember what you spent on marketing. However, you will remember if your event was a complete dud and people got fired. Use an agency if you lack in-house expertise. As an owner or senior leader of an emerging business, marketing is a hat you should not be wearing any longer. It's a total time-suck; the detailed work necessary can be overwhelming. Your work-life balance could be suffering as well. Some owners are good at marketing; they built their business cost-effectively as a low-cost provider. I call you "consciously competent." We love talking to you because you know the power of a well-executed campaign and have a feel for channels that work well for your business. But if you have fished every "word-of-mouth" fishing hole, and marketing is starting to crush you from a time and energy dimension, there is trouble brewing. You don't file your corporate tax returns without a tax advisor, do you? You hire experts to save you time, avoid costly errors, and give you an edge. Hire an agency and give them a monthly budget to support the resources to get the job done right. Key takeaways: One of Warren Buffett's, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, advice tips for any business is to reinvest profits back into the enterprise to fuel its growth. This is a hard pill for owners to swallow, especially when the money starts to flow. When I have an electrical or plumbing issue at home, I pay a professional to fix the problem. I believe they will do it right, and I will save time. I will gladly pay for their expertise and experience. A marketing agency can do much the same for your enterprise. They know the right tools and when and how to use them. As a metaphor, the great agencies will tell you when you only need a bolt tightened, and they will charge you for the minimum service call today, or they will also tell you that your water heater is about to blow because someday, very soon, it will flood your home with 3 feet of water. Dave Hiebeler is an Agency Principal at Align2Compete, LLC. He writes about small business marketing, audience strategy, and demand generation. Based in Colorado, Align2Compete is a specialized marketing agency that helps emerging businesses turn strangers into customers. He is also a freelance writer.

by Dave Hiebeler | Jul 29, 2022 Click here to listen to the podcast From the show notes: Every business, every owner, every employee has lots of great ideas. The crucial part is how one should nitpick and prioritize their tasks. “Experience” is not getting what you want. You can hire seasoned mentors to avoid making mistakes, period. Hiring trained professionals saves you time, avoids costly errors, and gives you an edge. If you think that doesn’t make a huge difference, think again. At Align2Compete, you have access to industry experts who could drive you to your fullest potential. Today, we invited Dave Hiebeler and Mike Higgins, co-founders of the organization, to give you a run-through and a clear picture of what they do. Dave Hiebeler is an Agency Principal at Align2Compete, LLC. He writes about small business marketing, audience strategy, and demand generation. Based in Colorado, Align2Compete is a specialized marketing agency that helps emerging businesses turn strangers into customers. He is also a freelance writer. Mike Higgins is an Agency Principal at Align2Compete, LLC. For the past 25 years, he has worked in all things digital sales and marketing. Mike also founded Brushfire Sales, which assisted companies in optimizing outbound sales channel efficiencies. As a digital pioneer, he was on the ground floor at MapQuest and Weather Labs, a start-up that the Weather Channel acquired.

