overwhelmed

photo credit: skampy

As a small business owner, I know, it is HARD to keep the focus on growing your business when the needs of your current business continually take all your time and attention. But here’s the thing we all know, intuitively, if we don’t focus our attention on doing those things that grow our business, we won’t stay busy. And in this economy, staying busy is necessary to stay in business.

To that end, we all need to be setting aside at least 10% of our workweek  and up to 50% of the week focused on growing your business. So, if your normal work week is 40 hours (I know, very few business owners can claim that luxurious schedule.) You need to spending at least 4 hours a week (and perhaps something more like 20 hours a week) focused on taking your business to the next level and keeping your sales funnel full.

That dedicated time, once established in your routine will become invaluable to you, and as you can imagine are very easily filled. Community organizations, networking groups, leads groups, and Chambers of Commerce are some of the ways you can (and should) spend your time. Even as someone whose profession is Advertising, I’m the first one to tell you word of mouth is critical to any business’ success, (we just use advertising to spread the word faster.) It’s important that you keep your website fresh, your social media accounts filled with chatter, and  your blog posts made on regular schedule. It’s also important that your next big sale, your company’s anniversary is planned, and relationships with your current clients are positive ones.

All of that is considered marketing, and all of that creates your brand in the marketplace. And with all that marketing, you’re going to find you’re sales funnel full and you’re going to have to be proactive about balancing your time.  But you can do it, you just have to remember what’s important and why it’s important to make the time to attend the meetings that will grow your business overtime.

About the Author:

Tisha Oehmen

Tisha Oehmen is a professional brand strategist and a leader in the branding field. She has been named a member of the Global Guru’s Top 30 Brand Gurus. She is also the co-founder of Oregon-based Paradux Media Group and the best-selling author of the book, Finding Brand: The Brand Book Tutorial.

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