A new year, a new marketing plan

Have you got your marketing plan in place yet? If you haven't then send an email to marketingpreplan@getresponse.com.

You'll get back something I made for myself to use, and then expanded so everyone else could use it too. It gives you some things to consider as you make plans for a profitable 2009.

While you should be planning weekly, monthly, or quarterly contact with all of your past, present, and future clients, you also need to plan ahead to each holiday and get moving on a promotion for the closest one.

That, of course, would be Valentine's Day. It's not a legal holiday, but it is certainly one that people notice. If you sell greeting cards, candies, or flowers you already market for it, but what if you sell water filtration systems?

You can still market around the holiday. After all, the reason why someone would buy one of your systems is to protect themselves and their loved ones. So remind them of that! You might even remind them that they love their parents or grown children enough to buy a system for them.

If you put your thinking cap on, you can come up with some kind of loving angle for almost any product or service. But... if you wait until next week or the week after to start working on it, Valentine's Day will come and go and you won't have it done.

So start today. Get out a pencil and paper and brainstorm with yourself. If you have others to help you, all the better. Write down every idea that pops into your head, even if it's goofy. Sometimes good and sensible things come from a goofy start.

Let your ideas sit overnight and come back to them tomorrow for refinement or maybe additions. Then just settle on a plan and get busy.

Do you need to buy more of some kind of merchandise? Do you need to set up a drip campaign? Do you need to write a new web page? Do you need a direct mail piece? Should you place an ad in your local newspaper? Maybe your business is large enough to schedule a few radio or TV spots.

If you do affiliate marketing, what products will you promote? Go find the best buys and the best coupons or discounts for your customers.

Think about where and how you'll get this promotion in front of your buyers. Then schedule the time to get it there.

Can you write the copy yourself or will you need a copywriter? Either way, you'll need lead time, so decide what message you'll want to convey.

2009 can be your best year yet - if you plan ahead and take action!

Remember: As soon as you get this one figured out, you need to move on to the next one. St. Patrick's Day will be here sooner than you think.