How often do you need a “kick-in-the-butt” to get moving?

It’s a recognized fact that most people get much more done when they have someone motivating them, than they will on their own (sometimes a LOT more).

This is very true with marketing. I have to keep calling and bug­ging some of my clients to get them to do anything. They get hung up on the daily tasks of running their business. They are constantly putting out fires, and so their mar­keting efforts end up on the back burner.

“Don’t fall before you’re pushed.”
- English Proverb

Failing to allocate specific time for marketing (i.e. the daily grind of running a business) seems to prevent many business owners I know from taking the actions that are necessary to market and grow their business in a consistent way.

A trick to keeping on track is to set aside one-hour per day to work on your marketing (and nothing else). Use this time to look for “cost effective” ways to generate new prospects or to develop strategies for increasing sales to your existing customers.  If you have trouble doing this on your own, then find someone who will hold you accountable.

Most of the time, a little external “push” or “kick-in­the-butt” from somebody who is close to a business owner does wonders to get the ball rolling.

“Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A word of optimism and hope. A “you can do it” when things are tough.”
- Richard M. DeVos

An outside expert can motivate, persuade, urge, and inspire you to levels that you may have never known before. This is very important, because once you get the energy flow­ing, you will find that new ideas come from many differ­ent places.

Find an advisor whom you trust to keep you motivated and on track toward reaching your business goals. This should be someone who is willing (and has the “authority”) to get you moving. If you need someone to help motivate you, give me a call. I will be happy to give you a motivational push.

Do you have someone who is helping you to stay focused, on track, and motivated?

Many new businesses have heard the term “Marketing Calendar” several times; with little-to-no knowledge as to what one is.

Other, more-established companies have designed their own; without seeing more success than they had prior to using this very important tool. Or (the worst-case scenario), there are the companies that have paid a very large sum of money to a huge marketing company for this very-much essential tool of business growth; only to have the investment give them a lackluster return.

Well, there are marketing calendars available that are made to fit your particular marketing plan. There are also marketing calendars out there that are easy-to-use yet, very in-depth at the same time. And, there are marketing calendars that are positive in both of those ways and, that get it right the first time!

So, whether you are a rightfully-jaded (in regards to marketing calendars) business owner or, this is your first time considering using one, we can point you in the direction of a marketing calendar that will go above-and-beyond your expectations; perhaps, even showing you possibilities that you previously hadn’t known that you business had!

Whether you have your own marketing plan that is already gaining you serious success, or you are looking for a marketing plan/marketing calendar combination, we have found a solution for you! The key factors that set a great marketing calendar apart from a run-of-the-mill one are laid out in this article.

First, we must have an understanding of what a marketing calendar really is. The simple definition is as follows: A Marketing Calendar assists you in putting your different marketing concepts into motion in a structured and organized way.

While the name “Marketing Calendar” (as well as this short definition) may invoke only thoughts of coordination of marketing efforts, a truly great marketing calendar also assists you in budgeting your marketing concepts and various business moves. So, expect more than a scheduling tool when you are making the ever-important choice of which marketing calendar to choose!

Oftentimes, those running businesses find themselves a bit overwhelmed; as, things come up (and decisions have to be made) that get them off of their original course of action. The right marketing calendar will keep the original aspects of your marketing plan in order; no matter what spur-of-the-moment crisis presents itself. Right before your eyes, you will always be able to pull up the calendar and see where you are in both the short-term, and the long; in regard to your overall goal.

Moreover, a fitting calendar can help you to be sure that you are not dispensing too much effort in the wrong areas! None of us are perfect and, we often get caught up in wasting valuable time (and we all know that time is money) on the wrong aspects of our businesses!

Most importantly: An expertly-crafted marketing calendar can help you rest at night, with the knowledge that worries like planning, budgeting and even staffing are fully under control. And, aside from the absence of worry, implementing such a needs-based calendar can garner you funds that you already had, without your knowledge! In short; such a marketing calendar saves time, money and worry!

