“Nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan”. Well let’s bust that myth right now. The majority of people who tackle the e-marketing world do just that. They plan and plan and plan and plan and fail. You’re here because you’re in an information overload spiral. You need to utilize social media, you need a web presence, and you need to get people to buy your product, which is often YOU. These are all truths no matter what your industry.
Here is the secret why after hours of brain-busting YouTube tutorials, SEO Marketing blogs, social marketing webinars, and exhausting searches for successful systems and free app downloads you’re getting nowhere,
– “You are trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the final picture looks like, and you’ve got pieces that don’t belong, and others that you do need but are missing.”
Imagine you’re throwing a big party and making a dish you’ve never made before. Would you run to the grocery and start throwing things you think you need in your cart? Of course not. First, you’d find the recipe, then make a list of the ingredients, inventory your tools making sure you have what you need to execute the recipe, add anything missing to the “shopping” list. Next, you’d determine 1) how long does this recipe take to prepare, 2) how long will it take to cook, and 3) how long until I can serve this up? Done! Now, you’re already to invite people to come partake of your masterpiece, right? Wrong.
Are you using china or paper plates, what goes with this recipe to make it not just good but memorable, to make the people you’re serving love it. What will make the people you’re serving want more? Make them ask for the recipe or consider you an expert at creating and presenting it? A successful marketing campaign and a successful meal are based on the same principles. You follow the recipe, you acquire the necessary ingredients and tools, and add just the right touches without going overboard. A successful marketing campaign must be digestible, appealing, simplified, and keeping the client or customer asking for more.
So this is how you’ve planned to fail. You’re literally putting the cart before the recipe. What are you making? In marketing our recipe is called a “Theme”. What do you want to sell -your book, product, services? They all have a theme. Here is how you find yours;
Just like that jigsaw puzzle, you must have a vision of it completed then work backward. What can I do? What is my dream? How do I describe it?
Example: Terry works for a big box retailer. He wants to work from home and have time with his family and flexibility to travel or work anywhere. Terry knows what products are big sellers to the store’s consumers and that they always want a bargain, he hears the complaints and praises every day of products.
Terry knows he needs to earn more money, he also wants to earn online so he can do all these things, have the flexibility, the time, and the freedom. So in this instance with Terry’s experience, he should start with a review and price comparison website. Makes sense but we need to narrow it further to know where to start.
Terry’s most familiar with small kitchen appliances. He and his wife love kitchen gadgetry of all kinds. Let’s take it a step further because kitchen and cookware are broad terms and markets. In that big market are cooks and foodies. A simple keyword or hashtag search finds that “foodies” is more trendy. No,w what term represents how Terry would search for these products for “foodies”? A specific niche is gifts.
Terry’s theme is “Best Gadgets and Gifts for Foodies”.
This same analysis and breakdown works for any business model. Sell real estate? What is your expertise? Who are your ideal clients? What are they looking for, what need do they want to fill? Write those answers down now follow the same formula as Terry !
Write one paragraph (4-5 sentences) to the above questions for your goal. Rewrite it in two to three sentences but use different descriptors to be more specific. Now rewrite it again in one to two sentences, relaying the same meanings but again using only specific adjectives. Now do it one final time with a 3-5 word tagline or phrase that says it all! You now have a theme to start with. You’re no longer planning to fail! You’ve just completed your first step toward planning to succeed through action! Now go get a snack!