If you’ve subscribed to my ezine for a while, you know I’m all about consistency when it comes to doing marketing. That’s because you get better results with small, steady action than with occasional, splashy efforts. But finding the time for that small steady action can be tricky. Business owners are pulled in so many directions, and often marketing can fall to the bottom of the list.
To make sure that doesn’t happen to you, block out time in your calendar for marketing each week. Or delegate it to someone who can help manage the tasks for you. Now you only need to schedule a regular check-in meeting to keep your marketing on track. Another tip is to use an accountability partner – perhaps a business owner friend who wants to keep on top of her marketing too. You can touch base by phone or email as a way to help make sure you finish your top projects.
Batching tasks is another way to whip through your marketing – do all the writing for your blog, website, direct mail and social media in one fell swoop, leveraging the content different ways. Now you’ve fully reaped the rewards of that time investment. If marketing isn’t your favorite thing but you’re not ready to delegate it, set a timer and commit to working on it for at least 15 minutes. You can actually accomplish more than you’d expect in that small amount of time, and by just getting started you may find it’s easier to keep going.
A lot of wasted time in marketing stems from being unclear about your goals. Maybe instead of diving into marketing tasks, it would be better to clarify exactly what results you want, and then only do those marketing steps that are most likely to deliver. Lastly, make more time for marketing by letting go of less important activities. Do you really personally need to run to the store for envelopes and paper or can someone else do that? Notice what fills your time and look for areas to release so that you can focus on things that give a higher pay-off.
© 2011 Barbara Wayman, APR, BlueTree Media, all rights reserved
Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, an award-winning monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Networking Hangover - Take the Pain out of Follow Up
Once a networking event is over, what do you do? If you're like most business people the answer is go back to your office and immediately get buried in a pile of work. STOP. Wrong answer.
A huge piece of your networking success is going to come from follow-up, and like anything else in life, it is your habits that make all the difference. If you routinely come back from events, throw the business cards you collected in a pile and forget all about them, you are probably not realizing the best return on investment from your networking activities. Follow-up is easy to do, but it is also easy NOT to do, which is why your habits are so important.
To make it as easy on yourself as possible, consider creating a follow-up checklist. Your checklist doesn't have to be long and complicated, it can be just a record of the simple steps you'd like to take once you get back from an event.
Maybe you will want to email some of the people you've met and thank them for something they said or did for you. Maybe you'll want to log onto your LinkedIn or Twitter account and send connection requests or follow certain people. Maybe there are prospects you need to call and schedule a meeting or coffee with. If you do an ezine, there might be names you want to add to your distribution list.
A simple networking follow-up checklist can walk you or your assistant through these steps so they get handled quickly and efficiently. You won't miss opportunities and you won't have that dreaded pile of businesses cards sitting on your desk collecting dust and making you feel guilty. A once-a-week trip through your checklist keeps everything fresh in your mind and ensures you're making the most of the time you spend networking.
TIP: Create and use a simple follow-up checklist to help make your networking effective and guilt-free.
© 2011 Barbara Wayman, APR, BlueTree Media, all rights reserved
Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, a free monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com
A huge piece of your networking success is going to come from follow-up, and like anything else in life, it is your habits that make all the difference. If you routinely come back from events, throw the business cards you collected in a pile and forget all about them, you are probably not realizing the best return on investment from your networking activities. Follow-up is easy to do, but it is also easy NOT to do, which is why your habits are so important.
To make it as easy on yourself as possible, consider creating a follow-up checklist. Your checklist doesn't have to be long and complicated, it can be just a record of the simple steps you'd like to take once you get back from an event.
Maybe you will want to email some of the people you've met and thank them for something they said or did for you. Maybe you'll want to log onto your LinkedIn or Twitter account and send connection requests or follow certain people. Maybe there are prospects you need to call and schedule a meeting or coffee with. If you do an ezine, there might be names you want to add to your distribution list.
