In my last blog post, I discussed the importance of formulating a workable inbound marketing plan geared toward full-time entrepreneurs.

In this post, I’d like to address formulating a plan for those of you who are still working at a job outside your home and building your business on a part-time basis.

Much of what I already discussed applies to you too, but in addition to this, your schedule, for what you’ll want to accomplish, needs to be even more fine tuned so you’re using your time most effectively.

 
 
 

Let’s use an example to drive home the important points of fine-tuning:

Robert works as a salesperson for a lumber company. He puts in around 50 hours a week at his job. His aspirations are to be gainfully employed in his own business that he conducts from home. 

He’s got a couple of friends in the home improvement business and would like to join forces with them and create custom cabinetry.

His full-time job is demanding but he’s got a lot of energy and has already created a well thought out plan for what he wants to accomplish.

He’s already blogging about custom cabinetry and how much value it can add to a home and he’s already plugged into Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn and is contributing to a couple of forums that he found.

He’s dedicated about 12 hours a week to his inbound marketing tasks and is focused on building relationships with those he’s meeting through social media.   

At this point, it’s pretty clear that Robert’s concentrating on his goal of working from home and is maintaining the plan that he designed for himself.

Here’s a few tips to help you get started planning your inbound marketing schedule:

  • Sit down with a calendar and plug in what hours you can work on your business during the week.

  • Set your goals and prioritize them so you’ll have a starting point.

  • Start out slowly so you don’t’ immediately stress out about what you want to accomplish.  For example – you might want to spend your first week learning about one social media platform and getting comfortable with it before moving into the others.  Research YouTube for training videos that can get you up to speed about the various features the platform contains and how to use them so you cut your learning curve.

  • Plan out your blogging schedule.  Begin with one blog post a week and see how that works for you.  As you get more comfortable, you may be able to add another day.  Try for Sunday and Thursday as this gives you time to write more comfortably.
 
Remember, when you’re pressed for time, doing your foundational work is critical to your success.  You don’t have time to waste so do as much planning as possible.
 
Remember that Quality is much more important than Quantity.
 
Better to do one a week that is well thought out and informative than many that reflect a thrown together feel.



You may want to consider writing a couple of week’s posts before you even begin so you’re ahead of the game.



Investing in a recorder is also a great idea as it allows you to record notes/ideas as they come to you and acts as a handy reminder when you’re writing.



I hope you find these tips helpful as you create your own inbound marketing plan for success! 
 
 

David