Normally, something that assists a company so much is costly and difficult to design. Well, the right marketing calendar doesn’t have to be either of those things!  If you have designed your own plan, all that is needed from the right company is your plan and, your details are simply inserted in a way that will allow you to keep your primary focus on your day-to-day work and, simply consult the calendar to be sure that things happen when they should, how they should and, within the budget that you set out for them to work within. If the right company designs both your plan and your calendar, it is even easier to coordinate the two and, once this has been done, you are on your way to the kind of success that you long-ago imagined – the kind of results that got you into business in the first place!

Our main concern is catering to your specific needs. (As should be the main aim of any good company).  We make our marketing calendars as detailed as possible and, they are easy for anyone to use. Even those who consider themselves to be technologically-challenged can use an online, expertly-designed marketing calendar; so that they can have an overview of their business and all of its details at any time – in any place.

With that being said, your calendar should also be the magnifying glass for your marketing plan! At any time, right before your eyes, you will be able to take in easy-to-interpret (yet, detailed), organized information that will let you know whether or not you should adjust your original plan; in order to suit your current needs. This definitely helps to keep your business stable! Stability is key; most businesses who fail do so due to their owners’ inability to adjust to the ups-and-downs of income and/or changing of plans due to ineffectiveness or so-so results.

In summary, think of your marketing calendar as your business plan’s map to success. Without it, at very best – your business can survive without one. At the very least – with the right marketing calendar – your business will thrive!

Now, you may want to check out FastMarketingPlan.com to discover a fast and easy way to create your next marketing plan and marketing calendar

“No Battle Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy”

Many of us view our businesses and their plans as ongoing wars with competitors. We tend to see every facet of our plans and actions as battle-like comparisons with those of our adversaries.

After all, things like our marketing plans, advertising efforts, marketing calendars, logos and branding – even our products, services and ideas, themselves – are our weapons. And, collectively, we are always trying our best to make sure that our weapons and stratagem are bigger, better and stronger than those of our ‘enemies’.

The title of this article was actually a quote of the infamous Napoleon the Great. And, while you may be saying to yourself, “But, Napoleon lost”, your statement is missing one ever-important word – ‘eventually‘.

Napoleon had plenty of victorious battles – many of which he was predicted to lose – and, regardless of what you think of the “Pint-Sized General”, the quote -and philosophy behind it – are a great start, as far as the way one should look at their business’s plan and, how it relates to that ongoing war with the competition.

In regard to business, no marketing plan should be set in concrete! No matter how effective your plan may be, chances are, it will have to be altered at a given time; due to what your competitor(s) is doing.

We have all been in a situation in which, we feel heavy frustration from the fact that we have to change the plan - that we once considered our ‘baby’ – in order to counter what it was that another company was coming to battle with.

Even the actions of your clients, future clients or suppliers can take you by surprise – to the point of startling you – and force you to change the way in which you had set out to do things. In other words, you must be ready for anything. You must have flexibility. You must expect the unexpected!

Now, don’t feel as if you have to be a psychic. Don’t feel overwhelmed at the thought of needing a business and marketing plan so flexible that it takes away from the overall aim and goals that made you ‘hungry‘ to run your particular business in the first place!

There is an easy way to be sure that you can continue to have success in the future – if you just start off with flexibility in mind! The best way to do so is to have a marketing plan that is flexible and built to adjust itself when the time comes to do so.

At Fast Marketing Plan, our goal is to provide our clients with marketing plans that are easy-to- create, easy-to- follow, success-driven and (perhaps, most importantly) flexible. Because without flexibility, a business owner may find himself trapped and on the verge of giving up on everything that he had set out to do. Well, no person or business entity should have the power to put you into that mindset and, with a flexible marketing tool as a weapon; they won’t be able to!

When going to war, you must be sure that you have a pre-planned counter-attack for anything that may take you by surprise. Just having that knowledge may put you ahead of a good percentage of those that you are competing with.

More importantly, however, is being sure that your counter-weapon is more powerful than that of your enemies’ and, that you have another weapon or plan of attack to follow-up with; allowing you continue your march to success without any interference.

