Marry Your Marketing Plan
Believe it or not, if you're lucky enough to land a corporate job, there are plenty of people in HR who will help you get started and give you tips on how to succeed. But if you're self-employed or running your own business, forget about anyone having the time or energy to take care of you.
You're responsible for your career track--and the sooner and more thoughtfully that happens, the better! So before the holidays hit in earnest and work gets crazy again after they end (and everything comes crashing down when January hits), I encourage everyone to update their marketing plan for 2018.
Your marketing plan is a detailed, calendar-driven action plan that tells you what you need to do and when, so you can:
Make a concerted effort to build up your business and grow your network
Turn qualified leads into paying clients (or at least into long-term contacts)
Create work that fulfills your goals and the needs of your clients.
Here's how. First, list your most important goals for 2018 (i.e. work that makes you money). Think big! This is your chance to really dream, so don't be shy.... Now write down the steps or actions you need in order to accomplish those goals. Decide on the steps you need to take--or will take--to accomplish your goals, and write those down too. Then choose the specific people you will work with to accomplish each step. That way, you won't waste time or energy helping people who don't have the potential to help you get where you want to go.
Finally, determine how much time and money it is going to take to accomplish each goal. Based on your research, add up how much time and money it will take to accomplish each goal. Then start working backward from that point in order to determine how much time and money it is going to cost at this point in time. Don't forget to include the cost of your marketing materials and work expenses. Then you plug it all into a calendar so that you know when to perform each step and where to expect results.
It's kind of like a bootcamp for growing your business! That is, if you have one really good marketing plan that everyone follows, complete with clear goals and deadlines.
Keep in mind: Your marketing plan is meant to be scaled up every year with planned action steps and milestones. If you miss out on important milestones (such as creating new content), they'll just end up being more work down the road—which might not even make sense given the goal or the justification for creating this extra product or writing this additional blog post.
When you follow your marketing plan, you might have to put some money into marketing tools and materials upfront. But the planning will help you save time in the long run. That's because you'll know how much time it takes to research and create your work, which means that instead of having to go back and redo a bunch of pieces every year, you can focus on creating even more compelling content instead.
Your marketing plan is also flexible enough that if things don't go as planned or if you miss out on milestones (or if your goals change), your marketing plan should allow you to shift course accordingly! You can keep doing the same thing or try a different approach—it's totally up to you.
Happy marketing!
To read more from Susan, check out her website at http://www.SusanLangerBooks.com . For a limited time, get your first book free by signing up at: http://www.susanlangerbooks.com/freebook/ .
(c) 2016 Susan Langer
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
September 7th, 2016
© Susan Langer and James Franklin
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Published by: Susan Langer and James Franklin
Disclaimer: This book is intended for informational purposes only.
Conclusion: Please seek counsel from your physician, psychologist or similar practitioner before applying any information in this book.
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