When most people start a business, they have a pretty clear mental image of what “being ready” looks like.

A website that looks decent. A logo. Maybe a social profile that’s at least halfway filled out.

And I get it. Those things feel like proof. Proof that you’re real, that you’re not just talking about doing something.

I found a survey of 500 marketers that came out earlier this year, and one number in it that I wasn’t expecting.

Most people had already decided if they were going to contact a business before they even visited the website.

Think about the last time you looked something up. You probably didn’t go straight to their site.

You saw the rating first, or someone mentioned the name to you last week, or you read a review while sitting in your car before walking in somewhere.

That’s the actual path. Google Maps.

A review someone read at 11pm while searching on their phone in bed.

That’s where the choice was made, quietly, before your business website homepage even loaded.

And when you look at the actual numbers, it’s kind of hard to ignore.

Google Search and Maps accounted for 24% of that pre-contact decision influence. Word of mouth came in at 23%. Reviews added another 16%.

Together, those three things were responsible for 63% of what made someone reach out.

The website? Dead last. 10%.

Not second to last. Last.

And the thing is that all three of those channels are basically free to set up.

A Google Business Profile. One review from a happy client. A decent enough experience that makes someone mention your name to their neighbor or coworker the following week.

None of that costs money in the way people assume marketing costs money.

So if you’re just starting, what this really means is that the order matters more than the thing itself.

The website isn’t bad.

It’s just the last step in a decision that already started somewhere else entirely, and if that somewhere else is empty or missing, the website never really gets its turn.

Set up your Google Business Profile before you spend another afternoon on your homepage.

If you’ve done work for anyone, even one person, ask them to leave a review.

And some of word of mouth just comes from doing good work and staying in touch with the people you’ve already helped, which doesn’t scale the way ads do, but it also doesn’t stop working when the budget runs out.

That’s where I’d start.

Talk soon,

Minosh

P.S. Also, if you want to see what other free moves are actually worth your time when you’re just starting out, this might help.