"I'm just not good at marketing. I'm really not a terribly creative person."

I hear this from small business owners and professional service providers all the time. As a small business owner you certainly know that you need to be marketing if you want to grow the business. The problem for many is that they don't (at least not consistently) because they tell themselves they're not creative. Or, they spend endless hours tweaking the look and feel of their marketing pieces at the expense of spending any time on the message.

There is a huge misconception that to be an effective marketer you need to be a creative person. It's simply not true.

But, still the misconception persists. And far too often it becomes a primary reason, excuse, or justification for either not doing the marketing, or for blindly passing it off to someone else you consider more creative than you.

So Is Marketing An Art or Science?

It's my contention that marketing is a science and not so much an art. The key to business growth is much more scientific than creative. That's not to say that creative people cannot achieve tremendous business growth. I'm simply trying to state that you don't have to be a creative-type person to be an effective marketer, so stop using it as an excuse.

In fact, I'd have to point to myself and my own business as living proof. I'm not a creative person by nature. I'm a computer science major with a master's degree in business administration. I can barely draw stick figures. I don't create catchy slogans, jingles and advertising campaigns for me or for my clients to try and attract business. That's not what marketing is all about.

My business is being built by taking a more systematic approach to marketing than anything we ever used at any of my former employers. My ABCD Growth Marketing System is built on solid, proven marketing principles and strategies that are easy to apply and scientific in nature.

Effective small business marketing is about creating repeatable processes and systems that consistently apply these principles and strategies. Yes, it helps to have a little creativity. But, that's not ultimately the key to make you a successful marketer.

What I think is more important is that you take each marketing principle and strategy that you learn and determine how you can use it in your own service business. I don't care if you're creative or not. If you're willing to commit the time and effort to do a little of this, try a little of that, add a smidgen of this, test some of that, you'll ultimately find the formula that works for your small business.

That's what effective small business marketing is really all about. It's scientific, not creative.