Many business owners procrastinate when it comes time to create plans and budgets. I've made it easy to create your simple 2012 marketing plan. Just fill in the blanks.

Clients:
Grow from _____ active clients to ______ active clients. (An active client is someone you have done business with in the past 18 months). This will be accomplished by: 
   a. Generating ______ referrals from existing clients. 
   b. Converting ______ inactive clients to active clients. (An inactive client is someone you have done business with between 19 months and 5 years). 
   c. Generating ______ clients from marketing activities.

Marketing Activities:
Referrals: Create our referral program by ______ (DATE). This program is to include: 

   a. Calling all clients 30 days after an installation is complete. Ensuring the client is satisfied and asking who she has spoken with about her new ______ . No human being spends thousands of dollars and doesn't' tell someone. Perhaps the people she told are interested in replacing their plumbing or HVAC equipment, too. 

   b. Mentioning referrals to all existing clients by putting a referral statement on the back of business cards, in social media, newsletters, and during follow-up calls. This will be done by ______ (DATE). 

   c. Other ___________________________________________

Converting inactive clients to active clients: The activities we will use are (Choose any or all below): 
   Activity          Subject          Date completed 
   Letters          __________       __________ 
   Postcards       _________    __________ 
   Newsletters    __________    __________ 
   Phone calls    __________    __________

Retaining Existing Clients: The activities we will use to keep existing clients are: 

   Activity                      Subject          Date completed 
   Constant Contact __________    __________ 
   Facebook             __________       __________ 
   LinkedIn                __________       __________ 
   Postcards             __________       __________ 
   Newsletters          __________       __________ 
   Phone calls          __________       __________

Note: Constant Contact is an inexpensive way to create email newsletters for your clients (and potential clients). They can be 5 minutes of reading once per month.

New Clients:
The activities we will use to generate new clients are: 

   Activity                    Subject             Date completed 
   Constant Contact    __________    __________ 
   Facebook                ________         __________ 
   LinkedIn                   __________    __________ 
   Postcards                __________    __________ 
   Newspaper             __________    __________ 
   Radio                      __________    __________ 
   Television/cable       __________    __________ 
   Home shows          __________    __________

You may decide to send a postcard, letter, newsletter, etc. more than once. Add a line for each time you send a postcard with the theme of that postcard. For example, you may choose to send a newsletter in March and September. There will be a subject for March with the date completed of Mar. 31, and a subject for September with a deadline of Sept. 30. 
   Once you decide what activities you will perform in 2012, then you must track the process to see what your results are. Continue doing the things that are generating the responses you want. Discontinue those that aren't generating the results you want.