The Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action
Plan Marketing
and Robert Middleton
-
Smart Marketing Investing -
You
need to invest in your marketing.
The key is understanding how to make that
investment.
Today's
More Clients is second in a series of "Dumb
Marketing Mistakes and How to Correct Them."
Not investing in your marekting is dumb mistake
number two.
This
week I got an email from one of my customers.
It said: "Do you think, by me learning from your
InfoGuru marketing and action plan e-books, I
can become a marketing consultant? Or do I
need lots more than that?"
That's
a little like saying, "If I read Gray's Anatomy,
can I become a doctor?"
So
yes, you'll need a lot more than that. Even if
what you want to do is market your services
competently, with less struggle and better results,
you're going to have to invest in yourself. It will
take some time, money and effort.
"But
how much," everyone asks me, "before I start
seeing results and start attracting clients
consistently? How much time, money and effort do I
actually need to invest?"
I
think the big key here is "Smart Investing."
You
need to invest in developing skills, not just in
accumulating more information. The information
is important, but only if it's applied. This is why
I'm developing a new workshop that's much more
focused on creating plans and building skills
rather than stuffing people's heads with more
marketing ideas.
If
you're reading this, there's a good chance you've
purchased one of my products such as the InfoGuru
Manual, the Web Site ToolKit or the Action Plan
ToolKit. You'll notice that all of these products
emphasize more than information. They are actually
tutorials that help you build skills
step-by-step.
What
I've noticed, however is, that the majority of
people consume these products as if only the
information mattered. They skim through them,
looking for pearls of wisdom and silver bullets.
You won't find them that way.
But
if you invest a little more time in doing the
exercises and action plans they all contain, the
riches reveal themselves. You'll start to have
"ah-has" and a deeper understanding of how
marketing works its magic.
For
instance, I've seen clients take one marketing
concept (such as the "Perfect Proposal" as
outlined in the InfoGuru Manual) and make the
effort to write it out using the format I've given.
For several people this has resulted in contracts
worth as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Now
that's a smart investment!
The
big investment wasn't really in money or time but
in the effort to implement. And as simple as
this sounds, there are some real obstacles to
implementation. After all, if implementation was
easy, we'd all be outrageously
successful.
Successful
implementation involves these steps:
1.
An openness to try something new and a
willingness to follow directions. This alone
stops many people cold, before they've even
started.
2.
Diligence and discipline in learning the
basics. Notice that doctors don't start with
brain surgery? They practice the fundamentals
first.
3.
A tolerance for trial and error. Testing,
measuring and fine tuning are all necessary in
order to get consistent results.
4.
Resilience in the face of failure. Sometimes
you'll be lucky enough to quickly hit on the
right formula. But more often than not your
first attempts will be flops.
5.
A sense of play and adventure. If you play
at your marketing, instead of grimly working at
it, you'll tend to get better
results.
So,
no, you're not going to become a marketing genius
overnight.
There's
a lot to learn. What I recommend is focusing on
one thing at a time (your audio logo, the
face-to-face-conversation, making appointments, the
one-page executive summary, the first issue of an
eZine); and these, small but potent, investments in
your marketing will start to pay big returns before
you know it.
*
The
More Clients Bottom Line:
Put
just two or three hours a week into learning a new
marketing skill. Set a goal; study the
appropriate information, and work at implementing
it step-by-step. Measure your results and watch
your fortunes grow.
What
secrets have you learned to implementing marketing
strategies that work for you? Please share this
with us on the More Clients Blog at:
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
*
Some
Marketing Investment Tools
The
information, the action plans, the tools and
resources you need to be a successful marketer
of your services are all contained in the Action
Plan Marketing Products below. Make a small
investment to order them and then make the smart
investment to implement their ideas in your
buisness.
Here's
the place to start:
1.
The InfoGuru Marketing Manual - $69/$99
A complete system for attracting clients.
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html
2.
The Relationship Pipeline Audio Program -
$29
A blueprint for networking and building business
relationships.
http://www.actionplan.com/fillpipeline.html
3.
The Value Pricing Audio Program - $29
A system for charging what you're really
worth
http://www.actionplan.com/valuepricing
4.
The Action Plan ToolKit - $49
A complete goal setting, planning and
accountability system.
http://www.actionplan.com/aptk.html
5.
The Web Site ToolKit - $49
A tutorial on building a client-attracting web
site.
http://www.actionplan.com/wstk.html
Until
next week, all the best,
Robert
Middleton
ACTION
PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More
Clients
www.actionplan.com
210
Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790
Contact
by email
©
2006 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You
are free to use material from the More Clients
eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include
complete attribution, including live web site link.
Please also notify me where the material will
appear. The attribution should read:
"By
Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please
visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com
for additional marketing articles and resources on
marketing for professional service
businesses."
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