Writing my 2014 Marketing Plan 12'13

 With all the aggravation of the year end accounting behind me, it is finally time to do some business paperwork that I  really enjoy:

Writing my 2014 Business Marketing Plan

That's right I said I actually like writing a business marketing plan.  I can even say look forward to it the way some people look forward to making New Year's Resolutions.
And for me the activity brings with it the sames sense of renewal and hope for the future as I, and many other people, get from making New Years resolutions...
 

with one difference..... I  set goals for every aspect of my business

 And I really really get into detail on the process

I am a firm believer in it is the  the system and the process of implementing the system you set in place to reach the goal, not the  goal itself which makes one successful or not.  

The process usually starts with a review of last years plan
 There are many ways I could market my art work ,from private &/or guild galleries - street fairs and exhibitions,  from public online auctions - to private websites,  from paid advertising-to pursuing free publicity in the press- or even social media, just to name a few. It can all be overwhelming – and I cannot do everything. So  I review last years plan with written notes of worked and paid off, and what did not.
This gives me the basis for cutting out what is not effective and leaves time, energy, and money to put toward something that might be more effective.

The next step involves tweeking the portions of the plan that seem to be working with even more effective tactics  and scoping out the overall calender of know events so I know there will be no delivery conflicts

After that I researching  new opportunities and sorting them down to a select few that appear to be potentially profitable, will fit within my budget, and still leave me time to produce art.

I have passed up many opportunities that came up throughout the past year, and  stuck to my 2013 marketing plan.. At the same time I collected data on how those opportunities worked out for others and now have a large list of marketing opportunities to review.   Over the course of the next few weeks these will be filtered into the existing plan based upon their compatibility with resources my time budget and skills, and also my own personality. 

 Over the course of the next few weeks these will be filtered into the existing plan based upon their compatibility with resources my time budget and skills, and  my own personality. No matter how profitable Aname is as an art form, I am unlikely to every be able to approach it with the passion that I have for landscapes.  I need to be able to commit passionately to what I do, or I my work will lack luster. And finally, I look to whether new opportunities fits within my five year strategic plan which lays out the big picture of where I would like to see the business be.

We all know that plans are imperfect things. How can I possibly know what's going to happen 12 months or five years from now? Isn't putting together a marketing plan an exercise in futility . . . a waste of time better spent meeting painting more art ? Yes, sometimes but only if you believe you can be 'discovered' on a street corner.  If you don't plan, you're doomed, and an imperfect plan is far better than no plan at all. Airline pilots know that, it's better to be a few degrees off course from their destination airport than to have no destination in mind at all. The point of flying is to get to a specific destination, and without a marketing plan, one  is drifting aimlessly.  Sometimes one might luck out and find an safe airport but I doubt that your passengers would be all that happy.  More often than not pilots without plans make  a forced  landing in some farmers field.  Neither landing is likely to gain positive professional recognition .