When flying an aircraft, especially light aircraft you can’t afford to just jump in and take off, hoping to make your destination safely.You might end up somewhere else as landmarks can look awfully similar when flying at a few thousand feet or worse you can run out of fuel.
Before take off out you usually decide where you want to go, check the weather and other notices that could affect the trip.
You map out the route with notations of different checkpoints you need to reach and the expected time of arrival at each checkpoint.
Then after checking the aircraft and fuel off you go.
Reaching checkpoints along the trip is one of the most important parts when flying and the same goes with your small business marketing.
Work out your destination
When flying you decide what place you want to reach and land. A plane only carries so much fuel so you can’t just fly and hope you find an airport along the way.
With your small business marketing working out your destination for the year is important. Deciding what you want to achieve for your business and with your customers is fundamental.
Map out your checkpoints
Knowing where you are supposed to be at what time when flying greatly reduces the stress. It means that you are on track and you can enjoy the experience. If you are a little off track you can easily make small adjustments.
This is the same with marketing. If you map out your checkpoints (weekly or monthly) and check your actual results versus what you expected to achieve it takes out the guesswork and assumptions as well as the stress.
Watch out for distractions
If you are carrying passengers in light aircraft it is easy to become distracted. Chatting and having a good time is part of the adventure but it can cause problems, you can miss the checkpoints and very quickly be miles off track.
There are new marketing activities and tools being talked about every day as being the essential ones to now use. Some may be great and provide opportunities, others are really just distractions.
Before you jump in, check to see if they will actually help you get to the next check point and final destination successfully.
Look for visual signs
When flying by visual means you keep an eye on the weather as well as the instrument panel. You always make sure you are below clouds and there there are no other aircraft heading for you.
The weather can change from the initial reports and nothing is worse than accidently flying into clouds and not being able to see land below or in front of the aircraft.
Circumstances can change in your market that may be out of your control. Being alert to the trends etc that could affect your business, your customers and your marketing can make it a lot easier to make any adjustments needed to keep on track.
Flying planes is fun and even as you move onto bigger planes, the fundamentals don’t change. This is the same with small business marketing.
Let us know how you keep on track.
