Get New Clients Tip: What to do when you’ve got no time to do marketing

Most of us get into entrepreneurship because we love what we do… and that’s all we really want to do.

Truth be told, if I could coach and mentor all day long and have revenue rolling in, I’d be in heaven.

But alas, somewhere between the failure of my very first business as a Life Coach and the inconsistent success in my 2nd business as an Executive Coach, I realized all of the schooling from Coach University wasn’t what would create revenue in my business.

I had to fully embrace what I now tell business owners – marketing is the gas in your business engine. Try running a business without marketing and you’ll be on a constant uphill battle trying to get new clients in a consistent way.

That said, most business owners say they don’t have time to do the marketing. It’s an area in business where there seems to be a never-ending cry for help or solutions.

When you feel like you’ve got no time to do marketing, try these 4:

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Get Picky
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Enough of constantly following all of the bright shiny marketing objects flying across your email inbox every single week. Yes, enough already!

Here’s the thing… any marketing strategy is likely to work in your business if you learn how to use that strategy well and you implement it consistently.

So choose already. Stop the constant search for the next marketing gizmo to try that would magically create tons of clients and cash in your business overnight; that search will never end.

Write down all of the marketing options you’re already aware of, pick the ones you’ll use, then execute… consistently and completely…. every single week.

When you’ve got no time to do marketing, getting clarity on what you need to do not only saves you time, but you are far more likely to get it done.

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Use a Magnifying Glass
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What’s in your calendar for today? How about tomorrow? What is it that you’re currently making time for that squeezing out your ability to market your business? Really, study that.

Most of us walk around constantly saying “I just don’t have the time for….” without ever really assessing what we DO have time for every day?

Each time I’ve ever suggested a “time inventory” to my clients, they’ve been surprised to discover 3-5 wasted hours in the day.

Now I’m not suggesting that you’re intentionally wasting time. That’s usually not the case. But when you’ve got to make time for something that creates revenue in your business (i.e. marketing), then it’s worth taking magnifying glass to what’s actually happening during the day so you can prioritize and systematize what matters most.

Do you make time to service your clients? Why? Because it creates revenue, yes? Marketing creates revenue.

When you’ve got no time to do marketing, it may be time to do a time-inventory and re-prioritization.

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Become a block head
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No not that kind of block head. What I mean is this… take your marketing tasks and create small blocks of time in your calendar. Those are your no-excuses time for marketing.

If you had an important doctor’s appointment, it would be in your calendar and you’d show up no matter what.

What would happen in your business if you gave your marketing that level of priority? My guess? A revenue increase.

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K.I.S.S.
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I did a marketing survey a while back where 90% of the respondents shared that they either don’t have a marketing plan, or they wrote one but never use it.

Don’t over complicate the process, especially if you’re a one-person business. K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Sweetheart.

Get a piece of paper out, list all of the marketing actions you’ve chosen to execute, and simply decide and schedule when they’ll be done.

Additionally, pre-plan your promotions. Which holidays you’ll be making special offers, what events you’ll be attending to promote your biz etc.

All of this can fit on a single sheet of paper or 2 sheets at most. It’s your marketing calendar. Then you transfer your marketing actions to the calendar you’ll be using weekly. This ensures that you’ll review and execute your marketing actions daily, weekly, monthly.

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And it keeps on giving
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As a small business owner, the reality is you can’t afford to NOT have the time to do your marketing. It’s essential to creating revenue.

Give marketing the priority it deserves in your weekly calendar and you may just be surprised that, in return, it’ll give you the income you want and deserve.