A lot of business leaders (i.e. entrepreneurs, existing small business owners, and licensed professionals) procrastinate and downright resist putting together a marketing plan. Why? Here are some typical reasons:

• It's time consuming - time that could be spent on improving operations, doing general marketing, or making a sale
• It's complicated - lots of concepts and terms to figure out before you even begin
• It doesn't have an immediate payoff
• It will probably change, so why even start
• It's inflexible - if we want to change direction, we can't because of this document

But marketers know the benefits of the marketing plan far outweighs these objections and believe it can be closely linked to corporate strategy. In response to these reasons, consider:

• Yes, it takes time, but in not doing a marketing plan you will waste more time on fruitless and unfocused efforts
• No, a marketing plan doesn't have to be complicated if you establish a couple of key concepts and work toward completing them
• No, a marketing plan doesn't have an immediate payoff, but it does have a long term one - in channeling your efforts and expenses to accomplish goals
• Yes, the marketing plan can and will change as you go along but that should be built into it

In this episode, we empathize with business leaders about the marketing plan, address objections, and provide some insights into preparing one including connecting it to the corporate strategy.

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