You know that the best way to tackle big, gnarly projects is to break them down into bite-sized pieces. Really, it's usually the only way to really get a big project done, and done right.
But for whatever reason, you might struggle with how to break down your inbound marketing efforts into small, easily executable tasks that will help you reach you goals.
How do you know where to begin?
Here are three simple guiding principles to help you get started.
Start Small
Inbound Marketing is a cumulative effort. So you might not see the payoff of any one, discrete task in a day, a week, or even a month.
In fact, it generally isn't any one, discrete task that will give you the payoff you're looking for in the first place. It's the cumulative effect of a number of small, daily chores. So try to get in the habit of doing at least two or three small things every day, so that you can start accruing the long-term benefits.
Every day, you can:
- Jot down an idea for a blog article
- Place a Call To Action button in a new location on your site
- Find three more people to follow on Twitter
- Post a quick note on your Facebook wall
- Email a lead and offer more resources to help them out
Think Scale
Inbound Marketing is all about scale. For example, the content you create can usually be spun out into a vast number of useful forms, to help you achieve the most benefit from the work it took to produce them.
For instance:
- A blog series can be repackaged into a lead nurturing campaign
- A long blog article can be extended and redesigned into an e-book
- A popular blog article can spark an idea for the next blog series
Just about any content you create can serve a number of different needs at different touchpoints in your inbound marketing campaigns. Spend some time each week going through your inventory of content and see how else it can be working for you.
Never, never, never give up
Inbound marketing is just like going to the gym, keeping up with housework, or depositing money into your savings account -- you have to keep at it if you're going to see the return you're hoping for.
The good news is, you can get to where you want to go, just by working on it, bit by bit, every day.