A simple networking follow-up checklist can walk you or your assistant through these steps so they get handled quickly and efficiently. You won't miss opportunities and you won't have that dreaded pile of businesses cards sitting on your desk collecting dust and making you feel guilty. A once-a-week trip through your checklist keeps everything fresh in your mind and ensures you're making the most of the time you spend networking.
TIP: Create and use a simple follow-up checklist to help make your networking effective and guilt-free.
© 2011 Barbara Wayman, APR, BlueTree Media, all rights reserved
Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, a free monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com
Grow Your Business With Article Marketing
Did you know that writing and publishing articles on the Internet can be an effective and affordable way to grow your business and increase your visibility? There are hundreds of article aggregators online today that are actively looking for the kind of expert content you can provide to others.
Since I started regularly posting articles over the past couple of years, I've achieved my goal of letting a much wider pool of people who are interested in the topics I write about find me online. That's because article aggregators attract tens of millions of visitors each month. Their heavy traffic can benefit you too. Why might you want to publish articles online? Here are my top five reasons:
1. Increases your perception as an expert - Most people do not take the time to even write a personal letter, much less author articles. Even though it isn't really difficult once you get the hang of it, being a published author, even online, really adds to your expertise and the comfort with which people will chose to do business with you.
2. Expands your capillary system - Article marketing is like a giant capillary system that branches out, reaching a much wider pool of prospective customers than you could do in the physical world, and sucking them into your pipeline. Every business needs a steady flow of new prospects and article marketing provides it.
3. Ease of Entry- It is more difficult to publish articles in print publications than online. To write in a print publication, you'll need to be vetted by a gatekeeper or two and have discussions about exactly what you propose to offer, which takes time. Also, with print advertising budgets dwindling, most print publications have fewer pages available. But online it is a quick and simple matter to submit your articles and see them posted.
4. Long shelf life - Once people read a publication they either pass it along to someone else or throw it away. Your article might not ever be read again. But online, each one is up in cyberspace for years, greatly increasing your return on investment.
5. Provides leverage - Leverage is a key concept for all small business owners. It means re-using and repurposing your work in every way that you can. If you're already publishing articles for an ezine, article marketing gives you a way to further benefit from that work. You can also leverage your articles on social media to increase your return on investment for any writing you are already doing.
© 2011 Barbara Wayman, APR, BlueTree Media, all rights reserved
Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, a free monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com
Since I started regularly posting articles over the past couple of years, I've achieved my goal of letting a much wider pool of people who are interested in the topics I write about find me online. That's because article aggregators attract tens of millions of visitors each month. Their heavy traffic can benefit you too. Why might you want to publish articles online? Here are my top five reasons:
1. Increases your perception as an expert - Most people do not take the time to even write a personal letter, much less author articles. Even though it isn't really difficult once you get the hang of it, being a published author, even online, really adds to your expertise and the comfort with which people will chose to do business with you.
2. Expands your capillary system - Article marketing is like a giant capillary system that branches out, reaching a much wider pool of prospective customers than you could do in the physical world, and sucking them into your pipeline. Every business needs a steady flow of new prospects and article marketing provides it.
3. Ease of Entry- It is more difficult to publish articles in print publications than online. To write in a print publication, you'll need to be vetted by a gatekeeper or two and have discussions about exactly what you propose to offer, which takes time. Also, with print advertising budgets dwindling, most print publications have fewer pages available. But online it is a quick and simple matter to submit your articles and see them posted.
4. Long shelf life - Once people read a publication they either pass it along to someone else or throw it away. Your article might not ever be read again. But online, each one is up in cyberspace for years, greatly increasing your return on investment.
5. Provides leverage - Leverage is a key concept for all small business owners. It means re-using and repurposing your work in every way that you can. If you're already publishing articles for an ezine, article marketing gives you a way to further benefit from that work. You can also leverage your articles on social media to increase your return on investment for any writing you are already doing.
© 2011 Barbara Wayman, APR, BlueTree Media, all rights reserved
Barbara Wayman, APR, president of BlueTree Media, LLC, publishes The Stand Out Newsletter, a free monthly ezine for people who want to know how to leverage the power of marketing and public relations. Get your free subscription today at http://BlueTreeMedia.com
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