How Much Time Should You Spend Marketing?

Clients ask me how much they should market and what’s a realistic amount of time. They’re not always happy when I say, “Almost all the time!”

Not every Monday morning, not 8 hours Friday, but most of the time when you aren’t doing business or talking with clients.

Why? So you can stay current. Marketing is happening all the time, and if you’re tuned it, you’ll get some great ideas.

When you're browsing on the Internet, pay attention to what attracts your attention, what's new, how other people work their websites, what the logos look like. Logos, colors, fonts, and tagline styles go in and out of fashion and you want to stay current.

Take some time every week to visit people who sell things like you do, or offer services like yours and see what's new.

When you're in the car, notice what radio ads catch your attention -- and why. Notice what billboards catch your eye -- and why. Your website is not unlike a billboard, and your 'copy' is not unlike a radio ads. Most radio ads are minutes, and most visits to websites are minutes.

When some commercial actually catches your eye as your channel surfing, figure out why.

Also become an expert on your clients and who buys things from you. What country are they from? Are they mostly male or female? Do they come from your ezine, or from the Internet? Go over your ezine records occasionally, and your web stats.

I recommend you work with a marketing coach, for an expert and individualized programme in this competitive business, but even so, your input will be crucial. The marketing person will need lots of data from you, and I’m always surprised how much some people know about their business, and how little others do.