What is a Small Business Marketing Plan Anyway?

Building a small business that grows steadily in size and profits is like building your dream house. First, you identify what kind of home you want, then you and your architect plan and create blueprints for your house, then you’d build it, move in and enjoy it.

Now imagine that you didn’t have the time to plan your home but went ahead and hired a builder to get started. How would he know what to build? Without a plan, the result would be unlikely to meet your needs and you’d have wasted a lot of time and money.

Everyday I get calls from frustrated owners of small businesses. Their marketing isn’t helping them generate a steady stream of new clients or bring in the revenue that they think they should be making.

My conversation with Ken, from Toronto, was typical. I asked Ken to describe his business and his business goals. I asked him to tell me about his target market and what he is doing to market his business.

He easily described his technological and design expertise, his Web services and the ads and mailings he was using to promote his business. Then I asked the question that stumps almost everyone who calls me for advice: I asked Ken if he had a marketing plan and what it was. He didn't have one.

Do you?

You know what your goals are and where you want to take your business. You also know that marketing involves activities such as building a web site, mailings, advertising and phone calls to prospects. But without a plan tying these efforts together, these activities by themselves may do little to help you achieve your goals.

Discover how to put together your small business marketing plan to generate a steady stream of new business with "The Insider Secrets to Attracting More & Better Customers" manual.

In the “5 Principles of Attracting More & Better Customers”plan manual you’ll learn how to get more attention, generate more leads and get more business. Use this link to order your copy of this Small Business Marketing Manual.

You need a well thought out blueprint for your marketing, just as you would for your dream home. Here’s how to start putting your marketing plan together.

1. Identify Your Marketing Goals
What specifically does your marketing need to achieve for your business to grow? You can state this in terms of the number of qualified leads generated each week, the percentage of leads converted to sales, total revenue, and profit.

What are your marketing goals?

2. Define Your Marketing Strategy
This is your overall approach and positioning relative to your goals and your competition. My marketing strategy is an educational one. It is based on giving people ideas and information they can use as a means of getting their attention and demonstrating the value I provide.

What is your small business marketing strategy?

3. Set Up Your Marketing System
Develop a plan of action. To increase sales, your marketing activities and the media you use need to reflect your marketing strategy and work together as one.

I use articles and pay-per-click ads to get people to my web site, a free marketing guide to generate contacts, forms to generate leads, and follow up with autoresponders, my ezine and phone calls. Each individual activity supports and works in harmony with the others to bring me a lot of business.

What is your marketing system?

Find out how to use your web site as the core of your marketing system with "Creating Web Sites that Sell". You can use this step-by-step web marketing handbook to attract more prospects to your site, increase lead generation and convert more prospects to clients.

"Creating Web Sites that Sell" gives you a proven system for generating more leads and sales with your web site. Use this link to order your copy of the Web Marketing Manual: Creating Web Sites that Sell.

4. Map Out Your Marketing Activities
Now flesh out the details. You’ve decided what your marketing activities will be; now for each marketing activity you’ll need to determine who will create and implement it and when.

Who will be responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining your marketing?

5. Sharpen Your Marketing Tools
Each marketing activity involves using one or more marketing tools. These include everything from your web site to your phone scripts to your marketing messages. To cut through the information clutter and get your prospect’s attention you’ll want finely honed tools.

Could you sharpen your marketing tools?

Plan your marketing like you would your dream home.  The time you spend developing a marketing plan  - your blueprints - based on your business goals, a clear strategy, and a coordinated system will pay off.

Use your marketing plan in conjunction with a set of sharp marketing tools and you’ll be building your client base and profits in no time at all.

Discover how to sell more even if you dislike selling with "More Sales with Less Selling". Yes, you can become an expert marketer even if you never felt comfortable in your role as a sales person.

Use this link to order your copy of More Sales with Less Selling

"... I used to see marketing as a puzzle; now all the pieces are falling into place.

Your marketing manuals contain a wealth of information that simplifies what I do. They have helped me be more productive and get many more clients. Highly recommended."
Susan Robichaud, Visual Communications Inc.

Charlie Cook helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients, reduce costs, make more mo.ney and be more successful. Learn how to Get Attention, Position your business and Sell more products and services.

Call 1-800-795-1858 for more information. Or visit
http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/marketing-coaching.html

WHICH TOOLS DO YOU NEED TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS?
Use the links below to learn how to Get Attention, Generate Leads, Position your products and services and Sell more.

"Your manual helped me double traffic to my web site in just 2 months! I've published 23 books and hundreds of articles on leadership, but until I read your manual, I didn't have a comprehensive system for using them to generate leads. Your manual showed me how to structure a marketing campaign using my articles on the web. An outstanding marketing tool."
Brent Filson, Action Leadership