October 10, 2024

New Years Resolution Will Be Too Late, You Must Start Now!

I had a short talk with someone I hope will be a new client and who wants to get together in early January to do some marketing for their business. Great! But then I told them that they may see the results maybe early March but more likely April or May. What? How can that be?

 We have our first meeting the second week of January (New Year’s Day is on a Wednesday), and they will have to go back and research some of the questions I ask. Now if we’re lucky we’ll get together again the next week. I get the answers and then I need, let’s say, two weeks to put a plan together.

We are now at the first week of February. We have to get a list, and it takes, say, a week to get it down to the number of names we can afford. At the same time, we are working on the marketing pieces. We are doing at least 3 mailings and using a two-pronged approach: if they are ready to buy, then call; if not, then direct them to the web site for free information where we collect their email address and then start a drip email program.

Development of all this takes maybe 2-3 weeks. We are now at the end of February, beginning of March. We mail it out, and have to give the post office about four days to get their mail into the mailboxes (if we are mailing at bulk rates), and then we have to give prospective buyers a few days to respond. We’re now at the second or third week of March. We still have two more mail pieces to go, which will take us into mid-to-late April before all the results are in. A quarter to a third of the year has now passed.

What I told the person is that we need to get together now within the next few weeks to start the planning so that we can launch their marketing the first full week of January while their competition is still recovering from New Year’s and just starting to think of what they want to do for the coming year.

So here’s the question I ask of you: Do you want to hit the ground running the 1st of the year and jump ahead of your competition? If so, then let’s get started!

Till Next Week –

Remember – Great Things Happen, But You Have To Take Action, NOW!

Phil