I'm a firm believer that your marketing plan should be much more than this. To use some military terms, I think that a marketing plan should be "strategic" as well as "tactical." In other words, we should make sure that we focus on our entire plan, and how it works as a system, rather than just focusing on individual parts like classified ads or website copy.

Here are a few tips that I've used in past to help me create and visualize a marketing strategy:

* Think Backwards: I've found that best way to construct a marketing strategy is to start with thing you want to happen at END of marketing process, and then work back from there. That means that first step in creating your marketing strategy is to think about where you want to make your sale. Will it be on phone? Will it be on your website?

Once you have decided on what your "point of sale" is going to be, you can then start moving on to next step, which is getting your customers to that point. How will you get your customers to call? How will you get people to visit your website?

This is when you should also think about any other steps that might be needed. For instance, how much additional information will customer need before you send them to point of sale? Will they need repeated messages to get them to buy? By answering these kinds of questions before you start writing, you will be saving yourself a lot of time and effort later on.

Is it? If it isn’t, then consider doing something that is! Let me explain: if what you're doing isn’t easy right off bat, don’t give up, and DON’T consider doing something else—I mean, there’s a learning curve to everything!

What I’m getting at is, once you’ve applied yourself and learned that you have a natural aptitude for doing something, STICK WITH IT! It becomes easier and easier, and you’ll enjoy your work.

BUT—and this is a BIG BUT—if, after you’ve applied yourself diligently and worked through learning curve, it STILL doesn’t feel like your niche—if you're still not comfortable with it—if you do not enjoy it thoroughly to point that you really look forward to doing it, THEN—and only then—switch to something else.