*Photo Credit: Chiot Run
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I resist planning.

It’s the explorer and seeker in me. I’m spontaneous. I’m an idea person. I’m right-brained all the way.

Excel spreadsheets make me want to vomit. Literally.

And yet, I have realized that when it comes to business, the old maxim is entirely true – “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Damn those eternal truths.

I also know that 95% of you reading this do NOT have a clear marketing plan in place for 2012. You may have notes in your journal, a few post-its around your office or a quick mind-map, but a locked-down, focused, laid out marketing plan? I’m guessing no.

Which is totally cool if business is humming along well and you’re happy with your growth. If not read on.

Here are my top 7 Ways a Marketing Calendar Will Grow Your Business:

1. A plan by nature gives you direction. You will no longer wake up and say, “What in the hell should I work on today? Ugh – I have no idea. Let me go check Facebook and then I’ll decide.” A clear marketing plan will spell it out for you and let you know exactly what you need to do each day.

2. It makes it clear what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to. You can turn down opportunities that don’t fit graciously by sharing that it falls outside the scope of your 2012 marketing calendar and you’re fully committed.

3. You’ll know where the money is coming from. Ever start a new month and ask yourself, “What am I going to do this month to bring in some more moolah?” A marketing calendar takes care of this because you’ll plot out all your money-making activities, launches, product releases etc so you can see exactly where you’ll have cash injections and where you need to plug some holes.

4. You’ll build a consistent brand. Honestly, from a branding standpoint, there’s nothing that’ll keep you in status quo land longer than being inconsistent. If you blog like crazy for a couple of months and then disappear, people forget to come back. Mapping out a consistent content marketing strategy (blog, newsletter, etc.) ensures that you stay top of mind to your community.

5. You’ll be WAY more productive. Once a marketing calendar is in place, you won’t waste time wondering what to blog about, or create or offer to your audience. You’ll just identify what’s priority A and get it done.

6. You can start delegating. If you build a consistent, clear calendar, you’ll be about to identify exactly what pieces you can start delegating, and give those to your VA (for example) to take care of. They’ll know when to execute because you’ve got it all laid out.

7. You’ll feel amazing! Think about it. If you had your 2012 calendar in front of you right now – with all the details on how you’re going make 2012 YOUR year – wouldn’t that feel awesome?

Bonus reason #8: You might actually be able to take a vacation this year because it’s built into the plan. Yay!

We’re only a few weeks into January – there’s still lots of time to get a solid plan in place. Your business will thank you for it (and you’ll thank yourself for finally getting it done).

I know that some of you just don’t know where to start or how to pull this together.

That’s why I’ve created a one-day Marketing Calendar Virtual Workshop where we are going to just GET IT DONE. It’s on Feb 1 and there THREE spots left! You’ll get worksheets, ideas, tutorials and my recommended template.

All the details are right here:

Marketing Calendar Get it Done Workshop

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