Hosted by: technogranny
Title: Monday Morning Marketeer, How to Start Your Marketing Plan for 2011 |
Time: 01/24/2011 11:00 AM EST
Episode Notes: You never thought of doing a marketing plan for the year, shame on you! It's not too late. The snow has not thawed yet and guaranteed you will still have a few days where you do not feel like going out of the house, so let's get started with the basics, where do you start? And how do you make it sticky? Or how do you make sure that it is something you can and will follow? |
Stickiness and sticky are ways to describe marketing ideas that create value in a visitor or user’s mind and keep them coming back for more. The concept of sticky marketing came from Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point“ “The Tipping Point” illustrates that products and services if presented right, and under the right circumstances, can be irresistible and sticky.
Your marketing plan needs to be both irresistible and sticky, not just to you. The old way of marketing was to create a product and then figure out a way to ram it down people’s throats, the new way is to niche your marketing to a particular group with a product that you have researched so they will buy it, utilize the presentation of good information to create trust and make sure that your message is crafted to your various audiences which may be diverse within your niche.
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| You can still finish the year strong with a good third quarter marketing plan that stretches into 2010. |
As we approach the third quarter of the year, do you know what you want to accomplish in this last part of the year. The saying is, “fininish strong to start the new year even stronger.” So what do you plan to do in the third quarter to enhance what you did in the first quarter that will create a “sticky” marketing plan that will convert into customers and profit?
Please don’t tell me you want to do better, become more efficient, increase profits. If you have not quantified what you want to do and qualified how you are going to accomplish it, you quite simply have no plan.
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| You won't stress so much if you have a great marketing plan in place! |
Those serious about building a profitable enduring business understand the importance of planning. However, that’s not always the first thing on an entrepreneur’s agenda. But it should be. A famous general said, “If I had twenty four hours to save the world, I would use 23 hours to plan how to save it and one hour saving it.” Of course that’s a paraphrase. Crisis ensue, life happens and your planning time gets eaten away in the day to day grind of running your business. But, how much better and easier would your life be, if you put everything on hold and created a plan for your business and contingencies to deal with the emergencies and crises inherent in business and in life? Take the time to plan and I guarantee you will find a tremendously favorable answer to this question.d
So it’s the first, second or third quarter, what are you waiting for? An early plan, a late plan, any plan is better than no plan. You probably have heard before that no marketing plan is a plan to fail at marketing your business for profit. So here are five steps to kick you into high gear and help you develop a marketing plan that will generate results for your business
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| You can get there from here with a map, your MARKETING PLAN! |
I. Start with Goals
Before you can put a plan in action,
Before you can put a plan in action,
need to know which direction you’re
headed. Although this may seem like an
obvious step, it can be often overlookeTake the time to write down specific, measureable goals for your business. Start with the larger goal in mind. Then, take it down into bite-sized chunks and look at what benchmarks you need to achieve on a monthly basis to accomplish the overall goal.
Not only will this exercise help you determine the best marketing strategy, but it will help hold you accountable along the way.
I will share with you my plan for Monday Morning Marketeer as an example.
Example: My Goals for last quarter of 2011:
A. Garner 5,000 additional listeners for my radio shows and one weekly sponsor
Breaking this down I need more listeners and better Seach Results to attract sponsors
So these are the steps to get the listeners:
1. Bulid a Facebook Fanpage and start promoting it
2. Put together synopsis for a book on marketing
3. Began writing portions of that book on a regular basis
4. List MondayMorningMarketeer on additional internet radio directories
5. Update my blog
6. Ask people to follow my blog
B. To diversify products and add new ones that will augment my online platform and my business
Bite size planning for this:
1. Create or secure speaking engagements
2. Videotape these presentations
3. Turn them into online and DVD products
4. Create Click bank Storefront to sell these
5. Sell these on my website, blog and Facebook page
C. To create more stable income with diversification
Bite size again:
1. Secure paid sponsors for Monday Morning Marketeer, both synergistis and non competitive
2. Set up affiliate marketing for my products to have others sell them
3. Find viable products of others and create residual income by becoming an affiliate of theirs
4. Secure paid speaking engagements
D. To increase my list and sphere of influence
Bite size again with some cross over points
1. apply for awards for excellence in the online marketing field
2. Use social media such as LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers
3. Upgrade my tweets and create relationships with followers that I already have
4. Promote Facebook Fanpage
E. To keep my online identity fresh
1. Weekly Monday Morning Marketeer Show
2. Weekly Monday Morning Marketeer Blog
3. Nooks on series topics from Monday Morning Marketeer
Okay now believe it or not I just set up my third quarter goals and how to get there while writing this blog. See how easy it is?
II. Look in the Mirror
The best marketing strategies in the world can’t help a business that doesn’t have a killer product or service. Before you do anything else, make sure you’ve got something spectacular to offer your customers.
The best marketing strategies in the world can’t help a business that doesn’t have a killer product or service. Before you do anything else, make sure you’ve got something spectacular to offer your customers.
I know, I know – we all think our own business is the best thing since sliced bread. But, ask your customers. Do they feel the same way? Does your product or service solve their problems or give them the results they’re after? Do your customers receive top-notch service?
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| Get your ideas for marketing from friends, family, customers. |
If you’re not sure about the answers, talk to your employees and your customers. Getting their honest feedback will likely highlight some ways you can improve your offerings and make your business shine.
