Chances are, your business may have needed a makeover last year and this year, you may want to create a couple of “marketing” New Year’s resolutions for your business. Here are a couple from M Com Publishing and M Communications.
1. Finish 2016 Marketing Plan. Yes. Even though you are not Intel, Victoria’s Secret, Forbes or any other majority corporation – you do need a yearly marketing plan for your business. This will keep you on track and help you make wise decisions throughout the year. If you do not have one yet, it is not too late. In tomorrow’s blog we will talk about why you need one and we can help.
2. Track all marketing results including events. This means tracking any viral advertising campaign (web or clicks through newsletter links) and determining whether potential leads convert into clients. If the strategy works, keep it, if it does not, scrap it. Additionally, this applies to networking events. While we do not expect new clients at the very first event we attend, after a couple of months it may be apparent the group may not be the best fit.
3. Fresh content for the blog, 2x a week. For SEO purposes, fresh content is best. This does not mean say, going into your newsletter database, copying and pasting old content from an old newsletter to your blog so it looks up to date. Keep in mind blogging tips such as a searchable subject, repeated in the text, reference newsworthy items for back links and tagging appropriately. Last, if we do not have time to engage in this simple marketing activity we shall hire someone.
4. Newsworthy Newsletters. The M-Dash without question has received rave reviews (it’s free, funny, gives great tips and you can sign up here) and the only complaint has been lack of frequency. My bad. Here is the deal, I resolve to write one per week and if not, may hire someone who is as funny as I am.
5. Pre screen any and all clients. Every once in a while you have a crazy person fall through the cracks and they are terminated immediately. The biggest crazy we had in 2016 is someone who wanted everyone to work for free up front and didn’t have boundaries whatsoever. This also holds true for the timesuck who positions themselves as a potential client who wants meeting, after meeting to discuss their project, they ultimately hire someone that is cheaper with no experience and then want to schedule another meeting with you to discuss why their $1.99 website looks so bad.
