Up Before Dawn

I don’t know about you, but I’m up pretty early most days. In fact, I bounce out of the rack a little before dawn every morning. (Translation, I struggle out of bed groggy and rumpled around 5AM.)
Sounds psychotic, right? Well, probably not to those of you with little tikes (kiddies under 5yrs of age), small business owners or freelancers (and I qualify as all three).

Following the Path of Leading Entrepreneurs

Actually, there’s plenty of research that indicates first thing in the morning – when your mind is the most fresh and active, well before the day’s demands, distractions and the like defuse your focus – is your most productive time of the day. Plus, a bevy of successful entrepreneurs, billionaire moguls and great minds point toward maintaining consistent early morning routines as a key factor in their overall success. An early morning workout, meditation and tackling their most complicated work are all common routines sighted by this highly productive group (from the founder of Twitter to Benjamin Franklin – so I guess that puts me in pretty rarified company, huh?;-)

My Morning Routine

Anyway, in my case, I spend the first hour working (usually writing while taking advantage of the aforementioned quiet time before wifey and junior have risen). Then around about 6AM I take off for the gym. I’m about a mile and half away from my local LA Fitness, so I’ve worked the run to-and-from the gym in to my exercise routine. Once I’m there, I do weight training, ride the Stairmaster, and then run home. Nice and solid daily workout.

When I’m “Feelin’ It”

Some days, my routine just flows perfectly – start to finish. I’m outta bed easily. Log my hour of work. Hit the gym. And head home.
Other days…not so much.

And When I’m Not “Feelin’ It”

Some days I’m so engrossed in what I’m working on, I have a hard time tearing myself away. And whatever project at hand or problem I’m trying to solve may be, it continues to ping-ponging back-and-forth inside my brain. Of course that hurts my focus. Instead of knocking out my weight training routine by the numbers, I linger longer on each exercise, while my mind continues to deconstruct whatever puzzle it’s sorting out.
And other days, I’m just tired. 5AM is early. If I go to bed a little too late (or a lot too late), or just have a bad night’s sleep (my mind’s usually clicking away during those hours, too), I’m bound to move more slowly.

The Reliable Sign That I’m Lagging

Regardless of the root cause, there’s always a sign that I’m behind – that I’m lagging.
On my run home, I typically encounter two little ole black ladies. I’d say they’re in their mid-70s, and seem to have daily routine of their own – an early morning walk. And good for them, its GREAT exercise! I assume they’re exercising, anyway, because they’re usually sporting sweatpants and AKA sweatshirts (a popular black sorority I gather they were members of many decades prior).
If I’m right on time, so to speak, and in the zone with my routine, I don’t see them until the midway point of mile and half run home. If I’m lagging, however, I run into the duo much sooner. If I’m really lagging, I see them two or three blocks from the gym.

Businesses Lag, Too

The same thing happens with many businesses and their marketing. Whatever the root cause, your marketing starts to lag. And business falls off. New leads, new customers, repeat business, and, most importantly, sales all slow to trickle. Or even worse, completely dry up.
Perhaps it’s because you’ve lost focus on business development. Running a small business is no small affair (a fact I can attest to better than most, as I type this sitting on my living room couch at 5:20AM). The responsibilities are manifold. And they always seem to be multiplying. Keeping up is tough. Things fall through the cracks. Sometimes one of those things is marketing.
And it’s easy to assume that when business is rolling in, you’re golden. Your name is out there. It’s on everyone’s lips. Customers, new and old, will continue to beat a path to your door.
This is often the case…when business is good. But what happens when your business dips?

Quick Case Study

I began my career in marketing working for a thriving residential real estate partnership in West Los Angeles. It was the ladder half of the 90s, and real estate had begun its steep upward ascent. Our business was mostly new condominiums. And at the time, condo developers couldn’t mint new buildings fast enough for us to keep up with the overflowing demand.
We did tons of advertising and marketing to sell our product. But we did zero promotion to build our brand, stimulate new leads or nurture existing clientele.
The result?
Around about 2008, things REALLY started to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. The demand for new condos (and real estate in general) careened off a giant cliff. Much of our current inventory wound up being leased. And developers halted all new projects.
With no inventory, and nothing in the pipeline, the next several years where incredibly lean (and not-so-coincidentally, this was the time I chose to get OUT of the residential real estate biz).
But their business didn’t have to go this way…
The partnership sold SO MANY properties – they were actually sitting on a HUGE potential client based. But they never kept in touch with prior clients. And due to that fact, combined with their lack of Brand promotion, their business seriously faltered.
But if they had… (a) capitalized on their momentum while business was good and established their reputation (through brand promotion) as solid players in their marketplace (in for the long haul), and (b) developed a plan and set in place a system to keep in touch and remain top of mind with prior clients, they would have benefited from a steady stream of re-sales and referrals. Of course their business would dropped off somewhat (everyone’s did), but not to the same dramatic extent.

How to Make Sure Your Marketing Doesn’t Lag

So here are some tips to ensure your marketing does lag. And a dip doesn’t turn into a giant sink hole that sucks your entire business down with it…

Watch For the Signs

Every business experiences dips. Some businesses are cyclical. Sometimes dips are seasonal. The holidays, the start of the school year, tax time, you name it…can all cause temporary dips.
But when your business takes a dip, don’t just write it off: “Oh it’s just ‘blank.’” Take a step back and evaluated the situation. Ask yourself: “Am I marketing my business enough to keep a steady flow of new customers and repeat business?” If you train yourself to always be on the lookout for potential drop-offs, your business is unlikely to lag.

Take Action

If your biz does dip, outside the normal cycle or extending beyond a particular cycle, respond. Evaluate how you’re marketing your business. If you’re not actively marketing your business, time to step up. If you are, but you’re not seeing results, time to revise your approach. And keep testing different avenues until you see results.

Develop a Plan

Do you have a marketing plan? If not, it’s time to get one. In this day and age, a marketing plan is more valuable than a business plan. For the most part, it’s a lot easier to launch a business than it is to sustain it – especially over the long haul.

Be Diligent (Rinse and Repeat)

Once you develop a plan, don’t forget about it. As the case study above illustrates, when your business is rolling, it’s easy to lose sight of marketing. When business is pouring in, why do you need to nurture leads? Because that’s how you keep business pouring in.
And even if you’ve got a plan, don’t assume it’s a static creation that will serve you as is in perpetuity. Your marketing plan should be a living, breathing organism that grows and evolves, changing with the times and adapting to the needs of your business.

How Did You Beat a Lag?

Ever experienced a lag in your business? What are some of the strategies you employed when your business began wane? Join the conversation on my Google+ Page.