Make Marketing a Habit

I'm trying to get back into an exercise habit.  I am setting my alarm so I will get up at the same time every morning and exercise.  By doing this, I hope to reap the benefits of participating in a regular exercise program.

Marketing must be a habit also.  If you truly want to build a successful business, marketing is something you must do regularly.  Much like exercise, there won't be any long term benefit if you only do it when you feel like it.

Almost every morning I get up when the alarm goes off, lace up my running shoes, put one of the dogs on his leash, and go for a morning walk. (Sorry, all you avid runners, but this gal is too old and banged up to try running anymore.  Those days are gone!).  We've been doing it long enough that I am beginning to feel the difference when I miss it.  And the days that I do miss it are steadily decreasing in number.  It's becoming a habit.

Likewise, almost every day, I do at least 3 tasks to market my business.  Just as I schedule my exercise for first thing in the morning, I schedule my marketing tasks as part of each day as well.  If I miss one of my regularly scheduled tasks, my business feels it.  I've been doing it long enough that I can see the difference.

How can you develop the marketing habit?  Easy.  Repetition.  Doing the same thing over and over until it is part of you.  So pick a marketing task.  Anything will do.  Do you write well?  Make it a habit to write and submit two articles a week.  Do you enjoy making videos?  Schedule time each week to create and post one video.  Are you a Twitter and Facebook fanatic?  Set aside time each day to tweet or post about your business.

Once you are in the habit of doing this one task, add another and do it repeatedly.  And then another and another.  Soon your marketing habit will be such a part of you, you will feel the difference when you skip a day.

Psychologists say it takes at least 6 months of repetition for something to become a habit, so the sooner you get started, the sooner you will see results.  And you will see results.  I've lost 14 pounds, just by walking the dogs every morning.  And my business continues to grow, just by marketing every day.