In my quest to create powerfully effective marketing systems, one of the tricks I’ve learned is to get as far ahead of the game as I possibly can.  And I don’t mean getting ahead of new trends or ideas or techniques.  Yes, that’s important too, but what I’m talking about is getting ahead of the logistics of your marketing systems.

In other words, as we sit here today on Monday, October 20th, we have a little over a month until Thanksgiving and two months until Christmas.  I’ve talked many times about the importance of using Holidays to market your business and these two holidays are perfect for creating some type of offer or campaign.  But, to do so means you’ve got to get started RIGHT NOW making it happen.  Get ahead of the calendar right now so you’re not scrambling around at the last minute trying to throw something together.

Even better, why not sit down sometime this week and plan out all of your marketing activities over the next 3 months.  That way, you’ll know EXACTLY what needs to be done so you’ll have plenty of time to get things planned and implemented.

In fact, one of the things I’ll be doing very soon is sitting down and coming up with EVERY marketing campaign I’ll do in 2009.  Of course I’ll probably come up with new products or services throughout the year, but for existing programs, products, or services I’ll have everything planned out well in advance.  That way, I’ll know EXACTLY what I need to do, when I need to do it, and how it needs to be carried out.

So, if you ever find yourself struggling to get your marketing done, part of the problem could be the fact you’re waiting until the very last minute to get started on things.  Why not try getting ahead of the game by scheduling out your activities well in advance of when you actually have to implement them?  I promise you’ll find yourself much more relaxed about it and your campaigns will undoubtedly go much better than expected.

So, now that football’s back on TV, kids are heading back to school, and the days are getting shorter, that can only mean that summer’s winding down.  That means it’s time to start thinking about your fall marketing.

 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that in the green industry the two big marketing seasons are spring and fall.  Although if you’ve been on this list for any period of time I hope you know by now that marketing is a year round activity.

 

Even though most of your competitors are only marketing twice a year, if you start looking at it like a constant, never-ending responsibility, when it comes time to promote your fall services, you’ll mop the floor with your competition.

 

Why?  Because you’ve invested the time and resources necessary to build a relationship with your target market.  When you communicate with them consistently they begin to know you, recognize your trucks, and understand the benefits you bring to the table.

 

On the other hand, if you only market twice a year, they’ve had 6-8 months to forget about you so you’re basically starting from scratch.

 

So, as you gear up to do your fall marketing, why not get started a little early?  You’ve still got time right now to start building that relationship so when you’re ready to offer your fall service specials, your prospects already know who you are.

If I had to start over building a lawn care or landscaping business from scratch, these are the exact steps I’d go through to quickly build my business:

1. Identify who my ideal customer is.  What does he look like?  Where does he live?  What’s his annual income?  Is he married?  Have any kids?  What does he do with his free time?
2. Get a list of 1,500-2,000 names of people that match EXACTLY the criteria I laid out above.  I want the list to be big enough to have an immediate impact on my business, but I also want to keep it small enough so I can communicate with them 12-18 times over the next 12 months.
3.  Create a 3 step direct mail campaign that presents them with a special introductory offer.  If they don’t respond to letter number 1, I’d send letter #2 7-10 days later.  If they don’t respond to letter #2, I’d sent letter #3 7-10 later.
4. If they don’t respond to any of the letters I sent, I’d put them into a ‘drip’ campaign and send them a postcard every month for the next 12 months.
5. Once they’ve become a customer I’d sent them a hard copy newsletter each and every month.
6. After 1 full month of service, assuming everything’s going well, I’d put new customers into a ‘referral generation’ system to stimulate referrals.

Now, while each of these steps is considerably more detailed than my simple explanations, that’s exactly what I’d do.  And I guarantee you my business with be busier than a 1legged man in a butt-kicking contest!

As I’ve mentioned quite a few times recently, the face of marketing is rapidly changing.  To be more accurate, the face of SUCCESSFUL marketing is changing.

No longer can a business simply blast out their sales message unsolicited to targets that have no interest or desire to receive it and expect to receive positive results. 

Now, it’s still entirely possible to do so, but the effectiveness of this type of marketing is very quickly going the way of the dodo bird.  Fortunately for you, the vast majority of your competitors are totally clueless about these changes.

Also, the ‘branding’ style marketing used by most of your competitors has always been a crap shoot and given these changes that are taking place, it’s even more of a gamble.  Especially if you want to grow your business effectively in the coming months and years.

Let’s talk about your specific business for just a moment.  If you’re sending out sales letters or postcards without spending a fair amount of time carefully targeting the recipients of these, I bet your response rate is pretty poor.

Or, if your ads look or sound pretty similar to what the competition’s ads look or sound like, I imagine your response rates aren’t very good. 

So what can you do to increase the effectiveness of your marketing IN SPITE of this rapidly changing environment?

The first thing that needs to take place in order to make this happen is a shift in mindset of how you view customers and prospects.  Because consumers have so much control over the marketing ‘conversation’, it’s important to become a ‘welcome guest’ instead of an ‘annoying pest’ like the majority of businesses.

The easiest way to do this is start viewing your prospects and customers like friends.  People you genuinely want to help.

Once you change the way you look at them and start thinking about THEIR problems, not the fact you need their business, selling your services to them becomes much easier because now you’re providing solutions to their problems.

Instead of you message coming across as marketing, it now comes across as answers to their problems. 

Instead of your communications being about helping you get more business, they are about helping your prospects lives easier.

And as a result, you’re no longer seen as someone looking to steal their precise time, but rather someone looking to help them better use the time they have.

Now, as I’ve mentioned several times recently I’m working on a project that I hope will help you understand the changing environment and learn how to use these changes to your advantage.

But to ensure I’m providing you with the information, tools, and resources you need, I first need your help.  You see, I’ve already got a lot of information together that I THINK you’ll need based on the comments and questions I’ve received from others.

However, I want to make sure I’m covering everything that YOU need to create a killer marketing system that will run on auto-pilot and allow you to become this trusted ‘friend’.

So, what I need you to do is click on ‘Comment’ below and let me know what challenges you’re currently facing when it comes to marketing your business. 

What are your biggest frustrations?  What are the biggest obstacles you face?  What are your biggest fears heading into these uncertain times?

Take just minute to share with me your responses and I’ll do my best to make sure they get answered.

If you’ve already sent me your biggest questions, concerns, or comments, I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d take another few minutes to do it again. 

Here’s why:

I’m working on a coaching program that’s going to be extremely comprehensive.  It’s going to cover EVERYTHING you’ll need to first, understand this new environment, and second, create a killer marketing system that will help you totally dominate your marketplace.  This program will also include ALL the tools and resources you’ll need to make this happen.

So, to ensure I’m not missing anything, please take just a few minutes to let me know what your biggest marketing challenges, fears, headaches, and concerns are.  I want to make sure I’m covering everything you’ll need to make marketing your business a breeze.

So go ahead and click on ‘Comment’ below and take a few minutes to share your questions, concerns, fears, or headaches with respect to marketing your business. 

Please don’t procrastinate.  Do it now.