On 31 August we ordered this year?s Christmas cards!

Did we do this because we?re huge fans of Christmas and can?t wait for the festivities to begin? No ? we did it because our Marketing Plan says that we send cards to all our clients and favourite contacts in the first week of December. It?s a great way to keep in touch with people who support our business during the year and to say thank you to them. Each card is signed, with a personal note in it and the envelopes are hand written. All this takes time, so we like to have the cards ready in plenty of time. If we leave it too late to order them, they won?t arrive in time. And this year, the catalogue had a special offer of a 20% discount for orders placed by the end of August, so we made a huge saving!

When you have a plan for your marketing ? when you know what needs to be done and by when ? it is much easier to get it all done, on time and within budget. Having a plan means that you don?t need to rush at the last minute or miss out on opportunities. We know what we will need Christmas cards in November and we know how much we want to spend on them. So when the catalogue came through, we knew how many cards to order and that we could afford some really nice ones, as we got such a great discount.

An easy way to create a Marketing Plan is by putting it onto a wall. We have one on the wall of our office, showing forthcoming events ? workshops, speaking engagements, book launches and, of course, Christmas. This means we can work backwards, looking at what needs to be done and by when. Each week we do a certain amount of marketing, prompted by the notes on the wall. Doing the planning in advance means it?s really easy to see what needs to be done, so we can get it done quickly. Little and often is the best way to do effective marketing.

If you?d like to know more about how to plan your marketing and how to make it easy, we?re running a workshop on 4 October 2012 in Henley. It costs just £40 and by the end of the day, you?ll have a great Marketing Plan that you can put on your wall! Click here for online booking ? and don?t leave it to the last minute, as we only have 12 places available