How much revenue do you invest in marketing?

I'm starting up a new project next month and I will be investing 100% of my earnings directly back in advertising the website. I don't even think about taking any profit from a business until it's developed.

How much revenue do you invest in marketing each month?

I am doing the same with TalkvB. All revenue is going back into my contests and advertising campaigns.

It really depends on the project. If you can devise a genius viral marketing campaign advertising costs can be kept to a minimum.

I have never had any kind of profits from any website

I usually invest about 45% of my revenue back into marketing the site - depends.

I ususuall contribute as much as I can while kkeeping the site above ground.

Depends a bit on the concept of site and the purpose, i.e. 'shopping' vs. 'content' site. For the shopping sites I set a budget for marketing that initially way surpasses any revenue - which is naturally very low for a new site. I usually take a 9-12 month time frame during which I'll try and break even. I find it important to give a new site a substantial initial boost, after which better returns come in in a shorter time.

For content sites I spend considerably less and focus more on letting the site develop by itself. I do buy links to get G to visit, but generally use non-$$ ways of marketing.

In the long run I spend about 25-30% revenue in on- and offline marketing for a shopping (=non-content) site.

Hope this helps

It depends on the business. For my PR firm, I've only ever used PR and guerrilla marketing tactics that have cost me practically nothing. It's worked well enough that I'm making a full-time living and growing the business, and that's what matters to me. If you're predominantly interested in advertising methods, you'll obviously sell more. Instead, get creative, still get the promotion and grow the new site, and have the money set aside for other growth issues.

Jenn

A big part of revenues goes into marketing. When you're selling products online then Adwords can be a killer for cost, but you need to invest in it to be a serious business.

Originally Posted by Supplies man A big part of revenues goes into marketing. When you're selling products online then Adwords can be a killer for cost, but you need to invest in it to be a serious business.

I don't think you need to invest in Adwords to be a serious business at all, online or offline. There were successful online retailers long before Adwords came along, and there will always be successful online retailers who don't use it. It's just a new tool and one very tiny part of the marketing mix.

Jenn