When you were a kid and played with jigsaw puzzles you always kept the box top close by and referenced it often.

You may also have grouped similar looking pieces together and if you were smart you knew to build the outer corners first because they were the easiest to identify and make up the frame work for everything else.

Building you business and marketing plan is no different!

Where's your "box top"? Your outline?

Do you even know how your business is suppose to look when it's running like a well oiled machine?

Or are you just spinning your wheels with pieces just scattered everywhere with no clue how to put it all together.

Your funded proposal is only a piece of the puzzle. Your blog, ezine post and press release, etc. simply more necessary pieces. Please do NOT put so much pressure on any one piece to suddenly be the "easy button" for your business.

That's why you are always asking questions about whether this or that is the "only" or the "final" book or course you'll ever need to finally experience success in your business.

Only you have that answer and it all depends on your "box top".

Before you go nickle and diming your self into a hole...

Ask yourself some basic questions before you take that next class, or buy the next book or course:

"How will this next piece fit into my over big picture?"

"Will it remove a blockage, or will it just expose that you are missing a lot more of the puzzle?"

So, now you may be wondering how to design your box top. What is it made up of? How should it look so your business can succeed?

The frame of your box-top is your offer

And it's more that what you do...It's about how what you do will benefit your target market, the ultimate benefit of doing business with you!

What will it cost them NOT to get that service from you, that product from you, consult with you etc.

The other pieces: In order to properly market your offer you will need tools:

* Lead collection - A hub page or capture page to attract people actively seeking the out come of your offer. So you need a web page, which could be a blog or website, with an opt-in box for leads to subscribe for more information.

* Lead seduction - Through your page copy, content and newsletters sent through your auto-responder or direct mail offers potential clients/ prospects will learn to like and trust you. They see you as someone who can possible solve their problems. So you need to learn copy-writing skills and write with passion about your area of expertise.

* Lead selection - Helps you sort through the "interested" to find the "invested". You have to have a way to determine this. They purchased a product, paid an application fee or retained your services. So you need some related/ complimentary affiliate programs or some sort of up-sell to a bigger commitment.

Remember, you are establishing yourself as a leader. In order to lead you must stay a head of the pack. Get the resources and tools so that you become that resource for those who work with you.

You will discover many pieces that will fit in the same place, some will fit better that others, some pieces will need refining.

For example, there are many different auto-responder services and a thousand and one lead capture pages you can use including what you can create your self.

You don't have to own every single one on the market but when you learn of them, consider where they will fit in the larger picture. If you already have that piece, discard it of put it in a file for future review just in case you need to replace that piece in the future.

Once you put your puzzle pieces together with your offer and the tools to deliver it for yourself then you can in turn help others build theirs. It's not complicated at all. It does however, take focus and work so not to get your self confused or overwhelmed.