A one-page marketing plan you will actually follow

What goes on the page

Every plan we write has the same six parts, in the same order, so you always know where to look.

1. Three goals for 12 months. For example: "Fill Tuesdays and Wednesdays", "Raise my average job from $380 to $480", "Stop doing jobs more than 40 minutes from home."
2. Who you want more of. One or two kinds of customer, described plainly ("homeowners in older houses who want the job done once").
3. Two or three activities. The few channels that suit your trade and your hours, such as the Google profile, a service page per job type, and reviews.
4. A weekly routine with times. What happens on which day and how long it takes. Two hours a week is a common ceiling.
5. A budget with a break-even line. How much you will spend and how many extra jobs that spend must produce to pay for itself.
6. A stop-doing list. The directory you pay for and never use, the platform you post on out of guilt, the job types that lose you money.

Who it is for

It suits owner-operators who feel busy but scattered, and anyone about to spend real money on marketing for the first time.

It is especially useful if you are in your first two years of trading, if you are changing the kind of work you do (from small repairs to larger projects, say), or if you have tried a few things and can't tell which ones worked. If you already have a written plan and know your numbers, you may not need this; a review of your Google profile or your follow-up routine could be a better use of money.

How it works and how long it takes

Most plans are done in about two weeks from the first conversation.

• Conversation (about an hour). We ask about your work, your week, your numbers and where customers come from now.
• Quick look at what exists. Your Google profile, your website if you have one, your reviews and how you show up for the searches that matter.
• Draft plan. One page, written in your words, with the arithmetic shown.
• Walk-through. We go through it together and change anything that doesn't fit your life.

You keep the plan. If you want help carrying it out, the other services pick up from there; if not, it is yours to run.

How we measure whether it is working

A plan is only useful if you can tell whether it is working, so each one names three numbers to check monthly.

• Enquiries by source. Calls, texts and emails, and where each one says they found you. A notebook or a note on your phone is enough.
• Quotes given and quotes won. Your close rate shows whether the problem is getting enquiries or converting them.
• Average job value. If this rises, the plan is attracting better work, even if the number of jobs stays flat.

Every three months, compare those numbers with the goals at the top of the page. If an activity hasn't moved anything after a fair trial, it goes on the stop-doing list.

Mistakes we see in solo owners' plans

Most weak plans fail for the same few reasons, and all of them are easy to avoid once you can see them.

• Too many channels. Six platforms done badly lose to two done well. Pick the ones your customers actually use.
• No capacity check. Marketing for jobs you can't fit in only creates disappointed customers.
• Goals with no number. "More customers" can't be checked. "Two more jobs a week in my area" can.
• Copying a big company. A firm with ten vans can afford brand campaigns. You need enquiries this month.
• Never stopping anything. Without a stop-doing list, costs only ever go up.

To try writing your own first, read the one-page plan guide. To see how plans fit with our other work, go to the services overview. To talk about yours, contact us.