This Podcast Is Episode Number 0276, And It Will Be About Interview With Brian Javeline Of MyOnlineToolBox.com Today's Article Is From Brian Javeline Of My Online Toolbox While the title of this story mentions website leads, planning also can incorporate many other forms of leads.  However, we decided to focus on website leads since so many contractors simply do not have a great online presence designed to capture more quality business opportunities. Go open your last version of your Marketing Plan.  You will then not believe how fast time flies by.  It will feel like just the other day where many of you were making all sorts of plans to change things, then time went by, then you got busy so the plans went in the to-do pile.   Unfortunately that implies that you are not doing anything specific to attract better customers. Many people have never had a Marketing Plan at all, which is even worse than not following through on your plans.  It is kind of like constantly building something without any measurements or schematics whatsoever. The most common situation we run into is hearing contractors updating their websites and making changes without any concrete planning.  Most companies rely on their website company for their marketing strategy which is a mistake, unless that website company clearly has a strong foothold in this particular industry.   Always remember, just because someone has mastered Google Docs or Microsoft Word doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to write a concise story.  It is the same thing with many website programmers who have first focused on websites and SEO without first having a strong background in marketing. Want better customers in the future? Then start planning for them today. It will take some time to methodically organize yourself to market correctly. That begins with a Marketing Plan or an update to your existing Marketing Plan. And many do not want to embrace this fact, but it will take months for these efforts to all come together after you are done. This includes making the correct updates to your website, Facebook and YouTube for Social Sharing, Google Reviews for consumer rankings, etc. So start today, then take a few months to organize yourself slowly, and then start to reap the rewards sometime in the next quarter with momentum picking up around two quarters out.  It is amazing how one’s business can change for life once you actually do something about it. Don’t use the excuse you are busy and waiting for things to slow down. Guess what? That is the same thing the majority of your peers are saying. Ever wonder what the top companies do differently than you to be overly successful? Much of it is not magic. Much of it is business practices and continuity with no excuses. I hear all the time “you do not know how lucky you are to get so many quality leads”. And I respond the same way, “No, luck has nothing to do with it.” It took planning, execution and persistence to build the momentum of image and results we produce. In fact, that is why I like to focus on the words More Quality Leads as opposed to just saying More Leads. I used to get too many leads that it was actually a distraction. Now our business has vastly reduced the time dealing with tire kickers which gives us more time to focus on good customers and quality leads. These quality leads turn into quality customers who in turn give us some quality referrals. And the merry-go-round spins. Sure, bad leads continue to come, but at a much slower pace and they are easy to let go. Perhaps you are doing well with your marketing and leads. That is great. Then at least make sure to not rest on your laurels and keep it up. But maybe you are wondering why are you so busy and not making as much profit as you thought. Or maybe you are getting leads and not closing as many as you thought. Or perhaps you really do not get as much referral business as you hoped...