8 Elements to Include in Your 2017 New Business/Marketing Plan

You’ve decided to start working on your new business/marketing plan for 2017. Now where do you start?

Here’s a basic outline that you can follow to create a great new business/marketing plan for your business.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary should be written last but always comes first. This portion is a concise summary of your plan.

The Team

In this section, you should define the new business and marketing environment at your business. Who is on your team and what do they do? How did you grow this year and how are you planning on growing next year? Do you need to hire new employees to achieve these goals?

Performance

By analyzing this past year, you can better forecast the year ahead. Where will your new opportunities come from?

The Marketplace

Who are your competitors? What kind of trends are you seeing in your industry?

Revenue Goals

This is where you crunch the numbers. Look at your business from last year. Where did it come from? Did your new customers come to you or were you more proactive in your prospecting? How many new customers will you need in 2017 to meet your goals?

Meeting Those Goals

This element is where you need to know who your ideal customer is and use this information to put together a targeted list of prospects.

New Business Tools

What new tools do you need to meet your goals? Is it a new CRM? Or maybe this year you redesign your website. Plan for these new tools to make 2017 an easier and more productive year.

Marketing

Is your business’ marketing message strong enough to differentiate you from your competition? Is your messaging strong? What events should you attend? Speak at? Or should you create your own event?

A new business/marketing plan can seem like a lot of work, but the time you invest in planning for your business’ future will pay off with a good year ahead. When you know where you’re going, it’s easier to get there!

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. – Maya Angelou

It’s Time to Start Thinking About Your 2017 Business Plan

I know you already have an overwhelming to-do list, but as a small business owner, you need to start thinking about your new business and marketing plan for 2017.

Here are a couple of great reasons why you need a plan:

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     -It’s a great way to measure your success. Your annual plan sets expectations for you and your employees because you all contribute to your company’s success.

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     - You learn a lot. Writing the plan for next year give you the opportunity to reflect on the past year and accurately set projections for the coming year.

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     - It clarifies what you do at your business. Some employees may not know all that is being done in your company. If they are involved in the new business and marketing plan, they will learn what your goals are and see the path you are laying out to achieve those goals. 

Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price for it. – Alexander Bloch

3 Tip on How to Market Your Business When You are Busy

As a business owner, you are a very busy person. You have to meet clients, create and present proposals, network to find new clients, do your bookkeeping and write your blog. How can you keep marketing your business when you’re so busy running your business?

Here are a few tips you can use to get more marketing done in less time. You’ll also improve your marketing outreach and lead generation efforts too.

Schedule time to write your blog

Blogging for your business will set you apart as an expert in your industry so posting on a regular basis is a great idea. To write one blog a week you should schedule time on your calendar to write, edit and post your blog. Setting aside a half an hour to an hour a couple days a week will get you a great blog you’ll be proud to post.

Day 1: Write a working blog title and an outline of your blog.

Day 2: Start writing. Take your outline and fill in the blanks. Once you’re done with your blog, change your working title to a catchy title that will make people want to read your blog.

Day 3: Post your blog and promote it on social media.

Day 4: Start working on ideas for your next blog.

Use your blog posts everywhere

Having your blog on your website it a must. Visitors to your site will be able to read your posts and better understand what you do and how you can help them. Your blog on your website will also raise your website in searches because you’re adding new content to your site.

But don’t limit your blog to your website. Share it on LinkedIn and Facebook. This will allow you to attract prospective clients to your business on different channels.

Use your email signature to market your business

Email signatures are often an underutilized marketing tool. Create an email signature that includes links to your website, your social media profiles and your latest blog post.

It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. – Abraham Lincoln

It is better to have lived one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep. – Tibetan saying

Blogging Apps You Need!

If you’re smart, you’re blogging for your small business. You know that blogging drives traffic to your website and you are seen as an expert in your industry. But you may not know how to drive traffic to your blog or how to effectively generate new blog ideas.

If you’re struggling, it may be because you aren’t using the right tools. There are many great digital tools that bloggers can use to improve content and improve their reader’s experience.

Here are some great digital tools that bloggers can try:

Upitch App

The Upitch App is a tool that lets media outlets and bloggers connect. Bloggers can pitch their story to journalists all over the world with just one easy upload.  For bloggers, you can find great story ideas and journalists that you can pitch to. Find Upitch at http://upitchapp.com.

Hemmingway App

The Hemmingway app is a great editing tool. It will let a blogger know if you have sentence that is too long or too complicated. It will even suggest areas that can be changed. You can find the Hemmingway app at http://www.hemingwayapp.com.

Title Generator

Coming up with a catchy title for your blog can sometimes be the most difficult part of writing a blog. This tool can help. By entering a topic into the Title Generator and checking off whether the word is a noun or a verb, you will be given a list of various title ideas you can use. Find Title Generator by Tweak Your Biz at http://tweakyourbiz.com/tools/title-generator/index.php

Coschedule

Marketing your small business can take a lot of time. Coschedule has a marketing calendar, social media scheduling, workflow management, WordPress and Google Doc integrations and a headline analyzer and more. Coschedule can be found at http://coschedule.com.

Happy Friendship Day!

. The Do’s and Don’t’s of Website Design

It’s important for a small business to have a website. It’s the first place people go to look up information about your business. It legitimizes you. It tells the world who you are and what you do.

So having a great website is very important for your brand. A successful website design includes your visitor’s preferences, needs and expectations.

How your website is laid out, what colors you use, the fonts and images you use can mean the difference between success and failure. Your website must be eye-catching, have the right amount of information and show off your brand correctly.

Here are some website design ideas to help you create a beautiful and effective website.

Use white space

Open space on your website is fine. Not every white space should be filled with text or pictures. Open space gives you room to separate content, making it easier for your visitors to read what you’ve written.

Keep it simple

More features on your website does not mean a better design. Too many bells and whistles can make your site unnecessarily complicated and can turn off visitors. If you want to add features to your website, be sure they have a purpose and drive visitors to become customers.

It’s more than color

Design is more than colors, images and fonts. A good website design is a wonderful experience for your visitors. They can easily find the information they are looking for.

It’s all about the users

When you design your website, remember it is not for you but for your customers and potential customers. Don’t assume your customers understand and use the industry jargon you may use. Don’t use it in the website content.

Your website needs to communicate with your customers where they are in the sales journey.

Make it mobile

The first place many people search for a website is on their smartphone or tablet. Make sure your website is mobile compatible. 

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. – Les Brown