Marketing Inventory Monday:

Start 2026 with a Clear Look at What You’re Doing

Taking ten minutes today to review your marketing brings clarity, reduces wasted effort, and helps you make better decisions that support steady, sustainable business growth.

Written by Kurt Goetzinger, owner of Omaha Advertising

The first workday of the year always feels a little different. The coffee tastes better. The inbox is quieter than it will be next week. There’s a brief window where you can think before the pace picks back up. Before the meetings, before the emails start stacking, before the year gets loud.

That’s the moment I want to catch today.

Instead of jumping straight into new ideas or big plans, I want to suggest something simpler and more useful. Take just 10 quiet minutes and make a list of everything you are currently doing to market your business.

Not what you should be doing. Not what you hope to do someday. Just what’s actually happening right now.

I’m starting a weekly series where we’ll talk about practical marketing ideas for small businesses throughout the year. No hype. No gimmicks. Just clear thinking and steady habits that add up over time. And the best place to start is by getting honest about where you are today.

You’re Probably Already Doing Well!

Most business owners are doing more marketing than they give themselves credit for. It just happens in pieces. A website that was updated last year. A Facebook page that gets attention when things slow down. A Google ad that someone set up and never revisited. A newsletter that felt like a good idea but slipped down the priority list.

None of that is wrong. It’s normal. The problem is that when marketing lives in fragments, it stops working as a system. You lose visibility, consistency, and confidence. You also lose the ability to tell what’s helping and what’s just noise.

I’ve seen this firsthand more times than I can count.

A while back, I sat down with a business colleague who told me, with complete sincerity, “We don’t really do marketing.” As we talked, we started listing things out. They had a website. Actually, two versions of it. An old one was still floating around online and showing outdated information. They had a Facebook page they posted on once or twice a month, an Instagram account started by a former employee, and a Google ad campaign that was unintentionally sending people to a page that no longer existed. They also had an email list they hadn’t touched in over a year.

Nothing was broken beyond repair. But nothing was aligned either.

That’s when the lightbulb went on… They weren’t under-marketing. They were under-managing what they already had.

That’s the real value of a marketing inventory. It gives you a baseline. It turns vague feelings into something concrete you can work with. Just like a job site, a shop, or an office, you can’t manage what you haven’t taken stock of.

So here’s what I recommend you do today:

Sit down with a notebook or a blank document and list every marketing effort tied to your business. Include your website and who updates it. List every social media platform you have, even the ones you rarely use. Write down any email marketing you do, whether it’s a newsletter, appointment reminders, or customer follow-ups. Include your Google Business Profile, which is your listing that shows up on Google Search and Maps. Add any online ads, print materials, networking efforts, sponsorships, or referral partnerships.

If it touches your brand or helps someone find you, it belongs on the list.

Once you’ve written everything down, circle anything you haven’t looked at in six months or more. This isn’t about guilt or judgment. It’s just a signal. Outdated marketing doesn’t usually fail loudly. It quietly erodes trust.

Is Your First Digital Contact Failing?

After you’re done with that list and have grabbed your second cup of coffee, ask yourself one honest question: “If someone finds my business today, is it clear what they should do next?”

Can they understand what you offer? Can they trust what they see? Can they contact you without friction?

Let’s Connect Next Week…

Next Monday, we’ll talk about how to evaluate this list and decide what’s working, what needs attention, and what you can stop doing altogether. But today is just about clarity.

Good marketing doesn’t start with bold moves. It starts with seeing reality clearly, then making steady improvements from there. Take the ten minutes today. You’ll be glad you did.