Long before a farmer begins to plant, he or she must develop a plan. Without one, the farmer is just randomly throwing a bunch of seeds throughout the fields -- not the best technique if a flourishing harvest is the desired goal.  

The same goes for marketing.

To make the most of your resources, you need a plan that you can easily maintain and that will give you the results you need to grow your business year after year.   

Planning includes:

• determining your ideal future client, 
• understanding their unique pain points and challenges, and
• effectively communicating how you can solve them. 

You'll need to develop the most effective marketing messages and the most productive activities to ensure your target market knows about the products or services you offer, and why you are not like anyone else. 

Your plan doesn't need to be complicated nor expensive, it just needs to get you focused on the most effective and efficient ways to grow your business!

Keep in mind that companies that plan, grow 30% faster than those who don't.  

When you have finished planning the best way to market your business, it is time to begin to plant the seeds. This means getting in front of your prospects and into their hearts and minds as regularly as possible.  You want to get on their radar screens, and create awareness about your business. 

Seeding your business could mean:

• upgrading your website and giving it a facelift, 
• developing new content such as a blog or e-newsletter, 
• adhering to an editorial calendar,
• sending out newsworthy press releases, 
• getting in front of your ideal clients at speaking engagements, 
• inviting prospects and existing clients to lunch & learns or online webinars, 
• increasing social media efforts on the platforms that are best for you,
• launching a referral program, etc. 

Just as every business is unique, so should the plan and activities. The marketing tactics developed in your plan, will begin to plant the idea with your prospects of what you do and how you can help them in ways that your competition cannot.

This is the step where many people give up: don’t do it! Your efforts will pay off soon.

At this point, you want to prove that your business is trustworthy by being consistent over time. Continue to add water, sun and nutrients in the form of information, follow-up and responsiveness to inquiries. 

Building a healthy and fruitful business, requires nurturing your prospects until the seeds begin to sprout. 

As in farming, building trust and relationships requires consistency, effort and dedication.  It's a process and takes time.  You need to spend time engaging your ideal clients with: 

• your robust content
• your expertise and thought-leadership, and
• other educational, informational resources.

Most importantly, you need to have continuous touch points with your ideal clients and to stay top of mind so that you will be the person they turn to when they need someone who does exactly what you do.  

When you follow these steps, you are sure to produce a new crop of clients and grow your existing ones! 

Now let's get your business growing!