Are you responsible for almost everything in your company? Do you wear every hat--designer, installer, salesperson, estimator, bookkeeper, receptionist, even babysitter at times?

I know the feeling.

Oh, wait...I forgot one: Chief Marketing Officer

This is the role that seems to get pushed aside most often when the busiest time of year comes along for Green Industry professionals.

If you want a steady stream of new potential business throughout the year, you cannot ignore your role as CMO. Ignore this role and you risk your sales funnel drying up.

To give this role the time and commitment it requires, I suggest scheduling a weekly time block solely for marketing activities.

A lesson from a highly successful chiropractor

A friend of mine is a very successful chiropractor. One reason his practice quickly achieved a high level of success is because, right from the beginning, he scheduled a time block for marketing each and every week.

He spends six hours each Thursday marketing his practice in multiple ways. He doesn't visit with patients--he focuses solely on marketing activities.

Here are some key points for implementing this strategy:

• You must be consistent each and every week working within your time block until it becomes habit. Choose a specific day (Thursday) and time block (7:00 to 12:00) and stick to it--don't deviate.


• You must eliminate interruptions and distractions during your time block. You have very little time to focus on marketing as it is. One unnecessary phone call or coworker interruption and your block can crumble.


• Always plan your marketing time block a week in advance. Don't wait until 7:00 AM Thursday morning to figure out how you are going to fill your time. Because, guess what? What you choose to do probably won't have anything to do with marketing.

A typical time block

Let me illustrate how this can work by walking you through my typical marketing time block when I first began my landscape design firm.

My time block was always Thursday because I was committed to attending a BNI networking group at 7:00 A.M. every week. After the group networking I would meet one-on-one with another professional around 8:30, perhaps an architect or realtor. Upon returning to my office I would then call two contacts that I hadn't spoken with in a while just to catch up--clients, business associates,etc. I would typically have an hour left in my time block that I would spend writing, usually a newsletter, press release or magazine article for example.

This single strategy had a tremendous impact on my business and it only required five hours each week. You can set aside your own marketing time block each week and be assured a steady stream of new business.

To your success,
Chris Heiler
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