1. Set Your Revenue Goals for 2006 First off, you need to determine what sales goal you want to achieve for the coming year. Generally speaking, a 20% to 30% growth in sales is considered aggressive. Therefore, you will not want to target beyond this growth range because exceeding it can cause cash flow, operational, and customer service problems. 2. Review Your Current Marketing Efforts The next step is to review the marketing activities you engaged in during the previous year and determine what did and did not produce results. You don't want to continue spending time and money on ineffective marketing. 3. Create a Simple Marketing Plan Looking at the 2006 revenue goal you set in Step 1, you must next adjust the three important aspects of marketing - price, product/service, and promotion - so that you will hit your new revenue target. A. Price I have found that most trades people undercharge for their work. Thus, one of the quickest and easiest ways to increase revenue is to increase your hourly rate. A modest increase, say 5%-10%, can make a real impact on your bottom line. B. Product/Service Determine which of the products and services you offer are profitable and which are not. Also, look at your project history and identify which types of projects were and were not money-makers. Further, take a look at current market trends. Are there hot products or services in the market today that you are not offering? With a clear understanding of your product(s) and/or service(s), you should plan to continue providing products and services that are profitable, add one or two hot products or services, and discontinue products/services and taking on projects that are not making money for you. C. Promotion Your marketing plan should contain a promotional plan that will help you to achieve your revenue goal from Step 1. This should include a combination of tools for attracting new customers, acquiring more work and referrals from current customers, and branding your business (establishing a consistent professional look). I suggest starting with a very balanced approach that, once underway, can be tweaked to either improve or slow the outcome. Be sure to include the promotional tools you are currently using that are producing positive results. To attract new customers, I recommend: Networking This is one of the more cost-effective tactics but may take some time to establish. I advise joining one or two local business referral organizations such as a local BNI (Business Network International) chapter or your local Chamber of Commerce. BNI and the Chamber cost around $600 and $400 per year respectively. I also suggest joining one or two trade organizations. They will provide you with additional industry knowledge as well as allow you to develop trade referral sources. This would require an investment of $500 to $1,000 per year. Web site If you don't already have a Web site, you need to get one - it is essential for conducting business today. A nice site can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 and is well worth the investment. If you currently have a site, I suggest reviewing and updating it where you and your customers' feel it is necessary. Direct E-Mail This is one of the more inexpensive ways to contact a large number of prospects. There are several agencies that can handle this for you ? your local trade association as well as an Internet search could point you in the right direction. Your investment in this tool will all depend on the number of prospects you want to reach. Direct Mail This is very similar to direct email except you are using the US mail. It can be expensive due to postage, labeling and printing costs, but direct mail can be easily created, implemented and tracked. The actual amount of your investment in this tool will also depend on the number of prospects you want to reach. Advertising This is one of the more widely used promotional tools. Local newspapers and smaller trade publications are your best bet. Another option is the various coupon booklets that are sent to consumers on a quarterly basis. These tools can get your name in front of many prospects, but they can also be very costly. Your investment will all depend on the size and frequency of the ads you run. To attract additional work as well as referrals from current customers I recommend: Direct E-Mail A quarterly email promoting a current service, a hot new service, or a special offer would be most effective. The goal is to keep your name in front of your customers on a regular basis. The investment for this would probably just involve your time. Direct Mail A quarterly mailer ? either a postcard or letter ? would also be effective. Like the emailer, it could promote a current service, a hot new service, or a special offer. Again, the goal is to keep your name in front of your customers on a regular basis. As mentioned above, the outlay for this (printing, labeling and postage) would be more costly. For branding your business, I recommend: Logo Establishing your brand starts with your look. Thus, it would be wise to have a professional logo created for your business. This can be done by a local copy shop, a design firm, or by a reputable Internet company. The cost of developing a logo can run from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars, depending on your taste. My suggestion to clients is to keep their logo clean and simple, which will make it more cost-effective to produce down the road. Wearables Logo-enhanced golf shirts, tees and jackets project a clean and professional look, building trust and credibility. Clothing can be purchased from the local print shop or via a company on the Internet. The investment for wearables will all depend on what you purchase. Signage Signs are a great way to build your brand as well as solicit work. Signage includes truck/van lettering, lawn signs and building signs, and can be purchased from the local sign company. The cost for signage will vary, depending on size, type of lettering, number of colors used, etc. The more complex the sign, the more costly it will be, so my advice is to keep it simple. 4. Implement the Plan Once you have created your marketing plan, you need to start implementing it. One thing that is helpful is to create a promotional calendar identifying what will be done each month. A calendar is a great tool for quickly and easily following your marketing efforts. Remember, without implementation, you will never realize your revenue goal. 5. Track Your Results This is your last step in the process, although it is just as important as the rest. In order to ensure you get the most out of your marketing efforts, you need to track the results. Tracking will provide you with real-time feedback on how you are progressing toward your revenue goal so you can make adjustments as needed. If you follow these five steps, you will enjoy creating, implementing and monitoring your 2006 marketing efforts. In addition, you will be very pleased with the results. If you have any questions while following this process, please feel free to contact me. Email is best. I will be writing a question and answer article each month for Contractor Power. If you have a business-related question you would like me to answer in one of my upcoming articles, please feel free to contact me at info@paradigmstrategies.com. Also, I offer a FREE business planning report - The Seven Proven Steps to Increased Profits - that I feel you would find of value. To get this report, please visit our Website www.paradigmstrategies.com (click on the "FREE Report" drop-down box), or go to our special Web page www.paradigmstrategies.com/freereport1/. About the Author Kevin Lister, founder and president of Paradigm Strategies, the business advising firm to the trades, is a leader in the field of business performance improvement. He possesses nearly 20 years experience in business management and consulting, effectively operating his own ventures and assisting others with realizing business success. With an entrepreneurial spirit and CEO's point of view, Kevin brings hands-on expertise to helping building contractors, sub-contractors, and suppliers. Kevin has deep knowledge and understanding of the trades, based on 14 years in the construction industry, a family history of owning trades businesses, and a genuine interest and enjoyment in helping blue collar enterprises. Kevin possesses a Masters in business administration (MBA) from Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Bentley College. He teaches management and marketing for the University of Phoenix Online. Kevin is a member of several professional and business organizations, including the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), the Builders Association of Greater Boston (BAGB), the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) and the Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts (ASM) | 
