How To Make Time For Marketing
If you're consistent with your marketing, you'll get a more consistent flow of enquiries, which means a more consistent flow of work.
The problem most freelancers have is they have a huge push on marketing when things are quiet, and then they get an influx of work.
And because they get an influx of work, they are too busy to do any marketing.
And because they haven't done any marketing the work dries up again so they have a big push.
Round and round the cycle goes.
Feast and famine.
It doesn't have to be that way.
If you're consistent with your marketing, you'll get a more consistent flow of enquiries, which means a more consistent flow of work.
So how do you maintain that consistency?
Make time for marketing even when you are busy
It's always tempting to prioritise paid work over marketing, but marketing is what gets you the paid work. Don't neglect it during your busy periods.
If you are getting a consistent flow of work, you won't need to overload yourself after having a quiet period because your quiet periods won't be as extreme.
It sounds simplistic because it is.
And yet, so many freelancers only do marketing when they've "got the time."
Don't wait until you've got the time. Make the time. Schedule the time in. It doesn't have to be hours - it could be 30 minutes a day.
You can always create email templates, pre-write content and schedule social media posts for when you're busy. And you don't have to come up with new ideas every day. It's fine to reuse marketing materials and social posts. It's fine to reshare blog posts and videos.
Use your quiet times to create marketing collateral and then you won't need as much time for marketing when you're busy.
Choose three things to focus on
When you're a one-person business, you can't do every type of marketing or be on every platform all the time. So pick three things to prioritise.
- Networking
- A social media platform
- Blogging
- Email newsletters
- Cold emailing
- Cold calling
- Direct mail
- Podcasting
- Video
- Paid ads
- Exhibitions
- Speaking events
Once you've decided which activities to focus on, set yourself a minimum level of activity for each. For example, share at least three social media posts per week. Or write one blog post per month. Or do one speaking event per quarter. Having targets will help you stay more focused.
You can always do extra or add in other activities when you have more time.
Schedule time in or create a routine
You have to find a routine that works for you. If you want to block out big chunks of time to pre-write and schedule all your content, do that. If you prefer to do little and often do that.
I usually put a post on LinkedIn in the morning, engage with a few posts and then check it a couple of times during the day (when I'm waiting for the kettle to boil, for example). Sometimes I'll miss a day or post later in the day and I'll sometimes schedule a couple of posts to go out if I'm going to be on holiday. As long as I put a couple of posts out a week, I'm not too strict on myself.
I also have set days for email content. For example, The Freelance Fairytale Newsletter goes out on a Monday afternoon, so I have Monday morning blocked out to write it. But if I know I'm going to be out of the office or I'm going away on holiday, I'll pre-write the content and schedule it to go out.
I find a flexible routine works for me. I know what I need to do each week and can fit it around my client work. You might find it easier to block out the same time each week or you might block out a day each month to work on your marketing.
But make sure you are scheduling time in. Treat it like you would a client call - something that can't be moved unless absolutely necessary.
Don't give yourself too much to do
Be realistic about what you can achieve. Giving yourself too much to do or committing to stuff you know you'll hate doing is inviting failure.
It might be that you start with two social media posts a week and set aside fifteen minutes a day to engage, comment and connect, then build up from there.
Maybe instead of creating content, you want to focus on pitching for work on freelancer sites, or attending networking events, or doing cold outreach. You can set goals for these things too. Spend an hour a day bidding on projects. Or attend at least one networking event a quarter. Or reach out to 10 new prospects a week.
It's up to you which activities you choose and how much time you allocate to them, but you need to do some kind of activity and you need to be consistent with it.
And if you need help putting a strategy in place, you can book a 90 minute session with me and we'll come up with a realistic and sustainable action plan.
