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Starting a Digital Marketing Business: What to Costs to Consider 

 Published September 17, 2021

Updated March 21, 2023

By  MonetizePros

Starting your own Digital Marketing Business can be an exciting prospect, but it is also a big commitment. The first step in the process is to consider what you want out of your business and how much money you are willing to invest at its inception.

There are many different ways that you can start your own digital marketing business, with some being more cost-effective than others.

The three most popular options for starting a Digital Marketing startup might include: 

  • Freelancing or Agency Model
  • Remote Consulting
  • Owning your own Company

Starting your own Digital Marketing business can cost anywhere from $0-$50,000. It all depends on what you want to do and how much working capital you have to invest at the start of your new venture.

There is a lot that goes into starting a Digital Marketing Business. You will need resources such as working capital, legal resources, marketing tools, hosting for your website, email services and more! So let's break down some of these costs below:

Costs associated with Starting up a digital marketing business include: 

  • Incorporation and legal fees
  • Website Hosting Fees 
  • Domain Name Registration & Purchase Costs
  •  Email Services/Hosting (Gmail or Outlook) Cost
  •  Content Management System Subscription Cost (WordPress etc.)
  • Subscription software (for graphic design and content writing)
  • Employee and/or freelancer costs

In order to run an effective online digital marketing business, you will need to have a good working knowledge of the tools that are available.

This includes knowing what is out there and how much they cost before making any decisions on which ones you want to use for your digital marketing operation.

If done properly, having an online Digital Marketing Business is very profitable and rewarding! You just need to do the necessary research before getting started in order to ensure you are successful from day one.

7 Important Digital Marketing Startup Costs

Incorporation and Legal Fees: 

This is the cost of forming your Digital Marketing Business, including any state filings for business name registration, licenses and permits. These costs can vary by State but it's usually around $500-$1000 in most states. The best thing you can do to keep this cost down it research what you need to register with your local government before getting started! Doing that will save money when starting up a digital marketing company.

Website Hosting Fees

You will need a hosting plan to get your Digital Marketing Business online. Depending on how many visitors you have and what kind of website you are using, this can cost anywhere from $20-$100 per month. You also want to make sure that the company has enough bandwidth to handle any traffic spikes when launching a new campaign or feature! This is something else where doing research before getting started is going to help keep costs down in the long run.

Domain Name Registration and Purchase Costs

In order for people to find your website, they need use a domain name such as "my-digitalmarketing-business.com". These names belong exclusively with certain registrars who sell them varying prices based off availability and demand. You can expect to pay anywhere from $15-$50 per year for a domain name with many registrars such as GoDaddy and Namecheap offering discounts or added services when purchasing more than one at a time.

Email Services/Hosting Cost: 

If you are going the email route, then some form of web-based email is necessary in order send out emails to your contacts list.

Gmail offers Google Spaces while Microsoft Outlook and both start around $20 per month for access on multiple devices without advertising!

This doesn't include the cost of your email marketing software like Aweber or Mailchimp at approx $20 per month. 

Content Management System Subscription Cost: 

There are so many different content management systems that it's important to do research before settling on any one option, including what they cost.

WordPress is one of the most popular with it's self-hosted version starting around $100 per website.

But we recommend finding a host yourself and purchasing a theme like Thrive Themes.

Subscription Software: 

Depending on what you need, this could be something as simple as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator which are available for a monthly fee that starts at about $20 each! Other options include hiring freelancers to create graphics for your business blog posts so make sure to shop around before making any decisions here - some will charge more than others but quality varies greatly too!

Software tools that we recommend (and use our self) are: 

Employee and/or Freelancer Costs

Running an online digital marketing company takes manpower in order to get things done right. You have several different routes when planning how many employees you want but it's important to keep in mind that they will need some form of compensation if you want them around for the long run.

  • Salaries
  • Commissions
  • Employee Benefits
  • Freelancers

Freelancers are typically paid on an hourly basis so costs can vary widely depending on how much time they spend working and their rates!  Another option to consider is using a service. A service like Compose.ly can connect you with freelancers that have experience in your industry, manage your communications with them, and ensure you get quality content.

Be sure to do research before hiring anyone, ensuring that any freelancer has adequate references from past clients or employers is a good starting point. You also want to make sure that you have clearly defined roles when setting up your Digital Marketing Business because this could save both time and money down the road. 

Digital Marketing Costs Summary (per year)

$$$

Low End

High End

Incorporation & Legal Fees

$500

$1000

Website Hosting

$240

$1200

Domain Name 

$0.99

$50

Email Hosting

$240

$600

Website CMS

$0

$150

Subscription Software (per year) 

$360

$1800

Total Estimate

$1340.99

$4800

These annual totals don't include the biggest expense. Salaries. That depends on your business model. 

How to Fund your Digital Marketing Startup

Now that we've covered some costs associated with starting up a digital marketing business, let's look at ways for finding startup capital:

One way of finding startup capital for your business is to use personal savings.

This initial investment from yourself will be the best money you spend on your Digital Marketing Business because it means that you are personally invested in making sure that your new venture succeeds!

Be careful though, as some small businesses fail within their first year and taking a loss with this form of funding can make things very difficult going forward.

If using personal funds isn't an option, then consider what other forms of funding may work for you:

Loans - Some banks offer loans related specifically to starting up a digital marketing business or even selling products online so don't rule these out before doing research!

The U.S. industry which attracts the most Venture Investment: Internet. -statista

Credit Card - If you have a good credit card then this can be another viable source of startup capital! Just make sure that the interest rates on your credit cards don't outweigh the benefits of using them to provide funding for your Digital Marketing Business. This is also the riskiest way, we don't recommend it!

Crowdfunding Sites - There are many different crowdfunding sites out there but one I recommend checking out if interested in this form of fundraising, is IndieGoGo. It has been used successfully by other startups, so it is definitely worth looking into if you need money to start your Digital Marketing Business.

The bottom line on the costs of starting a digital marketing business?

You can do it for practically nothing or tens-of-thousands of dollars! It just depends on what kind of budget you have and how much risk/investment you are willing to make in order to achieve success with your new venture. Just remember that there are always expenses associated with owning any type of business, but making sure they are properly managed goes a long way towards ensuring its longevity.

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