If you are a business owner or author, it is not too early to start planning for 2012 and I am not talking vacations. (P.S. – I am going to Belize.) Anyway, there are a couple of things we look at for the next year and hopefully this will help you plan as well.
1. Where did your business come from in 2011? Make a list of your current clients and source where they came from. List networking events, referrals or online networking. Prioritize these activities for next year. Also, evaluate what conferences you attended and if you have received business as a result. Many conferences are pricey and take a chunk out of your marketing budget. You should not drop a couple of grand to spend your time in the hotel pool. (Been there, done that – what can I say, I was burnt from traveling.)
2. Where did your product sales come from? I am talking about books here, but this could really been anything and yes, overlaps on #1 a bit. Did most of your sales come from events or online? Did most of your sales come from speaking engagements? Probably, yes. There is a catch where when it comes to book sales in my mind. IF you are using your book as an additional revenue stream and a platform to book speaking engagements and you receive more business as result of simply having a book; you shouldn’t be crying about only 2 sales at an event if you have 3 new PR clients.
3. Marketing dollars spent & projects for 2012. Plan ahead here. Do not fly by the seat of your pants and spend dollars on a whim. You will spend unnecessarily. Do you even have a budget? If you are an entrepreneur and have difficulties in this area, there is a great company you can hire called Snow Consulting. They offer a’ la carte financial services and will make your life a lot easier.
