Practicing What I Preach! A 90-Day Journey

My client was in a panic. Within the next two weeks, he would finish a long-term project for one of his clients and was concerned that there was no new project immediately in the pipeline.

It didn’t take me long to figure out his problem. After delving into the mechanics of his business, it was blatantly obvious that he was primarily "reacting" to his client's requests, rather than "managing" them. Even after being in business for a number of years, he still hasn’t made the effort to be proactive by getting his corporate infrastructure in place.

We reviewed his goals and aspirations for the company and came up with a 90-Day Marketing Plan. For the next three months, before he concentrated on his clients, he was to commit to spending the first half hour to an hour every day working through a checklist of things that he has to explore in order to expand his business. To help him get 'up-to-speed' quickly, he has hired me to manage his list and implement the plan.

While looking over his checklist to determine what marketing advice I was going to suggest to him, I 'subconsciously' reflected on my own business. It was obvious that I needed to take my own advice! So, I’m inviting you to come along on my 'journey'.

Today is day one of my own 90-Day Marketing Plan. I’ll be reviewing my existing Strategic Marketing Plan and determine where I need to re-evaluate and update.

A Strategic Marketing Plan is a living document that changes at least monthly, sometimes weekly, or for some, daily as your company evolves and adapts to your business environment. It is a companion to a Business Plan. The marketing plan describes, in depth, how you are going to promote your product or service to your target market. The business plan defines all the other aspects of your company.

The first thing I did was to bring out my neglected marketing plan and created a checklist of areas that required my attention. The first order of business was to redefine my target market, or sometimes called a niche market. I simply made a list of all my current clients and determined what they had in common.

Do you currently have a strategy in place to market your business? There are a gazillion books and online resources to help guide you through the process of creating your own business/marketing plan
or just email me at Sandra@MaurerMarketingMinutes.com and I will send you FREE, a simple outline you can use as a guide for creating a business plan and marketing strategy that I give to my clients.