One of the biggest obstacles to marketing success is consistency of effort. At the end of the day, I have come to believe that we need to accept that the pace of life is crazy.  The pressures come from every angle, both business and personal. However, this doesn’t mean that we have to be frantic every day. We need to prioritize our daily to do lists, making the best possible decisions with the information we have at that moment. This also applies to marketing our services. Prioritizing doesn’t mean we hold the “get out of jail free” card to stop marketing. What it does mean is that we need to break down marketing tasks into small, bite-sized pieces.  So, how do you do that?  Here are a few tips:

• Focus on one task at a time. Don’t try to peruse social media while you make a phone call to a referral source. Not only is it rude to split your attention to someone, studies show that productivity & effectiveness drop dramatically if you try to multi-task. Let’s face it, our brains just aren’t built to multi-task well.
• Use a calendaring tool to book appointments for marketing time. Book yourself out 3 months in advance, and keep those appointments as you would any other appointment. You will be most successful if you identify how much time you need to accomplish your marketing plan’s actionable tasks and then schedule accordingly. For example, if writing a blog post takes you 30 minutes, block out that amount of time on a specific date.
• Do you have someone who can help you accomplish tasks from your marketing plan? Do you have an assistant who is savvy with technology?  Have that person be responsible for posting your blogs once they are written.
• Everyone needs to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Block out one of each per month (at a minimum) and invite someone to join you. Use this time to meet with clients, referral sources, your network and colleagues.  Talk about your businesses together and brainstorm ways to  help one an other.
• Social media is a great tool for marketing, but it can be a time-suck. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes a few times a week where you are solely focused on perusing your social media feeds. Interact with these networks in a meaningful way– like posts, share content, congratulate people and make new connections.

Taking time to maintain your relationships and visibility are crucial to long-term success. Marketing your services while you are busy is important so that you keep an even flow of work on your plate, avoiding peaks and valleys. That being said, don’t beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon– dust yourself off and start setting good habits. Remember, it takes time to build a life-long habit. Reinforce your habits by touching your marketing every day in some small way.