Planning, that old exercise of writing a list of things you are going to do, only never to look at the list again!  Sound familiar?  The start of a new year is generally filled with repeated resolutions that are quickly forgotten once day to day life starts. We all do it in various aspects of life, but planning for your business and your marketing is crucial.

Your business has the people, resources and desire to make the year a great one, why not augment that with an effective Marketing Plan.

Marketing planning should be something you look forward to as it is this plan of activities that will lead to business over the year.  There are however a few golden rules that must be applied to your plan.

The plan must be something that works with you at all times, it must not be completed then ?filed?, never to be seen again.

The plan must be visible, either as a chart on your office wall which you can tick each time you?ve completed an activity; or a spreadsheet that you populate with activity, costs, and results.  It really doesn?t matter how you choose to see your plan, the important bit is that you do see it, daily.

It also needs to reflect activity that can be carried out by you, on a regular basis.  It may include the number of prospect calls you?ll make each week; the client visits you?ll book to focus on repeat business and upselling; the target number of tweets you?ll send out daily; the networking events you?ll attend each week.

Whatever the action, make it SMART, that old marketing adage which still applies to business today: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.  Some of the activity can be outsourced to expert providers, but again this can, and should be, ticked off your list and measured in terms of performance on an ongoing basis.

Creating a plan now will also make future planning far easier.  Reflect on which activity has worked: created the most leads and most importantly, provided the best return on investment.  Without a plan you can?t accurately reflect which marketing activity works best for your business, so which to do again, and which not to.

When you know where you want your business to be in 12 months time, you?ll have a much greater chance of getting there.  With a strategy in place and a plan of action to follow, any marketing for your business will produce much better results than ad hoc initiatives.

SOS Marketing Workshop

Are you too busy to find new clients?

Does your marketing need an SOS to help you find the clients you need?

SOS Your Business in Half a Day is a workshop that will help you find the new clients you need to grow your business ? no matter how busy you are. It will show you how to plan your marketing, to fit around your schedule, and keep bringing in new business, even while you?re busy looking after your clients.

There are only 15 places available on this workshop (as of 8 March, there are only 3 places left.) The cost is just £10, all of which will be donated to the Monument Community Trust. 

When and where? 20 March 2012 from 9am ? 12.30pm at Monument Business Park, Chalgrove.

Who? Chantal Cornelius from Appletree will share 16 years of experience in this interactive workshop.

Why? Many small businesses get caught on a ?feast and famine? rollercoaster. They do lots of marketing and generate new work. Then they become so busy doing that work that they don?t have time to do any more marketing. Suddenly the work dries up, so they start marketing again. The work comes in, leaving them too busy again to carry on with the marketing.

If you recognise this cycle and want to get off, book your place now.

SOS Your Business in Half a Day is an interactive workshop that will show you how to plan your marketing and fit it into your busy schedule, to give you a regular flow of new clients.

Book now by clicking here and click on Events to reserve your place. Call 01635 578 500 for further details.