To start seeing remarkable success, you must make time for marketing. Many people tend to make their marketing a low priority. Instead of including it as a part of your weekly routine, you may find yourself scrambling to try and find customers only when business is slow.

Create more room in your week for marketing by restructuring your time and task management. Here are some tips:

1. Commit to marketing every week: Your first step is to go to your calendar and carve out slots of time to work on your marketing — this includes sales, networking, writing, presentations, and so on. Schedule uninterrupted time for marketing in the part of the day when you are the most productive.

2. Eliminate timewasters: We can all find a bajillion ways to procrastinate including Internet surfing, playing online games, watching TV, and reading e-mails. Make a commitment to yourself that you will put aside your favorite time waster. If you cut back on these things, you'll be amazed at how much you can do. Remember, your marketing is an investment in YOU and the long-term success of your business.

3. Chunk up your time: For your essential tasks and your marketing, make chunks of times to work on similar activities. For example, push sales calls and customer call-backs into one slot on your weekly calendar. Block out sessions for creating new products or service lines. Only check your e-mails once or twice a day, answering them all at one time.

4. Develop a marketing system: You can create a simple spreadsheet, make notes in your planner, or sketch out activities on a large flipchart sheet on the wall. The point is to make an annual profile of your marketing activities including: events, trade shows, advertising deadlines, direct mailings, seminars, and so on. Schedule marketing and stick to it!

5. Make marketing a habit: Commit to making marketing into a weekly habit. This means that even when you are busy, you still schedule time in your week for marketing, networking, speaking, making follow-up calls, coffee dates, and keeping in touch with past customers and referrers.

Marketing is an ongoing activity for the lifetime of your business. Commit to marketing and your business will grow as a result. You won't have to scramble to sell yourself when times are slow because your pipeline will stay full. This will lead to the ability to turn away less desirable work, raise your prices, and make more money! Your ongoing marketing efforts will ensure your business is predictable, pleasant, and profitable.

Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven