Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants Will Always Result In A Crash Landing

I know what it is like to just be ready to go when you're starting something new in business or starting a new business all together. You know you have good products &/or services that are worth the money you want to charge for them. You know that you need and deserve the money that would come from the sale of those products and services. It's only natural to want nothing more than to jump at each and every chance to make those things start flowing out of your field of view so that the money you receive for them can start flowing in. I've seen it be done over and over again though, where company after company and individual after individual either motivated by excitement or by fear or anxiousness, jumps into selling without a real plan &/or without sticking to the plan they may have created.

ALL SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES HAVE THE FOLLOWING AS A MINIMUM:

1. A planned marketing focus that goes as far out as possible on their calendar
2. A play by play plan on how/when they are going to market each of the items on that marketing focus set out on a timeline as time moves forward
3. A checks & balances system to insure that their promotional efforts are accurate, of good quality and aesthetically pleasing to the potential customer's eye. Paying attention to the details is very important.
4. A priority list & plan for what steps to take if/when things change due to unforeseen circumstances
5. A requirement that anything new that is added to the plan does not hinder that which is already in process and in place

WHY ARE THESE THINGS IMPORTANT?

I want you to imagine, for a moment, how things work in nature. If a particular species wishes to continue along in the world without becoming extinct, those capable of reproducing must take certain steps. A male cardinal, for example, must first begin doing the work of attracting his mate by eating properly, learning how to build a sturdy nest, getting the proper exercise, choosing a suitable location from which to attract his mate. Only after accomplishing those things will he be successful at attracting her. Once he has done all of that, he then begins to seek out the perfect female to produce with - it takes a bit of time, but eventually he will find a match and you can guarantee there will be no lack of competition, which is why his first steps will come in handy.

Upon choosing his target mate, he must then begin going step by step through the processes that will attract her to him above all others. He must, under all circumstances, stay focused upon that one target mate if he is to succeed. If he allows his focus to waiver, even for a moment, that is the moment his competition steps into the space he provided and takes the attention of his target. If he decides that his focus is on promiscuity and fun, rather than on spreading his product, then he becomes easily distracted by every female cardinal that flies by while he is in the midst of his mating ritual & in the end the likelihood of him having the chance to spread his product will be nothing more than a 50/50 toss-up between being a complete failure or merely a lucky fluke. The only logical time for that male cardinal to take his focus off of his primary target is either when he reaches the extreme of failure or success. Only then must he move on to the next target. If he focuses on too many things at once, he will never have the time or energy to complete them all with any sort of success.

This is exactly what you must do in your own online marketing situation. Prepare yourself for attracting your target customer/niche. Get a website up, Create a way to collect email addresses, Create an email distribution schedule to communicate with those on your list, Know your audience and plan relevant topics to share with them, Create a blog, Create Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn accounts & pages, YouTube Channels etc. and plan exactly what will best attract your target customer/niche on each of those channels. Stay focused on your plan and your niche only changing when your target niche changes or when an unforeseen circumstance occurs where you have no choice but to cancel your focus.

There is a certain maturity that customers expect when working with someone in business & more than that, it is the logical and linear flow of nature that we must follow a plan in order to continue with success. When I consider those who are just living life without a solid plan that takes priority, those who are easily distracted from one thing to the next based on not much more than a goal of finding the quickest path to being satisfied & happy - the first thing that comes to mind is the image of a toddler crying over their mom leaving them at daycare and their caregiver dangling a toy in front of them. The speed at which they lose their focus on keeping their mother there, is a direct reflection of just how quickly their mom is willing to leave. In business no one wants to be a toddler - our goal is to be mature in business and proceed with a linear, logical approach to a focused plan. I urge you all to set a clear plan & keep yourself informed on the time & energy it may take for you or your staff to complete that plan with any success before allowing yourself to be distracted by everything that someone dangles before you as a potentially satisfactory tool.

You've Started A Blog, Now What?

You've heard over and over again how blogging can bring traffic to your website, increase your brand image, establish you as an expert in your field, create relationships with current and potential clients/customers & bring you money so you decided to start a blog. You've taken the first step toward increasing your business and online image by creating a blog.... But Now What Do You Do?

