In Marketing As In Life Reality Is Your Friend

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If you were to build a house would you first start ordering supplies?  Hopefully you would first hire an architect to develop a plan. Only then after the plan is approved would you obtain the permits, order the materials, hire the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians and begin the project. 

Far too often entrepreneurs string together random tactics hoping it will lead to an avalanche of customers. They build websites, engage in social media, place various ads, and then sit back and wait and wait for customers to come flooding in. 

It's easy to get so energized that people cannot wait to get their business running. Since marketing is everywhere, people naturally imitate the tactics they see most often. Since large companies have the most money, their marketing is what most are exposed to. However, large companies have very different agendas, very different priorities and a much larger budget. Large companies also have a board of directors to please along with shareholders and various levels of management consider, whereas smaller companies have one main agenda - make a profit. 

 Marketing Plans Must Be Direct And Do Several Things Well

1. They serve as a road map and a blueprint that spells out your plan of action in precise detail with the logical steps required to grow your business. 
2. They allow customers and clients to quickly and easily appreciate who you are, what you stand for and identify the unique value that separates you from everyone else in the universe. 
3. They stop the nightmare of playing guessing games and wondering what to do next so you don’t panic, as panic is the last thing you ever want to do in business. Panic is suicide; when you panic you make mistakes, often very big mistakes. 
4. They are clear regarding what's not in the plan as what's not in the plan is equally important as what's in the plan. 

This is where many businesses fall into a big trap, the information trap. This results  when marketing plan are overloaded with pages and pages of information and ideas that incorporates alternative courses of action for all type of possible problems and various "what if" scenarios. Sounds good, right? 

But all that information actually makes your marketing plan look more like a business plan or even a world almanac. This results in people getting bogged down with so much data, so much information and so many details; they get distracted and even discouraged from their original dreams, so much so, they often never look at their marketing plan again. 

Here’s the thing, even though great marketing plans are quite comprehensive in scope, great plans make the final cut, short, sweet and to the point. This essential element makes the plan easy to follow so you don’t get off track or head in the wrong directions.  

Marketing is one of the most deceptive skill sets in existence. Shooting from the hip with hunches is seldom a wise strategy especially when so much is riding on those decisions. 

Imagine running your business with a strategy that eliminated the nightmare of playing guessing games and wondering what to do next?  Imagine having a strategy that provided both rational and practical steps for your business to thrive and was based on your budget?      

• Does your marketing provide little to no results?
• Do you jump from one marketing strategy to another?
• Are stuck or confused about what to do next?

If you’re tired of winging it, if you're tired of playing guessing games, call Brian at 818 268 8700 to find out if we're a good fit to work together.