Marketing Services & Pricing for Small Businesses. Doing your own marketing only gets you so far and hiring a full team or big agency just isn’t in the cards. Take a look at our core services and easy-to-follow menu to see what we offer and what it will cost. Agency of Record (AOR) The Agency acts as your in-house, fractional marketing team delivering expertise without adding headcount. If your marketing feels scattered or lacks a clear direction, we bring clarity and consistency. Our team starts by assessing your current marketing tools and activities, identifying what’s working, what’s not, and why. From there, we establish a strategy that aligns your efforts, strengthens your message, and builds a dependable framework for growth. Some small businesses think they’re too small for a “real” agency —when what they actually need is practical, accessible guidance so they can focus on their business instead of being deep in their marketing. 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Content & Page Optimization Strengthen your site with keyword‑focused updates, new content, and clear on‑page improvements that lift rankings. Technical & Reputation Boost To improve site performance, reinforce trust signals, and polish your local profiles to attract more qualified traffic. From $1,350 per month See Package Levels Digital advertising is easy to start but hard to do profitably. We've managed thousands of campaigns, we know what not to waste your money on and how to get you real traction fast. With regular campaign check-ins and clear communication we show you where the wins are and what needs optimizing now, not next month or next quarter. Our clients love this approach. Local Paid Media Campaigns That Protect Your Ad Spend Complete campaign management Media buying, creative development, and message targeting tied to your KPI goals. Daily performance optimization with regular check-ins So you always see what’s winning and what we’re improving now, not later. Owner-led oversight of Campaign Fulfillment Expert execution and accountability — your budget is managed like it’s our own and not by junior staff. From $1,000 per month Compare Options Is Your Website Quietly Leaking Leads? Time for a UX Pressure Test. If your site’s been “good enough” for years, it may be leaking leads. This pressure test shows what’s working, what’s costing you, and what to change so more visitors convert. We’re not asking you to blow up or re‑do your entire site (no one wants that); it’s time to refine what you’ve already got so it performs better. The cost typically pays for itself within a few months of better and more frequent leads. See exactly where visitors drop off and what’s confusing or turning them away. Watch real behavior with analytics, session replays and click/scroll maps instead of guessing. A/B test key layouts, headlines, and CTAs over 8-10 weeks to learn what actually boosts conversions. Get a clear, prioritized change list so your your web designer can implement to lift lead flow month after month. Cost: $3,500 per month View Details Done‑For‑You LinkedIn® Outreach We grow your professional audience fast with up to 200 hand‑picked connection requests a week via short, personal messages that feel human, not automated spam. This is a proven way to grow your core LinkedIn rapidly over just a few months. Short, on‑point messages (1–2 sentences) that don’t feel like the generic automation you’re used to seeing crafted specifically to earn real replies, not just sends. You approve all outreach: connection scripts, follow‑ups and how we respond, so every conversation sounds like you and stays on‑brand. You will get 'hand-raises' and we lead score them for you. We take contacts from cold to warm, then hand them off to you once they’ve shown intent, so you step into engaged conversations instead of chasing strangers. Cost: $450 per month See What's Included Pattern‑Interrupt Email Ads Top‑of‑funnel awareness to curated in‑market consumers and SMBs without wasting your ad dollars. These are magazine‑style email ads to a proprietary, permission‑based list that creates demand for you before people ever search. Reach prospects your competitors are ignoring Show up in personal inboxes as a clean, magazine‑style brand ad—before someone ever searches, and long before most of your competitors even know these people exist. Turn cold strangers into warm future buyers Use pattern‑interrupt creative to make people aware of the problem you solve and put your brand on their mental “short list,” so when they do need help, you’re already familiar—not a random Google result. Strengthen your whole channel mix, not replace it This is a top‑of‑funnel awareness play that feeds your search, social, and referral channels; it’s not meant to be judged only by last‑click, Google‑Ads‑ From $675 per 25,000 adresses Review Pricing Pipeline Igniter: Repeatable Sales Outreach When your pipeline is dry, guessing and grinding harder won’t fix it. Pipeline Ignitor builds and runs a repeatable outbound system on your behalf, so you can move from “no leads” and random activity to a predictable flow of qualified conversations you can scale. Clarifies your Ideal Customer Profile and creates targeted outreach content that actually earns replies. Implements outreach automation and cold call workflows so your top-of-funnel runs consistently, not just when you “have time.” Builds customized dashboards across all outreach channels so you can see what’s working, double down, and scale with confidence. Cost: $1,350 per month Get Package Details Local Spotlight TV Ads This puts your brand on Netflix, ESPN, YouTube, Prime, Roku, and local TV so you’re remembered as the obvious first choice by your best prospects. You compete on a brighter stage, we get you into the right spots—local, not national—targeting by zip code and metro so your brightest message is in front of the people most likely to buy. Solve the “who do we call?” problem by showing up so prominently and clearly that you’re the default choice when prospects finally need help. Run CTV / OTT campaigns locally, not nationally, focusing spend on the neighborhoods and metros where your best customers live. Target by zip code and audience so your video commercials follow your best prospects instead of wasting impressions on the wrong viewers. Appear under brighter lights on top channels giving your brand the credibility and recall of big-name TV without big-brand budgets. From $5,000 per month plus 20% management fee Explore Options What we don't do: (but we know people that are very good at these things) Close Close We do not build Websites. We are not a Branding Agency. We are not a Video Creation Studio. We are not a Social Media Posting or Content Agency. We do not do National Media Buys. Close Close Close Ready to see if this is a fit for your business? Talk to us.

Our agency specializes in customer marketing and growth tactics that demonstrate our expertise in adapting to change and seizing significant opportunities. Specializing in marketing and advertising solutions for various industries, including Hiring Talent, Automotive Dealers, Charter/STEM Schools, Local Events/Festivals, Home Services, State/Local Government Programs, Health Care Open enrollment, Charter Schools, and B2B Business Development. Client wins . The following case study wins came from adjusting to changing information and spotting the largest opportunities in trial and error. What you ultimately learn unlocks hidden market strategies that drive success. The case study evidence . Lincoln Franchise Dealership State Government Charter/STEM School Home Services BMW Franchise Dealerships Retail Brick & Mortar The industries we specialize in marketing + advertising solutions. Hiring Talent. Automotive Dealers. Charter/STEM Schools. Local Events/Festivals. Home Services. State/Local Government Programs. Health Care Open Enrollments. Catering Companies. Community Colleges. B2B Business Development. So now what ? This is usually where other websites jam in calls to action, like booking a call on their calendar or filling out a form field. We would, instead, rather have you think about and decide if our ideas resonate with you. If the next step is a discussion, then choose your preferred means. Contact Us

Privacy Policy for marketing and growth agency Align2Compete Privacy Policy (Effective: January 1, 2026) 1. Introduction This Privacy Policy explains how Align2Compete ("Company," "we," "us") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in an open and transparent manner. 2. Information Collection and Use We may collect personally identifiable information (such as name, email, address) and non-personal information (like usage statistics). This information is used to improve our services, for marketing, and to comply with legal obligations. 3. User Rights You have the right to access, rectify, or delete your personal information and to object to or limit its processing. 4. Data Security We implement robust security measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, alteration, and destruction. 5. Sharing and Disclosure Your information may be shared with third parties only in specific circumstances, such as to comply with legal obligations or to provide you with our services. 6. Compliance with Laws We comply with all applicable data protection laws, including GDPR for European users and COPPA for children under 13. 7. Changes to This Policy We may update this policy from time to time. Users will be notified of significant changes and are encouraged to review the policy periodically. 8. Contact Us For any questions about this policy or your data, please get in touch with us at Dave Hiebeler Telephone Number: (720) 218-2374 Mailing Address: Align2Compete 9928 W. Morraine Pl. Littleton, CO 80127 9. Governing Law The laws of Colorado govern this policy, and any disputes related to it will be resolved in Colorado's courts. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy.