This Week In StomperNet — "Getting Serious About Your Marketing Calendar" — Nov 1, 2010

Hello Stompers!

Welcome to This Week In ‘StomperNet’, and greetings from London!  I’m enjoying a little ‘workcation’ here this week.  I first heard the concept of ‘workcations’ from my Stomper friend, Joe Lau, when he & his wife came to my state to work & go skiing for a month.  In my opinion, the ability to work from anywhere we want is one of the best advantages of being an Internet marketer.  Do you agree?

This week, we want to focus on “Getting Serious About Your Marketing Calendar”.  (Do you have one?)

We all know how important it is to build and care for a list of qualified buyers…  But then what?!  What good is that list if they never buy anything from you?

Taking a few minutes to strategize your marketing plan will result in a better planned out marketing effort, which will result in better sales, and will save you some mental bandwidth as well.  Your marketing calendar itself doesn’t have to be complicated.  It can be as simple as this:

* Week 1:  Send “Interesting Information” that appeals to your niche.

* Week 2:  Send “Holiday Special Offer”.  Mail Postcard with “Holiday Special Offer” to “Previous Buyers” segment of your list.

* Week 3:  Send “Interesting Information”.

* Week 4:  Send “Affiliate Offer” in related niche.

5 tips to keep in mind when setting up your Marketing Calendar:

* You want to teach your list to click on your links, so test sending short emails that link to your blog for the entire story.

* Communicate regularly with your list.  This will help with conversion.  It’s a lot easier to sell your products to people that are used to hearing from you than it is to sell to those who have forgotten that they bought something from you.

* Provide value to your list.  Give them a consistent reason to open your emails.  Make the scheduling of the “providing of value” a regular process on your marketing calendar.

* Don’t be afraid to mail!  I have talked to so many people that are afraid to mail their lists for fear of them opting out.  If you mail on a regular basis, some may opt out, and that’s ok.  They are not your best customers that love you and will buy from you again and again.

* Know your metrics.  Know what the average lifetime value of your customer is, because that will lead to better decision making when it comes to getting people to opt in to your list.  If the average lifetime value of someone on your list is $100, you wouldn’t hesitate to spend $5 to get them there, would you?

The frequency you mail will depend on your niche, as will the ratio of pure content to sales/marketing efforts.

Need someone to talk to about your Marketing Calendar?

Join StomperNet Faculty Member Lee Collins from www.Lee-Collins.com on Wed. for a discussion on “Getting Serious About Your Marketing Calendar”.  He’s my go-to guy on this topic.

LIVE WEBINARS:

* “How to Create a Rock-Solid Marketing Calendar That Amplifies Your Profits in 5 Simple Steps!”  with Lee Collins, Wed, Nov 3rd @ 2pm EDT.  Join Lee as he kicks your November off right!  Register for Lee’s webinar here!

* Faculty Office Hour with Vin Montello of www.MarketingClambake.com, Thurs, Nov 4th @ 3pm EDT.  If you missed Vin’s Office Hour last week…you’re not alone!  This week, he promises not to blow a tire, not to get stuck on the road with no cell service and not to have any encounters with law enforcement.    (He’ll explain, I’m sure!)  Vin (aka “The Godfather of Persuasion” and “The Millionaire Maker”) is among an elite class of copywriters – bar none.  He’s learned from such copywriting legends like David Ogilvy and Dan Kennedy, and his methods have made his clients millionaires!  He’ll teach you how successful Stompers write if you want to be seen and heard!  Register for Vin’s webinar here!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* SEO PRO Mastermind Members, you have 2 calls this week!  Please check the calendar, and your inbox for details.

* Save the date!  We are tentatively planning our next Elite Member Council for January 25-26th, which is just before SEO PRO 2.  If you are a Charter, Gold, or VIP member, please plan to attend.

Please take this opportunity to establish, dust off, or beef up your Marketing Calendar.  The holidays are coming up, you’ll be busy, and having a marketing calendar will make some of your marketing more “brainless”, you’ll see.  A few minutes to plan your marketing will pay off BIG in the long run.  Plus, it just feels good to have a strategy.

As always, please use the parts of StomperNet that you need most, and implement like crazy!

Happy Stomping.

Andrea Warner
VP of Member Experience

P.S.  A special shout out to Eugene Ware, CEO of MarketSamurai.com, which is a “Stomper Favorite” tool.  I had the pleasure of meeting Eugene this past weekend, and telling him how much we all enjoy and appreciate Market Samurai.  He is a class act, AND he said he reads these emails.