There are two 2-C’s that are necessary not only to do your marketing plan, but everything in life.

The 2-C’s are commitment and consistency. To do anything in life, you must have a commitment to do it. When you start any project, you have that initial excitement that makes it really easy to start a project and there is this really great sense of satisfaction when you finish a project. It’s that middle area that seems to drag where you wonder if you will ever get through this project. That is where you need that commitment and consistency to stick with it because it will be worth it in end.

The lack of the 2-C’s are probably the number one reason why life’s plans don’t get done.

Marketing plan serves several purposes:

• Reaching potential customers costs money, so your marketing plan must be carefully thought out and written down. A well conceived marketing plan serves several important purposes:
• It guides you into writing a brief, non-technical description of your company. From this description you can extract your company’s mission statement, which is a short, to the point statement about your company. Once written, it becomes the focal point of all your company’s marketing.
• It unifies your entire organization and gives everyone a common goal by establishing marketing objectives.
• It narrows your marketing effort by defining a target customer.
• It makes you look at your competition and allows you to discover how you are better and how you need to improve.
• It allows you to discover both your strengths and weaknesses and turn them into marketing advantages.
• It stimulates your ability to make wise decisions when it comes to deciding on your communication strategies.
• It forces you to look at a specific marketing timetable. Having a plan is the number one factor in minimizing the cost of marketing your company.
• A goal is a dream with a time limit.

There are two types of plans essential in business - the business plan and the marketing plan. A business plan maps out financial company growth. A marketing plan is a map of strategy for contacting and motivating potential customers.

Even though they are both important, of the two plans, the one that you must have is the marketing plan. It’s a fact, a business without customers is no business at all.

Don’t confuse marketing and selling. Selling is the present - marketing is your future. Selling is a direct action taken to get a customer. Marketing creates the opportunities in the future by generating demand for your product or service.

If marketing is done right a customer is already “sold” when he contacts you.

When a rocket ship takes off from Earth it expends 85% of its fuel getting out of the atmosphere, which is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to going to the moon.

Going to the moon and coming back requires only 15% of all of the fuel. There’s virtually no fuel coming from the moon to here because it’s all gravity. It’s getting off the ground that counts. It’s the same thing with you starting a marketing plan, it’s the start that will take the majority of your time and effort.

You have received a few tips from me. Have you done anything with them? Remember that an idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.

Why not get a sheet of paper and pen, go back through them quickly and write down any ideas that come to mind in how you can utilize them in your business. Implement at least one of them today – yes, I said today.

A great idea not implemented is no better than no idea at all! GO DO IT!

Send a handwritten note or postcard to at least three of your best clients.

All clients are not created equal. Send three random acts of kindness — handwritten postcards or notes. You don’t have to get fancy. You can find a postcard, or stick a little card inside an envelope if you don’t want the mailman to see it. Remember to make this note personal by mentioning something that will mean something to them.

The bottom line is that you should write three of them to your best clients. They will love you for it. It’s a great strategy to re-bond with your clients.

We know of two famous and very busy Internet marketers who write 10 postcards per day. They don’t look at it as an option, and they have created a network that is unbelievable by doing something as simple as handwriting a postcard.