3 Solutions That Will Streamline Your Marketing Efforts and Give You More Time
There’s never a shortage of good ideas, the problem is finding the time to implement them and in what order. In this article I’m going to share with you a 3 step process that will streamline your marketing efforts making you more effective and giving you more time.
For a while I wanted to be a fiction writer, fantasy fiction, to be precise. I wanted to write like Diana Wynn or J.K. Rowling. I wanted to create fantastic landscapes in brave-new worlds with magical characters. But I was a business major and not a “real” writer, so I hired a writing coach to help me to hone the craft of writing.
My writing improved and I was able to meet other accomplished, published writers as well as very talented, non-published writers.
But what I learned about the world of writing shocked me….the real challenge isn’t writing a book or getting the book published, the true challenge is to getting all of those people to read your book , and that my friend takes marketing.
Most writers are not marketers. In fact, most business owners are not marketers by choice, they are marketers by necessity. They are forced to serve three masters, the master of running and managing a business, the master of providing a service, and the master of marketing. So how can a solo-entrepreneur or a small business person serve three masters with any real efficiency?
Here is a three step process that will help you to streamline your marketing efforts and leave you time to serve the only master that matters: your customer or client.
- Set a quantifiable goal. This may seem elementary but it’s astounding the number of small business owners and entrepreneurs who don’t have definable quarterly and yearly goals. Goals work as a benchmark to feed your marketing efforts. Think of it as the destination on the map of your success.
- Know thy customer and know where they hang-out, online and offline. What blogs do they frequent? What magazines do they read? Are they on Twitter, Facebook, or Google +, or Pinterest.
- Determine your marketing mix: That is, how much time and money should you invest in online marketing (pay-per-click, social media, and search engine optimization). Most businesses are under that illusion that social media will solve all of their marketing woes. But the truth is, is that your clientele may not frequent Twitter and you’d be better off starting a direct mail campaign or putting an ad in the paper (yes, that’s right print media isn’t dead yet), or creating a free in-person seminar.
Streamlining your marketing and finding more time for the things that matter to you really comes back to your goals and how you execute them.
Ask yourself, should you be thinking locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. You may have an eye on a five year national plan but to execute it, you need to implement and execute locally today.
For example, let’s say you own a franchise. You have the opportunity to buy another franchise in a larger demographic area, but before you can accomplish that goal, you’d need to show proficiency in implementing systems and the corporate marketing strategy in your backyard.
Next week: How to write a business plan.
Questions, comments, concerns? Leave a comment or drop me an email at [email protected]
Thanks,
Krista Magidson, Owner Boutique Marketing Group