How can I make marketing fit around my life?
You didn’t set up your business to become a full-time marketer. And even if you are a marketer by trade, your own marketing shouldn’t be taking over your life.
If your marketing plan currently requires you to clone yourself, work evenings and weekends and somehow find an extra 14 hours in every week, we’ve got a problem.
Your business is supposed to fit around your life. Not the other way around. And yet, I see so many business owners treating their marketing like a second full-time job.
They think they need to be on all the social media channels, send a weekly email, publish a regular blog, make reels, have a podcast and a YouTube channel, and go to every networking event they can.
Then they wonder why they’re exhausted and their marketing has become something they dread.
What’s more, when you’re trying to do it all, chances are your marketing becomes less effective, because you’re not giving enough time to the things that work.
You don’t need to be everywhere
The first step to making your marketing fit around your life is deciding what actually deserves your time. Because, despite what you may have heard, you don’t need to be everywhere.
There’s a common misconception that effective marketing means being everywhere, all of the time. It doesn’t. Your audience isn’t everywhere. So you don’t need to be either.
Think about where your ideal clients are most likely to hang out and choose one or two places to focus your energy.
And if you’re currently spending hours creating content for a platform that hasn’t brought you a single lead and you absolutely hate being there, I give you permission to stop. Because you don’t get extra business points for being miserable on TikTok.
Make your routine realistic
You also don’t need to post five times a week just because some marketing “expert” told you that’s what you should be doing.
If once a week is all you can realistically manage, start there. The important thing is to create a routine you can stick to.
And instead of sending a weekly email, could you make it fortnightly or even monthly?
Marketing is all about consistency and it’s part of getting people to know, like and trust you. If your email is sporadic – you send two in one week and then nothing for a month – your audience might think you’re just as sporadic in the work you deliver.
When you send your email (or schedule your social posts) at a particular time, on a particular day, people get used to seeing you then and you start to build that familiarity and trust.
Blocking out some time and batch writing your social posts for the week can also really help. Then you can schedule them and move onto the next task. (Just make sure you schedule them for a time you’re going to be online, so you can reply to any comments).
It’s the same with your email and blog – put time aside to get it done. Otherwise, it’s never going to get ticked off your to-do list, because something else will always take priority.
And that’s exactly what we do in my accountability club on a Monday and Thursday at 10am as part of the co-working sessions.
Stop reinventing the wheel
One of my biggest marketing bugbears is the idea that you need a brand-new content idea every time you sit down to write.
You really don’t.
Remember that blog you wrote six months ago? It could become a series of three social posts.
That email you sent last year? There’s probably a post hiding in there somewhere.
That question a client asked you yesterday? Congratulations. You’ve just found your next piece of content.
You’re already sitting on a goldmine of content, and you don’t even realise. Repurposing, recycling and reusing your content means you’re not starting from a blank page every time.
Remember, you’re the only one who sees all your content. So there’s absolutely nothing wrong in you sharing the same story, testimonial or offer post again and again. You could try a different format or a different call to action if you want to, but you definitely don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Remember your why
This is the big one. Because unless you set up your business to fulfil your lifelong dream of being a full-time content creator, your marketing is there to support your business. It shouldn’t become the business.
Think about what you actually want your business to give you:
More time with your kids?
More freedom?
The ability to take a Wednesday afternoon off for coffee and cake?
Whatever your reason, your marketing needs to work with that life, not constantly eat into it. You don’t need to spend every waking hour marketing your business to make it successful.
You need a marketing strategy that works for you, your business, your audience and your actual life. And frankly, that’s much more sustainable than trying to keep up with everyone else.
Need help to create a sustainable content strategy that works for you and your business?
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