Write a successful marketing plan

Are you ready to get off the fence?

Now is the time to get off the “marketing” fence and put your marketing into gear.  How can your business take off if you are not geared up and in “drive”?  Now is the time to put social media, the Internet, and a distinctive message to work for you.

Marketers have been teaching and preaching this message for years – if you don’t have a plan to guide you, you will never know where you are going.  “If you don’t wright it down, it doesn’t exist”.  The first step in getting off the fence with your marketing, is to sit down, take the time and write out a plan.

To help you get started, here are a few ideas you can incorporate into your plan:

Work social networking
Maximize your website
Utilize blogs and newsletters
Get out and network

Creating a marketing plan doesn’t have to be hard, first start by evaluating your time, your ability to do the marketing and your budget.  Here are three basic areas to guide you:

>>  You can’t do what you don’t have time to do (create a realistic “time budget” that allots a certain amount of time just to execute your marketing)

>>  Know your marketing limitations and what you have the ability to do (if you are not skilled in creative tools, then you might have to hire someone to do the creative work, or simply stick to well written and simply messages)

>>  What can you afford? (don’t over extend yourself, create a 3-month plan within your means and add to it as your income increases – remember, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Plaxo are FREE and can push your message out to your database using a broadcast message)

>>  Utilizing Social Media on the Internet won’t cost you anything but the time to put the message together and maintain your site and a database. Your challenge is to schedule your time on a weekly basis to handle the details of your marketing plan.  But first, lay aside a few hours this week to layout a plan on your calendar – schedule in the free stuff first, then add other items into your plan as your budget allows. Then follow your plan!

Remember, no one will know about you unless you tell them – let marketing be your voice!

And by the way, I can help you with any of these things, from building your marketing plan to creating your message and look then executing it – that’s what Lyric Marketing does!  When you are ready, give me a call at 214-208-3987 or email me at sandy@lyricmarketing.com.