Creating a Marketing Plan

1. Action steps.

In order to accomplish your objectives and ultimately, your goals, you will need to schedule time each day (or whatever timeframe works for you) to do whatever it is that will move you towards your ultimate goal. Consider this time as you would an appointment with someone that you would never cancel or stand up -- such as the President, the Pope or any V.I.P. that you admire.

It’s common for small business owners, especially new ones, to put the needs of their business second while putting the needs of their clients first. In order to succeed, you must carve out time on a regular (preferably daily) basis to continually advance your goals and your marketing plans.

2. Identify the obstacles.

I am a strong proponent of positive thinking and visualization, and believe it critical to the success of any entrepreneur -- I sincerely doubt that this surprises you given my choice of goal format (lol)!

However, it is naive to believe that positive thinking alone will get you where you want to go. Successful entrepreneurs identify and list the obstacles to their goals and have a plan to overcome each one. The worst (and best) that can happen is that you don’t need your "Plan B."

3. Schedule your day.

Have you ever finished the day feeling that you’ve done nothing toward your objectives? Or worse, that you worked your butt off and feel there is nothing to show for it?

In reviewing each day, you should take a few minutes to plan the next day and identify steps that move you closer to your goals. Doing so is good for several reasons, but most especially it: 1) puts your subconscious to work "behind the scenes" on those tasks while you enjoy your evening and 2) eliminates that "what do I do first" feeling that prevents most people from diving into their day.

You now have all the tools you need to create a dynamic marketing plan which will move you closer to your ultimate goals. Armed with these tools, next week we’ll examine the most productive way to manage your day and bring yourself even closer to achieving your goals.