We know more than anyone that business owners wear many hats, which makes complete sense because, ultimately, you are responsible for every aspect of your business. You’d like to alleviate some of the pressure, so maybe you could take a vacation, but who has the time?
Many people think marketing is something to be done when you don’t have enough clients or customers. However, the opposite is true. Marketing is an ongoing business effort that thrives on routine efforts and creativity. When executed, it can drive traffic, qualified leads, and sales consistently to your business. So how do you make time?
Implementing a strategy can help you expand and ultimately bring in more business. But it can also help you focus on other things you didn’t have time for!
Check out these three ways to free up your time:
Choose Your Clients Carefully
As the saying goes, time IS money. Do you find yourself spending too much time with one particular client? You know the one: the high maintenance, soul-crushing, low revenue, almost no profit customer on your roster. While every business owner sets their own limits for what’s unreasonable and what’s not, these expectations should be spelled out to every client. Do you have a client who isn’t meeting your expectations? There’s only one thing to do…
Fire them! Yep, we said let them go. If their demands outweigh the profit, notify these clients that you will no longer be able to serve them. Give them a final date of service, making sure that they have adequate time to find a replacement.
If you can’t imagine releasing a client, keep reading.
Start Charging More
The answer to the above is to start charging more or start providing less. Are you making as much as you are worth? Chances are the answer is NO, and it’s a very costly mistake…and we’re not just talking about cash in the bank.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs often fall victim to undervaluing themselves. Your time is worth more than you think! If demand for your products or services is making you too busy to improve or build your business, then it’s time to raise your prices. Think about it this way – you could serve just one client better for the same revenue.
An important aspect of this step is not worrying about clients unhappy with your rate change. It may be more advantageous for you to let them go anyway. When you do, it will free up time in your schedule to work on your digital marketing strategy and better service your higher-paying clients.
Let it Go
Whether you believe it or not, there are people out there than can do your job or at least part of it. You should invest your time and talent in taking your product or service and making it a successful enterprise. You will never be able to achieve this if you are so bogged down with the menial activities of running a business.
The truth is, when you’re first starting, you likely will be doing just about everything to keep the lights on. Not everyone can delegate the same things because everyone has different talents. However, here are some of the everyday things you can consider delegating to free up your time for business planning and strategy:
Accounting/Bookkeeping: Smaller tasks like sending out invoices, inputting financial information, and managing payroll are good to start.
Administrative: Managing your calendar, scheduling appointments, returning phone calls, booking travel plans, or even reading emails seem like small things, but added up, they will eat up your day quickly!
Customer Service: You don’t have to be the first person customers call for help or complaints. You can give an employee or contractor this duty to deal with based on canned responses or guidelines you provide.
Marketing: Marketing is a full-time job! While you want to stay involved in your overall marketing planning, consider offloading the day-to-day aspects of marketing, such as writing ad or website copy, designing and placing ads, and scheduling blog posts or social media content.
You Need to Make Time for Digital
Implementing an excellent digital marketing strategy will be an investment, but it’s well worth it. The bottom line is this: you need to make time for digital marketing simply because it is the future. Implementing digital marketing in your business is a great way to build your customer base, educate your prospects about your products or services, and build your brand. All of these things together equal more sales, and therefore a more successful business.
By following this advice, you may find that your business is growing, and you can finally take that vacation! Need ideas on how you can make more space for digital marketing? Join our newsletter for more business tips!
