So how do you find time to do everything your business requires?



There is only one way - with a focused strategy and a weekly and daily plan. Without this focus, something isn't going to get done and unfortunately, it's frequently marketing that doesn't get done.

But if you can stay disciplined and persevere in these 6 areas - business will be booming!

1. Planning/strategizing - Devote at least 1 hour each week to big picture planning and strategizing. This is where you check to make sure that your strategy and tactics are still on track to achieve your overall goals.

2. Outsourcing/delegating - It's very easy to slip into doing things you shouldn't be doing. Schedule at least an hour a month to go through your calendar and action lists and confirm you are not doing things your assistant or webmaster should be doing or things that shouldn't be done at all.

3. Operations/Admin - Depending on the size of your business, and what you have outsourced, you will need to spend between 2 and 6 hours a month on these types of tasks. For example, you may need time to review reports from your bookkeeper, set up procedures for a new area of your business, and hire/fire employees. Many operational type tasks can be delegated but you are always going to have some type of oversight responsibilities.

4. Marketing - Marketing requires daily activity. That's not as bad as it sounds. You can batch marketing activities for certain days of the week. For example, if you attend a networking event every Wednesday, schedule time for follow-up each Thursday. Even if you only schedule an hour each day, put it on your calendar. In addition to calls, marketing includes updating your blog, writing articles, writing your ezine, and any other activity that will bring attention to you and your business.

5. Track and measure your results - Although you may have someone running reports for you, you need to review your web and blog statistics, your article stats and the results of any other marketing that you do. Do this weekly if you have a web site and daily if you are running online ad campaigns or have multiple sites. Don't forget to include networking events when you're tracking and measuring. How much money are you spending on networking and what results are you getting? In some cases, you might really have to think through how to determine your results but it will be worth it.

6. Make adjustments - This can be one of the most difficult things to do. If something is not working, change it. You may not need major changes, just tweaking. The important thing is not to wait to make the adjustment. Adjustments may relate to something you're doing with your marketing that's not as effective as you hoped or an assistant who is missing skills that you need. Don't wait to make changes since things will only get worse.

Schedule time to work on each of these areas and you shouldn't have to worry about anything falling through the cracks. You also will also be able to build your business because you will not neglect your marketing.