For today, I’m giving you an easy task. How will you measure your progress?
Looking back at Day 4, measuring Example A might be a monthly sales review. For Example B, perhaps you will review the number of new clients (or maybe even proposals you’ve generated?). Example C is even easier – just download your Google Analytics reports.
Here are a couple good axioms for measurement:
- If your transaction volume is low, measure things (like proposals) once a month or so that lead to sales.
- If your transaction volume is high, you may need to measure weekly, or even daily.
Easy peasy! Stop saying this is too simple. When it’s done well, marketing is simple, but effective.
Guess what? You’re one week closer to your 2015 marketing plan! Here’s a roundup of what we covered in steps 1-5.
Day 1: Nostalgia. You looked over your 2014 marketing plan and made note of all the things you’d like to do in 2015. If you followed my instructions, you didn’t use this step as an excuse to feel badly about what you may not have accomplished this year. If you ignored my instructions and beat yourself up, consider this official notice your pity party is OVER!
Day 2: End Goal. You thought about the result you’d like to see by this time next year. It may be the #1 driver of your business – like getting more customers through the door – but if you’re not 100% sure about the factor that contributes most to your success, you hopefully took the easy route and made your end goal just getting more sales. Sometimes it’s okay to be a slacker.
Day 3: Ugh, Math. You looked at your end goal from step 2 and quantified it. If on Day 2 you decided your end goal was the thing you’re positive drives more sales than anything else, then in step 3 you assigned it a firm percentage. If you realized you couldn’t do that, I hope you reconsidered your end goal and switched to easy mode: generating sales. Your quantified end goal may look something like “earning 10% more than 2014.” Remember when your math teacher promised you’d still be using math in the “real world” like some kind of curse from a Disney villain? I know it hurts to hear “I told you so,” but…
Day 4: One Sentence. You formed your end goal into a single sentence/statement that expresses your intent for 2015. It may sound like “In 2015, I will gain 3 new clients.” If by this point you found yourself struggling to keep up with the steps, now you have to tack on a second sentence: I will promise Bonnie Harris 15 minutes a day for the rest of 2014. Good thing you’ve got the weekend to catch up! You wouldn’t want to see what detention is like.
Day 5: Measure. You decided the best way to measure your progress toward your end goal. This should have been a breeze.
All that in a super productive 1 hour and 15 minutes. Just think, you could have wasted more time than that on a bad movie. (The 2005 Bewitched hit Netflix this month – you really dodged a bullet there. Feel free to show your gratitude in the comments section.)
Speaking of comments, if you have questions, feedback or just want to tell me your latest marketing coup, you can leave a comment on this post, e-mail me or tweet me @waxgirl333. (But remember, the rest of the Twitterverse will know if you’re in a g-string, granny panties, tighty whities or going commando. Maybe I should make that a Facebook poll.)
Tune in next week for more. Same time, same channel!
