I spent a wonderful half hour in the bookstore yesterday, to find a gift for a friend who loves to read. As a book-lover, that was a lovely treat, to be surrounded by real books!
I didn’t even mind the long line, and passed the time reading the magazine headlines.
- “3 Simple Tricks to Lose Ten Pounds”
- “Holiday Decorating Made Easy”
- “Five Quick Ideas to Perk Up Your Fall Wardrobe”
Simple. Easy. Quick.
Those are three of the most powerful marketing words used by publishers to sell magazines. Because in our busy lives, that’s what we’ve come to desire – simple, easy and quick solutions.
In our new Twitter world, we want our answers in 140 characters.
When it comes to our own marketing, most of us wish for a quick fix, a simple solution, an easy formula. Better yet, a magic bullet (or am I the only one?)
I don’t have a magic bullet for you, and I can’t say this in 140 characters. But...I do have one practical, powerful recommendation that can help you maximize your marketing time and dollars.
- Create a report of all your customers for the last three years.
- Sort your list by volume & look at the top 20% of your customers
- What do they have in common? (Industry? Stage of life? Geography? Belief system? Specific needs? Lifestyle? Economic status?)
Now you have good picture of your target market – your most likely customers. These are the people you most want to reach in your marketing efforts.
How can you capitalize on this knowledge? What does this information tell you? How can you use what you learned to reach these most likely customers right now?
This exercise you just completed is the first step toward creating a well-defined marketing plan.
Marketing is a challenge for most women entrepreneurs I know, consuming more time and money than they really want to devote.
If that’s the case for you, check out our new e-course, coming up this Friday. (And if not, congratulations! Please share this idea with a friend who does need help with her marketing.)
No, it’s not a quick fix. (Sorry, I hate to burst your bubble but most quick fixes don’t work.) But if you’ll invest the time to learn this process, I guarantee you’ll make smarter marketing decisions, save time and money and increase your sales.
45-minute E-Course “Become a Marketing Superstar! How to Create a Marketing Plan Guaranteed to Increase Sales”
Our online course will teach you a deep and thoughtful process to help you target your most likely customers and reach them with the most effective methods and the right message.
Best of all, you get a 12-page marketing plan template, completely customizable to your business.
Take care,
