Marketing Plan Manifesto

Action Marketing Plan Software

The Marketing Plan Manifesto
“If it does not work, it's time to change things”

The basic principles of this Marketing Method
Hi, my name is Isaac, the creator of the Action Marketing Plan Software and a Spanish Entrepreneur that worked
during years as a business consultant. In 2006 I created my own small business and I never looked back, I work
everyday with other entrepreneurs and I'm passionate about finding what's really useful to get sales and results
(firstly because my customers, and my own business, depend on that).

So in this report I want to share my practical experience about Marketing Plans and what really works.

I know what you are thinking, Marketing Plan templates and methods are everywhere, so why another one?

Mainly because in all these years of experience working with entrepreneurs (and getting customers for my own
businesses) many of those methods are:
1.- Too complicated for the majority of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

That don't have the luxury of endless free time to write fifty pages, or take a MBA to understand what the “plan
template of the week” is asking.

2.- Not focused on the important things.

If you have heard about the Pareto Principle then you know that 20% of the work brings 80% of the result (if
you have not heard about it, please research the topic, it's a real eye opener, and, by far the most useful thing I

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Action Marketing Plan Software. http://www.actionmarketingplan.net

learned in college when I was studying economics.

In my humble experience many plan methods don't focus on that critical 20% and force you to go through a
lot of work that does not pay in the real world.

3.- Not focused on action.

These are the two keys to success in a Marketing Plan (focus on action and on important things), but every
method and template is focused in just the planning part, that, trust me, it's just guessing.

Really, maybe it's not popular to say this, but it's true.

When we are planning we are trying to predict the future, and we humans are really bad at it, as it has been
demonstrated time and again.

The result? We put our efforts in the least important part of a Marketing Plan.

Action is the only thing that will bring results in the real world. You can predict the success of someone seeing
if they act quickly on their ideas instead of dreaming constantly about them.
4.- They are static and written in stone.

Every Marketing Method or plan admits that is not going to be accurate, it's simply not possible, but every
template you see is static, there is no room to adapt and control, so what happens? The Marketing Plan is a
pretty book that collects dust in the shelf, because after the first contact with reality it does not fit.

The Marketing Plan is a map (to be amended when we "travel" towards our goals) but it's never a "book" or a
bunch of static papers.

Why the Action Marketing plan Method and software
The Action Marketing Plan software is a tool that was created first for my personal use (you know, in the end I
work in the Marketing business, and in fact we are all working in the Marketing and sales business) so I wanted
this application focused in what I've seen that works, because I've experienced bad cases of “exhaustion
syndrome” and it's no fun.

The exhaustion syndrome
In the Action Marketing Plan software the planning part has been stripped of those big fancy terms and tasks

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that never work in the real world (but they tend to be included in most methods for some reason, maybe to fill
some sense of self-importance, maybe because we love to think that complexity is always the answer), so the
critical questions (because a plan is just answering the hard questions) can be worked in just minutes.
Really.

Normally, following many Marketing Plan methods, you would fill in an endless stream of sections that demand
a lot of effort and work (many of them are so obscure that you need to go to the Internet to see what are they
talking about, take an MBA and after all that time and effort you end writing some insecure answer).

You know the drill (because if you are here, chances are that you have tried other things). You start to get tired
and then you see that there are twenty more questions ahead. It seems like an eternity and you got lot of things
to do because, you know, you have a real business and a life, so you fill faster with made-up answers, not based
in reality, and whose real goal is ending the damn thing as soon as possible.

When you finish (or if you finish, because many plans are started but few are completed) you are so exhausted
that you don't want to touch "that Marketing Plan thing" again.

The experience seemed so useless and awful that you want nothing to do with it, so when the important part
arrives (implementation) you had enough already.

That's what I call the “exhaustion syndrome”, I've seen it many times and it's the main reason behind plans that
end in a dark drawer, never to be touched again.

It's wasted time that won't come back, but you are a smart entrepreneur and you know that Marketing is what
bring customers, so you try again and some time after you start another Marketing Plan with your best
intentions.

Make no mistake, there is nothing bad with hard work, but useless hard work is something that we can
not afford, it's our enemy because we have a business to run and a life to live.

The solution (and the most effective Marketing strategy)
The solution can be summed in:

"Work smarter, not harder".

"Busy days", those days full of tasks that get you exhausted (and with a sense of stagnation) are good for
nothing, trust me, there is no medal of honor.

Since we are not going to have unlimited time, stop doing those things that delay you and focus

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only on the few critical things that really matter, that's the approach in the Action Marketing Plan
Software, where the useless things are out.

Of course, the process of trimming the less useful parts in the Action Marketing Plan Software is not a product of
a whim, it's because of years of experience working with big, medium and small businesses, and seeing what
really works (and what not) in order to get customers and sales.

And this is the thing, you can start now with this solution and you don't even have to invest in the software. Of
course it would be great and will make everything easier and faster, but I believe in a "value based Marketing",
where businesses give something useful first and then the customer freely chooses if he wants to invest.

In my experience this kind of Marketing is what works, you get more customers and, above all, they are happy
customers, because they saw some value before the purchase.

