If there was one lesson learned from my last “9 to 5″, it was the need for marketing to continue even when you can’t possbily fit another client into your current schedule. Why? Simply put, because your livelihood depends upon it. Yes you are busier than you could have ever hoped for and there seems to be no end to it in sight. You have job after job lined up and another handful of clients chomping at the bit to get a foot in the door, but and here is where the mistake is made. Overloading yourself with work you find that the amount of attention or “manpower” needed to keep up with you current workload far outweighs the necessitiy to continue marketing. Your marketing effort that once brought this steady flow of clients takes a back seat to the work at hand, it dries up. You may not see the end anywhere in site but I assure you it is there, that steady stream of work can and will dwindle quickly if you start to neglect the very strategy that put you there in the first place.
Imagine yourself back at square one. Out on your own for the first time, worried and waiting for the phone to ring, just hoping that your first client will “walk through the door”. Yes there is a lot less time to devote to marketing now that you have a full workload, but do you really want to end up back at square one? Probably not. So set aside some time each day to continue building. Whether that means churning out an intelligent blog post here and there, dropping a business card when you meet someone new in the checkout line or simply chirping out a few witty lines on twitter. Regardless of how things are going now, fact is can and will come to an end if you forget that marketing is not only important but it is essential to your continued success.
Just a few quick thoughts as I wrap up the week and get ready to start fresh this Monday morning.
