Are You a Follow up Flake?
“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.