My top 10 marketing resolutions for 2008
My top 10 marketing resolutions for 2008
1. Listen. If you’re not committed to doing some marketing and doing marketing constantly in 2008, it’s never going to happen. You need to decide whether you’re going to spend at least half a day a week, each and every week to achieve your goals or not. If so, great…carry on reading the rest of my tips. If not, that’s fine too – give me a call (or using another marketing person) and we’ll do it for you. At least then, it will get done and you won’t have to worry about it.
2. If you are committed to doing some marketing, decide what your goal is for each activity you do. In other words, if you’re attending a networking, decide that you want to meet at least 2 people who are interested in discussing your product or service in more detail after the event. Then measure how well you did against your targets. If you’re meeting or exceeding your targets, carry on with that marketing activity. If not, drop that activity and try something else.
3. Team up with a friend or colleague and have a challenge of who can get the most amount of business by the end of June. Meet on a regular basis to see how you’re getting on and help each other.
4. Make it your priority to keep your eyes open for new marketing opportunities. Opportunities are all around us and sometimes we just need to pay attention. For instance, just before Christmas, the local radio station ran an auction allowing you to donate an item and receive 1 hour’s free publicity on the radio during the day. Try to find 1 new marketing opportunity a month and get involved with it.
5. Your current customer database is the easiest place to go if you want quick marketing hits. Why not call or email all your past contacts to see how things are going for them. You never
know what might turn up.
6. Look back at where you got your previous customers from to see what marketing activities have worked for you in the past. Be specific – if the customer came from a referral, who sent it over to you? If they came from a networking event – which one? Once you know which marketing activities are working, go and do them again.
7. 2008 should be the year of building relationships. If you want your contacts to send you referrals or the press to publish your stories, don’t expect to meet with that person once and have done with it. You wouldn’t refer to someone you didn’t know, so you can’t expect them to. Think of ways to build your relationships with people i.e. swapping website links; doing some marketing together; referring someone over to them – if you do something for them, you’re likely to get it back ten-fold.
8. Have a strategy to follow-up with each and every single person you come into contact with. You don’t know how interested they are in your product or service until you ask them. Having an effective follow-up strategy improved my marketing significantly and it can do the same for you if you spend some time putting one in place.
9. Why not come up with one new marketing activity per week? Get a bit creative and have some fun with it. The inspiration of two heads is often better than one, so get together with contacts you know and see how many different activities you can come up with.
10. If you achieve your targets, make sure that you reward yourself. Too often, small business owners are excellent at celebrating failure – why not turn it around and write down 10 things that have gone right each day. It can really help keep you motivated.
I hope you’ve found these ideas useful. Here’s to a prosperous 2008!!
My top 10 marketing resolutions for 2008 - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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Happy New Year! It’s that time again, when we all put our New Year’s Resolutions into place and try our best to achieve them before the end of the year. As you’ve probably got ideas of things you want to achieve in your business in 2008, I thought that some top 10 marketing resolutions would be of benefit, so here goes…
1. Listen. If you’re not committed to doing some marketing and doing marketing constantly in 2008, it’s never going to happen. You need to decide whether you’re going to spend at least half a day a week, each and every week to achieve your goals or not. If so, great…carry on reading the rest of my tips. If not, that’s fine too – give me a call (or using another marketing person) and we’ll do it for you. At least then, it will get done and you won’t have to worry about it.
2. If you are committed to doing some marketing, decide what your goal is for each activity you do. In other words, if you’re attending a networking, decide that you want to meet at least 2 people who are interested in discussing your product or service in more detail after the event. Then measure how well you did against your targets. If you’re meeting or exceeding your targets, carry on with that marketing activity. If not, drop that activity and try something else.
3. Team up with a friend or colleague and have a challenge of who can get the most amount of business by the end of June. Meet on a regular basis to see how you’re getting on and help each other.
4. Make it your priority to keep your eyes open for new marketing opportunities. Opportunities are all around us and sometimes we just need to pay attention. For instance, just before Christmas, the local radio station ran an auction allowing you to donate an item and receive 1 hour’s free publicity on the radio during the day. Try to find 1 new marketing opportunity a month and get involved with it.
5. Your current customer database is the easiest place to go if you want quick marketing hits. Why not call or email all your past contacts to see how things are going for them. You never
know what might turn up.
6. Look back at where you got your previous customers from to see what marketing activities have worked for you in the past. Be specific – if the customer came from a referral, who sent it over to you? If they came from a networking event – which one? Once you know which marketing activities are working, go and do them again.
7. 2008 should be the year of building relationships. If you want your contacts to send you referrals or the press to publish your stories, don’t expect to meet with that person once and have done with it. You wouldn’t refer to someone you didn’t know, so you can’t expect them to. Think of ways to build your relationships with people i.e. swapping website links; doing some marketing together; referring someone over to them – if you do something for them, you’re likely to get it back ten-fold.
8. Have a strategy to follow-up with each and every single person you come into contact with. You don’t know how interested they are in your product or service until you ask them. Having an effective follow-up strategy improved my marketing significantly and it can do the same for you if you spend some time putting one in place.
9. Why not come up with one new marketing activity per week? Get a bit creative and have some fun with it. The inspiration of two heads is often better than one, so get together with contacts you know and see how many different activities you can come up with.
10. If you achieve your targets, make sure that you reward yourself. Too often, small business owners are excellent at celebrating failure – why not turn it around and write down 10 things that have gone right each day. It can really help keep you motivated.
I hope you’ve found these ideas useful. Here’s to a prosperous 2008!!
My top 10 marketing resolutions for 2008 - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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