by Monique Hodgkinson

Half Moon Bay chapter of Business Network International. Photo courtesy of Dianne Passen.

Spring is approaching — a time for renewed energy and growth. As the days get longer, gather up your energy and focus your marketing effort so that your business can grow, too.

If you run a small business, finding time for marketing can be a big challenge. When there is paying work to do, it seems like the marketing can wait. In actuality, your marketing effort needs to be consistent; otherwise, your business will go through up and down cycles. This “feast or famine” syndrome results in periods of plentiful work, followed by periods where suddenly the work dries up. So what happens when the work dries up? We once again engage in sales and marketing activities, which results in plenty of work — and the stressful cycle repeats.

There is only one solution: Implement a well-thought-out, ongoing marketing plan. Every week, you need to dedicate time to marketing. But you need to strike a balance when figuring out how much of your time to spend on marketing. Too little marketing and your business becomes invisible. Too much marketing and the marketing  becomes your primary activity. Try to spend about 20 percent of your week taking care of your marketing activities; make adjustments to fit your specific business.

Start by creating a marketing plan, which outlines your strategy — or review your existing plan. Take time to identify your ideal customers. Understand why these customers would use your product or service, where they shop, and how they make decisions. Knowing who you are trying to reach will help you successfully target your marketing efforts.

Decide on the mix of activities that you will use to promote your business. No matter what your marketing mix includes, make sure that you develop a clear strategy for each method. The strategy will help you clarify the purpose of your marketing campaign.

Will you use traditional advertising such as print ads, flyers, newsletters, mailers, brochures and coupons? How about hosting events that bring people together and provide opportunities to educate potential clients about your services? Spending one-to-one time with customers and business colleagues is still very powerful, because it builds personal relationships. Networking groups like Business Network International also provide opportunities to create a referral network.

My favorite approach by far is leveraging online media, because of its incredible reach and very cost-effective pricing.

There are many tools available to market your business on the Internet, including search engine optimization, paid advertising, social networking, e-mail marketing, online magazines, promotional applications and blogging. Use the tools that are appropriate for your business to spread your message. Include a call to action. Be consistent. The people in your target audience  may need to hear your message dozens of times before they take action.

Finally, determine the metrics that you are going to use to determine the success of your campaign. You must  be able to measure your efforts if you are going to tune them, thereby improving your marketing.

Monique Hodgkinson is the founder of Screen Caffeen, specializing in Internet strategy development, social media marketing, SEO and web design. Screen Caffeen will wake up your online presence. Contact Hodgkinson if you would like help developing your marketing plan. Visit screencaffeen.com, send e-mail to Monique@screencaffeen.com, call 650-740-1491, or follow @screencaffeen on Twitter.