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Marketing Plan for Success
by
Martha Carnahan
“The will to prepare is more
important than the will to succeed. The dream to succeed, apart from the
will to prepare, is simply wishful thinking.” ~ John C. Maxwell
If you don’t have a plan for marketing your business, you are short changing
yourself, your clients, your family, your future employees and the
beneficiaries of your life work!
I recently spoke with an entrepreneur who had a classic small business
scenario. Last year he earned the highest revenues in the history of his
business. And this year has been one of his worst. His business has a
naturally high turnover rate, so while he was enjoying a booming year, he
let his marketing slip away, which left the pipeline for this year rather
empty. Sounds like a “Don’t Let This Happen To You” warning, if I ever heard
one.
So now that I’ve got you considering actually writing a plan, here are the
key components to include…
Create an Unblinking Vision – Begin with a birds-eye view of what you
want your business to look like. Include everything you imagine for your
ideal business scenario. Be bold… what do you really want?
Clarify Your Target Audience – Review and dissect everything you know
about this audience. The better you understand them, the more receptive they
will be to your message.
Hone Your Core Message – Write a clear and compelling message that
acknowledges your audience’s hot buttons and presents your solution to them.
Always write in “you” language that shows you understand what it is like to
walk in your audience’s shoes.
Put Your Eyes on the Prize – Outline the business goals you intend to
accomplish through your marketing plan. Include specific revenue and
business operations goals as well as goals to ensure that your Self care
gets top priority in your work-life balance.
Brainstorm Strategies & Tactics – Invite some colleagues and friends
to a think-tank session to come up with a laundry list of strategies and
tactics. You can narrow it down later… for now, let your creativity go wild!
Shine a Light on Your Assets & Values – You may be too modest to say
so out loud, but you have unique personal qualities that are the essence of
who you are, which bring immense value to your business and clients.
Consider how you can leverage your personal assets and values for your
business.
Acknowledge Resources & Roadblocks – Take some time to list
equipment, people, funding, information and other resources you will need to
implement the ideas in your plan. Likewise, consider the potential
roadblocks that could hinder progress. Listing resources and roadblocks up
front will help you deal proactively with details that could otherwise trip
you up.
Calendarize Your Plan – Literally pull out your calendar and plot the
actions and tactics you will be implementing over the next 12 months.
Schedule them right into your daily life so that they become a priority.
Get Real! – Not to be a spoilsport, but I know that when you write a
realistic plan, your success rate will zoom to the top of the charts. Being
unrealistic only leads to overwhelm and disillusionment.
Hot Tip: Share your plan with a mentor, coach or trusted
colleague, so that you are accountable for each step along the way.
AN INVITATION! Check out my coaching-based system, “Your
Brilliant Marketing Plan.” If you are seriously ready to move your
business into growth mode, you will love this straight-forward and
support-filled approach. Visit:
www.yourbrilliantmarketingplan.com.
© 2005 by Martha Carnahan. All
rights reserved. You are free to use this article in your ezine
or on your website,
as long as you leave the content unaltered and include the following
attribution: "By Martha Carnahan of MC3 Strategies. Please visit
Martha's website at
http://www.YourBrilliantLife.com for additional resources on how
to build a thriving business without squeezing the life out of your
life!" Please also notify me at
martha@mc3strategies.com
to let me know where the material will appear.
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