Finding Time For Marketing

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