Can you build a successful business without spending money on marketing?

Only a tiny handful of companies have succeeded without marketing. Tesla spends zero on paid marketing, but Elon Musk himself is a brilliant marketer through events and publicity. Sriracha hot sauce never spent on marketing, but it took 25-30 years of the founder personally taking it to restaurant after restaurant, inching up slowly. So yes, theoretically you could build a business without paid marketing, but you’re not going to build anything significant in 6 months, a year, two years, or even ten years without marketing of some kind. The idea that you’ll have a big business without marketing is unrealistic - it’s a lie that’s been sold to artists.

---

Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Nick Friend and Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-06-28