2025 is just around the corner! I can hardly believe how fast 2024 went by. Some are still basking in its glow, while others are ready for 2025 to get here. Either way, it’s time to prepare for the new year. As a business owner, I have set my goals for 2025 and written my marketing plan to conquer the marketplace. Have you?
Many of you probably recognize the title of my blog as part of a song lyric. Vanilla Ice released “Ice Ice Baby” on July 2, 1990. This lyric popped in my head as I was thinking about a marketing plan, and I found it pretty relevant. To write an effective marketing plan, you have to STOP what you are doing, COLLABORATE with your team, and LISTEN to employees AND clients. Unfortunately, planning isn’t always a priority for business owners. We need to Stop…. Collaborate… and Listen. These are three characteristics we must embrace when strategizing our marketing plan.
STOP
As a business owner or principal, you’ve got to take yourself out of the business and focus on the future. It’s the stop what we are doing right now to look at what we want our future to be as a firm. Spending time on important and non-urgent items, such as a marketing plan, is instrumental to the success of your company. Taking just a morning or afternoon to focus on writing your marketing plan will put you miles ahead of your competitors.
As a business owner, you don’t have to write a thirty-page plan to be successful! Simply assembling a one-page marketing plan is a great way to end the year and kick off the new year right. There are some questions you can ask yourself and your employees:
- Have you thought about what markets you want to grow in?
- What clients would you like to do more work with?
- What clients would you like to fire?
- How are you going to celebrate and thank your clients?
- How are you going to reach out to past clients?
All of these things should be addressed in your marketing plan. It’s time to STOP and take some time to really think about where you want your firm to focus on in 2025.
