5 Simple Steps to Create Your 2013 Marketing Plan

As the new year approaches it’s time to create your marketing plan for 2013. No wait – don’t get scared off. This doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, I’m going to break it down into 5 simple steps.

 

1. Start With Your Message

At the heart of your business is a clear message about who you are and what you stand for in your business. It’s what I call your Core Message. It defines what you’re all about and what you want to be known for. It’s what gives direction to all of your marketing and business efforts.

When you’re clear about your Core Message, it gives focus to all of your business decisions, including what programs to run, what joint venture partners to work with, what marketing messages to create, etc.

For instance, here is my Core Message:

“To be a great marketer you have to know your target market, but to build a profitable business that you love, you have to know yourself.”

This is what I stand for as a business owner. I infuse it into everything that I do because I believe passionately that your business should be built on your passions, strengths and beliefs, and that you have to learn to know and trust yourself if you want your ideal clients to know, like and trust you.

 

2. Identify Your Goals

Write down what you want your business to look like in 2013. Be as specific as possible. I’m not just talking about how much you want to earn, but what you want to achieve and how you want to spend your time.

For instance, if you’re newer in business, then one of your goals is likely to get more clients . If that’s true for you and you don’t have enough clients then the majority of your time should be spent on marketing. But be careful to choose marketing strategies that are strategic and focused, rather than jumping around from one idea to the next. Play to your strengths and to where your ideal clients can be found.

Another goal might be to double your list. As you know, building a targeted and responsive list is critical for you to grow your business. I always advise my clients who don’t yet have a good website to start with a really great opt-in page. Even if you don’t have a website, you can start building your list if you have a powerful opt-in page and a great giveaway to inspire people to sign up for your list.

If one of your goals is to reach more people and have more time off then you need to learn how to create more leveraged income.

And the best way to do this is to create your Client Journey. This is your unique blueprint that shows the clear steps you use to help your clients reach their goals.

Once you have this in place, you can now package what you do in different ways, with different levels of access to you and at different price points —  and earn multiple streams of income!

For instance, I have a program called Stand Out With Your Message in which I teach you how to create an authentic, client attracting message you can share with confidence. I also teach you how to create your Client Journey, which is an essential but often overlooked part of your messaging. (You can watch this free training and learn more about that program here)

I run that program with live support, and also use it as a special bonus with my private clients so they can get the training on their own and our coaching time is laser focused on implementation.

Do you see how having a clear path for my clients allows me to better serve them while allowing me to earn more leveraged income?  You can do that too!

 

3. Strategies and Tactics

This is where you get into the nitty gritty of how you are going to achieve your goals.

Look at all of your potential revenue sources. How much income will you earn from each source? What do you need to do to achieve that revenue goal?

For instance, if you plan on earning $50,000 next year from a group coaching program, how many participants do you need to have? What will be the investment for each participant? How many times a year will you run that group? When will you run the program? How will you market that program? Who will your joint venture partners be?

If your goal is to double your list, then what tactics will you use to do that? I generally advise my clients to start with one “fast and furious” method and one “slow and steady” method, and then grow from there. For instance, a slow and steady method could be article marketing, video marketing or SEO, while a fast and furious method could be speaking, webinars or joint ventures. Choose one from each category and master that before adding on new tactics.

 

4. Measure Your Success

An important component of any marketing plan is deciding how you’ll measure your results. You need to have metrics in place for each of your strategies and tactics. That way, you can see what’s working, what’s not and tweak accordingly.

For instance, to measure the effectiveness of your list building, use Google Analytics to measure where your traffic is coming from. Use your autoresponder system to see how effective your opt-in page is.  If it’s not as effective as you would like, then you need to identify the problem. Try a new headline and see how your opt-in rate changes.  Perhaps your giveaway topic isn’t compelling enough or you need to change the title.  Try changing one element at a time to see how it impacts your results.

You have to identify the holes in your bucket so you can fix them. So know what metrics you will use to measure your results, then tweak and improve!

 

5. Support Systems

Another important part of your marketing plan has to center around the support systems you create for yourself.  Being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming if you don’t have the right support systems in place. You don’t have to do this alone.

Here are some of the support systems you should create for yourself:

– Your team, e.g. Virtual Assistant, Graphic Artist, Web Expert, etc.

– Your strategic partners – Strategic and joint venture partners are invaluable in building your business. Look for people whose views and values are aligned with yours, who are experienced with joint ventures, have an abundance mindset, and whose solutions complement yours while serving the same target market. Don’t worry if there is some overlap in what you both do – the right people will be attracted to working with you.

– Your mentor – if you don’t yet have a coach or mentor and are serious about building your business, it’s absolutely essential. I’ve personally invested tens of thousands of dollars in mentors and it’s been invaluable to my growth and success.

 

Above all, take action!  It’s one thing to have a marketing plan and another thing to bring it to life. Don’t let fear or perfectionism take over. You are in control of your business results so take control of your business and make it happen. You can do it!

 

What are your goals for 2013? Please share your comments, questions and feedback below. Thanks!