{"id":1838,"date":"2017-11-28T05:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.harveker.com\/?p=1838"},"modified":"2017-11-28T05:00:49","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T11:00:49","slug":"best-marketing-plan-ditch-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harveker.com\/blog\/best-marketing-plan-ditch-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Marketing Plan Is to Ditch the Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve talked with a few beginning and even some veteran entrepreneurs who have a similar story that goes something like this: They threw themselves into their businesses, got off to a great start, achieved some initial success, and then down the road, all of a sudden the strategies that were working simply stopped working. These entrepreneurs are now suffering because they stuck to one marketing plan. If that sounds counterintuitive, let me explain what I mean below.<\/p>\n

Forget the Marketing Plan and Find Real Success<\/h2>\n

Business is an ongoing process. It\u2019s not a one-time idea. You’re going to fail if you think, \u201cHey, this works. I\u2019m going to do this forever.\u201d Yet, this is exactly what so many people do when they stick to one marketing plan for their business.<\/p>\n

Don’t Be Afraid of Change<\/h3>\n

Many people call me a marketing expert. Maybe I am; maybe I\u2019m not. The bottom line is I\u2019ve done fairly well marketing myself and anything that I\u2019ve touched.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons I’ve done so well is that I understand marketing requires an ever-changing formula. If you think you\u2019re going into something with the same strategy forever, you\u2019re crazy. No marketing plan works forever. Instead, you always have to keep adjusting, testing, and changing. After all, people get tired of the same thing.<\/p>\n

How People Fail<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing that happens to many start-ups: they\u2019ve reached the top and easiest segment of their market. When you start a certain type of business in a certain niche, there\u2019s a group of people who are just waiting for you. These people have a problem that can be answered by your solution. They’re simply waiting for you to come sell to them.<\/p>\n

However, there’s also a secondary group of people that aren\u2019t waiting. These are the people you actually have to market and sell to. Obviously, these people need a whole different marketing plan.<\/p>\n

How I Make It Work<\/h3>\n

Take my seminar business, for example. The first time we go to Singapore with the Millionaire Mind Intensive, they say, \u201cT. Harv Eker\u2019s coming to town. Wow! He\u2019s a big author. He’s number one on The New York Times bestseller list and number one on the Singapore list. I\u2019ve got to go see this guy.\u201d All the business and finance people say, \u201cWow! Let\u2019s go see Harv,\u201d and 5,000 people show up.<\/p>\n

The next time I come to town, 4,000 people show up. The next time after that, 3,000. It\u2019s harder. I think our last event had 2,500 people, and it took six months to fill. Why is that? Because we\u2019re not doing as good? No. Is our marketing not as good? No, it\u2019s not that.<\/p>\n

What’s happening is the people who were the cream of the crop in the market waiting for me have already taken the course. Consequently, we have to work harder to convince the next group. However, how do you do that? It’s not easy, but you have to find people in different nooks and crannies in different niches.<\/p>\n

Find New Energy<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another thing that happens with a new business is your own energy is different. You go in and think, \u201cI\u2019ve got to make this work.\u201d In the beginning, you\u2019re putting in 18 hours a day, and your energy is high. This works at first, but slowly your business starts to suffer. It\u2019s like you\u2019re running in a marathon, but you sprinted the first mile. Now, you\u2019re panting. If you just keep running, you’re going to fall behind. You need a different strategy to actually keep your energy up.<\/p>\n

This goes to show that marketing in business ebbs and flows. You always have to be innovating, changing, revising and testing new marketing methods, sales techniques, and new products. If you\u2019re not flowing and growing with your market and getting better at what you do, you\u2019re dying.<\/p>\n

Some New Strategies You Can Try<\/h3>\n

You have to get some new strategies in there. Whatever they are, they must answer these questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who is your target market?<\/li>\n
  2. What is your message \u2014 Is it clear and unique?<\/li>\n
  3. What\u2019s your medium \u2014 How do you reach these people? Are you reaching the right people in an effective way?<\/li>\n
  4. What\u2019s your backend system? Once you have the people in the door, how do you continue to make money with them and support them?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Write down MMMB: Market, Message, Medium and Backend.<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re not using those principles, you\u2019re a wonderful person and I love you very much, but you suck at marketing and business. I don’t want that to be the case. I want you to be successful and happy and financially free.<\/p>\n

    Even if you\u2019re just reading this and not thinking seriously about starting a business, imagine you had a specific problem that you could solve for a specific group of people. What would it be? What\u2019s your MMMB?<\/p>\n

    Do this creative exercise just to challenge yourself and tell us what you think! You might find great ideas inside that you didn\u2019t know were there.<\/p>\n

    For Your Freedom,
    \n\"marketing<\/p>\n

    UP NEXT: Steps to Starting a Business Before You Leave Your Current Job<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve talked with a few beginning and even some veteran entrepreneurs who have a similar story that goes something like this: They threw themselves into their businesses, got off to a great start, achieved some initial success, and then down the road, all of a sudden the strategies that were working simply stopped working. These…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-popular","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Marketing Plan Is to Ditch the Plan | Harv Eker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite what you might think, having a marketing plan can actually hurt your business. Want to know why? 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