Time. It’s the one thing none of us can manufacture. You and I have the same amount of time in a day as President Obama and Angelina Jolie. It’s what you do with your time that counts and how you spend your time is your life.
Time, money, health and relationships are areas of life most people want to improve and that makes these topics a great fit for marketing messages. We’ve all seen headlines like How to Effortlessly Improve your Relationship with Money or 15 minute Workouts for Optimum Health that tap into these concerns.
Still, I am not a big fan of “instant this” and “immediate that” even though they are usually effective buzzwords. Do you really believe that buying a $7.00 product will be the one step, push button easy way to become a Grand Master of (whatever), dominate your competition, build a 6-7 figure empire, etc., without you lifting a finger?
An old adage goes, “anything worth doing is worth doing well.” And the reality is, marketing online or off is a process that takes time and commitment. Whether it’s digital media content creation, online video, social media or podcasting, you have to take the time to plan the strategy, create and implement a campaign, and then give your plan time to work!
That means you shouldn’t expect your first tweet to attract 10K followers unless you’re a Kardashian. The first video you post is unlikely to get 10K views. Even something that gives you a fast bump in visibility will likely rise and then fall just as quickly.
For example, an online press release or article might hit all the major news and social media sites in one day and give you good buzz for awhile. But it will soon be buried by other people’s content, probably by the next day or even in a few hours! (There are ways to re-purpose content to keep your exposure growing, but that’s a topic for another day.)
if you stay the course with a strategy that releases valuable content consistently overtime, it’s likely you’ll achieve the right kind of authority positioning that sustains results.
I recommend you keep at something for 90 days to 6 months and then measure what’s happening. Put a deadline on seeing results, for sure. I don’t want you to waste your time, but don’t set yourself up for disappointment by expecting “instant” success!
If your content takes off, great but if it doesn’t, you can change course. It’s not a crime to re-design or even quit an activity, if it is not working for you.
A mentor of mine says, “Are you avoiding One Thousand Dollar activities to do 20-Dollar tasks?”
As I phase out my weekly blog, I’ve begun to rearrange my time priorities with that thought in mind.
Here’s an approach I follow that may help you:
- Consistently assess my daily activities and drop, delegate or outsource the low value tasks.
- Decide on 3 profit-producing steps to take daily and schedule time to work on these activities FIRST. (Do not read email or facebook or feedly first. That’s letting someone else’s agenda control yours.)
- Continually ask myself, “Is this the highest, best use of my time?”
- Focus on regular action toward my big long term goals, even if progress is only inch-by-inch.
- Be flexible, not rigid in my time management to allow for serendipity and unexpected opportunities.
- Build in more time to kick back, relax and have fun!
I hope I’ve given you some ideas to restructure your time and realize your dreams in 2015.
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson