As the saying goes; “If you need something done, give it to a busy person.”
Lately, many business owners have found they’re too busy for their business. Small business has changed a lot over the past decade and the demands on a business owner’s time have multiplied exponentially.
Businesses must now connect with buyers in person and online - through blogs, social media, sales funnels, videos, articles. They must read and understand analytics and be adaptable to learn and understand each time a platform changes a feature, algorithm, or updates. All that, plus creating a marketing strategy, planning, and making the content, implementing drip campaigns, writing newsletters and growing your list.
It’s a lot more than just doing the job. Ideally, you’d have someone who helps with all this, a marketing person or partner, but many small businesses don’t.
The tough part is that marketing and growth can intersect at multiple points through your business journey. We understand these activities all increase your customer relationship, people do business with people with whom they’ve made a connection. The list of tasks above contains essential marketing practices and to avoid and refuse to do them, is akin to ignoring your phone or that customer walking through your door.
But while you may feel too busy to do these things, you must ask yourself are you busy for business or too busy to do business?
What’s the difference between Good Busy and Bad Busy?
Good busy relates to customers. You’re processing so many orders and credit cards you don’t have time to breathe. This is good busy. If you’re spending all morning on social media scurrying down one rabbit hole after another, leaving less time for other business activities, accomplishing nothing. This is bad busy.
The problem with being busy – good or bad – it’s exhausting. If it’s in service to your customer’s or clients, that’s beneficial to your business. But social media and digital marketing are not like a treadmill. You don’t get points for just getting on it and moving. You need it to go somewhere.
As a business owner you need to ensure your busy is productive. To do this, have concrete goals in mind. Goals need to be:
- Realistic
- Measurable
- Time sensitive
- Specific
“Busy” should always accompany its friend “productive.”
This means your goal needs to be tied into your business strategy. If regular social media posting is your goal, you need to understand not only the how but the why behind your actions. What are you trying to accomplish? More sales? More visitors to your site? Better quality employees? These are all different goals.
The best way to avoid unproductive busy-ness is by reviewing your efforts often. Tie your goals into your strategy and ensure you are accomplishing them by analyzing the results (at least quarterly).
We all have the same 24-hour days, but in today’s digital marketing a lot of success depends upon building worthwhile relationships and getting off that unproductive treadmill. It’s not performing the action that will get you there but streamlining your efforts, and continually pointing yourself in the right direction.