marketing planning: Better Marketing Results Start By Setting SMART Goals - 12/03/09 09:50 PM
Regardless of its subject area--life, business, marketing or a specific project--planning is about setting goals and identifying appropriate actions to be taken to achieve these goals.
While everyone agrees that goals are an essential planning element, there is no such agreement on the essential elements of individual goals.
After being introduced to the concept of strategic planning several years ago, I came across the idea of SMART goals.
In the event this idea is new to you, SMART is an acronym representing the combined terms Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
Over the years, the idea of SMART goals … (5 comments)

marketing planning: How To Achieve Better Marketing Results In 2010 - 12/02/09 09:19 PM
Now that we are into December, it's time to give serious time and attention to 2010 marketing plan.
The good news is ActiveRain represents a huge pool of rich resources that will help you plan and improve your marketing.
Not Easy To Find What You Need
The bad news is despite this incredibly large wealth of useful information, it is not always easy to find what you need...when you need it. I speak from experience when I say this.
On many occasions, I have read interesting posts but neglected to bookmark them.
Or if I have bookmarked them, they have … (7 comments)

marketing planning: How Past Results Can Help You Achieve Your Goals - 05/27/09 10:24 PM
Today's excerpt from How To Achieve Better Marketing Results...Sooner focuses on a current assessment, which is the starting point for building on past achievements.
Your Current Assessment
A realistic assessment of your current situation is a critical planning component.
It helps you identify factors that will influence your choice of strategies.
The assessment will do more than help you understand your current situation. It will also help you identify gaps in your knowledge and start your in-depth thinking about your business.
Because this assessment is so important, free up the time to complete it and think about the answers that … (3 comments)