Step-by-Step Internet Marketing Action Plan to Keep Your Client Pipeline Full

What’s the biggest issue small business owners have with marketing?  Paying attention to marketing tasks when they’re trying to run their business.  So many times marketing falls to the wayside, only to be resurrected when the client pipeline is drying up.  Frankly, then it’s too late to worry about marketing, for no amount of last-minute marketing will help you pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat when you’re desperate for clients.

It’s only when you decide to integrate marketing into your daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly routines that it becomes a habit that you no longer have to think about. So, rather than a hodge-podge of strategies that you change every time you hear of something that sounds more compelling, find the mix of strategies that works well for you in your business and stick to it.  Remember, consistent action yields prime results.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Neither will your Internet marketing action plan.  Start small, and add in additional strategies that you both enjoy and that make sense for your business.  The strategy that you choose is less important than the consistent implementation of your plan.

To help you along, here’s what I’m doing on a regular basis to market my business online:

Quarterly Tasks

1. Send out a postcard to touch base with former clients and customers to remind them to think of me when they need marketing assistance.

2. Write promotional copy for a free preview call or list-building teleclass and have my assistant submit the teleclass description to major event and teleclass sites.  My assistant then creates a squeeze page with an opt-in form for the class. I create the handouts and the call to action or special offer and host the class.

3. Create a new information product (product, sales page, promotional copy for emails) and upload it to my site to sell.

Monthly Tasks

1. Have my assistant update my site’s media page with links to new press coverage I’ve received or press releases I have submitted.

2.  Create a tips-based press release based on the content of one of my articles and submit it through PRWeb.com.  Then, about a week after submission, I have my assistant post the same release on a handful of free press release sites.

3.  Have my assistant pre-schedule a list of quotes or business tips into HootSuite.

4.  Have my assistant request and gather testimonials from my clients, newsletter and blog readers, members of my membership site, purchasers of my products, as well as speaking gig hosts and update my site with those as appropriate.

5.  Review my yearly and quarterly marketing calendar (outlines events, promotions, sales) and update as appropriate.

Weekly Tasks

1. Have my assistant complete my Marketing Dashboard spreadsheet so that I can see my marketing statistics (site visits, ezine and blog subscribers, keyword ranking, etc.)

2. Post 1-2 new articles on my blog. One of these posts is usually a reader-submitted question that I receive from my “ask a question” squeeze page.

3. Write a brand-new, high content “how to” article for my ezine, as well as a business automation tool review and a personal note to my readers.  When I write each of the articles, I also create a 450 character summary for each, a list of 10 keywords for each, as well as the resource box I want to use when submitting my primary article to my article submission service.

4. Have my assistant format and publish my ezine to my list.

5. Have my assistant publish my primary article and business automation tool to my sites.

6.  Have my assistant submit my primary ezine article to my article submission service for distribution on various article directories, article banks, and online publishers.  My assistant also submits this article to niche-specific sites not covered in the automated article submission process.

7.  Have my assistant research questions on Linkedin Answers and note the ones to which I might be able to respond.

8.  Have my assistant create a Powerpoint presentation from an article I have written and submit that presentation to Slideshare and Scribd.

9.  Send out cards by snail mail to current and former clients for their birthdays or to congratulate them on a personal or professional achievement.

10,  Have my assistant create a list of keyword relevant info compiled from Google Alerts and keyword searches on Twitter and forward to me for further action.

11.  Have my assistant scan the listings at Help a Reporter, PitchRate, Blogger Linkup, and Reporter Connection and send a list of possible media inquiries to which I can respond.

12.  Have my assistant social bookmark my blog posts through Onlywire.

Daily Tasks

1. Read 2 of the top 10 blogs to which I subscribe in my industry and post comments as appropriate. When you do this 5 days per week, you will have posted comments on 10 blogs.

2. Review the emails from the discussion lists, forums, Linkedin Groups and Facebook Groups to which I belong and answer some questions and make some comments that add to the discussion.

3. Log in to HootSuite and respond to any @ replies from Twitter, comments on my Facebook or Linkedin status updates, or any direct mail messages in Twitter.  I also respond to any direct Facebook messages within Facebook.

4.  Have my assistant send out birthday greetings to my Facebook friends using the message I have created for the occasion.

5.  Check my Twitter Lists in HootSuite and retweet posts that I think my followers can use and comment on some, as well.  Then I submit 1-2 status updates to all of my social networking sites through HootSuite.

My list has changed pretty dramatically in the last two years, so be prepared to adapt to changing times with your plan. How do I get it all done? I set aside time on my calendar to consistently implement these tasks, and it helps to have a great assistant whom I’ve trained to carry out a number of these tasks for me. Start to consistently implement your plan, and watch your pipeline fills with new clients.