When it's just you in the business, or you're the boss, no one makes you keep hammering away at what needs to be done except you. Marketing may be the most important activity in your business, but it's also hard to be consistent, with everything else you have to do.

Here is one system you can use to keep yourself on track with marketing activity. Start with your revenue goal.

• Divide the total dollar goal into pieces. If the goal is $1000 in the next month, that means ten ads at $100. Or two consulting jobs at $500. Or 100 sales of a $10 item. Figure out what you have to sell in your business to reach your total dollar goal.
• Estimate how many contacts you need to make, on average, to make those sales. A common ratio I've heard is six contacts for one sale. So 60 contacts to sell ten ads. If you've blocked out five days to work on marketing this month, that's 12 calls per day. When you get to this point, you may find that you need to adjust the dollar goals based on a realistic level of activity. Twelve sounds pretty do-able, but 120 means you need to go back and re-evaluate your goal.
• Use the daily goal to make sure you follow through on the marketing. You can track this on your work calendar or a separate sheet or card. You need to make 12 calls, so count your calls until you reach 12.