So I came across a magazine cover this morning (an idea that came from the Ultimate Blog Challenge) and it’s one of my favorite chef celebrity, Rachel Ray’s monthly publications chock full of recipes. On the cover is the title, “Everything You Need to be a Thanksgiving Hero”. Cool title, huh? Based on that title, we assume the whole magazine was published to help someone make the best Thanksgiving dinner. Well I sure hope it does!
Understand that my post is about to take a turn here…as much as everyone wants to hear about how Rachel saves the day with her Thanksgiving recipes and tips, it’s safe to say some, if not most of us, have moved on to scaling back and eating a little healthier for the new year. Right? Right!
I took the magazine feature title and put my own spin on it so it now reads this: “Everything You Need to Know to be a Marketing Hero”. Now that’s more like it! This is the kind of topic I like to write and read about since it aligns with my business model. So let’s talk a little bit about marketing…
Or maybe I should be asking this question…do you have your marketing plan set for 2019?
If you don’t, let me share some pointers that will help you devise a plan you can type up and refer back to each day, week or month to make sure you’re staying on track. Online (or off-line) marketing is crucial to your business visibility and client capture and retention.
List your marketing goals for the next 90 days
Ask yourself, “Where do you want to be in the 90 days”?
Examples:
“I want to land two new clients.” or
“Double my revenue with a passive income stream, along with my service offerings.”
Great! Write this down as your vision for the first quarter of 2019.
List your marketing strategy for the next 90 days
What will that look like?
Examples:
- Gain new clients
- Expand my social media presence
- Create products and other forms of passive income
Whatever it may be you want to market yourself, be clear about it and set small goals to achieve each one of your action items.
List your target market
Write down the type of biz owners you want to work with.
Define your niche
Who does your ideal client look like? Work with those that align with what services you offer. Your niche is about quality, not quantity. #blogboost Click To Tweet
Prepare your marketing message
Identify what your marketing message is by determining what’s in it for you and create your “elevator speech”. When I say what’s in it for me, look at why people would want to work for you and formulate your short and concise “elevator speech”. Be sure to make it authentic and not necessarily about you. When it’s all about you, then you’ll portray an image of being self-serving, when your prospect or client would rather work with someone that is interested in a real working relationship. Make sense?
Identify your featured services that you want your audience to know you for
From your list of services, narrow down what services you are an expert in and focus on these specifically. These are the ones you will market the most to your audience
Find where your target market hangs out and network with them
Whether it’s online or offline, you can find a group, like on Facebook or LinkedIn to reach out to. Consider googling local groups or events or look into sites such as EventBrite or Meetup.com for in-person interaction.
Set up your daily/weekly activities for the next 90 days
Now that you have gone through the above steps to create your marketing plan, set up a reasonable and achievable schedule for the next 90 days, setting goals each week or each month as to where you want to be.
For example, in your first couple of weeks, did you interact with your networking group or did you actively participate in reaching out to your subscriber list or did you write your blog article and share it? Tasks like this you want to make sure you are completing if you want to see results of your marketing.
Track your results
Speaking of seeing your results of marketing, use some kind of basic tracking doc to evaluate the following:
- Number of prospects for the month/any conversions from these prospects
- Website traffic (using Google Analytics to track this for you)
- Did you increase our subscriber list size?
- New social media followers or connections
IN CONCLUSION
When you’re creating your marketing plan, whether you use the above tips or not, be sure you stay consistent with your marketing regardless. It will be the difference between success or failure if you write down your plan on paper, but you do not take the time to implement it.
When you're creating your marketing plan, be sure you stay consistent with your marketing. It will be the difference between success or failure if you write down your plan on paper, but you do not take the time to implement it.… Click To TweetIf these tips have helped you, but you are struggling with putting a plan together and implementing it in your business and you cannot be your own “marketing hero”, feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to have a quick consultation with you at no charge. If what you need aligns with what I can help you with, then we may be able to work together to help you succeed! Stop by my contact page and let me know how I can help!
Please keep in mind that I may receive commissions when you click my links and make purchases. However, this does not impact my reviews and comparisons. I try my best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
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These are some great tips. I’m bookmarking this to come back to it and I’m sharing it with some friends.
Great! Thank you, Jen!