It’s a new year and time to look at your marketing plan to see where you’re heading in 2011.

The key to long lasting and ever increasing success is in your marketing.  Not only is it necessary to start your business, but it will ensure that your profits continue to grow year after year. The question is NOT whether it will work or not, but rather whether you are committed enough to sustain your marketing plan over time?

When I worked for American Express, budget season rolled around each summer for the following year. Each division had to predict it profits for the following year, but before we could begin the process, the marketing department had to first lay out their plan for the year. You see, everyone from the CEO to the hourly employee knew that marketing was the driver of profits. Until there was a marketing plan, there were no profit plans. The same is true of your businesses whether you are just starting out or have been in business for a quarter century.

Frankly, marketing can be a bit of a pain in the (well, you know where).  You must faithfully devote yourself to  relentlessly follow your plan with  no immediate gratification. But that’s how marketing works. It’s not the singular message that attracts customers, but rather the continuous reminder about your product or service. Studies show that for a message to be effective it has to hit its intended audience five to seven times before producing any real results. By contrast, most marketers tend to give up after three to four attempts  – just shy of when they would actually start to attain results.

So start right now by making a New Year’s resolution to market, to continually market, and to never stop marketing. There is no “IF” – It definitely will work as long as you’re faithful to the process.

Lay out your plan right now based on a budget you can afford. Obviously the less dollars you have to spend the more work you may have to do personally, and the longer it may take to achieve results, but they will happen. Make sure that you are specific in your plan as to which target audience you will market; what marketing mediums you will use; and most important, when will each marketing piece be distributed? Stay true to those dates and give yourself no excuses.

If you will lay out a plan and follow it without fail, you will soon start to see the results in your profits. From that point on, you’ll be able to predict your profits based on the amount of marketing you plan.

Happy New Year.  Make it your most prosperous ever!

Expect abundance,

Lou Castillo & Josh Brown