By: Jennifer Goddard Combs
How does a business consistently promote itself?
It’s one of the most common questions I get when I’m speaking at public engagements as well as with my clients at The Goddard Company.
It’s not surprising. As busy business owners focus their energies on day-to-day operations, self-promotion can get lost in the shuffle. But marketing is a vital piece of any business plan and should not be ignored. So what’s a businessperson to do?
Here’s a great, simple tip I recommend to anyone who runs a business: Create a spread sheet, listing 52 weeks and filling out one thing every week.
It might seem almost too easy, but it absolutely works. It could be attending a networking group, placing an opinion piece in a local newspaper or speaking before a targeted audience. It could be writing an SEO-targeted blog post or sending out a press release about a new product or service.
Each week should contain one simple entry, which can be completed as the year rolls out or – preferably in terms of long-range planning – before a new year begins.
With that in mind, there literally is not a better time to start than now. With a new year and a new decade upon us, this would be the perfect time to make a resolution toward the future success of your business.
Here are some other tasks and goals to consider for your spread sheet:
Update branding: From logos to website designs, there always is room for branding to evolve. Discuss it with your graphics designer.
Have PR backing: If you don’t already have a marketing team or outside firm, get one. For relatively little investment, marketing and public relations support can provide the crucial aid you’ll need to reach out to the public.
Make a deal: Working with your team, come up with a product or service incentive that you’d like to offer to potential customers or clients, and put it in writing.
Create a media list: Make or update a target list of media outlets – from print publications to TV and radio stations – that you would like to feature good news about your business.
Send a press release: You’ve got the help, the deal and the list; now use them. Put your plan into action by distributing a press release that promotes the news and information you would like people to know about you and your work.
At The Goddard Company, we live to support clients who resolve to help themselves grow their businesses into the future, and we welcome any additional questions about how to do it.