If anyone gets to say they’re “too busy” its a general contractor. The daily, weekly, nightly and weekend tasks are endless! I don’t need to tell you that.
I’m pretty certain there are ONLY two ways you can ensure your marketing gets done.
— One — Carve Out the Time in your Schedule
When successful business people make a commitment to getting something done, they assign the time for it on their calendar.
Give it an exact weekly time on the calendar.I probably don’t need to say this but select a time that is likely to work for you. Early morning is excellent and late in the day.
You may even need to go to bed early and get up an hour earlier to fit in a new but highly important commitment.
I do an hour of marketing the first hour of the day when there are few interruptions. Early morning is best but the afternoon or evening hour might work. I recommend early in the day or first hour of the day because later too many things can interrupt.
What if you still don’t do your marketing?
Look at option two or reconsider the time. Pick a better time. Do it the very next day.
Don’t beat yourself up as that’s a waste of your energy.
If you still can’t find 2-4 hours a week for marketing, you’ll need to look at what you are doing with your time.
Look at how your work teams. Is there something you can delegate that will give you a small increase of time in the office?
Are you getting enough sleep? Are you getting some exercise? Are you overdoing it on the weekends? How much time are you spending on TV, movies and /or social media etc.
You may need to give something up temporarily or permanently to make time. I gave up TV when my kids were small so I had enough time for other things I needed or wanted to do.
— Two — Delegate Marketing
Do you have someone who can help with marketing?
Successful contractors are marketing contractors (and have a number of other qualities of course.) Sometimes it’s the owner of the company who does the marketing. Sometimes it’s a marketing and general office assistance. Sometimes it’s a spouse. Often it’s a spouse! Occasionally it’s the project manager or other web savvy individual in the company.
Marketing is essential if you want to grow your business. Building may be a word-of-mouth industry, but marketing will enhance your word-of-mouth referrals.
You may not need another thing to do, but you need to do your marketing…make sure it gets done one way or another!
Just think, when your business grows you’ll have the opportunity to choose how you spend your time…and take needed time off as well.
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Here a group of tie-in marketing articles from my archive.
True or False: Contractor Kills it Cold Calling Prospects
5 Marketing Strategies for Custom Home Builders
4 Key Features of General Contractors Websites
Books on Time and Habits
Dan Kennedy: No B.S. Ruthless Management: Time Management for Entrepreneurs
Review: Short, funny and effective
Gretchen Rubin: Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
Review: How to create new and effective habits, details all the ways people try to avoid new habits
David Allen: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Review: How to clean off your desk, organize tasks, getting more done in less time. A must read!
Hi. I’m Karen. I help high end residential contractors with modern websites and marketing. The secrets to marketing success as a general contractor are in the short articles in this blog. If you need help carrying them out, please give me a call to discuss. Call 510-527-9920 or email me at Karen@fullorbitweb.com.