Refresh Your Marketing Plan

I founded my consultancy almost 10 years ago.  At the time, I put together a marketing plan that was fantastic for 2004: create a static website, update testimonials every year, generate email newsletters on a quarterly basis, and keep an eye on something new called LinkedIn – a site I figured would probably go nowhere.

Now, I look at all the ways professionals like me reach out to keep in touch, and quite frankly I’m embarrassed.  Maintaining a twitter feed, blogging, creating timely videos.  Oh and LinkedIn – not only do fellow consultants have profiles, then join groups, update statuses, and actively seek out business partners.  I even find colleagues on Facebook, sharing messages that are compelling even though I thought I was there to see photos of my nieces!

Coming up on April 23, WIC is hosting a workshop, Marketing Your Consulting Business with New Media Tools – Proven Models that Work.  This half-day session will be divided into three parts:

1. Evaluate your Brand: In order to determine what marketing activities your business needs, you need to start with the basics. For this we’ll bring in Ellen Rudy of The Hayden Group to help us take a methodical look at what our consultancy offers in terms of values, skills, and expertise in order to refine what your brand conveys.

2. Real-World Marketing Plans: For ideas and inspiration, we will be inviting several successful consultants to share with us their own marketing plans – a 90-day window of all the marketing activities they do – sharing with us the strategy behind the tactics, and the nitty-gritties they’ve learned along the way.  Our guests include:

• Linda Popky, Leverage2Market, who will talk through a variety of marketing activities with a special focus on how she has boosted her reputation by incorporating professional video into her blogging strategy
• Jennifer LeBlanc, Think Results Marketing, who will present The Leapfrog Method – how she used social media to rebrand herself with ease and grace
• Melissa Stacey, Feeling Organized, who will share with us how she fits it all in, with a focus on the effective use of Facebook & Pinterest for business

After lunch, Sherry Prescott-Willis, author of MarketThis!, will guide us through creating our own specific, 90-day marketing action plan that incorporates activities that we enjoy doing, can fit into our schedule, and most importantly represent our business effectively.

These exercises will be well suited to consultants and small businesses, whether you have a marketing plan or don’t even know what a marketing plan is; whether you are currently marketing your business effectively or don’t know where to start.  Remember to register THIS WEEK – registration ends this Friday, April 19.