Business Fortune
Many small business owners and independent contractors excel at what they do, but often struggle to market their services effectively. Unlike large corporations with dedicated marketing teams and budgets, smaller businesses are frequently left to manage promotion and customer outreach on their own, often without a clear understanding of the proven fundamentals that drive long-term growth.
This ongoing gap in the small business landscape became the inspiration for Mark Newsome, the founder of You Can Market Online Now. Built with the goal of simplifying marketing for everyday entrepreneurs, Mark created this platform to help business owners better understand and apply practical, evergreen marketing strategies that deliver real results. Drawing from years of observing the struggles faced by independently owned businesses, he focuses on making marketing more accessible, actionable, and achievable.
By emphasizing clear communication, consistent promotion, and foundational strategies that stand the test of time, You Can Market Online Now aims to empower small businesses to strengthen their presence, reach more customers, and compete more effectively in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
In this exclusive interview with Business Fortune, Mark Newsome, the Founder and CEO of You Can Market Online Now discusses how the platform helps small businesses and contractors apply practical marketing strategies to improve visibility, attract customers, and achieve long-term growth.
Your platform focuses heavily on helping businesses unlock hidden profit opportunities through low-cost, non-traditional marketing. How can these principles be applied specifically within the general contracting and property solutions sector?
When it comes to implementing proven, evergreen marketing and advertising fundamentals, both online and offline, the general contracting industry can benefit tremendously. One of the most important areas is understanding how to position services around problem-solving and creating customer-focused messaging that clearly answers the question, “What’s in it for me?”
Contractors can also benefit from strategically using upsells to generate additional revenue at a very low cost. In addition, building long-term Joint Venture (JV) partnerships can create consistent business opportunities and stronger revenue growth over time.
Many contractors struggle with inconsistent lead generation and client retention. From your perspective, what are the most common mistakes businesses in this space make when it comes to marketing and growth strategy?
In my humble opinion, one of the biggest missed opportunities is that many contractors still fail to fully leverage and monetize the customer, employee, and vendor networks of their non-competing business partners. These vendors have already built trust and credibility with their audiences over time, and a personal endorsement from them can go a long way.
That extended credibility helps reduce much of the costly and often ineffective hit and miss associated with traditional advertising and front-end promotional efforts. By building strategic relationships and referral-based partnerships, contractors can create a more consistent and cost-effective approach to lead generation and business growth.
The construction and property services industry is becoming increasingly competitive. How can companies differentiate themselves without relying on expensive traditional advertising channels?
Great question! Very few professional service providers, like contractors, fully utilize the power of education-based, problem-solving marketing materials. This can include content on or off their website, such as articles, guest podcast appearances, radio interviews, TV features, and other forms of educational promotion.
For example, businesses can educate their ideal prospects by sharing content like “The 5 Most Common Mistakes Residential or Commercial Property Owners Make Before Hiring a Contractor,” or “Key Things to Consider Before Starting a Renovation Project.” They can also highlight potentially expensive mistakes property owners often make when hiring a service provider.
This type of educational marketing helps position companies as trusted experts, builds credibility with potential clients, and creates stronger customer engagement without relying heavily on costly traditional advertising methods.
Relationship-driven marketing seems central to your philosophy. How important is long-term customer relationship building for contractors, and what practical systems should they put in place to achieve this?
Another excellent question! In my humble opinion, contractors, freelancers, and other profit-driven professional service providers should focus first and foremost on building and nurturing genuine relationships with their ideal customers and clients.
Too often, businesses try to scale growth simply by increasing their advertising or promotional spending before establishing strong customer relationships. When that happens, they often end up putting the cart before the horse!
Long-term relationship building creates trust, encourages repeat business, generates referrals, and strengthens customer loyalty. Contractors should put practical systems in place such as consistent follow-ups, customer check-ins, referral programs, email communication, and personalized service experiences to maintain strong connections with clients over time.
With digital transformation reshaping industries, what role should online presence, SEO, and content strategy play for general contractors looking to scale sustainably?
Online presence, SEO, and content strategy all play an incredibly important role in the future growth of general contracting businesses. These tools can help companies increase visibility, attract qualified leads, and build long-term credibility in a highly competitive market.
But, it can be counterproductive and works against your future growth potential if businesses focus on digital tools without first developing a clear marketing and promotional strategy. Contractors need a structured approach that uses both online and offline marketing assets systematically to support sustainable business growth.
Another major factor is understanding and calculating the lifetime value of an ideal customer or client. Without knowing how much a customer is worth over the long term, businesses cannot accurately determine how much they can afford to spend or invest in acquiring new customers. When combined with a strong strategy, digital marketing tools such as SEO and content creation become far more effective in driving consistent and profitable growth.
You’ve often spoken about the inefficiencies of “institutional marketing.” What should property solution providers stop doing immediately if they want better ROI, and how do you also see emerging tools like AI and data analytics shaping smarter growth decisions moving forward?
They should get and stay far away from so-called institutional advertising. It is often outrageously expensive and typically delivers, at best, a one-to-one return. In many cases, businesses don’t even break even on their initial front-end investment.
Looking ahead, AI technology will continue to move business and commerce at warp speed. However, the real opportunity for profit-seeking business owners and service providers lies in learning how to leverage and monetize AI’s ongoing evolution, as we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what it can do.
About | Mark Newsome
Mark Newsome, also known as Mr. Marketing, is the Founder and CEO of You Can Market Online Now. Mark specializes in helping small business owners and service providers consistently increase their gross profit by at least 25%, typically within the first 90 days or less, using cost-effective strategies that deliver results without heavy spending.
He is a cash flow generation strategist who focuses on helping businesses identify and monetize underutilized or overlooked assets, turning them into practical sources of revenue growth.
