I don’t have time for marketing. This is what I hear from so many small business owners.

There’s a lot to be done. I get it, it’s not easy.

And decisions have to be made. Here’s a post with more on decision-making, The Relaxed Way to Make Marketing Decisions.

Not having enough time for your marketing might also be an indication that it’s time to hire some help and start delegating work that isn’t the best use of your time. Here are 9 Outsourcing Options You Should Not Ignore.

So let’s talk about your marketing.

Do you feel overwhelmed by all of the marketing options out there?

Have you tried everything but nothing has really worked?

What if instead of going wide and doing lots of things, you went all-in and went deep instead.

I’m readying Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism, which is about how to do what is essential in life and in your work.

It got me thinking about how Essentialism could apply to your marketing.

Since time is scarce, what if you identified your one (yes one) most effective marketing strategy and focused only on that.

Here is a post that will tell you how to figure out what your best marketing strategy is.

“Instead of asking, ‘What do I have to give up?’ Essentialists ask, ‘What do I want to go big on?’” Greg McKeown Click to Tweet

Amazing things could happen if you apply Essentialism to your marketing.

This illustration from the book about your energy communicates the essence of Essentialism perfectly.

Taking the same amount of effort and focusing it in one direction, instead of spreading it out all over the place, makes a huge difference.

By choosing one marketing strategy, you can amplify your impact and create momentum. This is about going deeper into one area.

Another benefit is that by focusing on one activity, you will get better at it thereby increasing your effectiveness.

And this concept goes hand in hand with one of the most important aspects of successful marketing, consistency.

Let’s look at some marketing strategies you could choose and how you can go deeper into each one.

This is not an exhaustive list, just a few ideas to help you see how you can apply this to your business.

Networking

Going deep into networking doesn’t necessarily mean you have to attend more networking events or join more groups (and it is an option).

Start by looking at the groups you’re already a member of and develop the relationships you already have.

Send an email, pick up the phone and call, invite someone to meet up for coffee, send someone an interesting article or book recommendation.

In addition to focusing on the people you already know in your existing networking groups, you can connect with members of your groups whom you haven’t met yet.

Because if you’re not willing to nourish your relationships, you should really stop networking all together. More on networking here.

Writing

There are many ways to go deeper with writing as your marketing strategy. You could:

• Write more frequently.
• Write for new platforms in your industry.
• Leverage what you’ve already written. Promote it more often and repurpose your content.
• Guest post on other people’s blogs.
• Write an ebook with new content.
• Create an ebook using previous posts.

Speaking

If you choose to make speaking your essential marketing strategy of course you can increase the number of speaking engagements you do.

You can also leverage your in-person speaking by recording it on video and sharing it on social media and your YouTube channel.

Facebook Live is a great way to share your message and connect with people.

And you can also be more strategic about the talks you give. Here are some ways to do that:

• Make sure your audiences are full of your ideal clients.
• Have a clear and simple call to action to invite your audience to take the next step with you.
• Tailor your talks to specific industries and reach out to speak at their events.
• Start giving webinars if you only speak in person and vice versa.
• Be a guest speaker on someone else’s platform (on a webinar or podcast).

More on speaking here.

Strategic Alliance Partnerships

The beauty of strategic alliance partnerships is that they are one-to-many. You are able to connect with the clients of other business owners. Business owners who serve the same ideal clients but offer different services than you do.

So take the time to create of list of people who could potentially be partners with you and connect with them to see if there is a match. Once you find a few people who are a fit, spend time mapping out how you will work together with specific actions steps. Stay in touch and review what’s working and share new ideas.

Yes, it will take time to build like strategic relationship partnerships just as any relationship does. And the investment is worth it because you become visible to a larger group of people for whom you are a good match to serve.

More on strategic alliance partnerships here.

Referrals

If you’re like most business owners you may ask for referrals now and then (when you remember to and have the courage to do it). This might bring you a few referrals here and there.

But imagine what could happen if you created a structured referral program.

A program that would bring you referrals on a consistent and predictable basis.

You can do this by building the referral process into every aspect of your business.

When you have a defined process for when and how to ask for referrals, it becomes much easier and less stressful.

More on referrals here. And this is a powerful little book about referrals, Referral of a Lifetime.

Are you willing to experiment with applying Essentialism to your marketing and go deep on one strategy?

What do you have to lose? If you’ve been spreading yourself incredibly thin trying to implement multiple marketing strategies and it’s not working, maybe it’s time to make a change.

© Stephanie Ward

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create meaningful and prosperous businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: https://www.fireflycoaching.com.

Which marketing strategy will you choose? Share your choice, along with your thoughts and questions about this concept, in the comments below.