The alternate title for this one was going to be “Shoot me now.”
Because, of course, I was reasonably on top of things and getting the lessons out smoothly, and then I went to Blogworld.
Which was fun (despite being in Las Vegas, which is so Not My Kind of Town) and a great chance to catch up with some pals I usually see only on my computer screen.
But productivity and getting stuff done and staying on top of my marketing tasks? (Cue bitter laughter here.) Not so much.
The reality
Here’s the thing no one else tells you (maybe because they’d rather sell you something than actually teach you something you can use, I dunno.)
No, you’re not going to have enough time. No one has enough time.
Or rather, you’ve got exactly as much time as everyone else (assuming there is not a piano that’s about to fall on your head), and like all of us do, you’ve got to figure out what’s going to get done and what you’re going to blow off.
Those perfect Martha-Stewart type people who actually get it all done? They’re either gigantic liars or they’re exceptionally good at delegating. If you’re one of those people, you probably didn’t waste time reading this lesson, so I’ll keep going with the understanding that you aren’t. 😉
Slowdowns are normal
Making your business happen is a long haul. To use a much-overquoted cliche, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Sometimes you’ll miss posting on your blog for a week. Or two. You get caught up in a crisis, either business or personal. Or you might even (egads) take some time off. More on that radical idea below.
No big deal. You’ll never be able to take advantage of every possible marketing opportunity. But you can make great use of the ones you do pursue.
My 5 favorite ways to make time for marketing
- Build content once, use it forever. That’s one reason I’m such a huge fan of email autoresponders. They’re a little more work up front, but they keep working just as hard 10 years in as they did the day you created them. Special reports and white papers fall into this category as well, and so do really well-optimized Adwords or other advertising processes. Create systems, rather than one-off efforts.
- Raise your prices. (And yes, I can see that face you’re making.) If you’re spending so much time doing your business that you have no time to promote your business, one way to free up a little more time is to improve your profit-per-transaction so you don’t have to work a million hours a week.
- Team up. Outsource the stuff you hate (especially if it’s really time-consuming) to a virtual assistant, a clever copywriter, or a smart college kid who needs a few extra bucks. The better you get at creating systems (see #1), the easier this gets. This is actually prettyhard to start doing, but once you’ve outsourced one or two tasks, you’ll find it gets a whole lot easier.
- Measure your results. If you’re going to spend time and money running an ad, know exactly what you get out of it. Send the traffic to a dedicated 800 number or web page. Measurable marketing isn’t just about managing your marketing budget in dollars, it’s also about managing the number of hours you have to spend on this stuff.
- Take time off. I know, this sounds a lot like “lose 100 pounds, win the lottery, and land the starring role in a hit television show.” Despite how it feels, taking some time off is actually easier than those things. It might be a 20-minute a day renewal ritual at first, then graduate to monthly or even weekly chunks of time spent just on being yourself and having fun. Weirdly, cutting productive time out of your day actually makes you more productive, because you’re refreshed and actually happy.
If you missed the first two posts in the series
This is the third lesson in a five-part series. If you’re a brand-new subscriber, you might have missed the earlier two, but you can read them here:
- What Makes Marketing Hard? #1: Ewww, It’s Gross
- What Makes Marketing Hard? #2: Gaahhh, It’s Overwhelming
Next up: the obstacle that makes our blood run cold and sends shivers up our spines. (Hm, just in time for Halloween!)
Eeeek, I don’t have the skills!
Fortunately, this one feels like a giant hurdle, but it’s actually the easiest one to leap over.
So how about you? What’s your best tip for finding time for all of this marketing business?
I’ve been doing number 5 and taking a walk along the cliff walk in Newport many mornings and I’ve been amazed at how, although I’m not focusing on work, I often get answers to the projects that are stuck, or the challenges that I’ve been obsessing over. It totally clears my head. It took me a while to realize the value of the break–and I still have to force myself sometimes–but I schedule it in my calendar every day now. Here, here to number 2 as well. When we value our work, others do, too. And every time I’ve raised my prices, I’ve attracted better clients–those who really run with the ball and make the most of their coaching.
I do have a question about number 3. This is hardest for me. Any suggestions about how to figure out which tasks to delegate and how to systematize?
Excellent tips well written. People think marketing is all about glamorous agency expense account meals when in reality it’s about put yourself in front of the right people with the right message – lots of times. Now that’s righteous.
Thanks Sonia! I’ve been working on time management so I will increase my time spent on marketing myself lately.
I downloaded a new little desktop ap called timeEdition that’s open source, it can be found at http://www.timeedition.com/en/index.html
It keeps track of your time for Customers, Projects and Tasks, and even has an option to send each chunk of time to google calendar or Outlook when you finish a session. It lets you put a dollar amount on each task, and shows an overview of how much you made by day, week, month etc… They have versions for windows, mac and linux available. It’s really quite useful to me! (Note to self: Send invoice to them for all this free marketing I’m doing….)
