Strategic Planning Your Marketing

You would not want to get on a long-distance flight with a pilot who didn't have a clearly defined flight plan - would you? Would you want to work for someone in a business who didn't have a clearly defined Strategic Plan - would you? Would your employees want to work for a business that doesn't have a clearly defined Strategic Plan... would they? Remember the old adage, and isn't it really true...

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

The traditional tool had always been the laborious and often dreaded business plan, usually an undertaking of daunting and monolithic proportions. A business plan is great, even necessary, if you are pursuing funding or financial investments. However, a business plan is likely overkill for the more operational approach where you need to monitor, review, measure and possibly adjust strategies and tactics on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Michael Berber's legendary business book, E-Myth, offered a compelling thought that cuts to the heart of the struggle of most business leaders:

You feel stuck working IN your business,

when really you need to be working ON your business!

In the late 1990's our Founder realized that most business owners really "fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants" in a "make-it-up-as-you-go" sort-of way. That might be great for barnstorming or crop dusting, but does it really make sense to run your business that way? 

Needing a way to better understand where a business owner's head is at, our Founder develop a tool that takes all the brilliance rattling around in their noggin, and gets it down on paper.

The simple motto for our Strategic Plan becomes...

Define A Plan - Communicate the Plan - Execute That Plan

In essence, a well developed Strategic Plan helps you clearly define, in writing:

1. What is our purpose, vision, and mission?
2. What are our primary goals?
3. What are the objectives we aim to hit so we know we're tracking on our goals?
4. What are the various strategies to get us where we aim to go?
5. What are the more intermediate or long-range plans we need to keep in the mix?
6. What are the key action areas needing focus over the next 30-90 days?

In reality, a well developed Strategic Plan helps you quickly and easily see:

1. Are we operating consistent with our values and mission?
2. Where did we say we wanted to go?
3. How did we do on the milestones we said we wanted to hit?
4. Are we executing what we set out to do?
5. Are we making any progress on the more long-range plans?
6. Did we accomplish the key results we needed to since we last reviewed?

Of all the exciting things THRUST! does, a business owner client recently told us...

"Don't underestimate the value of your Strategic Planning process,
it's probably the most important thing you can offer business owners like me!"

If you're ready to take your business to the next level, our TopFlight Strategic Plan is the very best place for us to start together. We have made it the central element in our New Media Marketing Makeover program, because everything we do together will go so much better when you have your own customized Strategic Plan to grow your venture.