One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs and brand owners is the lack of time they have for marketing and branding. Marketing is so voluminous – I believe that many people get overwhelmed with the many aspects and options in marketing and its easier to become paralyzed and resort to inactivity, than to take one small step at a time.
Or we don’t understand what marketing truly entails and believe we don’t have time for “advertising” or “social media.” However, marketing is anything that grows your business or raises your profile. This includes properly maintaining your referrals and building relationships with existing clients and customers. This should be treated as a strategy for growing your business.
Yes, marketing takes time, however, it is absolutely necessary if you want to grow your business, create a brand and fill your pipeline.
Below are five points for making more time for marketing:
1.) Know what’s most important: There are so many ways to market, brand and reach your clients. It’s important for you to be extremely clear on what works best for YOUR industry and market. Advertising is not best for every industry; nor is social media, or events or cold-calling. Do the research and know what works best for what you want to do and how your industry makes buying decisions. This will eliminate random acts of marketing (i.e., being busy with marketing, but accomplishing nothing).
2.) Know what you want to communicate: Marketing is about storytelling. Your brand is the story and marketing is how you tell that story. What is the story you want your audience to know about your company or organization. What are the key points, value propositions that are important for your clients or customers. This is not just what you want to tell or sell, but also what is important for your audience. What are their pain points and how can you provide solutions. Once you are very clear on this, it will save time on how you market your business. You will be very clear on your message.
3.) Evaluate Your Tools: So there are two schools here… either those of you who are not using enough tools and those who are using too many tools. In this digital era, there are platforms, apps and tools for everything. Evaluate what you are using and notice if it can do more than what you are using it for; if you can eliminate a tool or combine it with something else. Make your marketing tools work for you.
4.) Limit Your Social Media: What?!? Yes, I said it. At least limit how many social media platforms you focus on. If you are giving equal amount of energy and time to more than 3, you are doing too many. Go back to my first point. And my second point. Know what is most important and what is producing the best results for you.
5.) Use Your Timer: There is something magical about hearing your timer go off and time to put your pencils down. With some of your marketing tasks, set a timer for how much time you will devote to that task or initiative for that day. Not only is this good for your moral and mental health, it also helps you focus. Focus is a powerful thing. Anything that can help us focus on the task at hand, is essential for your marketing strategy.
If you are interested in learning more about time management and marketing, please contact me directly for an upcoming course on strategies for increasing your marketing productivity.
must make the most of your mornings and evenings. Most people will advise that you discover if you are a morning or evening person. However, if you are an entrepreneur and an employee, it really doesn’t matter which time of day you prefer. Early mornings are not optional; it is a must. It sets the tone for your day and helps you to establish clarity. Mornings give you the additional time and clarity to get work and strategy done for your passions and get a head start on your 9-5. But evenings are important too. Burning the candle at both ends may not be everyday – but at least commit to being an early riser or putting in an evening shift (weekends too) at least a few times a week or month.
topics and issues. However, this month, I want to focus more on a leadership issue. Since starting this business, I am amazed at how much mental tenacity it takes to launch and continue a business or any initiative. Yes, I’ve had other businesses and projects that I’ve started in the past, but I was fortunate to have a partner or groups of people to help me stay encouraged. Being an entrepreneur is a lonely place. When you have those moments when you are choosing between sleep and work, paying a bill or investing in a client or your business, quitting the gig or keep trucking along. It is a constant mental game to just stay in the game. I’m sure I will eventually get to a level where I coast along, but right now, I am relying on the five things below to help me stay focused and mentally strong during these tough days. If you are in a similar struggle, I hope these points will also help you.