But the long and short of it is, I made myself a customer and have projects and tasks set up for my own blog and marketing so I will make myself do it!
I just upped my rates a week or so ago as well… and haven’t lost a single qualified lead since then either.
Thanks again for your timely post! (pun intended)
Finding the time is easily the hardest part of all this online stuff. And it really does make you realize how important flagship content that you can leverage over and over is.
I think learning how to say no and quitting anything that’s not bringing you closer to your goal is important. So is turning off the internet once in a while 🙂
Robert:
Thanks for the tip! It should be obvious, but apparently it’s not – scheduling time for marketing activities is the surest way to make sure you have time for marketing activities. A new way to look at the oft-repeated advise to “pay yourself first.”
Of course, you also have to treat that appointment with the same seriousness you would give all your customers.
Mark
If I may be so bold…
@Lisa, outsourcing indicators: 1. Boring tasks that are repetitive that you can train someone else to do. These emerge over time. 2. Stuff you absolutely have no idea how to do.
I used both for software subcontracting.
Typically, I do like to know enough about something to evaluate the work coming back.
Personally, I probably need more of #5.
Dave, I think those are great indicators for outsourcing. They don’t even have to be all that boring, but let’s face it, start with the boring (or annoying) stuff first. 🙂
I would add to this: schedule a start date, and more importantly, an end date.
When I used to sit down and write a blog post, I would write it, play with it, edit it, sleep on it, etc. Now, I schedule 1/2 an hour to write on Tuesday and 1/2 an hour to edit and rewrite on Wednesday.
Not only is my blog updated more consistently, but it is taking me less time to get 3 posts out a week now than it took me to do (maybe) one or two in the past.
The same applies to any other task, especially creative tasks — if you sit down thinking “I must get this done in the next half hour” you hit the ground running.
I have a friend who runs a popular frugal site. She has about 5000 emails in her mailbox. I (along with her husband) am trying to convince her to outsource that. She’s afraid of letting go. And that can be hard for control freaks (of which I’m one). Whether she hands it off to me (because I’m really, really good at slogging through email quickly), or someone else, she needs to free up that time to find leads. The problem lies in her valuing her own time a little more AND learning to let go.
As always Sonia, you deliver a message I needed to remember. (Namely: we all have the same amount of time and some people are just too OCD for their own good {Martha-types know who they are}.)
I teach marketing and this is probably the biggest question I get from my students. I will be sending them here to read up…by the way, where are your social media sharing buttons? I could help your marketing go further if you gave me a button or two. (Just sayin)
@Kate
I agree… I knocked out a new blog post in 38 minutes today (Yaaayyyyy)! And the 2 times I sat down to do a post before I scrapped both times after about an hour during each session. I guess knowing I was taking time out during a busy week to work on a post made me finish it. Plus I chose a topic I knew a lot about.
@Sonia I agree about not seeing social media icons (retweet etc…) but even still, I didn’t know if you wanted me to tweet these ‘prviate posts’ or just the home page of the site?
Sonia,
Another excellent post. One of the things that I tell my clients is to decide on a time when you can do marketing and do it at that time each day. Set aside one hour a day and use it to market your business. I like doing my marketing in the morning and getting it out of the way. I do any marketing that I am going to do before I start reading email or working on client projects. Since I am a night owl, I write my posts and things at that time have them ready to go in the morning. I am still working when is the best time post to my blog. Another that I find helpful for my blog is I lay out my next blog as soon as I finish the post that I am working on. That way I know what I am doing and just have to fill in the blanks for my next post.
Jenn
I am fine with tweets to these posts, for those who feel motivated.
And I had MenWithPens set me up with a retweet button, but I haven’t had time to configure it. 🙂
All joking aside (actually, wasn’t kidding), the next 2 months are all about the folks who are already in my little tribe & getting some good stuff to you. I’d rather write another one of these lessons for you guys then mess with the retweet button now, but for sure, it’s on my list.
I once grew a software business from $0 to $1,000,000 per year. I agree with delegating simple jobs you can train others to do and jobs that you can’t do well. It is also worthwhile to pass on jobs that you enjoy if the result is more goodness for your customers (e.g., partners and guest posts) or if someone with greater skill could significantly increase your sales or lower your costs.
Hi Sonia, I am new to the RM party… and so far have learned more from it that from years spent in corporate marketing departments. (And thank you for linking to Havi’s site on your main page. It has also rocked my world.) Awesome course and an awesome post, and as usually, very well timed!
*Off to tweak marketing materials for Tanzanian farmers*
@Chris, that’s a good point, sometimes you can get the most good out of delegating stuff even though you like doing it. For example, I must be kept away from all aspects of graphic design (other than photo selection, which I think I’m quite decent at).
@Jenia, thanks! Tanzanian farmers, eh? That sounds cool. 🙂