For small businesses and entrepreneurs, time is everything. Every day that you’re not one step closer to growing your businesses is a missed opportunity.
Unfortunately, figuring out the best way to go about growing your business is easier said than done, especially when resources are tight and your time is already tied up focusing on areas of your businesses outside of marketing.
That’s why I want to share a simple 5-day plan that you can follow to get your businesses seeing real growth in less than a week.
In this week’s article, I will walk you through setting up goals for your next marketing campaign, how to create an actionable strategy for hitting those goals, and how to get the help you need to start putting that strategy into action while staying lean and saving time.
"For small businesses and entrepreneurs, time is everything. Every day that you’re not one step closer to growing your businesses is a missed opportunity." - Andrew Wallis, Founder of AW Consultancy & Fitness Marketing Blueprint
Day 1: Set your marketing goals
Before you can do anything, you have to be clear about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it in the first place. Start by taking a step back and looking at what your business needs at the moment.
Do you want to sell more of a particular product? Get people excited about an upcoming workshop you're hosting? Increase the visibility of your brand?
Your specific business goals will be unique to you, and you should know what you need to do to take your business to the next level before setting any specific marketing goals.
Once you are clear about your business goals, you can then start determining what marketing goals you need to set to hit those business goals.
If you’re aiming to sell more of a particular product, then your goal can be: ‘increase sales on [product] by [X%] month over month]'.
If you want to get people signed up for your workshop then your goal might be, 'generate [X] new leads for your workshop by [X date]'
andrew wallis
@AndrewWallisHQ
Remember that when setting your marketing goals you want to set a clear, realistic number that you can check your progress against.
Day 2: Develop a strategy.
Now that you have clearly defined your goals, you can start figuring out how you will set out achieving those goals.
What channels are you going to use? What is your budget going to be for each channel? What are the key actions you need to be done and resources necessary for hitting your goals?
Make sure your strategy is actionable and well defined and it will make the rest of the process run smoothly.
Going off the example that your goal is to ‘generate [X] new leads for your workshop’, your strategy might be:
- to create a series of top of funnel Facebook ads to generate leads,
- then a series of middle and bottom of funnel re-engagement ads to capture anyone who previously showed intent but failed to sign-up,
- and finally an email sequence to generate excitement and remind people of the upcoming workshop to ensure that they attend.
Each step of this strategy will have key actions like, writing copy and generating creative for the ads, building an audience on Facebook Ads Manager, writing and coding an email sequence in MailChimp, and so on.
For more information on this step, and for a downloadable template, you can use, check out my previous article on building a simple marketing plan.
Day 3: Find the right help
On day three, this is where the magic happens. I know that not everyone has the time, money, or the skill set to implement all the marketing efforts that they need to grow.
I also recognize that there are thousands of students out there leaving school but unable to find a job because they lack one crucial thing — experience.
That’s why I LOVE using the services provided by Acadium. They pair businesses looking to grow, with students looking to gain the real-world experience they need to accelerate their career.
For $147, you can get 10 hours a week of marketing help from a student for a three-month term — fully remote and entirely free for the students.
To start getting your plan into action, sign up for Acadium and create your profile. Be sure to put some time into making your profile stand out.
Tell students about your business, a little about yourself and your marketing accomplishments, and be clear about the work you need to be done and your expectations for the apprenticeship.
Once your profile is created, you can start browsing their talent pool to find the right candidate for your needs.
Because you have your goals and strategy already established, you can use the search filters to find students looking for experience in the same areas you are looking for help in.
You can even filter candidates by the type of industry they hope to work in, their country, and the marketing tools they are already familiar with.
Read through each candidate’s profile to make sure they are a good fit. If you would like to work with them, start their profile for later.
You want to find about 15–20 potential apprentices so you are able to select the best-of-the-best when it comes time to start interviewing and selecting an apprentice.
Once you have your candidates starred, you can send them a personalized message to set up an interview. In your message remember to be clear about your goals and the key actions that need to be taken to hit those goals.
This will help set expectations right off the bat and ensure that you are selecting a candidate that is excited to start helping your business grow.
Day 4: Conduct Interviews
With your potential apprentices selected, you can begin the process of interviewing them to select the right fit for your business.
Remember that each candidate has a unique background and you should take the time beforehand to review their resume and ask them about their previous experience and the skills and experience they would like to gain throughout the apprenticeship to ensure they align with your needs.
This is the time to set expectations so let each interviewee know what work needs to get done, the timeframe for that work, and what you expect from them during the apprenticeship to ensure they are on board.
Remember that the apprenticeship works both ways. Not only are you looking for help implementing your marketing strategy but the students are also looking to gain practical experience so they can start their career.
Be sure to show in the interviews what you bring to the table and not just ask the student what they can do for you.
Day 5: Onboard and start work
You should have a pretty good idea of what student you want to work with for the three-month term at this point. You can now send them a labor contract and begin the onboarding process.
Outline goals and tasks for the first few weeks and set a schedule to check in with them via a weekly call to make sure they are on the right track and they have everything they need.
You shouldn’t have to micromanage your apprentice but remember that you should be giving them guidance and mentorship so make sure you’re available to them whenever they need feedback or advice.
Remember to continue planning weekly tasks and keep them in the loop for what needs to get done and the deadline for each task.
That’s it! In less than a week you went from struggling to find the time to grow your business’s marketing efforts to having clear goals and having an extra hand hitting those goals.
If you need to bring on another apprentice, keep in mind that you can have multiple concurrent apprentices for only $499 for each 3-month apprenticeship!
Key Takeaways
Growing your fitness business doesn’t have to be a long, expensive process.
By defining clear goals, having a plan for hitting those goals, and finding the right help for putting that plan into action with the help of an Acadium apprentice, you can start seeing tangible growth and take your business to the next level in under a week!
What are you waiting for? Bring on a Acadium apprentice today!
