It's Monday and you get an email indicating that writing an ezine is THE way to get new clients. You drop everything and start working on an email newsletter.
It's Tuesday and your friend calls and says that he heard the best way to get publicity is pay-per-click. You drop everything and sign up for a Google Adwords account.
It's Wednesday and you heard that someone made a million dollars selling info products. Everything else waits while you work on your first million dollar product.
I once had a client who would tell me he figured out how to "fix" his business and what he needed to do to succeed. Unfortunately, he did this DAILY. Each day he had a new marketing strategy that he would drop everything else to implement. It was exhausting as well as counterproductive.
Does this sound familiar? You have no real plan for your marketing strategy and so you jump from one idea to another based on what you hear or read is the best or quickest way to get more clients and increase sales.
It's time to get off the merry-go-round.
There are thousands of different things you could do to move your business forward. And, most likely, any one of them will do the job.
The problem. You start one thing, stop, start another, stop, start a third, stop. . . . At the end of the day, you're left with frustration and overwhelm. And nothing done.
The solution. If you see a little of yourself in this scenario, it's time to create a marketing plan. One that resonates with you and that you can stick with.
Step 1: Create a marketing plan -- make a list of the marketing activities you are interested in doing and then select the three to five which click most with you.
Step 2: Take action -- start implementing the activities on your plan and stick with them until they are done.
Step 3: Evaluate -- review what you've been doing and what results you're getting. If the results aren't what you were expecting, you may wish to try another strategy, but only AFTER you've given the first time to work.
It's important to remember that good marketing is about two things: 1/ educating your community (target audience) about what you do and 2/ building a relationship with those in your community.
Do these two things and do them consistently and you will reap the rewards as your business success lies not in hyperactivity, but in well-thought-out plans and implementation.
Coaching Challenge:
I challenge you to take a step back and think about which marketing activities you've had the most success with or, if you're a new business owner, which ones appeal to you the most. Now jot them down and add some dates by which you will complete them.
POOF! You have the beginnings of a marketing plan. Go forth and educate. . .
Sandra is the publisher of "Success Strategies" - a free weekly email newsletter designed to teach small business owners how to create marketing systems and better leverage themselves in order to reach their business and life goals.
She is also a contributing author of "Power and Soul: 42 Successful Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets for Creating the Business and Life of Your Dreams" (April 2007) and her articles are regularly featured on countless sites across the Web.
Get Sandra Martini's FREE "5 Simple Steps to Putting Your Marketing on Autopilot" e-course/audio mini-workshop and her FREE small business success how-to tips at www.SandraMartini.com.