| |
| |
|
KwikMarketing.com - Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Why You Dont NEED a Marketing Plan
If you pick up a copy of the November 2003 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, you'll see my Web site listed on page 10, along with a good amount of promotional copy. How did I get featured in a major, national magazine? Do I have a great PR person? Did I know someone at the magazine? Was this part of my carefully-crafted marketing plan? No, no, and um, no. I'll tell you exactly how I did it. Are you ready? I picked up the phone. A few months ago, I was flipping through a past issue of Entrepreneur and saw they had a section that listed Web resources. I looked at the bottom of the page and saw the name of the author. I flipped to the front of the magazine, found the masthead, and located the phone number for their editorial offices. I called that number and asked for that guy. He picked up the phone. I asked how I could submit a resource. He told me. I submitted mine. He ran it. Serendipity? Well, I do believe when you put energy out, you get good things back. But honestly, I just picked up the phone. I see this as a great example of that you don't have to be perfect. I didn't wait until I had a marketing plan. I didn't wait until I had all my ducks in a row. In fact, I'm proud to share that I've never been fully prepared for anything I've ever taken on. I just knew who I wanted to reach and what I wanted to say. (I wanted to reach small business owners and solo professionals, and I wanted to let them know about all the valuable, free information at my Web site.) And you know what? That's also all YOU have to know! Listen, marketing plans are swell. If you have one, more power to you. I often wish that I did have a nice, neat plan to follow for the entire year. In fact, it's been on my to-do list for about five years. It just doesn't look like I'm ever going to do it. I've realized that what works better, for me, is to simply jump at opportunities as they arise, even if my pattern is haphazard. Otherwise I'd still be where I was two years ago, waiting until I worked out a plan. I'll never move forward if I keep waiting for everything to "be ready." I just attended one of highest level Internet marketing conferences for entrepreneurs in the world. And one of the speakers, a man who has made millions from his Internet business, uttered a sentence that has since stuck with me: "It's amazing how much money you can make in this world without being perfect." Are you trying to be perfect? Trying to plan everything ahead? Standing in your own way? STOP. Right now, this minute, I want you to do one thing, just one thing, that you know would push your business forward. Especially something simple you've been putting off. Perhaps it's picking up the phone and introducing yourself to that important person your friend referred you to. Perhaps it's replying to that e-mail regarding a great opportunity but you've been more occupied with more "urgent" things. Perhaps it's sending one of your articles to the editor of that e-zine with 100,000 subscribers who are your target market. Perhaps it's completing that proposal to speak at a convention that's going to put you in front of 500 pre-qualified prospects. Please, just do it. (c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the award-winning manual, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine." To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Joint Venture: 50 Power Secrets Of Joint Venture Marketing, Exposed What is a Joint Venture?A joint venture is an agreement in which two or more businesses work on a project for a set period of time.Joint ventures can be long-term, like promoting a product together, or some can be short-term, like bartering (trading) products and services. Five Tips to Make Your Marketing More Creative Same old same old just doesn't sell anymore. To make your marketing stand out, you need to get creative. How to Run a Successful News Release Program Marketing public relations gives you cost effective ways to reach your audience. The trade-off, however, is time. What Can Star Wars Teach You About Creating a Buzz for Your Business? Many people think marketing is some type of mystery that only a few select people know the secret too. In fact if you look at the entertainment industry you will find some of the best models to follow. How To Bond With Customers So That They Stay With You Longer How many of your customers are loyal customers? More importantly do you know why they are loyal customers?Customer loyalty has been a buzz term in marketing for some time and with good reason. Estimates suggest it can cost 5 times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. AIDA From A Different View - I Call It the 5 Ws My childhood was my foundation for how I write and how I think. I caught on at an early age that writing is an art and it has a very distinct way of reaching out to people depending on how you apply it. Writing A Marketing Strategy It is my belief that if anyone is to suceed in any type of business then the business needs to be marketed to it's target consumers in an effective manner. In order to do this effectively rather than in an ad hoc, probably expensive, manner I propose the construction of a marketing plan. 11 Rock Solid Techniques For Generating Product Ideas Anytime Anywhere! Whatever business you are in, either online or offline, you've got to constantly generate business/product ideas.If you've ever wondered how on earth those big corporations and companies generate wonderful and irresistible products plus powerful and revolutionary ideas, here are the 11 basic principle behind it all and the greatest of news is that it can be applied to any business. Word of Mouth Marketing 'Word of Mouth' is still one of the most effectivemarketing techniques, online or offline.Joe arrives at your website and he likes it. How Would You Handle This? We have been talking about choosing groups to participate in that meet your needs and goals as a business professional. Once the decision is made on which groups to belong to, then a certain level of participation is required in order to achieve the individual goals set by the business professional. Attract More Clients by Raising Your Profile One of the most common issues I'm asked about is how to raise the profile of a business to attract more clients.This is an important issue no matter how small or large your business may be. Marketing Copy - Brand Identity Guru Tips on writing great copy for your marketing efforts.It's just four steps that I call the Writing Path1. CRM: Strategic Engine or Just Another Tool? CRM?strategic engine or just another technology tool? How would you answer this question about your company's CRM initiative? It depends on how honest you are in answering some other questions, including:Do your people have real decision-making power to provide great customer service?Do you have the right people with the right knowledge and skills?Are you including people across the board, not just in your customer service and call centers?The bottom line is that people skill sets need to be similar to the technology they are using -- information sharing needs to be fast, focused, integrated.Let's Start With the LeadersFor CRM to become the strategic engine, not just a tool that people opt to use when they choose, managers and leaders need to demonstrate the new vision through their day-to-day actions. 10 Ways to Get Your Flyers Noticed An inexpensive way to promote your services is to createvarious flyers and distribute them wherever you go -- pinthem to the bulletin boards at the library, bookstore,handout out at networking events, or playing tennis. Hereare 10 tips on how to get your flyer noticed and remembered. Five Steps to Partnering with Companies to Build Your Client Base Wouldn't you love a simple formula for easily growing your small business? Here is something that could be just what you are looking for:1. Create an information product based on your expertise. The Truth About The Fallacy Of 7 Ted Nicholas is a marketer with a proven track record. He has started, operated and sold 21 profitable businesses, and is responsible for the direct or indirect publishing of hundreds of books and publications. Three Alternative Methods On Getting Quality Testimonials with Bonus Here are three alternatives to increase your testimonial numbers or their quality. Create an online diary or blog, use an auto responder method, set up a form on your web site or set up a survey. 25 Ways To Get More Business Special Requirements for Reprint: we ask only that you include Pauls name and resource box, and keep all hyperlinks as live links. Complete Article with Resource Box at end: Need more business? Who doesnt? Thankfully, new business is pretty easy to get, but you do have to do something to get it. Newsletters - A Great Way to Build Business Relationships This is an excellent way to grow your business using your mailing list (which I trust you are constantly building). However, you have to accept that there are people who'll read your newsletter and there are those who won't. How to Use Flyers to Increase Your Business What benefits will you get from flyers?Flyers are much different from postcards in that they convey product sales to the consumer. Safeway, Costco, Albertsons and other grocery chains are excellent at putting out flyers.
|
| home | site map |
| © KwikMarketing.com 2007 |
