What’s a Money Map?” you might ask. Just as it suggests, a Money Map is a map to help you create more money in your business.
The map is real – it isn’t an old piece of paper with directions to a buried treasure. The map is your marketing plan for your business.
Day in and day out, I see too many service professionals struggling with their marketing simply because they don’t have a plan. They have no idea what they are doing, when they are doing it, or how. Even if they are doing some marketing activities, there is no plan to evaluate the performance to see if it’s working and yielding the results they expected.
When you don’t have a marketing plan, it’s easy to get seduced by the hype in the marketplace. It’s easy to get caught up in with “Bright Shiny Object Syndrome” of whatever the latest and greatest marketing technique there is. Perhaps you think you need a blog, then a Facebook Fan page, a Twitter account, to join various LinkedIn groups, , create videos on YouTube, etc. Are you so caught up in chasing the next “big” thing that you really don’t know what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it? If so, that is a costly mistake.
In creating a Money Map, you are forced to get really clear on your business goals. You have to go through the process to identify your ideal client – who are they? Where do they hang out? What are their problems? What do they need? How can you provide solutions for them?
Once you identify your ideal client, then you can develop a strategic plan to connect with them. You can create targeted messages just for them. Since you will have solutions to their problems and needs , they will be very receptive to your message. This will lead to higher conversions because you are providing exactly what they need, when they need it.
The other benefit of having a Money Map is that it gives you a real tool that you can use for a point of reference. So, when you hear about the newest marketing strategies, you can compare it to your marketing plan. Then you’ll be able to quickly identify if the new idea fits into your plan – you’ll know right away if it makes sense to approach your target audience in this manner. This will allow you to only pursue specific activities that will create more exposure for your business and generate more revenue. If it doesn’t, then don’t waste your time or money on it.
See, by having a marketing plan, you have a Money Map – an effective and efficient tool to help you earn more revenue through consistent marketing. You will get to keep your hard earned money by not buying into the hype of the various marketing activities. You’ll stay focused, on track and create profitable results. Remember, your time is money – so don’t waste time on anything that doesn’t support your Money Map.
Micene Fontaine says
Once again, great tips. I simply wanted to stress how important Syndi’s suggestion to “create targeted messages just for them.” is. We – at Design Arts Seminars, Inc., spend a great deal of time learning everything we can about our clients (not in a stalker kind of way but more in a friendly neighbor kind of way). Over the course of our relationship with each client, we look at patterns and designed our database to identify these patterns so we can present our clients with the most pertinent message at the most pertinent time. It seems obvious but it makes a world of difference in the responses we get. Once example, I recently bought a home and within a couple of weeks, I received literally hundreds of offers welcoming me to the neighborhood. I got so overwhelmed that I basically ignored them all. A few months later, I received a simple handwritten card hoping that I had time to settle in and telling me about a local made-to-order meal delivery service. Though it seems counterintuitive, the later offer was actually more timely than the ones I got within days of buying the home (before I even got a chance to move in).
Sydni Craig-Hart says
Thanks for the note Micene! And kudos to you for being so concerned about your client’s needs! That’s really commendable. What other marketing strategies have worked well for you?