Do an Assessment Before you jump into this new business climate access your marketing efforts from last year. Review all your expenses from last year. Evaluate if you have more or less to spend this year and review success or failure of each of your expenses and efforts individually. Once you have done that identify where you can improve on last years efforts and then incorporate those changes into your strategic marketing plan for coming year.

In subsequent months throughout year take time at end of each month and quarter to assess your efforts and make midcourse corrections where necessary to incorporate what you have learned along way.

Establish Objectives Create business objectives for coming year. Your strategic marketing efforts will serve you best if they do more for your business than simply turn a profit. Consider including these important objectives

- Establishing yourself or your company an expert or leader in industry you serve.

- Retain your current client base while gaining additional business from them.

- Increase new prospect referrals from current clients and your sphere of influence.

Market Only to Your Niche Unless everyone on planet is a potential client you must limit your marketing efforts to be effective. Decide who your ideal client is and focus your marketing efforts on that potential client population. Ask yourself; Who are they? Where are they? What are they interested or involved in? For example if your ideal client is a homeowner in northern California figure out how you can make contact with them, not with everyone in town.

Tips for Writing a Great Speech

1. The first step is to ask yourself what you hope to accomplish with your presentation. Without an outcome in mind, your speech may be bland and even boring. Once you know what you hope to accomplish, you can begin.

2. Decide major "must make points" of your presentation. Do not over pack your presentation with information. If your speech is less than thirty minutes, do not have more than five major points you want to convey. When you are giving a speech in an effort to get clients you want to also do following: 1. Inform your audience on your subject 2. Establish yourself as an expert and a resource 3. Encourage your audience to take action

3. Unless you are a comedian, do not open with a joke. Leave humor to humorists. Instead, open and close with a story - everybody loves stories.

4. When it comes to speaking and storytelling stick with what you know. Do not tell a story about something that is unfamiliar to you. When telling a personal story paint pictures for audience with your words. Describe colorful images audience can see in their minds.

5. Until you are an experienced confident speaker, write your speech out completely. After writing it out completely, edit it, then go through it again and take out any words or phrases that seem unnecessary.

6. Bring your whole speech to podium or front of room. Make sure you number pages in a large size font, so you will not mix them up. Write a shorter outline for quick reference.

7. Regardless of topic, use quotes. Audiences like quotes. Use interesting sources that audience can relate to and refrain from quoting dead presidents.

8. Anecdotes, current event items and facts that you can reference can add credibility and interest to your presentation.

9. Check on pronunciation and grammar questions. Be confident that everything you say is accurate.

10. Keep sentences short so you can breath in right places.

11. Consider tape recording your speech in your own voice and playing it over and over to accelerate learning. The better you know your speech and more you have practiced, more you-- and your audience-- will enjoy it.

Tips for a Great Delivery 1. ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY SPEECH FILLERS from your communication. Fillers are words and phrases such as "umm," "well," "it is sort-a like," "it's kind-a like." These take away from message you want to convey. Some of words and phrases to eliminate include: "you know," "I think," "I'm sorry," "just," "but," "should," "like," "um," and, "a," etc.

2. USE THE POWERFUL PAUSE. Do not be afraid to have a moment of silence between sentences. A pause, after a thought and prefacing a response to a question holds attention of listener.

3. BREATHE from diaphragm. Breathe deeply and often.

4. PACE YOURSELF. Do not talk too fast or too slow.

5. PHYSICALLY POSITION YOURSELF POWERFULLY. Be aware of your posture when you speak. Slouching, tilting your head and crossing your arms or legs diminishes message. Stand up straight, shoulders down, feet firmly planted and knees unlocked.