Monday Morning Marketeer –Comment
These are some tactics that I employed with my overall company, Dreamweaver Marketing Associates Plan:
I looked at my editorial calendar and how I could beef up my calendar for all of my internet radio shows:
TechnoGrannyShow
PositivelyPittsburghLive
Monday Morning Marketeer
Professionals with Impact
III. Master the Basics
There are a couple of marketing basics that are so essential, it’s like baby formula and changing diapers. Branding and a websites fall into that category. If you want to move the needle for your business this year, you must have these in place. Figure out what your brand is, it is a company identity, a particular product or is it you. It took me a long time to figure out that all of my brands were rolled into my personal braning—me, Joanne Quinn-Smith, the TechnoGranny, SBA Journalist of the Year. Figure out where you are on this, ask you clients, friends and yes, employees what they thing the core of your brand is.
There are a couple of marketing basics that are so essential, it’s like baby formula and changing diapers. Branding and a websites fall into that category. If you want to move the needle for your business this year, you must have these in place. Figure out what your brand is, it is a company identity, a particular product or is it you. It took me a long time to figure out that all of my brands were rolled into my personal braning—me, Joanne Quinn-Smith, the TechnoGranny, SBA Journalist of the Year. Figure out where you are on this, ask you clients, friends and yes, employees what they thing the core of your brand is.
This is More than just a logo, a brand is the personality of your business. In other words, your brand communicates who you are and what makes you different from the competition. If you haven’t nailed down your brand message, now is the time. Don’t wait another year to get this right.
In today’s digital world, an amateur website just won’t cut it anymore. A well-written, user-friendly website is a must for businesses. In a world that’s constantly competing for eyeballs, make sure your site hits the mark and doesn’t leave them quickly moving on to the next one.
Okay now I am going to give you another example this is my methodology for promoting the identity of my PositivelyPittsburghLiveMagazine.com, Pittsburgh internet radio and TV network.
Because this is an online brand I decided to:
Promote the business by increased Internet marketing by
A. Positively Pittsburgh News Broadcast
Send out blast on Monday
B. Roving Pittsburgh Report...
1. Set up website
2. Get free tickets/ dinner
3. Monthly Video Contest
4. Send out blast on Tuesday
C. Post Script PPL .
Send Post Script blast out on WednesdayI call it the Best of Pittsburgh & Techno Granny
D. Positively Pittsburgh Live Perks
Send out blast on Thursday
5. Positively Pittsburgh Techno Granny Post Script
Hope this helps you to figure out what to do with your brand.
Hope this helps you to figure out what to do with your brand.
IV. Turn up the volume
Social media is definitely the new kid on the block. But before you rush off to sign up for a Twitter account, take a look at your current marketing efforts and determine what is working well for you.
Social media is definitely the new kid on the block. But before you rush off to sign up for a Twitter account, take a look at your current marketing efforts and determine what is working well for you.
For instance, if word of mouth is your top business generator, build a referral strategy that rewards your biggest fans for spreading the word. Or, if your email list responds well to your campaigns, look for ways to grow your list by encouraging your readers to share it with their friends.
Whatever it is, continue to focus your energy in this area and look for ways to amplify it.
Oftentimes, the most profitable marketing effort we can employ is by taking a strategy that is working really well and turning up the volume.
Oftentimes, the most profitable marketing effort we can employ is by taking a strategy that is working really well and turning up the volume.
If you have a mobile phone use down time to communicate on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, even Sprouter and what I am doing now in New Media, TalkShoe, also Blogger.
I have Ning Network for Positive Pittsburghers and two Sundays ago sent out 1700 invitations to join.
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| The reward is always in the stretch and the reward of a good marketing plan is increased revenue! |
V. Stretch yourself
Once you’ve hammered out ways to improve already successful strategies, you can begin to venture into uncharted territory. Social media is the considered marketing frontier for small business and it can be a great way to engage customers, generate leads and provide customer service.
Once you’ve hammered out ways to improve already successful strategies, you can begin to venture into uncharted territory. Social media is the considered marketing frontier for small business and it can be a great way to engage customers, generate leads and provide customer service.
But, before you take the plunge, do your research. Determine what you want to accomplish through social media. Find out where your customers hang out and look at what is working well for other businesses in your niche. A misguided social media effort will suck up a lot of time and produce little in return.
My goals:
Additional listeners
Additional visibility
Give out good information to create credibility
Build relationships to increase customers
Follow these simple steps in beginning your marketing plan and your reward will be seen in the return on investment of your time and effort by increased visibility and credibility. Later we will discuss converting all of this new found notoriety to cash.
Watch for the next in a series on Marketing Plans: "The Folly of the Marketing Plan in Your Head."
Follow these simple steps in beginning your marketing plan and your reward will be seen in the return on investment of your time and effort by increased visibility and credibility. Later we will discuss converting all of this new found notoriety to cash.
Watch for the next in a series on Marketing Plans: "The Folly of the Marketing Plan in Your Head."
This blog is an adaptation of this live show at he beginning of 2011. Listen at:wwwpittsburghlivemagazine.com/broadcast.php?IdChan=3&IdItem=8.positively
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/MondayMorningMarketeer
Or on its unique radio channel at:
Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.
Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.
Follow at: https://twitter.com/monmornmarketer
Phone: 412-628-5048
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