———————————————————————————————————–

By Mark Smiciklas

This small business marketing cycle graphic was inspired by Seth Godin’s Top 10 Secrets of the Marketing Process.

1. Learn – Knowledge is a competitive advantage.

Allocate a set amount of time each day to learn about marketing your small business:

• Online: Read a blog, e-book, whitepaper, newsletter, case study or listen to a podcast
• Offline: Read a business book, magazine article or newspaper article

Here are some links to get you inspired:

• Marketing Sherpa – Practical marketing cases studies and know how
• eMarketer – Analysis of internet marketing trends
• Duct Tape Marketing – Small business marketing
• Neuromarketing – Where brain science and marketing meet
• Web Ink Now – Viral marketing strategies using news releases, blogs and social media
• Seth Godin – Marketing thought leadership
• Chris Brogan – Community and social media
• Brand Autopsy – Marketing and branding ideas from John Moore

2. Plan – A road map will help you stay focused.

A marketing plan doesn’t have to be rooted in theory and 100 pages long to be effective. The most important thing is to take the time to pull yourself away from the day-to-day management of your small business and think strategically – what are your marketing objectives and what tactics can you use to help reach your goals?

Resource: Simple Marketing Plan Template

3. Fear – Embrace it.

Q: How do you know an idea is innovative?
A: When it scares the hell out of everybody (Marty Neumeier – The Brand Gap)

4. Implement – Execute the plan.

Implementation is often referred to as the hardest part of any plan – a great idea is wasted if it isn’t executed. “Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.” (Yoda – Star Wars)

5. Test – Analytics are important.

Test each marketing tactic, idea or campaign to gauge effectiveness. Adjust what’s not working and keep using and improving on the things that show results.

6. Whoops – Learn from your mistakes and those of others.

Accept the fact that you will miscalculate, misjudge and simply make the wrong decision occasionally – learn something from every error and apply that knowledge to your next project, idea or plan.

Continue learning (see step 1) – read about what other small business owners have done and learn from their successes and mistakes.

BACK TO THE MAIN BLOG

————————————————————————————————————-

It’s the dawn of a new year and I’ve been thinking about some of the goals I would like to achieve in 2009. I’ve set objectives before, bet never in a public forum…I wonder if publishing my targets online will help me focus more and improve my odds of success?

Most of my strategies for 2009 revolve around building my personal/small business brand through New Marketing and social media. Here is my list (in no particular order):

• Present my ideas and build brand awareness through public speaking. This will involve the following:
  • Develop one or two presentation topics
  • Blog about my presentation ideas and get feedback from my social network
  • Build a PowerPoint presentation and post it to SlideShare
  • Book at least two speaking engagements (paid or unpaid)
• Write and self publish a small business book. If your thinking about writing a book you need to check out Seth’s advice for authors
• Start using FaceBook. I’ve been really committed to LinkedIn and just started feeling my way through Twitter…I don’t want to do this half-assed so it’s a big step for me from a time perspective.
• Publish 75 blog posts. My goal when starting the blog was 1 post per week – that’s been manageable for me a good fit with my publishing objectives. This year I want to challenge myself to write more.
• Publish 100 comments on other people’s blogs. I read about 50 blogs, so 2 meaningful comments per week should be a reasonable goal.
• Publish 4 YouTube videos. I have  a couple of ideas, but this will definitely be a challenge!
• Schedule a minimum of 6 networking meetings. I really enjoy the process of building relationships – making a commitment to find the time to get tuned in with stakeholders will be a priority.

I’d love to get inspired by your list – If you feel like sharing, please post a comment. Thanks, and all the best for 2009!

Photo Credit: randihausken