Strategies for Your New Year's Marketing Plan

So many coaches I work with are so darn creative I am constantly impressed. And I consider myself creative too. But did you know there can be a downside to that creativity?

Speaking for myself, and I also know from other coaches that I have worked with over the years, we can get too caught up in the details. You can put so much pressure on yourself to get so many things done and you keeping plugging away which is admirable, but most of those things are not revenue producing.

You are building this on line coaching business because you want an income, a good income. Which means logically you can't get caught up in all the details, in all the minutia, because none of that is income producing. They don't result in new business.

Do you have systems in place? If not, that may be the first place to start. You can't do this all by yourself, I know, I tried. You simply can't be a 'lone ranger' and have a successful business. (And stay sane!)

I learned somewhere over the years that there is a difference in 'spending time' and 'investing time'. Spending time is doing more than 30 minutes a day on Facebook and/or Twitter. Investing time is when you are working on something that will generate clients and income. It's really that simple.

The best place to start right now, at the end of this year, is to create a marketing plan for this next year. Without one, you will not be leveraging your time, so this is very important to your success in the New Year.

Let's begin with the 1st step. How much money do you want to make this year? It doesn't need to be exact but within reason so you can plan out how you are going to make that income goal come to life. I suggest you make it more than what you made last year. This is about moving forward right? I want you to really take a big GULP, and then write down a number. Be Brave!

For the second step, I want you to plan. I want you to plan how you are going to spend each working day.

For each day you want to start out with income producing actions. I know many people say don't touch email till you have done other projects but that doesn't work for me. I always check my email first thing to see if there is anything that I need to get to. And I delete a lot which always feels good to me. And then I move forward.

You need to get into a routine so it comes easily to you. It probably won't right away but in time it will. Once you are done with the 2 or 3 income producing actions you are free to move on to other things. If you can commit to this now, at the end of the year, and start off on the right foot for the next year, you are off to a great start.

What projects do have in mind? Teleseminars? Workshops? Speaking? Know what it is you want to do, and then create a marketing plan that will move you forward.

These are income producing activities. Even as you write your email string, this is income producing because the end result is people signing up and buying what you are offering.

And some words of wisdom: if it doesn't work right away for you or it works sometimes and not others, that's OK. Don't give up. You may need to tweak how you are doing things. And sometimes we just need to 'fail fast', brush off your knees and start again. It's OK. We have all done it.

Please don't go into this New Year blindly. I am not talking about New Year's Resolutions here. Those rarely seem to stick. I am talking about a real plan for yourself and your business.

My last words: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.