3 Ways to Stay Regular (Without Eating Prunes)

How often do we see businesses getting in a right kerfuffle with their marketing? Far too often in my book.

There is a better way and that's to develop a series of actions that you undertake, each day, each week and each month. Let's look at some:

Daily actions As any successful network marketing person will tell you, the secret of personal marketing is to "sow a seed" each and every day.

• Tell at least one person per day what you do, who you do it for and what the outcomes of your work are
• Add the name of at least one potential client to an on-going prospect list
• Add one more personal detail about an existing client to a personal profile database
• Send one letter/one e-mail/make one telephone call to a new contact

The main point is to have marketing be the focus for at least a brief period each and every day. Often the best way is to block an hour or so out every morning to undertake such actions.

If you employ staff, have them develop their own daily plan in much the same way.

The key here is to start the engine and keep it ticking over.

Weekly actions Next, let's look at compiling a list of weekly marketing actions. These might include such things as:

• Following up the new contacts and relationships you've made during the week
• Setting aside time to make a block of phone calls to new prospects
• Asking past customers to respond to some questions regarding your level of service and their general impressions of your business --- its procedures, its staff and so on
• Researching your competitors and seeing where your "point of difference" lies

Where you have a sales-force, this can also be a good time to thoroughly assess their daily/weekly and monthly actions, adjusting their targets as necessary --- keeping the revs up on the engine!

Additionally, it's a time to review areas of your business that you may not consider to be true marketing.

For example, the effectiveness of all the "contact points" of your business:

• the initial phone greeting from your receptionist
• your voicemail and after hours message
• email signature
• letterheads and business cards
• vehicle appearance and vehicle livery

Each area is an element of your overall marketing and as such is extremely important to the entire marketing picture. Could any be improved? Could they work harder for you?

Very importantly, I'd strongly recommend that each and every month you and your staff make voice contact (either in person or on the phone) with the people who really support and encourage your business.

These people are your advocates --- your "silent salespeople".

So when you next contemplate a wave of what I refer to as "binge marketing", try instead to translate your actions into a regular program of activity.