I have so much to do…that I can't get anything done!

I have to confess; I have a dilemma.

I have so much to do that I feel like can't get anything done…sound familiar? And one of the most important tasks I keep putting off is marketing.

Now if this sounds a little crazy coming from a marketing professional, you're right, it is. I know that smart companies never stop marketing. I know that a rebounding job market is the absolute most critical time for aggressive marketing. But what can you do when there's no free time?

1. Stop making excuses.

There's never free time. If you let being busy get in the way of consistent marketing, it won't be long till you're no longer busy.

2. Make a commitment to marketing.

• Book an appointment with yourself to do marketing. Set aside a half-hour a day or a couple of hours a week specifically for marketing activities.
  
  
• Limit your e-mail time to a couple hours (or less) per day and turn off the phone while you're doing project work. You'll save an hour or two each day…time you can then use for marketing.
  
  
• Set specific goals for your marketing activities and assign ownership of these goals to someone in your organization.

3. Leverage your time.

• Make marketing part of everyone's job - give them a script to make calls, a box of greeting cards to send, an article to mail, or anything else they can share with clients, candidates and friends.
  
  
• Get a temp! Bring in your own admin support to free you for a few hours of marketing. (Hey, you could even use this idea as a promotion to your clients!)
  
  
• Hire an intern. They can be great for conducting surveys, compiling prospect lists and researching the competition.
  
  
• Ask service people to send follow-up e-mails to warm prospects. Ask them to do a little brainstorming as to how, specifically, your firm could help each prospect and then send a brief e-mail to introduce themselves and share the ideas they developed.
  
  
• Focus your marketing more tightly. In a down market you have to broaden your reach to bring in business. In a growing market, you can invest your limited time on a more targeted prospect pool.
  
  
• Formalize intelligence collection procedures in your candidate screening process. Use your interviewing time to gather leads on business opportunities and ask for more candidates referrals.

4. Use tactics that are easy to implement.

• Postcards - an easy way to keep in touch that can be very inexpensive and when used REGULARLY can make a big impression. (FYI, we're currently sending bi-weekly postcards to about 2,000 people. While the first three cards produced zero results, the fourth and fifth have created a steady stream of new prospects).
  
  
• Have a lunch time letter writing campaign. Write a simple personal letter to clients and prospects to share useful information or just your perspective on the local job market. Bring your whole team together for a lunch-time folding and stuffing party.
  
  
• Use "Success Cards." Design a template for a Success Story postcard. Then, each time you have a success story you can share, have the cards printed with your new story and mail them to your prospect list. I know a search firm that does this after every placement, and they get tons of business from people who think "you must be really good with all these successes."
  
  
• Transform your company newsletter into a shorter format. Mail less content more often.
  
  
• E-mail. While unsolicited commercial e-mail is a really bad idea, permission-based e-mail is an ideal way to nurture relationships with clients and warm leads. Use e-mail to share news, useful ideas, tips and tools that help make your clients' lives easier.

5. Get help!

• Call a marketing specialist who can provide you with the support (and maybe even the discipline) you need to get a consistent marketing plan implemented (yes, this is the sales pitch part of this article J).
  
  
• Join The Idea Exchange at the new haleymarketing.com. Here you can ask questions of your peers and get input on marketing, sales, recruiting and other challenges from a panel of industry experts…all for free!

About the Author

David Searns, is President of Haley Marketing Group, a relationship marketing services firm specializing in the staffing industry. Haley Marketing provides relationship marketing campaigns, e-newsletters, postcard campaigns, website design, marketing strategy & creative services to staffing and search firms throughout the US and Canada.

Prior to forming Haley Marketing, David was Director of Marketing for a Western New York temporary staffing and direct placement service. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor's in Management Information Systems from Clarkson University.

For more information about Haley Marketing, please visit www.haleymarketing.com.