I was grumbling about all the chrome on the bike. Not a fan of shiny, polish-needing parts on anything, I was using a toothbrush to clean the wheels of the bike. No, I’m not a neat-freak, but the bike is black and chrome, and it had started to look unkempt, insect-spotted and dusty. So I was polishing, wiping, washing and toothbrush- wielding. It felt like the whole bike was made of chrome.
Dan rolled up in the driveway behind me.
"What’s new?" he asked, getting off his bike.
"Polishing up Suzie Lightning, then going for a ride," I said.
He considered the cloud cover and said, "Every minute you spend polishing that thing, you aren’t riding it. And you bought it to ride, not polish."
He was right, but I said, "Gotta keep it clean."
"Sure," he agreed, "but you can keep it clean at night or when it’s cold. Take advantage of what you have."
The same is true of marketing your business. You can spend a lot of time on prep work, planning, developing and never get the call to present your real work.
Unless you market yourself all the time, you don’t have a marketing plan, and you can’t count on steady work.
Cleaning the office or house, doing paperwork all are important, but the wrong time to do them is when it is time to market.
If you wait till the phone stops ringing, you are too late. By the time you get results from marketing, you won’t have a steady income coming in.
And when the steady income doesn’t happen, you start to take jobs just for the money, and that creates another whole poblem.
There are jobs you should turn down and clients you should say "No,thanks" to.
Regular marketing allows you to say "No" and not regret it.
Life is short, marketing keeps your phone ringing. Do your marketing today so you’ll have a ringing phone to answer tomorrow..
About the Author: Quinn McDonald is a writer and nationally-known speaker who has achieved the "Professional" designation from the National Speakers Association. Contact Quinn through her website, QuinnCreative.com.