STOP Doing These To Reduce the Marketing Overwhelm

It is easy for small business owners to become overwhelmed with marketing their business. You want to explore all the opportunities available to you but don’t have the time to do so, how can you take advantage of them? This alone, can make you feel overpowered by the marketing tasks you are constantly told you HAVE to do.

It is not uncommon for business owners to feel overwhelmed and confused. Take a moment to think. Take a step back and breathe. STOP doing these five things which will have you reevaluating your marketing strategy and marketing plan.

1. Not Setting Your Goals

Having a vision for success isn’t enough. To achieve success, you need to set measurable and specific goals. I always do this for my business at Marketing Leap and also apply this with my clients. It’s not enough to say “I want five new clients” to accomplish your goal. Be clear! You can measure your progress by giving yourself a timeline and getting specific goals, like “I will enrol five new clients in the next 90 days.”

Goals are an integral part of business and life, providing direction, motivation, clarity of focus, and a clear sense of meaning. When you set goals, you provide yourself with a target to strive for. Use SMART goals to help you.

S.M.A.R.T Goal stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

SMART goals consider these factors to help you focus your efforts and make your plan more likely to be achieved.

2. Not Creating a Simple Marketing Plan

An outline allows you to stay on track to reach your goals by helping you focus on specific strategies. You should start by focusing on the next three months. In 90 days, you can do a lot, but it’s a short period that won’t overwhelm you.

Identify the specific steps you will need to take to implement your strategy. After you’re done, you’ll have a roadmap for success! You can read the steps from our previous blog, “How Do You Map Your Online Presence,“ to give you an idea to create a simple plan for your business.

3. Allowing Emotions to Empower Reactions

We often do damage and undo the good we create when we react instead of choosing a response, whether it is a performance or relational one. Maintaining composure in stressful situations, when unpredictability is present, or when faced with conflict or disagreement, means keeping emotions under control. In turn this is responding rather than reacting … we all know business can be tough.

The idea is not to suppress all emotions, but to choose which emotions are appropriate in any situation, and to stay away from expressing extreme emotions or negative feelings when under pressure. Ask yourself the following questions to assess your emotional control:

• How does my response affect my employees?
• Is showing emotion helpful in this situation?
• Am I able to handle unexpected stress?
• Before responding to a situation, do I think about what I say or how I act?
• Are there ways I can regulate my emotions?

Here are 3 ways to control your emotions better right now:

1. Don’t rush. To prevent emotional outbursts, take a step back and think about your reaction before acting upon a stressful situation.
2. Take initiative. We can achieve emotional regulation and control through a variety of strategies. Several passive approaches are unrealistic for leaders to incorporate into their routines, such as avoiding conflicts.
3. Practice mindfulness. Starting a mindfulness practice can be an effective way to gain emotional control in the workplace and other aspects of life.

4. Being Afraid to Ask for Help

One of the biggest obstacles to asking for help is the fear of being seen as weak, needy, or incompetent. Asking for help requires strength and courage! As a business owner, you need to learn how and when to ask for help.

Taking pride in what you have accomplished so far may excite you to be self-sufficient. You should balance those emotions with a sense of knowing when to ask for help. This is why I create blogs and videos. There is so much information out there and everybody is always selling something. As I head into my 9th year of going from solo digital marketer to running a Marketing Agency … I’ve made all these mistakes. And I create blogs and videos so you won’t make the same mistakes that I did. As always, I am here to help, so don’t be afraid to ask.

What Are the Signs You Should Ask for Help?

You may realise at some point that your business could use some help, just as many entrepreneurs do. Perhaps you have tried everything you think you can do, but it is still not delivering the results you were hoping for. Being able to accept that everyone sometimes needs help will allow you to review specific business needs and limitations.

When you acknowledge you cannot handle a task on your own, you can take the next, most important step, contacting a subject expert, (you can check out our services here) to help.

5. No Time Blocking

Putting your plan into action is just as important as planning. Schedule in daily time for your plan to be carried out. Take the same time to market your business as you do to work with your most important clients. Put marketing time on your calendar consistently and stick with it!

Make scheduling a regular part of your weekly or monthly routine. There are a variety of tools available. Using a weekly planner can help you keep an organised schedule. Other options include programs like Google Calendar. Make sure your scheduling tool suits your situation, current job structure, personal taste, and budget.

To find the right planner, you must make sure it allows you to enter data easily and allows you to view data at the level of detail you need over an appropriate period (day, week, month). Prepare your schedule by following these six steps:

1. Determine how much time you have available.
2. Decide which tasks are essential to your success.
3. Organise urgent tasks and “housekeeping” activities in priority order.
4. Plan for unexpected events and interruptions.
5. Plan your time to address your priorities and personal goals.
6. Determine which tasks you can delegate, outsource, or eliminate.

As I approach my 9 years of being a solo digital marketer to running a marketing agency, I have made all these mistakes. Also, I hope these blogs will help you avoid making the same mistakes I did. Ask for help, that is why I do these blogs and videos. It is YOUR time to conquer the marketing overwhelm and springboard to success.

Whether you have any questions or simply want to chat, drop a comment below! We offer a full range of done for you realistic, practical marketing solutions for your business that deliver results and hit the spot with your customers. You can check out what we do here.

Don’t forget to Check out our library of FREE Resources & Downloads to help you grow your business!

If you want to learn how to implement different marketing elements in your own business, I have a series of Online Digital Success courses focusing on different marketing elements. These are self-paced courses, so you don’t miss out on the learning! You can learn all about those here.

Prefer structured mentoring? I also offer a 12 week 1to1 mentoring program designed to Give You Clarity, Generate leads & STOP DROWNING IN THE OVERWHELM!

There are also 2 hours Strategy Sessions available. If it’s time to get a Clear Action Plan, Digital Strategy Map & Checklists, you can check out the details here!

Regardless of what you need when it comes to online marketing, take the Leap … we are your springboard to success!