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A big challenge for every small business owner is the need to ‘find time’ for marketing.

I can relate. None of us are full time marketers. We’re all providing services to clients. And when you’re serving clients too, it’s hard to fit in sales calls and marketing activity. It’s hard to maintain momentum.

One thing is for sure, whatever shape our business is in right now, we all have the same 365 days in 2006.

Will you use that time to create a structure that supports you and brings in clients automatically, or will you still be complaining about ‘lack of time’ when 2007 rolls around?

Despite being one of the most disorganised people on the planet, and someone who was earning all my income from selling my time just 18 months ago, I have managed to create an ‘autopilot’ marketing machine, generate passive streams of income, and I now earn more than I ever have, whilst working less hours. I truly believe that you can do the same, so in this article I want to share with you a few ideas that may help if you’ve been having trouble ‘finding time’.

1. If you don’t enjoy it, you’ll never ‘find the time’

If the idea of marketing and selling your services leaves you with a yucky feeling in the pit of your stomach, then let me assure you, you’ll never ‘find time’. As long as you feel like this, there will always be a more attractive activity pulling your attention. Even if your fairy godmother gifted you with two whole weeks, you’d still find ways to avoid marketing and selling. It’s called ‘Creative Avoidance’.
Is your problem is really a ‘lack of time’ or are you creatively avoiding marketing and selling?

2. If your business isn’t structured properly, you’ll never find the time

If meeting your revenue goals is dependent upon you working with clients 4-5 days a week, then it’s going to be really hard to find time for marketing. You may need to take a closer look at your pricing structures and put together a business plan that includes time for marketing, administration, rest, and time to reinvest in yourself. E-Myth author Michael Gerber calls this working ‘on’ the business, not just ‘in’ the business. My own experience was that I had to simultaneously increase my prices whilst slashing overheads to create a situation where I did have time to work on my business.

If you’re working flat out just to keep afloat, then you definitely need to take a closer look at what you are charging.

3. If your only way of generating income is by selling your time, then you’ll never ‘find the time for marketing.’

Somehow you need to break this catch 22, and the way to do that is by ‘productising’ your services. Sharing your expertise through a book, an audio package.

I know, I know! You’re too busy working with clients to have the time to create products. The good news is, there is a way to create revenue producing products that does not have to take hours of your time.

The first product I ever created was simply a recording of a day long seminar that I ran. That product brought in

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Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics - that’s true with anything by the way. Here are some tools that are brilliantly simple and with them you really won’t have to sweat the small stuff.

Hot Dope #1) The more that your potential customers see your name in front of them, the more likely they are to call your number (and not someone else’s) when they need the services you offer.

Many marketing efforts go unrewarded, not because they were off target but simply because they weren’t given enough of an opportunity to work. Showing your TV commercial one time, running an ad in the newspaper once, or doing one mailing of postcards may not be enough to grab and keep the audience’s attention.

Get your name out there, do it on a regular basis and people will remember you when they need someone in your line of business. Actually, this particular “Hot Dope” cannot be stressed enough - and failure to adhere to it is the #1 reason new businesses fail.

You should also know that taking the time to really see which pieces will generate the response you want will pay off. Don’t just totally give up when a response is low - persistence is vital.

Hot dope # 2) Measure your Return On Investment (ROI) in terms of actual MONEY not response rate. An advertising vehicle is working when the MONEY that it brings in has more value than the MONEY and time that is spent on the marketing.

Don’t fall into the trap of becoming discouraged by a small number of callers responding to a large number of pieces. If you spend several hundred dollars to be in the view of a few thousand possible leads, it may only take a few customers responding for you to make enough of a profit for this type of marketing to be valuable. The usefulness of any vehicle can only be determined after the amount of income generated by the promotion has been calculated. If you spend 1/5 of what you generate or generate 5 times what you spend, your campaign was successful.

Hot dope #3) It is much easier to “sell” a prospect once you get them to call or come in to your store. In 2-Step Marketing, step 1 is to get them interested; step 2 is having them speak to a representative to get all the details - and get “closed” by that representative.

Your design must be eye catching and informative, but don’t try to close the sale by explaining all of the details in one piece of advertising. The details of a business transaction often take many more words to explain than the main concept of what is being sold. For example, if your company offers great prices depending on the quantity purchased, there is no need to list the prices for every quantity that you sell. Simply give examples of two or three different quantities and state somewhere in the advertisement that other discounts are available for other quantities. This will prompt them to call to get the rest of the details once you have gotten their interest.

Marketing can be as simple as 1-2-3 when you know the basics. By no means have I given you all the basics here, but by learning and implementing these 3 marketing fundamentals, you are already on your way to marketing success!

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets to others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at http://www.postcardmania.com

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“If he who has a thing to sell Goes and whispers in a well, He won’t be so apt to make the dollars As he who climbs a tree and hollers!” — Anonymous

Every day in your business, something happens that others should know about. You give exceptional service to a client; you reach out to a new type of customer; you demonstrate your expertise on an important topic. Yet most of the time, the only people aware of these significant events are the individual you are speaking with and you.

We might chuckle at artists or performers who are waiting to be “discovered,” but sometimes business owners are just as guilty of hanging back when there’s boasting to be done. Below are some examples of occasions for informing the media, your clients, referral partners, and very importantly, POTENTIAL clients that you have done something special:

• Winning an award or competition

• Being elected or appointed to office in a professional or civic organization

• Obtaining an important new client or contract

• Giving noteworthy service to an existing client

• Opening or relocating your office

• Expanding to serve a new market

• Offering a new product or service

• Launching a new or redesigned web site

• Publishing the first issue of a newsletter

• Reporting an invention or discovery

• Expressing a unique opinion on a topical subject

• Being selected to speak at a major conference

• Completing a survey or study

• Having an article, white paper, or book published

• Getting a mention in the news

• Landing an interview on radio, TV, or a live chat

When any one of these events occurs, notify all your clients, prospects, and referral partners by letter or e-mail. Include a copy of any item referenced in your letter, or let readers know where they can learn more. For example, if you will be speaking at a conference, mail a copy of the program, or mention the conference web site.

It gives you extra credibility if the event you’re reporting is also acknowledged by someone else. When you give great service to a client, ask for a testimonial letter. Then include the letter in mailings and your marketing kit.

Many of these developments are newsworthy enough to inform the media. Write a news release describing what has occurred and your opinion about it. If you win an award, describe how it made you feel. If you are elected to office, outline your goals for the organization. Include in your release a brief paragraph about your background.

Send your news release to your own trade press and all your local media outlets. If you are nationally known already, include national outlets as well. Follow up with a phone call to offer additional information and find out if they plan to run the item.

When you do appear in the news, no matter how small the mention, capitalize on it. Unless you are on the cover of a major publication or featured on national TV, don’t expect a lot of people to contact you as a result of your appearance alone.

In addition to reprinting articles about you or by you for everyone on your mailing list, keep them on hand. Include them in your marketing kit for prospective clients, speaking engagements, and future media opportunities. Use them as handouts at trade shows. Frame them and hang them on the wall of your office. Post links or entire articles on your web site.

When you land a radio, TV, or live chat interview, let everyone on your mailing list know when you will be on. You’ll probably get more business from telling people about it than you do from the program itself.

About The Author

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of “Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You’ll Ever Need” at http://www.getclientsnow.com

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