The Work Media Internet Marketing Blog

We are working on Work Media's 2008 marketing plan, so I thought that would be a good subject for today's blog post. I was listening to an audio program at some point in the last year that had a formula for a seven sentence marketing plan. This may be a Michael Gerber invention (I can't remember exactly who it was), but here are the seven questions to ask to create your seven sentence marketing plan:

1. What action do you want your prospects to take?

2. What is your competitive advantage?

3. Who is your target market?

4. What marketing weapons are you going to use?

5. What is your niche in the marketplace?

6. What is your "identity"?

7. What is your marketing budget (as a % of projected gross sales)?

If you use these seven questions as a mental diving board to think deeply about your business' marketing, you will be in good position to sketch out a more detailed plan. It might be a good idea to create one document that is literally a seven sentence plan based on the above questions (a sort-of thumbnail) and another document that elaborates in much greater detail.

An important part of having a plan is LOOKING at the plan periodically. I'll admit that we have historically been bad about creating a nice plan and then having it sit in a shelf collecting dust. I know we're not the only ones. But let's change our ways, starting in 2008. You've got about two and half weeks left this year to do your brainstorming and create your plans for the new year. So get your marketing plan created and look at it periodically to see if you're on track. It just might make a huge difference in your performance for the new year.

And of course, make sure you have an Internet component to your marketing plan. Search engine marketing is the only form of marketing that can immediately place your message in front of people who are looking for exactly what you're selling.

If you need some help developing a strong Internet marketing plan, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or email Info@WorkMedia.net. We specialize in helping companies find just the right combination of strategies. We would love to help you.

Labels: advertising, business advice, business plan, business planning, internet marketing, marketing, marketing plan

If you're in business for yourself, you know the importance of having a written business plan of some kind. If you have no written plan, you need to do one, regardless of the size of your business. It doesn't have to be a complicated, 50 page plan. It can be as simple as you want, but it needs to be done. The process of writing out some kind of business plan will force you to think about your business.

And this is also the time to plan out your Internet marketing for 2007. Don't just wing it. There are many facets to Internet marketing, and you should write down what areas of Internet marketing you plan on utilizing. Ask and answer questions such as:

• What am I going to do? Search engine optimization? Pay-per-click? Blogging?
• Who is going to do it? Am I going to do it myself or hire a third-party firm?
• How much money am I going to spend on each? How much time?
• How often am I going to do these things? For instance, am I going to blog every day or every week?

There is NO better investment you can make in your business than Internet marketing. Unlike expensive mass advertising such as TV or most print, you can aggressively target very specific markets. But if you just throw money at it or try things hapharzardly, you are less likely to be successful than if you think things through and write down a plan.

It doesn't have to be perfect. And it doesn't have to be written in stone. It is very likely that your plan will change as time goes on and you discover what works and what doesn't.

If you need help creating an Internet marketing plan for your business, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or info@workmedia.net.

Labels: blog, blog marketing, blogging, business plan, business planning, internet marketing, search engine marketing, web marketing