“Follow up flake – well, that certainly doesn’t describe me,” you say. Or maybe, because you saw the title and you’re actually reading this, you’re more humble than many and you’re simply hoping you’ll find out it isn’t you.
Follow up flakes come in all shapes and sizes.
- Experienced marketers who have gotten careless
- Brand new marketers to whom thinking up a headline is so new, it feels like neurosurgery
- Mr. Intuition, who flies by the seat of his pants, and is so busy planning (in his head) his next brand new campaign, he didn’t do more than dash off a single follow up letter for the one that he just completed
- Marketers who sometimes send out follow up emails… and sometimes allow themselves to get distracted by life
You can bet they all have one thing in common. Something that’s missing from every single follow up scenario listed above…
…and that would a Plan. Yes, Follow Up Plan with a capital “P”.
It doesn’t matter how brilliant or innovative you are how seasoned you are… or how new: Creating in advance a simple follow up plan will help you anticipate:
- Obstacles
- Things to be done
- Things to check
It will also help you analyze:
- Your targeting
- Your follow up content value
- Your timing
- Whether it includes all the important elements (such as calls to action, powerful headlines) that it needs to have
What’s Stopping You?
No one wants to be a flake – especially when it comes to follow up. Why make contact with a perfectly good customer, only to drive her away?
So let’s look at 3 of the biggest common objections to creating a follow up plan:
1. “I don’t have time”
If you found yourself nodding in agreement with # 1, you’re not a flake: You’re just mistaken. Taking the time to plan for proper follow up will actually save you time – and increase your profits and list. It’s worth every second of the investment.
Get out of the “Reactive” zone and focus only on the campaign at hand. If you really are short of time, jettison something else – but don’t give up on planning your follow up. Since statistics have proven follow up can easily be responsible for well over half your total sales, continuing in the same reactive path really would be flaky.
2. “I don’t need one, it’s a waste of time”
If this is you, well, you’re skating perilously close to the flake zone. Look at some of the reasons you need a follow up plan in the answer to # 1, above.
(I’d go into more detail, but you’ve probably already dashed off to put out a different fire.)
3. “It’s too hard…”
You’re definitely not a flake. Most likely, you’re a newer marketer… or you’re simply inexperienced. First, let me reassure you that creating a balanced follow up plan is easier than you may think.
There are lots of great special reports and free tips floating around the net. Book an afternoon for yourself and invest the time in success. Download one today.
Comments