Guest blog post from Allyson Piper Marketing Advisor at Marketing in Bloom

I was thrilled to be asked by Nora to provide this guest blog post. We’ve known each other for over two years, but I’ve only had the pleasure of working with her on branding projects since last spring. As a Marketing Advisor for small businesses, I help businesses get noticed and Nora makes my life easier by developing solid brands that are easy to work with and promote.

Whether you’ve worked with Nora or not, you’re reading this blog because branding is important to you and your business. Here’s the thing to remember: marketing and branding go hand in hand. It is much harder to effectively market even the best product or service if you don’t have a brand. And if you have a rockstar brand, you are doing it a disservice by not getting it out there and letting your brand help you grow your business.

So how exactly do you get your brand noticed? You need a marketing plan!
A marketing plan is one of the keys to a successful business. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it is essential. Developing a marketing plan forces a business owner to dedicate time to working on their business instead of in it and to set goals for the upcoming year. The marketing plan and action calendar you develop during the process makes it easy to implement your marketing over the course of the year since you are simply checking items off your list.

I suggest you make a date with yourself to work on your marketing plan and soon. Get out of our office and give yourself a few hours of uninterrupted time to brainstorm, research and think. I am hosting a F.R.E.E telesummit during the first week of January that will provide ample inspiration for your 2011 marketing plan – you can learn more or register at www. YourBrandInBloom.com.

Once you’ve established your goals and business direction, accessed your competition and learned as much as you possibly can about your target market (you should know them better than you know yourself!). My favorite part of the marketing planning process begins – the creation of the marketing/promotion mix. There are hundreds of ways to market you business, but in my experience just a few “marketing musts” that consistently return the results small business owners are after. Here are two strategies add to your 2011 marketing plan:

Marketing Must #1 – Local Offline Marketing
Your community and the people around you can offer amazing business building benefits. It doesn’t matter if you’re a service provider, information provider, or retailer, people want to do business with others in their community. Plus, it’s good practice to support fellow local entrepreneurs. It strengthens our connection to our community and supports the local economy. It can also be an environmentally sound decision.  How do you add local offline marketing to your marketing mix? You get out and network in-person, you volunteer or serve on the board of a community organization and you partner with other local businesses to grow your reach and exposure.

Marketing Must #2 – Expert Moments
To effectively market your small business you must establish yourself or your business as the go-to expert and leader in your field. Your job is to create expert moments for you or your company. My favorite ways to create expert moments are by writing articles, getting media exposure, blogging and speaking.

Constantly be on the lookout for new marketing opportunities that you can add to your marketing mix. And don’t underestimate the importance of getting your marketing in order so your business can grow and flourish. Need more help? I am teaching a Marketing Plan Bootcamp in early January. At the end of the 6 sessions (one of which on branding will be taught by Nora) you will have written your 2011 marketing plan and be ready to start taking action.

As a special treat for readers of The Branding Spot, I’d like to offer you a $50 discount off my Marketing Plan Bootcamp that begins January 11, 2011. Just enter the coupon code EarlyBird10 in the shopping cart.

About Allyson Piper
Ally works with small business owners and mangers to turn napkin notes into marketing plans and bring big picture marketing into focus with achievable steps and results. Learn more about how to take charge of your marketing and grow your business at http://www.marketinginbloom.com.

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