How to make Time for Marketing when your Schedule is Full

From time to time I run into this situation: my schedule becomes so full of projects that I barely have enough time to market my services. While it would be easy to let this slide for a few weeks (or even longer) I know that marketing is the key to long term success. For this reason, I always find time to send query letters, make cold calls, etc.

You are probably wondering how I find time, right? Well, the answer to this question is easy enough: I work it into my schedule no matter what it takes. As noted above, it is easy to skip on marketing related tasks when you have so much work on your plate. But when you make this a top priority, finding time never seems quite as difficult.

Personally, I wait until I get “bored” with writing and then spend 30 to 60 minutes on marketing. Not only does this ensure that I am working my marketing plan, but it gives me a break from continuous writing. When I finally make my way back to client projects I am refreshed. On top of this, I have a huge smile on my face thanks to my marketing efforts.

Even if you have a full schedule you must make time for marketing – I cannot stress this strongly enough. If you forget to market your services, day after day, things will dry up sooner or later. At that point, you will find yourself scrambling and hoping to pick-up a few jobs here and there.

The best way to make time for marketing is to avoid excuses and force yourself into doing this. Don’t let up!

Profile image for Chris Bibey
Chris is a full-time freelance writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He specializes in web content, sales copy, and many other forms of writing. Chris has two books in print, as well as hundreds of articles in local and nationwide publications.

Get More Content Like This in Your Inbox

Did you enjoy this post? If so, please subscribe to the All Freelance Writing newsletter where you'll be notified of new blog articles and receive subscribers-only content.

Subscribe now.


3 thoughts on “How to make Time for Marketing when your Schedule is Full”

  1. I’ve been freelancing full time as a copyeditor of books and medical journals for almost 16 years now, and I can attest that you are right, Chris. I always stress constant marketing to my mentees. The ones who accept the need for marketing and do it are the ones who succeed. The others, if they continue to freelance, are barely hanging on financially and frequently complain about how there’s “no work out there.” Projects don’t just plop themselves on a freeelancer’s desk. The freelancer works to get them there. I’m constantly marketing my services, and I haven’t had a dry spell in years.

    Reply
  2. I couldn’t agree more. It gets frustrating, but one thing I’ve done is make some self-promotion habitual. For example, after I do a blog post, I immediately ping the necessary sites and tweet the link out. Every morning, I peruse the blogs I’ve become a fan of and retweet important posts, making sure to leave a comment to thank the writer for their insight. These small social networking steps are certainly not all there is to marketing your services, but it is an important part of developing a personal brand that can be woven into your daily activities. Great post, Chris!

    Reply
  3. I generally try to do my marketing efforts right after I get my writing done – this way, it’s still on the top of my mind and I can rest easy knowing that I don’t have to come back to it while I want to work on another article 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Comment