A Marketing Plan to Build Your Business

05.10.2010 | Author: billy | Posted in Marketing

All the forward planning in the world, for your business growth counts for NOTHING if you don’t have a firm grasp of where you’re at NOW, first. There are some simple questions you can ask yourself to quickly see where your business is now, before you try to plan for where it’s going.

Imagine if you were told you’d won a fabulous all-inclusive holiday in Sydney, Australia, and all you had to do was book your own flights there

You’d likely get yourself to the nearest travel agent, or online flight booking centre, and the first question you’d be asked is where you’d want to be flying from. If you were unable to answer that question you’d think it was ludicrous wouldn’t you? After all, how can you ever get anywhere if you don’t know where your starting point is?

But this is exactly what I see solopreneurs doing time and again when it comes to their business marketing planning, which is crazy.

If you have your own business one of the most critical parts of mapping out your marketing plan, is getting a crystal clear account of where your business is at NOW – first!

A lot of people miss out this important step, because it’s all too tempting to think it’s much more exciting to get focused on your future success and how you’re going to make that happen, than thinking about what situation you’re in right now.

However, if you make that mistake, you’ll be missing out a huge part of the picture, because it’s only through looking at where you are right now, that you can highlight which areas you’re doing well in, and which areas are less successful, and therefore need more time, energy, and focus to become more successful in.

So, now that I’ve shared with you the importance of WHY you need to clearly identify where your business it at NOW, here are some questions that you can ask yourself about your business, which will help you get started in defining your business for where it is TODAY. This in turn will help you put a concise marketing plan together for where you want your business to be, and how you’ll create that growth for TOMORROW (and all the tomorrows after that).

Answer these questions honestly, Yes, No or Don’t Know and use the information to see which areas you could use more focus in.

  • 1. Can you explain clearly why people should buy from you rather than your competitors (based on the results and outcomes your clients get)?
  • 2. Do you have an exit strategy from your business – if so what is it?
  • 3. Do you know what numbers are important to you to assess whether your business is doing well, and do you review them regularly? (this would not just include financial figures – also sales conversions, lead generation, return on investment for ads etc)
  • 4. Do you know what you stand for, what your brand is, and is it congruently expressed in everything you do?
  • 5. Do you have a living business plan which is actually useful to you? Do you plan out your marketing activity, and product / service creation?
  • 6. Do you have a means of asking your clients what their most pressing needs are (in relation to your business), and do you undertake this on a regular basis, and respond to the answers?
  • 7. Do you track your return on investment for what you spend on your marketing – so you know how effective it has been?
  • 8. Do you have a system for spreading your message wider and positioning yourself as an authority ‘go – to’ figure in your niche?

    • Once you’ve answered these questions – prioritise which areas need attention, and look at how you can factor them into your Marketing Plan!

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