Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Writer Biz #13 – The Review, Part Two

This portion of the review covers The Marketing Plan. There are about as many marketing plans as there are people. This is the big reason there’s not ‘one plan’ that works for everyone. Every one is different. What I want to focus on, is what they have in common.

Things you’ll need to create your own plan. Those are - goals, an action plan for reaching those goals, a timeline to do it in, and a way to evaluate your results. Everything else is pretty much open to interpretation.

The first thing you want to decide on is your goal. To sell books, gain notoriety, make money, become Nora, or whatever. The more directed your goal is the better.

The next thing you need to do is add a timeline. When do you want to accomplish said goals? Three months, six months, a year? Setting a date will help in a couple ways. One, it will help you clarify your objective. Two, it will help you assess your results. And three, it will help with the motivational aspect.

Once you’ve set your goal and timeline, give yourself a reality check. The more realistic and honest you are about your personality quirks, lifestyle, and other commitments, the more you are likely to put yourself in a position to meet the goals you set.

This is the basic framework for your plan, and it’s not carved in stone. Things change, and as you follow this process, you will change and grow. You may find down the road, you’ll need to adjust your goals, your timeline or other aspects of your plan. Do it. It’s your plan, after all.

Tomorrow we’ll finish up with the final elements of the plan.

NOTE: These are suggestions only, and should be viewed that way.

1 comment:

  1. Good advice with the realistic part and to think of how much time I really do have for such marketing.

    :)

    ReplyDelete