Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
A Business Consultant’s Perspective
Where Should Your Hollywood Marketing Dollars Go?
The directory listing nobody calls from, the banner from last year’s event, the boosted post you forgot to switch off. Each one billed you again this month.
And every month you wait to sort them out, you pay for them again. Doing the work is where you shine, budgeting is the business side nobody taught you, and that is the part Dr. Paul, Hollywood business consultant, helps you work through. The plain answer: set a monthly marketing number you can afford, put most of it where customers have already come from, test a small slice on something new, and cut anything that cannot name a customer in ninety days.
Want help sorting yours? Call or text (321) 948-9588.
Last Updated: 10/29/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Cost of Waiting
The Charges That Renew While You Are Busy
Most marketing waste is not one big mistake. It is a handful of small monthly charges nobody has looked at since they were set up. That is how a marketing budget Hollywood FL owners set once can quietly drift. Here is how that adds up.
| Paid directory listing, no calls traced to it | $150 |
| Boosted posts on auto-renew | $250 |
| Event sponsorship, paid monthly | $300 |
| Website “SEO package” with no report | $200 |
| Untracked spend per month | $900 |
What those four lines cost in a year, in this illustration: $900 times 12 months.
Some of it may be working. None of it can prove it. Every month you wait to check, another $900 goes out.
Pull your last three months of bank and card statements and list every marketing charge. Most owners find at least one they forgot existed. The small business accounting and finance guide shows how to set up a separate marketing line so this never hides again.
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Four Ways to Work With Dr. Paul
01 · Start Here
Business Consulting
A working session on your actual marketing bills. You leave with every line labeled keep, test, or cut, and a monthly number you can live with.
Business consulting →02
Business Plan Writing
Need a plan with a real marketing budget for a lender or partner? Dr. Paul writes the plan and the financial model behind it.
Business plan writing →03
Fractional CFO/COO
Want someone watching spend against profit every month? Dr. Paul works part time beside you as a fractional CFO or COO.
Fractional CFO and COO →04
Small Business Education
Prefer to learn it yourself? Free plain-English guides on marketing, finance, and management.
Small business education →From a Business Consultant’s Chair
Dr. Paul’s Insight: Seen Is Not the Same as Chosen
“My name is on every banner in the forest. How is that not marketing?”
Dr. Paul’s take: The horse is not wrong that his name is everywhere. He is wrong that being seen is the same as being chosen. Sponsorships, banners, and logo placements feel like marketing because people notice them, but noticing is not buying. In Hollywood, a name on an event banner or a sign near the beach could be worth every dollar, or nothing, and the only way to know is to ask each new customer where they heard about you. Fund what you can trace. The marketing budget card in Dr. Paul’s small business marketing guide covers the rest.
Follow the Paychecks
Hollywood’s Big Employers Are Already Your Neighbors
Before you spend on reaching “everyone,” look at who already works in Hollywood every day.
Source: Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Hollywood profile, updated April 14, 2025. The same list names the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Chewy, and HEICO among the city’s major employers.
A marketing budget Hollywood FL owners build around those workers could look very different from one aimed at the whole county. Hospital and port crews often work shifts, so a lunch special, an early-morning slot, or a pickup window may be the offer that fits. A small, traceable test near one big campus can tell you more than a broad ad ever will.
Treat each idea like any other line on the worksheet below: one offer, one code, ninety days. If it books named customers, it moves to “Keep.” If it does not, you only spent the test slice to learn it.
How Much to Spend
Find Your Number in Four Questions
Skip the rules of thumb you read online. Your budget should come from your own customers and your own margins.
Then split it: most of the money on the channels that already produced named customers, a small slice to test one new idea, nothing on what cannot be traced. That is the “Plan” stage of Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ strategy, applied to marketing.
The Worksheet
Keep, Test, or Cut: Label Every Line
Copy this table onto paper. One row per charge. The only column that matters is the third one.
| Line item (illustration) | Monthly | Customers you can name | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile and reviews | $0 | Most new calls say “found you on Google” | Keep |
| Referral thank-you cards | $40 | Several referrals in the last quarter | Keep |
| New neighborhood mailer | $250 | Too early; has its own offer code | Test |
| Event sponsorship banner | $300 | Nobody has mentioned it | Cut |
| Paid directory listing | $150 | None traced in a year | Cut |
Cutting is not forever. A cut item can come back as a test, with a code and a ninety-day deadline. More on tracking in the small business marketing guide.
The Hollywood Side
Visitor Dollars or Neighbor Dollars? Know Which You Are Chasing
Hollywood has two very different customers a few miles apart. Where your money goes depends on which one keeps your lights on.
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk
A roughly 2.5-mile oceanfront promenade lined with hotels, apartments, restaurants, and shops, named a Great Public Space by the American Planning Association in 2013. Visitor-facing businesses may get more from maps, hotel-desk referrals, and reviews than from local print.
Hollywood Boulevard
Downtown, the crowd is mostly residents, workers, and locals running errands, with a different rhythm than the beach. Neighbor-facing businesses may get more from repeat offers, referrals, and local groups than from visitor-style ads.
Sources: American Planning Association, Great Places 2013; City of Hollywood Local Business Tax Receipt; Broward County Tax Collector.
- Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. A membership is a marketing expense like any other. Put it on the worksheet and track the referrals it produces. Chamber nonprofit filing
- City and county receipts. The City of Hollywood’s application asks for a current Broward County Tax Collector account and, for most locations, a Certificate of Use. Budget for licensing before marketing a new spot.
For the rest of the region’s marketing and sales questions, see the South Florida business consultant pillar.
Learn the Marketing Side
Marketing Money, Explained Without the Jargon
Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series · Book 4
Marketing for Small Businesses
Book 4 of Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series gives each chapter to one owner’s question, like the horse and his banners, and answers it in plain words. Budgets, tracking, referrals, and the message itself, written for owners who want results they can count.
Get Book 4 on Amazon →FAQ
Marketing Budget Questions Hollywood Owners Ask
How much should a small business spend on marketing?
How do I know which marketing is actually working?
Are sponsorships and banners worth the money?
What do I need for a City of Hollywood business tax receipt?
Bring three months of marketing bills. Leave with a budget that pays for itself.
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Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Author & Educator | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a business consultant, author, and educator, and the founder of Quality Business Plan. He works with Hollywood and South Florida owners on marketing that pays for itself, business planning, financial modeling, fractional CFO services, and the everyday problems of businesses that depend too much on their owners. He is the creator of Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of numerous published books on Amazon including Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series, and publisher of over 1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. Dollar figures are illustrations for a made-up business; local and licensing information is cited to its sources and changes over time. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.