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3 Steps to IMPLEMENTING Your 2012 Marketing Plan

Guest post by: Michele Pariza Wacek

Article Overview: You just put the finishing touches on your kick-butt marketing plan that's going to skyrocket your business. Hooray! Only problem is that kick-butt marketing plan isn't going to do a thing for your business unless you actually put it into action. Here are 3 steps to get you started.

3 Steps to IMPLEMENTING Your 2012 Marketing Plan

You just put the finishing touches on your kick-butt marketing plan that's going to skyrocket your business. Hooray!

Only problem is that kick-butt marketing plan isn't going to do a thing for your business unless you actually put it into action. And that, alas, is where most marketing plans end up -- a really good idea that never got implemented.

So, how do you stop that from happening? Here are 3 steps to help you move from thinking to doing.

1. Figure out what you need to be doing versus what you can get someone else to do. Look, there's no reason why YOU have to do all the implementation. Get some help!

If you already have a team, fantastic! Now you just have to start delegating. If you don't have a team or you don't have the right person on your team to do a specific job (for instance, a technical person to fix your shopping cart) then you need to put finding that person to your to-do list. In the short term yes it does add to your workload, but in the long term it will save you a lot of time.

2. Block off time in your calendar to work on your plan. The only way these things are going to get done is if you actually take the time to work on them. So start by actually setting aside the time.

You may be someone who works better in shorter, more frequent bursts of time (15 or 20 minutes every day) versus a longer time less frequently (2 hours or half a day once a week). Only you know what appeals to yourself more and I would suggest scheduling your time accordingly. (Look, it's tough enough to get things done, you might as well make it easier for yourself by working with your natural tendencies than against them.)

3. Set yourself up for success. Just because you set the time aside doesn't mean you'll actually get anything done on your plan during that time. So you need to keep yourself focused and motivated and don't allow yourself to get sidetracked.

Now there's no question that's much easier said than done. So how do you do that? Here are a few tips to try:

* Remind yourself WHY you're doing this. Is it so you'll be able to take care of your family better? Is it because you want to sell a million copies of your book? Is it because you're so tired of the way things are you're ready for a change? Whatever it is, remind yourself of the bigger WHY before you sit down to work. That will keep your motivation up.

* Make it a special time just for you. Maybe light a candle, put on some favorite music or pour yourself a fave cup of tea. Or maybe you head out to a local Starbucks to hang out. Whatever it is, make it special -- something you look forward to.

* Create a "squirrel" file. If you ever watched the movie "Up" there's a talking dog in it that keeps getting distracted by squirrels. So he'll be talking and in the middle he'll shout "squirrel" and completely lose his train of thought.

As entrepreneurs, we are surrounded by squirrels. And there's no better time for the squirrels to come and play then during this time we've set aside to implement our marketing plan. "Oh, I'll get to my plan as soon as I get this email out...as soon as I return this phone call...as soon as I clean up my desk."

You get the idea.

So the way to keep the squirrels away is to create a "squirrel" file (or call it something fun like squirrel nest). Any of those squirrels come running out, capture it and stick it in the file to work on "later." If you want, you can even designate a time to work on all those squirrels.

But the most important thing to do is DECIDE you really ARE going to implement your plan. Once you do that, the rest will fall into place.

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Article Tags: business success strategy, business success tips, goal planning, marketing plan, online marketing strategies, small business marketing strategy, strategic internet marketing



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