Start the new year with a BANG!

Resolution Here’s what I know. 

Despite my harping about the importance of marketing plans and budgets, most of you don’t have either.

Even if you are one of the minority that has a plan — the truth is, you won’t get it all done.  Painful but true.

But…you can get your year off to a running start.  Check out my post over at Small Business Branding to learn how.

Related posts:
Three things to remember when creating a marketing plan
Do I need a marketing budget?
A quick peek in the rearview mirror

9 comments on “Start the new year with a BANG!

  1. Hey Lewis…I have the SAME experience in my interactions with clients!

    The other things is, sometimes we spend so much time planning that we forget to execute. But like Nike says, “Just Do It!”

  2. Lewis,

    I wonder if the planning feels scary to clients– like they are committing to something “big” as opposed to just doing a quick direct mail piece or something more piecemeal?

    One of the struggles we have is that often new clients come to us when something is on fire and they NEED XY or Z right away. Once you’ve started down the execution road, it’s tough to drag them back to planning.

    But…having said that, we also have several clients who know that Nov/Dec is planning time and they are very used to us scheduling that 2-3 hour meeting to get that process started.

    Drew

  3. Ricardo,

    There is a fine line, isn’t there? When we do planning, we try to keep it simple. Our clients are not Proctor and Gamble…so they don’t need a 300 page marketing volume!

    If you keep a client in planning mode for too long — they get antsy and rightfully so.

    Drew

  4. Karin H. says:

    Hi Drew

    Oh, our Big Bang for the New Year is put in stone already 😉
    In 2008 we’re celebrating our 5th Anniversary – perhaps not such a mile-stone for some, but for us it is! – and plans for that started to take shape two months ago and are now reaching their finalising stages.

    Boy, are we – and our clients, prospects – going to have fun! Because that’s what we’ve planned 😉

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  5. Karin,

    Congrats on the 5th anniversary! Come on, tell us one big thing you have planned? Please?

    Drew

  6. Karin H. says:

    Hi Drew

    Well, various things actually and hopefully one will be really remarkable. We’re Dutch and we are frequently ‘linked’ to wooden clogs. We plan to use that association the English have by ‘gifting’ our clients a free pair of clog slippers: walking with wood.

    But the one thing we hope will get us remarked on (that’s being remarkable, not?) will be sending out around 400 cards to prospects (Architects, Interior Designers, Property developers etc) that has a little acorn attached to it. The message on the card will be: grow your own floor: estimated time of delivery: 40 years. Buying your wooden floor from Wood You Like (our company): estimated time of delivery: within 4 weeks.
    I’ll plan to post both ‘leaflets’ on my Kiss2 blog beginning next year, so stay tuned 😉

    Karin H.

  7. Karin,

    Sounds like you are well underway. I love the acorn idea. Does that tie to other things you’ve already done or is this a new message? Will you tie it to other aspects of the business/brand?

    Thanks for sharing!

    Drew

  8. Karin H. says:

    Hi Drew

    The Acorn idea continues on our ‘goal’ to supply quality natural products and our aim to reach more Architects, Interior Designers etc by being ‘remarkable’. This year (almost gone!) we’d sent out a little strip of Oak (‘finger’ mosaic’) to this group as initiation to our stand at Kent’s UK largest B-2-B exhibition. Many months later that piece of wood was still remarked upon 😉 (being ‘remarkable), so we hope that this Acorn will get us noticed – in a good and profitable – way again.

    Karin H.

  9. Karin,

    It sounds like you have done what most businesses never do — you’ve thought about the big picture.

    I’m betting ’08 is going to be a great year for your business. Congratulations on being such a good steward for your business.

    Drew

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