by Angela Booth
=> Get ready to achieve!
Setting goals is challenging for many people because they've had
more experience at failing to achieve a goal, than they have of
successful achievement. Therefore, if the idea of setting goals
makes you wince, relax and read on. You'll discover a new way of
setting goals which will inspire you.
=> Set little goals at first: start small
Set small goals. Small goals are achievable, and they're not
intimidating. Setting small goals, and achieving them, gives you
confidence. Each day you will improve your writing skills, and
you will learn more about how to market.
Setting small goals applies whether you're a beginner, or a pro.
1. Your first goal: Market --- RIGHT NOW
Aim to market every day. Your marketing effort for the day may be
simple: you may send a stay-in-touch email message to a client
you haven’t spoken to for a month.
Maybe you spot a new potential market, and you send them a quick
note, telling them something about your business, yourself, and
your current clients.
If you're just starting out, please don’t let this faze you. Play
up your beginner's status. People will help you if you give them
the chance.
I fit my marketing in around whatever else I'm doing. I take my
handheld computer with me when I'm out and about. If I'm stuck
waiting in line at the Post Office, I spend the time downloading
my email, and dashing off a quick note to a client I haven't
contacted this past month.
If I'm at the library, I browse through the business directories
in the Reference section. This takes less than five minutes, and
I always come away with at least five new agencies, or five new
businesses to contact.
If you make marketing part of your everyday life, it doesn’t seem
like such a chore. Nor do you get hung up on whether people
respond to a email message, or a message you've left on their
voice mail. People often don’t respond, unless they have work for
you immediately.
Here's a funny/ tragic story. I was communicating with a
prospective client, who owned a gardening center, in Perth, which
is 5000 miles away, on the other side of the Australia. I'd been
chatting to and fro with him via email for about a year. He had
plans to revamp the copy on his Web site, send out some news
releases, and much more. Finally he sent me an email to tell me
that he was going out of business. He couldn’t pay his staff or
his suppliers. He'd been hoping his business would turn the
corner, but it hadn’t.
Although I didn’t do any writing for this person, I did form a
relationship with him. This is the kind of relationship you need
to form with as many potential clients as you can. Even if your
prospect has no work for you right away, stay in touch. Contact
them every month or two. Be interested in them and their
business.
When they need a copywriter, you'll be the person they call.
You'll also find that your prospects will pass on your contact
details to others --- so communicate, a little and often. :-)
2. Your second goal: Get known --- promote
Many copywriters are "hit and run" marketers. This procedure
won’t help you to build a career. You're selling to people, and
people buy from those whom they know and trust.
This means that to sell to a market, you first need to become
known to a market. Yes, you can get extremely lucky, and may make
a sale the first time you contact a particular market. You can’t
count on it happening every day, and depending on luck is no way
to build a career.
Send out a news release at least once a month. Get your name out
there.
3. Your third goal: commit to your marketing campaign
Being committed to marketing means exactly that. It means that
like Nike, you just do it.
I read a profile of Mary Kay Ash, the cosmetics queen. When she
was starting her business, and for many years thereafter, she was
always the last person to leave the office. Long after others had
left, she'd been busy making just one more marketing phone call.
This is the spirit you need to aim for in your marketing efforts.
Make just one more phone call. Send just one more email message.
Every day.
Whatever your business, whether it’s writing or something else,
you won’t succeed unless you make it a habit to do some marketing
every day. Start small, set tiny achievable marketing goals like
those I've suggested. If you do that, your business will be a
success.
Related Articles:
Customers Buy When They Feel Good
Prospective customers will not buy unless they feel good
about you, your company and your product or service. Here
are 4 simple ways you can stimulate their good feelings
...and motivate them to buy.
The Top 10 Ways to Get Over Fear of Marketing Your Business
Marketing does not have to be the big, scary, hairy green monster it may appear to be. The following tips will help you take the fear (hairy green monster) out of promoting your business.
Successful Marketing Requires Careful Planning
How does a small business or independent consultant with limited resources and time manage a marketing effort? The answer is twofold:
planning and perseverance.
