How to Have Time for Your Newsletter and Other Marketing

When I talk to entrepreneurs about marketing, including sending out newsletters, I so often hear, “But Ruth, I don’t have time to do that.” Well, let me share with you that it’s so important that marketing is part of your day, and very important to your business.

Below I share with you some productivity tips so that you do have the time to spend on marketing.

Here’s a tip for your newsletter…. For the longest time I was sending the newsletter inconsistently because it was just too much to write an article every week. Now, however I have a new system…when I think of an article topic, I talk into a recorder and that becomes the article. My virtual assistant takes the audio recording and converts it into an article, at least the first draft, and then she sends it to me. I make any changes and it’s done.

For my calendar, I’ve broken up my week Monday through Friday. I do certain business activities on certain days of the week. This works really, really well for me. This may not work for you exactly, but perhaps you can create a similar weekly schedule that does work for you.

On Mondays, I do not plan to see clients. That’s my day to write an article, or in my case I don’t write articles, I just record them. If there’s a letter, or a sales letter that has to go out that I’m putting together for a program- that happens on Monday also.

What’s wonderful about not having any appointments planned one day during the week is just energetically I don’t feel pushed for time, and I’m able to focus.

You really only need four solid focused hours to get about six to eight hours’ worth of productivity a day. What I find is that when it’s focused and you’re not checking emails and you’re not checking texts and you’re not accepting calls, you’re giving yourself this time, you have some healthy boundaries because what you’re looking for is productivity. I can’t even begin to tell you what a difference it makes. So, on Monday, I get at least four focused hours.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I see clients. On these days, I am completely immersed in helping my clients and don’t allow myself to get distracted.

On Thursdays, I work with my team on events or programs I have planned, and it’s a productive day to get marketing tasks done.

On Fridays, I follow-up on any remaining items that didn’t get completed during the week, although I try to keep Fridays light.

I try not to work weekends. On occasion I’ll give a speech on a weekend, but it has to make sense for me in order to do that. I know for myself that I have to regenerate and the time that I have to regenerate for me is on the weekend.

Besides blocking days of the week with certain activities, and being disciplined about it, you also want to start planning your marketing. You want to have at least a three to six month marketing plan that details what you’re going to market, how you’re going to do your marketing, what kind of articles you’re going to write and what information you’re going to give. Plan out when you’re going to market and launch any programs that you plan to offer.

If you’re in business, there are certain guideposts and activities that you must do on a consistent basis. To have a successful business, you don’t want to have things happenstance. You want to do a lot of planning, and these tips will help you get started on that.