If you think you don’t have enough time to market your business on a daily basis, think again. The fact is you probably do have the time. You’re just not using it efficiently. Here are 25 ways to market your business today even if you think you’re short on time.

Before you tell me that you absolutely don’t have the time, think about all the random minutes and hours scattered throughout the day when you might be scrolling through your social media feed instead of doing something more productive.

Instead, you should be making that time work for you. Whenever you have 5 minutes, half an hour, an hour, or even half a day, choose something from the list below and simply get it done.

Like everything, such tasks require consistency of effort. Remember, a little bit every day goes a long way.

In 5 Minutes, You Could….

1. Ask a client for a testimonial that could then be copied to the Testimonials section of your website.
2. Add the hours that you are open for business on your Yelp profile. This is particularly crucial for brick-and-mortar businesses. You’d be surprised by the number of businesses that forget to include such crucial information.
3. Follow up on a sales pitch that you didn’t get a response from.

   

4. Check out who has viewed your profile on LinkedIn. If you have the premium version, you can send a LinkedIn InMail to what might seem like an interesting prospect for your business.
5. Post to Facebook or whatever social media platform you use on a regular basis and ask your followers a question. Example: what are your biggest problems (as it relates to your industry)? Later, you can tailor a blog post, a product launch, or some other marketing strategy to their responses.
6. Update your social media accounts, mentioning a new service or product that you are currently offering.
7. Handwrite a thank-you note to a great customer.
8. Subscribe to HARO (Help a Reporter Out), an invaluable service that gives you an inside look at the types of stories that reporters from a variety of media outlets are working on. All of the queries are segmented by industry/topic so they’re pretty easy to scan.
9. Sign up for Canva. Even if you’re not a designer, this tool is a game-changer in terms of elevating the look of your social media posts. Pretty much anyone can learn to use it.

In 30 Minutes, You Could….

10. Read a chapter from a good business book. You might learn something valuable that can be implemented in your own business. Educating yourself is the first step in the growth journey.
11. Find 5 great business blogs in your industry and subscribe to them in the hopes of taking what’s worked for those businesses and making it your own (without violating copyright law of course).

    

12. Take a look at your LinkedIn profile and if it’s not showcasing you and your business accurately, take the time to make some changes.
13. Make 10 cold calls. Hopefully one of them will provide you with a good lead and the chance for more business.
14. If you are interested in blogging in 2021, do yourself a favor and write a list of what you’d like to blog about for the next 3 months. Use Google Docs, Google Sheets, or any other tool that you are comfortable with.
15. Send emails to 5 prospective clients who have shown an interest in your business, offering them a special discount on a specific service or product.

In 1 Hour, You Could……

16. Cold call 20 prospects. Most are unlikely to answer, but you can always leave a voicemail.
17. Write the text for your next email presuming that you have an e-newsletter and that you send it out at least every two weeks or so.
18. Read through your website and look for keywords and phrases that are related to your business. If you can’t find any, you will need to update the copy by adding the most-searched-for phrases in your industry.
19. Make a list of 10 things that could make for a good press release. Tip: anything that relates to businesses collaborating with local charities or ways that you can associate your business with the latest news are all great ways to get the media’s attention.

    

20. Create the perfect customer persona based on what you already know about your current customers.
21. Look at the websites of 5 competitors and jot down what you think they’re doing right and how you might duplicate it.
22. With a number of holidays coming up, including Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, why not spend an hour brainstorming the promotional tools that could help to bring customers in the door. Hint: Think specials, free gifts, and discounts.
23. If you hate doing admin work, try hiring a virtual assistant. Spend an hour on Upwork or Fivrr to find someone suitable.
24. Spend an hour creating an inbound marketing plan. Implement the things you can do yourself and hire a copywriter, designer, or other professional to take care of the other aspects that you can’t or don’t want to do. Tip: including a blog, infographics, White Papers, podcasting, or social media are just some strategies that can be included in such a plan.
25. Spend some time exploring networking opportunities. Even meetups are being conducted via Zoom these days.

If you need advice or help on any marketing-related issues, be sure to let me know by heading to the Contact page on this website or emailing [email protected].