Marketing basics · $29
90-Day Marketing on a Shoestring
Three illustrative monthly budget scenarios ($0, $100, $300), 12 weekly experiments with stop/go rules, a measurement plan and budget + scorecard spreadsheets.
For: Owners with a tight budget who want to test before spending more.
Time: About 30 minutes to plan, then 1–3 hours a week (estimate) · Last reviewed Oct 2026
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Quick peek
A preview excerpt, not the whole pack.
Stop/go rule (week 6, local Facebook group posts): after 4 weeks, if no inquiries mention the group, stop and move the time to review asks. If 2+ inquiries came from it, keep going.
What's inside
- $0 / $100 / $300 monthly scenarios with stated assumptions
- 12 weekly projects, each with a stop/go rule
- Simple measurement plan (calls, quotes, jobs, source)
- Worked examples for a cleaning and a tree service business
- One-page budget CSV and weekly scorecard CSV
Files
- 90-day guide — Markdown (shoestring-90-day-guide.md)
- Budget sheet — CSV (shoestring-budget.csv)
- Weekly scorecard — CSV (shoestring-scorecard.csv)
Downloads are .md or .txt plain-text guides (open in any text editor or Markdown app) and .csv spreadsheets (open in Google Sheets or Excel).
Problems it helps with
- Spending on marketing without knowing what worked
- Not knowing what to do with $100
- Quitting things too early — or too late
How to use it
- Pick the scenario that matches what you can really spend.
- Do one weekly project at a time.
- Fill the scorecard every Friday (10 minutes).
- At weeks 4, 8 and 12, keep, change or stop each experiment.
What's not included
- No earnings, lead or ranking guarantees
- Scenario numbers are illustrations, not forecasts
- No ad account management
Want me to set this up for you?
If you'd rather not do it yourself, I can handle it. No pressure either way.
Ask Richard