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As a freelance writer, you need to market your skills. Before you even start, set up a marketing plan. It’s crucial to remain consistent.
Do you have a marketing plan? If not, how do you know if your techniques are working? There are many reasons to have a plan for your marketing, and this is on top of your business plan.
It’s easy to think that marketing is just something you can randomly do whenever you want. It’s easy to believe that it’s something you can slot in between clients. Stop right there. Here are four reasons you need a marketing plan right now.
Lenders want to see a marketing plan
Those looking for a business loan need to create a marketing plan. There are no ifs or buts about it. The lender wants to see that you have a strategy to get your business name out there and get people to come to you. Just because you have a website or a new premise for your company doesn’t mean you’re going to get customers!
Your marketing is an idea of whether you’ll succeed. Lenders don’t want to loan money to someone who has no plan, because it means they are high risk.
Lay out your techniques
There are so many options for marketing. You could opt for social media marketing, using blog posts, or even offline methods like flyers. All have their pros and cons, but you don’t know what they all are without laying them out.
Once you have a list of all the options, you need to determine how you’re going to use them. Will some of them be too expensive right now? Maybe you don’t have time for some of them.
Planning will give you something to do each day. You don’t have to think “what do I need to do today,” which can take time out of your business.
Check your marketing is working
As I asked at the start of this post, how do you know your marketing techniques are working? You’re using social media, but are you getting any sales from them? Maybe your article marketing is gathering better results, but you’re not doing enough with it.
Planning will give you the chance to revisit it. You set a time to assess your current techniques to see how you’re doing. From there, you can adapt your plan to make sure you make the most of promotion.
There’s no point using a technique if it’s costing more money than it brings in. It’s wasting your time and budget.
Set your marketing budget
Your marketing needs a plan just so you can set the financial needs. Marketing does cost money, even online. Some techniques are more expensive than others over the long term, while some will have an initial investment and then work out affordable in the long term.
You will have a budget, and that needs to be spent wisely. After all, you don’t want to waste money on something that isn’t working. It’s also important to avoid overspending.
If you don’t have a marketing plan yet, create one right now. Your plan will help you set out a budget, give you techniques and help you determine whether something is working or not. You’ll see your business grow much more effectively.
MORE: When writing for exposure could be worth your time
Do you have a marketing plan yet? What are you struggling to do to get your business off the ground? Share your thoughts in the comments below.