I always look at the summer in two ways. First it’s extremely important as a business owner to take down time and relax. Mental freshness is sometimes the biggest roadblock for business innovation. Sometimes rest can be regenerative in terms of your creativity skills thus the benefits of taking a break.
The second benefit of the summer is it gives you a chance to refocus on the last three business development months. I say three months because unless you are well into the sales cycle or get lucky enough to find those people who realize it’s use it or lose it in terms of budget, you only really have thru Thanksgiving in terms of getting buyers attention. Holidays work well for B-to-C but here we are specifically referring to the B-To-B market.
Many business owners and decision makers also look at the last part of the year the same way so if they are going to reach their milestones they need to get moving and in terms of your product or service so the timing is good to get their attention.
Planning what you’re going to do is the best place to start. How much do you have to spend to get what result? That is the place to start. Focus on the activities that will generate the revenue you need to reach your goal in the shortest time. In my case it was going back to basics in terms of traditional marketing methods such as Trade Shows and Direct Mail.
With that being said do not forget the marketing system or machine that you are hopefully trying to build (If not you should get In touch with me so I can show you how!). The system should have a clear strategy as well as s tactics necessary to achieve the strategy. The system always needs to be fed. Social media and other passive methods tend to collect the feeder you need to produce the desired result of a buyer so don’t neglect them.
In my case the long term continues to get fed by more Belly to Belly in person contact such as Speaking Engagements and Networking. A grass roots campaign of getting out and talking to the people adds this other leg to my campaign without any pressure. It’s strictly getting out to people, exchanging business cards, educating them and hoping that when they need you (and of course you have to stay in front of them for this to happen) they immediately think of you as the one to go to in their mind. They know you, they like you and they have been looking for a reason to do business with you. They trust you because they read your blogs and hear you speak. They visit your web site and find its content useful and timely. Occasionally you tweet something useful for them to go look at or research. You add value to the relationship.
I feel strongly about the Duct Tape Marketing approach that people need to Know, Like and Trust you before they Try, Buy and Repeat from you. So how to you get them to know. Like and trust you? My planning usually happens during a quiet time on a lazy summer Sunday or Thursday evening at a Coffee Shop. Either way you need to find your time, find your place and plan your fall campaign season now!
