I received a call Friday afternoon from a long time friend and in short, it was explained that he wanted a “blueprint” (a “Fast Action Guide,” a “Cheat Sheet”) for the process of where to start marketing efforts for a brand new company.
For this “Blueprint and Plan,” he offered to pay me anything I asked. I told him it was not cheap because of all the work involved. In reality, I actually wanted a measure of his “intent.” Once he recovered from that shock and momentary heart failure, we scheduled a call for Monday Morning at 7 am (yesterday) to go over the plan. It melted his mind.
This request had provided me the weekend to contemplate the “plan” I was going to present to him and it dawned on me that I can tell how a company is doing in their marketing efforts by asking 1 (ONE) question. 98% of the time I get a blank stare back after asking this ONE question.
Today’s Marketing Minute is the One Question:
Can I see your marketing calendar?
98% of the time, there is not one.
If You Have One, Congratulations!!! You are ahead of the pack!
For those of you that have one, Question 2 is: What does the “follow-up sequence” look like for EACH of those planned promotions?
…and that usually eliminates 99.9% of everyone I’ve ever talked to in the last 20 years of being in business.
The Following “Blueprint,” in order of importance, are the steps I provided him yesterday.
- Step 1
1) Define Clearly your single highest profit product/service.
2) Define Clearly who your single BEST customer is.
3) Define the Major Frustration you solve for this customer (The ONE They thank you for solving – repeatedly).
4) Define Clearly the “Call To Action” you want a potential customer to take next for their “next step” (Intent scale: “Come in” is #1, “Call” is #2). - Step 2
1) Optimize Your Google My Business Profile with the above clarified info
2) Create a plan of action to optimize the other directories (Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Facebook, & Linkedin).
3) Create 2 Strategic Follow-Up Systems FIRST. Create each plan for “staying in touch” with 1) Past Clients & 2) New Prospects. - Step 3
1) Create your Marketing Calendar with your promotions and goals as they tie back to your highest profit products and services and the frustrations each solves.
2) Implement it (in bite size pieces).
3) Set a goal of creating “44 Different Hooks.” Note: the fishing industry is regulated due to over fishing, the internet is not (YET). Fish while you can!
Once you have this 3 step “plan” developed, you are closer to eliminating the roller coaster ride of highs and lows that you are used to enduring. BUT there is one more little step…
Today at 9 am, my friend and I are going to be executing on the plan by clarifying his step one on paper. And this is the “Blueprint” he requested and this call is actually Step 4) Implementation of the plan. You have to schedule time to get it done.
Notice, I did not say we had to build a website site, get a messenger bot, OR sign up for anything that costs any money.
If you would like some help with creating and implementing your 4 step plan, lets set a time to talk. There is an investment that will be required BUT it will be the best investment you’ll ever make in your business, I promise, or there is no charge at all.
Wes
