How Much Time Should You Spend Marketing?

I recently spoke to a group of small business owners. The question came up, "How much time should I spend marketing my business?" The answer is minimally 25-30 percent of your time should go toward marketing and promoting your business. Marketing, public relations and sales are the lifeblood of any business. While the actual business activity is way more interesting to most people (me included), marketing and promotion keep the business growing and thriving. Then I was asked, "How do you make time to do it?" My answer, routine. I keep a very strict routine with set goals and activities. Here is a peek at what that routine consists of:

Blogging every morning -- I get up and blog every morning between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. I don't write long blogs (as evidenced).

Social media -- I make sure that sometime throughout the day, I post something to Facebook. I also link this blog to social media so that serves as content too.

Four events a month -- I attend and promote my business at four networking events a month. I purchase table displays at these events to ensure I am reaching out to my target audience. I also sell books at these events.

Newsletter -- once a week usually around Wednesday or Thursday, I carve out a couple of hours to write the newsletter First Word. The newsletter is also tied to social media; hence, providing content once more in that area.

Public relations -- I practice what I preach. I answer HARO queries as often as possible. As a result, I am regularly quoted in the mainstream media and keep 3L's name out in the public eye.

Those of you who shun routine in favor of open-ended schedules may want to reconsider. Routine enables me to be more efficient and get more done. While, it may seem rigid and uninteresting, it's vital to the growth of 3L Publishing.