I know that you need the quick fix, you want result now, you need the hot new thing.

Ask yourself this question – how long do you plan to be in business? If it’s more than a year, then I suggest that while you get out there and make the phone ring today, you also need to start planting seeds for your long-term growth by investing in foundational marketing practices that may take time to bare fruit, but ultimately produce the greatest returns.

These seeds are content, connection, and community.

Content is a blog, articles, information products, white papers, how to guides, workshops and podcasts.

Connection is a way for prospects and clients to have a deeper level of experience with your firm. This may come from audio, video, your personal story, or an investment in sales training.

Community can play out by bringing clients together for lunch, making your boardroom available to local non-profit groups, offering active online forums, holding training events, and creating formal referral networks.

Some of the activities above overlap the 3Cs and may require an investment long before any actual payoff is returned. They all require a long-term commitment to produce results.

The trick is to balance what needs to be done today with the investment it take to build up your retirement account of marketing momentum.