Developing a Marketing Plan Outline and Writing the Plan

By Bobette Kyle
http://www.myfastype.com/ezine/articles/marketingplanoutline.htm

Do you have a written marketing plan to help guide your decisions throughout the year? If not, it is time to write one. The traditional time for plan development is at year-end, when budgets are being set. If you have formal budgeting in place, this makes sense. A marketing plan, however, can be developed or updated at any time because it helps with day-to-day, as well as long-term decisions.
Planning need not be scary or difficult. By taking the process a step at a time ― first creating the marketing plan outline, then writing the plan from the outline ― it becomes manageable. You will need to set aside quality time for creating your plan, whether a single day or several sessions. There are different ways to write a marketing plan, ranging from simple, one-day plans to book length documents. One way is to develop a marketing plan outline using a five-step process, then writing the plan at a level of detail applicable to your situation.
This is someone who operates using a frugal mentality, but refuses to spend any money to operate their business.