In any case, don’t be trapped by a stationary, unchangeable plan of attack. Do not allow yourself to be left with your shields down, while busy doing other things; allowing your empire to be taken down. Have the proper fortifications in place to protect what you worked so hard to build.

And, know that the first (and likely the most crucial) defense for the upcoming battles that you will face is a flexible, defensive-to-offensive marketing plan!

For more info on creating you marketing plans, check outhttp://www.FastMarketingPlan.com

To your success
Sandy Barris

How happy are you with the quantity and quality of the contacts you receive from your Web site?

Many businesses complain that their Web sites do not generate enough contacts and sales leads to justify the cost. They want a better ROI for their Web sites.

We were also getting very frustrated because our Web site was generating very little e-mail and/or phone contact information. After testing a few different web design ideas, and finally decided to insert a bright, attractive, attention getting box on each web page.

This box contained our phone number and e-mail contact information.

As a result of this change, we started to receive many more calls and e-mail leads. This simple change made it very easy for anyone to contact us, and made those who did contact us feel more secure and willing to give us their business.

How can you make your business more accessible and available to new prospects and clients to generated many new sales.

As you know form experience, people will leave your Web site if they have to put too much effort into navigating it, or if they run into trouble trying to figure out how to contact you.

When a future client needs more information from you and your contact page is buried somewhere deep in your site, then it may never be found. If this happens – and it does at many sites we all have visited – then the customer is gone, maybe forever.  The sale is essentially lost. Don’t let this happen on your Web site.

What can you do to make it very simple for visitors to your Web site to find your contact information?

5 Ways To Stretch Your Marketing Dollars

B2B businesses seem to have much smaller marketing budgets then B2C businesses.

If you are a B2B business looking for a few ways to stretch your marketing dollars, here are 5 to get you stretching.

5 Ways To Stretch Your Marketing Dollars

1. Use the ads you create in other way besides publication advertising. When you run your ad pay for reprints (they are very lows cost) and mail your reprints to clients and future clients. Also turn you ads into data sheets by printing feature data on the back of your reprints.
2. Don’t change a thing. If your ads are working, keep running them until they stop working. You’ll get bored with them long before your future clients.
3. Pay your suppliers on time. Taking advantage of discounts and avoiding costly late fee can save you a lot of money. Plus, you’ll build your reputation leading to referrals and better service from your suppliers.
4. Don’t get to fancy with your ads, brochures and marketing. Many times going overboard will turn off potential clients, especially in the industrial marketing. Concentrate on your headline and offer, they are far more important then the bells and whistles.
5. Do it yourself. The everyday marketing tactics such as distributing press releases, updating your marketing plans and meeting with media resources can all be done by your or and administrative assistant or even a virtual assistant for some of the repetitive tactics.

If you had to choose just one of these dollar-stretching ideas, which one would you do first?

By the way www.FastMarketingPlan.com is getting close to being completed. I’m shooting for a November 30 launch. So click on the link above and sign up for updates and you’ll be in the front of the line for a 30-day $1 trial where you’ll love building all the marketing plans you need, FAST and the best part, you’ll get reminders and help every Monday morning about your upcoming marketing tactics to kick into action

© 2009 Sanford Jay Barris

Napoleon’s “Next” Secret

The story goes like this:

A few days after a big battle, a group of Napoleon’s officers came to him requesting that one of their own be promoted to the rank of captain.

“Why is it that you suggest this man be promoted?” asked Napoleon. His officers proceeded to explain the man’s brilliance in battle strategy and how he had won an important battle a few days before.

“Great” answered Napoleon, “But what did he do the next day?”

Isn’t it far more important to plan for what you are going to do next than it is to dwell on what you have done already?

After a marketing success and, especially, after a marketing failure, you must ask yourself, “What am I going to do next?”

I continually encourage my clients to create a 52-week marketing plan.

When you have a plan, a guide, or a road map for your marketing efforts and you follow it, you always will be ready for whatever you need to do next to generate more business.

Having a plan and following it will help your business and will keep a steady flow of new prospects that you can convert to clients.

You always must be prospecting for new business, either from existing clients or from targeted prospects.

Your marketing plan will help you to do this.