How can Marathon Training help market Sussex Promotions?
Yes in 13 weeks, having promised myself 12 years ago, “never again”, I will be running the Brighton Marathon, Sunday 15th April.
My time before 4hrs 3 mins, current training suggests I’ll be somewhere close, which is red rag to a bull and of course I want to beat the time of a 29 year old, and even more so have the time start with a 3.
If you had seen me huff & puff, run & walk last autumn as I tried to do
2.5 miles you would raise a little eyebrow at the prospect of my crossing the finish line at all, let alone in under 4 hours.
But I am now running that pace, and I’m up to 9 miles on a Saturday, with 13 training weeks to go.
How?
Following a focused, itemised running schedule, running Tues, Wed, Thurs followed by longer runs Saturdays. Each day, for another 13 weeks, the distance is set…9th March 5 Miles, 15th February 3 miles etc.
So I knew exactly where I was at last autumn, the ‘Now’ i.e. very unfit!
I knew exactly ‘Where’ I wanted to get to, on April 15th 2012, and with a training schedule I know exactly ‘How’.
I have a business plan for Sussex Promotions, I know exactly where we are ‘Now’ and I know exactly ‘Where’ I want us to be, April 15th 2015.
But it struck me how 100% confident I am in my Marathon goal, but less so in the business goal. Now I could justify that with the Marathon being 100% in my control, whereas business has factors such as customers, suppliers, economy etc.. But I can’t change or affect these anyway, so I need a business schedule that can be flexible to change but sets out the road map from January 2012 to April 2015.
In Nigel Botterill’s Entrepreneur’s Circle the focus every day is on Marketing, ‘The Getting & Keeping Customers’. April 2015 ‘s goal can only be achieved through getting more customers and keeping (if not growing) existing customers.
Have you noticed how many marketing ‘pillars’ there are, from direct mail, to radio, to advertising, to email, networking and of course the new kid ‘Social Media’.
With so many marketing opportunities it is easy to become a rabbit stuck in headlights, bombarded with ideas and doing nothing.
Nigel Botterill bangs two big drums, IMPLEMENTATION, i.e. getting things done, and the key through 90 MINUTES every day of focused marketing, 90 minutes every day focused on the The Getting & Keeping Customers.
So on Tuesday, I found a quiet room, with no distraction…..no staff, no radio, no email etc. and I downloaded every marketing idea, marketing pillar I could think of on to a flipchart pad, I then went through my notebook and recorded all the notes and ideas I’d jotted down…..effectively all the noise.
I then focused on those areas I knew that were key in my business, with the way my customers work that would ensure we find more customers and we’d look after the ones we have better.
These I then grouped into what became 6 distinct categories, and a total of 22 marketing ‘pillars’.
These marketing pillars are now being costed, and work in progress is the diarising and appointment setting with myself for when each of the pillars will be worked on.
So Sussex Promotions very nearly has a plan that looks very similar to my marathon training schedule, the noise and the overwhelming to do list has gone, my next action for this morning is already set.
So from my confidence in my training schedule, I have created the same thing for my business, with a little blue sky thinking from the Entrepreneur’s Circle, now I’ve just GOT TO DO IT!!!!
Have you got a strict marketing plan? Do you dedicate time in your diary for marketing, or are you a rabbit stuck in the headlights!!? Please share below…
Andrew is Managing Director at Sussex Promotions, the UK’s Promotional Product Experts. Established over 10 years, ISO & BPMA accredited, Sussex Promotions are your one-stop shop for printed promotional products from printed mugs and printed pens through to branded umbrellas and promotional clothing.
