Your 5 Day Marketing Plan
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Free Download - Email Marketing and the High Price of Irrelevance By Karen Scharf |
In my many discussions with small business owners and entrepreneurs, I often hear "time management" being mentioned as a pressure point. Most entrepreneurs wear many hats and take on multiple roles in their businesses, making it hard to juggle all the daily activities.
Unfortunately, since many small business owners don't consider marketing as a core business activity (what a shame), it's often the task that gets set aside when time is crunched. But by taking just a few minutes to plan ahead, your future marketing activities can go much smoother; you'll be able to complete your marketing activities quickly and easily.
All you need are a few marketing tools to add to your arsenal. Set aside just one hour each morning, and by the end of the week your marketing toolbox will be well stocked:
Monday
Craft a very engaging bio of yourself and/or your business. Make it as lively and personal as possible. Prepare several different versions of various lengths, and be sure to keep the bios someplace handy. Next time you post to a message board, contribute a letter to the editor, submit a press release, create a special report, etc. your bio or author's box will already be written and ready to go.
Tuesday
Write three or four high value, high content articles. Whenever you need a bonus give-away, a joint venture contribution, or an online article, you'll be prepared. The articles can also be compiled into special reports or broken apart into an autoresponder series or online e-course. Several excellent, evergreen articles are a great addition to your marketing toolbox.
Wednesday
Perform a features and benefits analysis. Small business owners usually know the features of their product or service backwards and forwards. But they don't always relate these to benefits because, to someone who knows the product so well, the features are the benefits. By having an outline of your benefits prepared in advance, you'll be one step ahead when it's time to write your sales letters, craft your marketing message, update your website, etc.
Thursday
Develop and memorize your key marketing message. If a hot prospect, possible investor or media contact asks "What exactly do you do?" you definitely don't want to stumble over your words. Or worse yet, you don't want to ramble on and on leaving the prospect sorry he ever asked. You must be able to state clearly, in fifteen seconds or less, who you are, what problems you solve and who you solve them for. And you must be able to do it in your sleep!
Friday
Prepare a press release template. There are tons of free publicity opportunities out there for small business owners, but most entrepreneurs don't take advantage of them because they think it's too time consuming. By having your press release template prepared in advance, you'll be able to jump on those free publicity opportunities as soon s they present themselves. And don't forget to add your short bio to the end of press release.
Action Item
Pull out your calendar or day planner right now and block off one hour every day next week. Be prepared to devote this time to developing your marketing arsenal.
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." Vincent van Gogh
Your 5 Day Marketing Plan - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
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Michiel JonkerAs a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Michiel assists businesses in a professional capacity by evaluating the threats to their businesses. He acquired the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques to minimize a business owner’s risk of business failure and to maximize his chances of high growth and success. He strongly believes that you CAN maximize your chances of business success, by implementing the business solution he has advocated for more than 12 years in your business plan and planning. Michiel has decided to share his experience with business owners by putting almost everything he knows in a business plan and survival guide (compiled in an e-book format) and written as a high growth SMB coaching course for SMB business owners, directors and managers - titled as the “Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses - Profit from your Business Risks!” According to Michiel, his goal was to add new techniques to a business owner’s business planning survival kit and instruct him or her in using these in the future - without any help from a consultant! For more information about the benefits of implementing profit protection planning in your business, please visit: http://www.business-around-the-globe.com - Visit Michiel Jonker'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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