I filled in one of those forms recently that you sometimes get when you're signing up for a free report. What's your job title? How many people are there in your organisation? What's your biggest challenge with marketing?

Sneaky one that last one.

I typed “finding the time”.

The minute I pressed enter I felt guilty.

“I just can't find the time for marketing” is one of the excuses I hate the most when I hear other people use it. Or sometimes “I'm struggling to find the time to do this course to improve my marketing”.

It's self-deception, of course.

Unless we're working 16 hours a day seven days a week then there's something else we're filling our time with. “I can't find the time for…” really means “It's not as big a priority for me as…”.

And if watching TV, going out with friends, relaxing with a good book is more important than getting more clients then that's OK. If improving the consulting or legal skills you're already good at is what you'd rather do then that's OK too.

But let's be honest about it.

The same goes for me too. When I said “finding the time” I was really just admitting that I was prioritising other things.

If you want to get more clients you need to invest in learning marketing and then doing it. And your investment of time is almost always far more important and far more of a challenge than any money you need to spend.

Now there are some techniques you can use to get more productive and make the most of your time. And some forms of marketing give you more leverage than others.

But eventually, it comes down to a decision on priorities.

When I was setting up Momentum Club I spoke to another consultant who'd set up his own membership program about nine months previously to get his advice. I asked him about how he managed to create all the content without cutting down on his current marketing and client work.

His answer was “I didn't”.

“I cut back on client work for a while and took the hit financially so I could get the material developed. And I didn't have a social life for a while. But I knew this was the future of my business so I prioritised it”.

As I pressed send on that form and realised what a cop-out answer I'd given when I typed “finding the time” I resolved never to use that excuse again.

I hope you won't either.