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Do you know what the number one tool a contractor needs in order to build a house$%:

Do you think it's a skill saw$%: A hammer$%: Cordless drill$%: What about the materials to build the house with$%: That would be pretty important. But, none of that stuff will do any home builder any good unless they have a plan. Or a blueprint of what the house is going to look like. Complete, precise and with every detail worked out.

However, there's another catch. You really can't have a plan unless you have in mind what you want the house to look like in the first place. Or... knowing what the end result will be even before you start anything - even the plans.

Advertising on the internet is exactly like building a house. You have to have a detailed set of plans to follow that show, in detail, every step you need to take to receive substantial, and continuous, web traffic. Plus, there's the same catch as above. You should know what you actually want to achieve, or what end result you want, with your advertising plan.

Begin with the end

Successful advertising should always be looked at with the end result in mind first. That's your target. That's your ultimate goal.

For instance, while creating an advertising plan for a health and fitness site I operate I didn't just want visitors. Anyone can get visitors to their site. And since my site is new I needed to have a different type of goal.

Please note: Please don't think small here. You have an ultimate end in mind for your website. Now, is the time to begin working on that goal. Even if the site is new.

My goal is to be an authority on health and fitness. More specifically, staying fit and healthy at home instead of expensive gym memberships. Anyway, I had that thought clearly in mind when I began formulating my advertising plan. Every move I made, and continue to make, will have that end in mind.

March Towards the Goal

Once you know where you want to end up, everything you create for your advertising must lead you there. I recently sat down and watched The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The movie is based on an end. That end was to find Davey Jones' Chest. The odd thing was all they had was an old piece of parchment, or cloth, that had a drawing of a key on it.

That's what led every character until finally they found the key and the chest. But, they were guided by that drawing of the key. Your advertising plan resembles that map. It has to lead you something. In essence, they are your marching orders.

The advertising plan is your map while the individual parts of it, the actual working materials, are your building blocks. Each one works to further you along in your plan.

For instance, in my example above I started out with my end, to be an authority, but began to systematically put it in place. It started out by writing, and submitting, a few articles to directories and websites, creating a solo ad for publication in very targeted ezines, a new blog with real, relevant information, and beginning to build my 'network' of linking partners. From that starting point I began to build my traffic, and more importantly my authority, by putting other parts into motion at the right times.

Things like autoresponder emails, free reports, free audios and videos have been, and will be, implemented into the overall advertising plan to continue moving towards my ultimate goal.

Never Reach the End

This might sound like a little bit of a contradiction and seem like I've lost track of this article. But, it's a natural order of things called 'change'. Once you reach your goal, in my case becoming an authority in home fitness, there is always somewhere else you can go. They key is not to be satisfied with where you are because that leads to apathy and eventually dislike.

There are always other avenues you can take your business. One woman I know had a website on homeschooling tips and became such a voice in that niche that once she reached her goal, to have a subscriber list of 8,000 individual subscribers, she then launched another campaign to become a highly sought after speaker on the subject and now offers several weekly podcast radio shows, that people pay for.

Working with an end in mind is how you get from start to finish. You can't do it the other way around and work by just making it up as you go along.

By systematic. Follow through. Then reach a little higher.

What's your end look like$%:

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