Not every small business has the inclination or budget to outsource online marketing. I work with lots of people who just want some advice before going on to do things themselves.
I often set people tasks and deadlines only to find they’ve not been able to complete them due to lack of time. So in this article I’ll share my five top time management tips for DIY online marketers.
Take control of your business
So many small business owners I work with allow their business to control them rather than the other way round. For example, I recently asked a client of mine to take some time to set up a Google+ Local profile for their business.
A week later they still hadn’t done it. When I asked why they said they had been too busy with answering emails and phone calls. My reply was along the lines of they should put themselves in control. If you keep putting things off because of replying to emails and phone calls you’ll never get anything done. People will happily wait a bit longer for an email reply. And if you have an answer message on your phone, people will leave a message if it’s urgent.
Think about the bigger picture
All too often in business, we get preoccupied with the here and now rather than the bigger picture. Putting things off for a day can soon turn into a week or a month. For example, let’s say you had a shop selling vintage furniture – it would be beneficial to have pictures of your stock and links back to your site on Pinterest for both users and SEO. If you ever get round to doing it then you’re playing into the hands of your competitors who are able to find the time to promote themselves online.
Put aside a set time for each activity
Your online marketing needs to become a regular task. Think of it like going to the gym three nights a week. If you set specific time aside for it in advance, you’re far more likely to stick to it. Successful online marketing needs a lot of discipline so stick to your guns and schedule in some time every week to do something constructive.
Measure what you’re doing
Another reason why small business owners don’t have time to do as much online marketing as they should is because they focus their efforts in the wrong areas.
For example, you may be spending a couple of hours a week tweaking your Google Adwords campaign. If this isn’t bringing you any return on your investment at all, then you might be better off using that time to write a blog post instead.
The point I’m making is that unless you measure what you’re doing and adapt your online marketing strategy to suit, you could be wasting precious time on the wrong tasks.
Be realistic
My final tip is to be realistic in how much time you set aside. As the old saying goes Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’ve seen people try to fit in too much at the outset and end up losing interest in their online marketing as the number of hours wasn’t sustainable.
If anyone has any other tips to share please leave them in the comments below.
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