Small Business Coaching: 

A 4-step Marketing Plan - Simple & Easy

By Allison Babb

Most entrepreneurs I've met have a one-pronged marketing plan.  It is referrals, also known as word-of-mouth. And that's all I did in the beginning as well.  Referrals are fantastic and word-of-mouth is powerful, but the truth is it is not actually a marketing plan.

Now before you stop reading at the "p" word (plan), let me assure that a marketing plan is not complicated nor is it painful.  It's really just planning what you will do each week to create a consistent flow of clients and customers for your business.

Without a reliable and consistent marketing plan, you are sure to experience widely fluctuating results in your business.  And without a marketing plan, you also find yourself sitting around waiting for business to show up. Here is an easy and simple 4-step strategy you can implement immediately to make cause clients and customers to come to you:

1)  Understand the 3 M's of Marketing:  The 3 Ms are your market, your message, and the media you will use to reach your ideal clients.  When I first learned this, I thought it was brilliant.  And then I realized that most entrepreneurs do this upside-down (by starting with the media first).  Simply put, here's what it is:

Market:  This is #1.  Get a crystal clear picture of who your ideal client is (male, female, income level, marital status, type of business, and as much else as you can gather in your market research.)  This is critical to your success.  When you know exactly who they are, it becomes easy to find out where they are and it becomes easy to reach them.

Message:  Become intimately familiar with the key needs/problems/desires of your target market in your area of expertise.  This way, your marketing message on the solution you provide is powerful and magnetically attracts your ideal prospects. 

Media:  When your target market and message are crystal clear to you, you can easily select your media - that is, the way in which you will reach with your target market.  Most entrepreneurs start here, which is a mistake.  The first 2 M's are critical to your success.

2)  Pick your marketing media:  As a business owner, you can choose to go beyond word of mouth to create the results you desire.  You can cause people to show up as a result of your marketing actions. Your marketing can be offline or online and may include media like post cards, sales letters, google adwords, a magnetic client-attractive web site, an e-newsletter, public speaking, free workshops, press releases, follow-up systems, blogs, social media, networking groups, special promotions, etc. Typically you'd select 5-10 actions you repeat consistently.  More if you choose but consistency is the key.

3)  Calendar your marketing actions:  After choosing which marketing actions are a fit for your business and your target market, don't make the common mistake of filing away your terrific marketing plan.  This is where your plan comes alive.  It's a living document.  You look at it daily/weekly, and you decide which marketing actions to plug into your calendar to ensure you implement them each and every single week.  The truth is, as a business owner, you never stop marketing.  It's your consistent actions that creates consistent results.  Marketing is a non-negotiable calendar event.

4)  Measure your results:  Here's a critical step that a lot of business owners overlook.  Take a look at marketing actions you are currently implementing and ask "What are the results?"  For example, if you're spending hundreds or thousands on an ad, how many clients or sales did it produce over time?  Or, if you are spending hundreds attending networking meetings, how many clients or sales has it produced over time?  If you are repeating a marketing action and seeing no results over time, it's probably time to ditch that and try another marketing option.  Or, get some help with making it more effective.

Thankfully, there are countless ways for us to market our businesses.  If you are short on ideas, simply seek out marketing resources to help you choose marketing actions that may be ideal for your business.  With these 4 simple steps, you are well on your way to turning up the volume on the profits in your business.

If you enjoyed this article, you'll love Allison's Ultimate Clients & Cash System which walks you through the steps for implementing several different marketing options to help you get a steady stream of new clients and a more repeatable/predictable (and growing!) income for your business.