I always recommend this Marketing strategy because it's the most effective to get sales, but I digress, here is the
solution you can put into practice to have a simpler and better Marketing Plan.

Step 1.- Define Crystal Clear Goals.

Good goals can be measured and they have a date. "Make some money" is an awful goal, "get 45 new
customers by 12/31" is much better.

Fuzzy goals = fuzzy results, so sit down and specify clearly what we want to accomplish with the plan.

"What do you really want?"

That's one of the most important questions we can answer, and it's incredible how many people mumbles or
simply does not know when asked.

In Marketing Planning is the same, and clear goals is one of those 20% of things that really matter.

And by the way, establish few goals. The more goals we have the more energy we scatter, so let's focus like a
laser in one or two critical goals.

Step 2.- Know your customer better than they know themselves.

Many businesses say that they know their customers, they fill a profile in their Marketing Plans, and then their
products have lousy sales even when many of those customers take a look at the offer.

Why? Because they don't really know them, they only want their money.

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They don't really feel the same pain so they don't come up with a better solution.

The best way of knowing our customers is being one of them.

I'm an entrepreneur, just like my clients, I feel their pain because it's my pain too, I know what would be great
for my work, and my best sellers are products that I created first for myself (like the Action Marketing Plan
Software) and information about how I solved my own real problems. For example information that explains
how I got customers when I started and had little money, no contacts and no experience.

All tested in the real world after trial and error.

So our task here is to make a portrait of the ideal customer we want to attract, but not any portrait,
an accurate one because we care, we spend time walking in their shoes and we know their real desires.

Step 3.- Determine how we are going to attract that customer.

"If you build it, they will come". That saying does not work any more. Even if we are the best, we must go out
there and shout it.

How many marketing messages do we receive every day? Hundreds maybe?
We must rise above that noise, we must be active and be seen.

One of my best friends (and entrepreneur too) is a promotion machine. He goes to every event, makes the calls
he has to do (overcoming the fear to rejection) and travels where he needs to in order to do business and feed
his family. It's bold and I'm jealous, I'm not like him, I'm more shy and I employ other strategies, but the goal is
the same.

I must be visible, I have to go out there and say "Hey, I'm here and this is what I offer, maybe it's
going to be useful for you".

So we need to think how we are going to bring people to our door, and then slice that into small practical
steps.

Normally this is done through promotion and marketing media, so What are we going to use to attract
eyeballs?

Flyers? Telemarketing? Salesmen...? We define this clearly in this step, and we make sure that those actions bring
enough people, because only a little percentage will become paying customers.

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Step 4.- Make sure you have the money and resources.

Then we make some basic numbers: what is going to be the investment? and what we expect to reap with our
plan?

Step 6.- We act, NO MATTER WHAT.

Remember, action is the only thing that will bring results. For this very reason the Action Marketing Plan
software is more focused in action than planning, because that's what really matters.

We know our destination (goals) and we know how we are going to attract people, so it's time to go.

An "expert" Marketing Plan with nice fonts and flashy charts is not going to make any sales by itself. All
depends on you and your actions.

Step 7.- Steer the ship

No plan resists contact with reality. As soon as we take the first step we always have confirmation of one thing.

"Plans and reality never match".

Some times we miss slightly, some times we drop the ball completely, it's normal, we can't predict the future,
but we can correct the course of our plan according to the feedback we receive.

A static plan (the most common kind of plan) is a recipe for disaster , so we will have to amend and
rewrite what's necessary. Don't be afraid to cross out some things and write again...

Step 8.- Learn

In marketing no one knows beforehand what's going to work. It does not matter if you are the best Marketing
genius in the world.

In fact the most important thing in Marketing is: TESTING. That's the great secret, really.

What works for me maybe it's no good for you, but through Marketing Plans full of action you will learn soon
what works (and what doesn't) in your situation.

That knowledge is invaluable, have it at hand...

If you make simple, brief Marketing plans, with few focused goals, and, above all, you focus on

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smart action you are on the right path.

Don't be deceived, planning is not complicated, maybe closing that sale is, but planning … It's just a tool to an
end, so go step by step when creating a new plan and, after that, focus on action and adaptation.

Don’t try to be perfect from the start, launch your project as soon as possible and then correct
the course… that’s the effective way.

At least it's what worked for me and the entrepreneurs I've known and worked with.

A final word
Maybe you will think that this is obvious, but time and again I've seen that it's not.

Before any Marketing action we must have an irresistible offer, we must make things different or
better than the rest, we must posses some special quality that make us stand out above our competition.

If we have an average product, with average features that never amaze the customer, we won't get sales, our
Marketing efforts will be in vain because there is no Marketing that can fix a mediocre product...

Take that into account and please, use this information, take a piece of paper and draft a brief plan following
the previous steps. In the step 3 brainstorm ways of putting eyeballs on your offer, select the best and ACT.
That's the important lesson.

And if you want, take a look at the Action Marketing Plan Software, the application is more detailed in
the method and will help you, step by step, to write a fast Marketing Plan focused in what works, but more
importantly, it will help you to put it into practice and control the plan, something that you won't find
elsewhere.

Ok, I must go now, thank you very much for your time, really, and let's work...

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Marketing Plan Manifesto

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