Hello there freelancer or business owner! You’re just like me - in the past, I’ve needed ways and methods to market my business online that were quick and easy to implement.
When we first started this business, I was doing almost everything. Design, programming, sales, answering phones, taking meetings, etc. With all the marketing options out there, I could have gotten lost in it all.
It’s not just the amount of options, it’s the amount of time required to get everything in place.
I had a choice: do I spend time writing that blog post or creating that funnel if it means less time spent on the design of this client’s website?
Digital marketing takes time away from other things you could be doing.
And, that’s why it’s important, as a busy person, to pick and execute the best online marketing methods - the “fast” ones - if you’re short on time.
Just as a disclaimer - if you’re looking into digital marketing as a busy person, then there are chances you might need to look at your business model. If you’re a freelancer, it’s understandable. If you’re an established business, you may need to read the E-myth to better understand working in vs on your business. Either way, read the E-myth.
What do I mean by digital marketing if you’re a busy person?
Digital marketing is the methods and processes used to promote something online. These methods don’t do themselves (mostly, we’ll see where AI goes).
That means that someone needs to be the driver and the doer of the marketing.
In the case of a blog post, you would need to have a website, research what to write about, figure out an outline, write the article, back up any claims in the article, add photos and images, and then post it.
For a busy business owner, that’s a lot of steps and easily 3-4 hours of work for 1 blog post.
FYI, a blog post is a method used in SEO (search engine optimization).
Long story short, anyone who wants to make money online by selling a product or service, needs to market themselves. It doesn’t matter how busy you are - you won’t have anything if you don’t do marketing.
But let’s focus on the digital marketing part of this because it’s the most foreign to people.
Ways to market online if you’re a busy person
Hire someone
Fairly obvious one here. Hire someone else to do it.
The main problem here is that you may not know who to hire and for what.
It really depends on your business and where you’re at in your growth. If you’re at the stage of hiring a company or agency, here are the basic types:
- Web design company (like us!)
- Will design and build a website for you. If you don’t have a website, you need one.
- Social media management company
- Will manage your social profiles like Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok. If your brand is particularly visual. Like a coffee shop, hairdresser, photographer, a product, etc.
- SEO agency (also, like us!)
- Will help rank your website higher on search engines. There are industries where SEO is not a good option like super competitive things or stuff no one cares about.
- PPC (also, like us!)
- Paid ads on Google or other search engines. This is where you pay money for ads, which gives you almost immediate access to people’s eyeballs.
- Full-service marketing agency
- Will do all of the above and more (but they specialize in none). Going with one of these can be a great option if you want it all taken care of by 1 team.
And there are always the options of outsourcing to a freelancer or hiring an employee. Both are good options.
Use the stuff you’re already using
This shows up a lot when talking about which social media platforms to use. Most people use at least 1 of the big names and frequently use it for personal stuff.
So, use that one for your business too.
If you use Instagram to snap shots of your dinner, create a business page and snap shots of your products.
1 thing I mention a lot to my busy clients is don’t try to market on all the social media platforms at once. Pick 1, master it, and then move on to the next.
This applies to almost all of your business - if you use email on your phone, use your phone to do emails. Don’t waste your time trying to learn some new email CRM thing.
Don’t buy a new, fancy, complicated computer when your phone or laptop work just fine.
Do what works
If you’ve found success with some form of digital marketing, keep doing that. I’m not saying don’t try new things.
I’m saying if you’re super busy, don’t tack on new stuff that you’re not even sure will work.
Focus on making yourself less busy so you can focus more on new digital marketing stuff.
For us, SEO is a big source of leads. It’s one of our biggest and most important. We do other things too but SEO will always eclipse them, so we budget our time more for SEO.
Do the free stuff
Google Business Profile - this is easily one of the most important things a small business can do. It’s free and only takes a few minutes to set up.
Once you’re verified, THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is to get reviews. And I don’t mean the most important thing for this method of digital marketing, I mean it’s just under actually delivering your product or service in importance. That’s how powerful reviews are.
Along with that, make sure you have social media profiles created and other directory profiles claimed like Yelp. But don’t actually pay Yelp anything b/c it’s rarely worth it.
Network
This is also a digital marketing method, not just IRL. This is what social media was intended to help with.
Be social on social! What a concept!
Reach out to people, slide into DMs, and try to make connections.
Referrals
As a service-based business, ask everyone for referrals. Past clients, friends, and family members.
It’s free and writing up the message is quick.