Now it's time to decide what to blog about and how to do your blogging. The answer to this question should be as simple as consulting your social media specific marketing plan, but if you haven't got one of those yet, then you're going to have to spend a bit of time brainstorming. The first thing you want to do is consider just who it is you are trying to reach with your blog. Who is your customer or potential customer and what are their interests? Focus on your target audience and put yourself in their shoes. What is it that they want or need and how can you provide that for them? Your posts should be things that are totally and completely relevant to your customer without making your customer feel like you're trying to sell them something.

Before you start writing, you will want to keep a few things in mind. We've already addressed the concept of making your blog posts relevant, but there's much more to it than that. Whether it is blogging, articles, your newsletter or your posts and updates in social media at least 80% of what you post should be of value to your readers without selling them in any way. You should keep in mind that the focus of the blog is to increase your image as an expert in your field NOT to sell your products and services. If you are successful in creating a positive image for yourself the sales will come, however, if all you do is sell you'll only create an image for yourself as a spammer and a narcissist incapable of focusing on much more than yourself or things that benefit you rather than your readers. The best way to create value for your readers is to put yourself in their shoes, think like your customer and write about something they care about. As a spiritual entrepreneur this should be easy because your customers and potential customers care about the same things you do. There is a plethora of things you can do which will add value to the lives of your readers whether you are reviewing a book, turning them onto a person, business or product that will assist them in their own endeavors, or even discussing controversial topics such as religion and politics. Your insight is just what is needed to change the world and the lives of your readers.

When your piece has been posted on your blog keep in mind that the process isn't over. You will need to promote it by making sure to post it on your social media pages and scheduling automatic updates for future posts so you won't have to spend your every day posting updates on your pages. As long as the blog post is relevant you can promote it and it will circulate around the internet being read by potential customers & clients. Don't make the mistake of thinking it is only relevant for a short time or that you can't promote it, because as long as there is a link that will take the reader to it you can promote it all you wish. Additionally, you will need to periodically check your blog site for comments and moderate them appropriately. Over time as your blog becomes more and more popular, people will make comments and have discussions on your posts. Make sure you moderate those comments in order to prevent spammers from clogging your feed, and make sure you spend some time responding to those who post comments on your blog. Remember the point of online social media marketing is to establish relationships with your customers and potential customers, and no relationship can be properly nurtured without two-way communication. You will notice me saying this over and over again - SOCIAL is the first word in the phrase "SOCIAL media marketing" for a reason so don't forget it!!

This should help you with a tad bit of insight to get started posting. Good luck and please be sure to let me know if you have any questions by visiting http://www.JennieHowell.com .

Please note: if you've decided to make your blog a podcast blog or a video blog the information above applies equally to those posts it's simply a matter of changing the focus from writing to recording.

Those Who Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail

The most Important part of getting started as a business in social media is your social media marketing plan. All too frequently, that is also the least paid attention to item on the list of things to do for a business getting started in the virtual world.

A social media marketing plan accomplishes a plethora of tasks ranging from understanding your own business skills and purpose in more depth, to discovering what is and isn't realistic about your goals, and most importantly, to understanding your target audience and customers. Without a thorough social media marketing plan and a person to put each step into action on time, you won't be successful at much more than simply establishing a presence.

At some point without a proper social media marketing plan your marketing efforts in the online social world will plateau and you will be left to wonder if your skills in manifestation are what you thought they were.

A social media marketing plan is a bit different than a standard marketing plan in that it is, in many cases, much more detailed and it is perpetually adjusting to the changing scenery in the virtual world. Additionally, whereas the focus with a traditional marketing plan is on the hard sell/lead, the social media marketing plan focuses much more heavily on the soft sell/lead and long term customer retention and relationships.

If you are considering beginning a social media campaign for your next promotion, sale or event make sure you know what a social media marketing plan consists of and what is entailed in following through on it. If you're not sure exactly what is to be included in your marketing plan, whether it is how many tweets per day, how many blog posts per week, article posts per month, press releases per month etc. then you will most benefit from contacting a social media consultant to help get you started.

I hope this post has helped you to gather at least an idea of the importance of getting a proper social media marketing plan before starting your quest into the virtual world. If you feel confident that all is in balance with your plan and you are ready to take action, then by all means get going, but if you're still a bit unsure please feel free to contact me to set up a consultation.