Putting Your Marketing Programs Into Motion

Once you decide upon a particular marketing program, you are likely eager to take some action. Before implementing a program, however, you should set measurable goals that tie into a supporting strategy. When planning your programs, be sure to build in ways to track and measure so that later, when analyzing performance, you can tell if a marketing program was successful. Also be sure to document any assumptions you made when goal setting. This will help with post-program analysis. Finally, when choosing any outside vendors for your marketing programs, check out their reliability and reputation.

Developing Action Plans

Some marketing programs will require detailed action plans, others will not. There are likely some you have a handle on – those you can just do. For those programs, there is often little need for formal pen-to-paper (fingers-to-keyboard) planning. A start and completion date may be sufficient. If, however, your program is unfamiliar or complex, something like “Set up an effective, complete affiliate program for my company,” for example, then an action plan could save your sanity. Your action plan should include a description of the program, reference to the general marketing strategy it supports, a budget amount, the person accountable for the project’s completion, and a timeline.

Timelines

The major portion of an action plan is the timeline, which you can reference throughout the project. With a timeline for your project, it is easier to:

1) Know when you are off schedule,

2) Identify why you are off schedule, and

3) Figure out how to get back on schedule.

To create a timeline:

First, list the project’s major tasks in the order they should be finished.

Then, for each task, assign someone the responsibility for completing it. This can be you, someone in your company, or someone outside of your company. (A freelancer, agency, supplier, etc.)

Finally, starting with the first task, fill in a completion date for each. Also include a start date and the number of days needed for completing each task.

You may want to include other information on your marketing program’s timeline as well. Your budget amount for the project, cost of each task, and comments are all useful features. To make adjusting your timeline easier, you can put it on a spreadsheet, use project management software, or set it up on a planning Web site.

Example Action Plan

In this example, a marketing department decides that client research is a high priority item, as input into development of its new Website. If kept completely in-house, an action plan for the research project may look like the one below.

---

Client Research Project

Program: Conduct research with key clients to identify specific content for Website. Supports General Marketing Strategy to enhance client service through improved online communication, information, and education.
Budget: $500
Person Accountable: Arthur

Develop client research list
Start - End Date: 2/4/06 - 2/6/06
Cost: $0
Comment: 15 - 20 key clients.

Develop questions for questionnaire
Start - End Date: 2/4/06 - 2/18/06
Cost: $25
Comment: Includes studying up on proper questionnaire form ($25 for market research book).

Conduct Telephone Research
Start - End Date: 2/18/06 – 3/08/06
Cost: $0
Comment: 1-2 respondents per work day.

Compile Research
Start - End Date: 3/08/06 – 3/10/06
Cost: $400
Comment: $16 hours at $25 per hour for assistant.

Interpret Results
Start - End Date: 3/10/06 – 3/12/06
Cost: $0
Comment: Prepare in format useful for input into Website design.

Total Cost: $425
Budget Amount Remaining: $75

---

From the timeline, the Marketing Director knows he can begin working on the Website redesign soon after March 12th, the research completion date. Should he fall behind in the research schedule, he will have to either make up the time or delay the site redesign.

Short Term vs Long Term Marketing Efforts

In order to create consistent sales cycles and a positive growth trend businesses usually engage in both short and long term marketing efforts.

Short-term marketing efforts tend to cause sudden sales spikes which rarely last. These sharp sales increases are usually the result of a targeted marketing campaign or time limited offer. While short-term marketing produces sales, long-term marketing efforts must be mixed in to sustain sales.

Short Term Online Marketing

Mentions

Positive product mentions in forums, newsgroups or within trade organizations can result in a traffic or sales surge. Product endorsements and newsgroup conversations are difficult for marketers to control and time, so while product mentions in forums are short-term marketing, they lack the organized exposure necessary to maintain sales momentum.

Discounts

Marketing campaigns that involve coupons, discounts or time-limited offers can also generate product interest. It is important to use promotional offers sparingly or long-term sales could be jeopardized by having customers "wait" for the next offer to purchase.

PPC / Advertising

The easiest and fastest way to generate product interest is, of course, to pay for it. Pay-per-click campaigns are known to drive significant targeted traffic. Sadly, when the campaign funding ends, the traffic and sales generally do, too. Regardless, it is important for marketers to realize that with short-term marketing, sellers can often control sales and infuse cash into a fledgling product, service or business.

Short-term marketing is also useful for test-marketing new products or split-testing to find the appropriate price point.

With pay-per-click advertising marketers can control the ebb and flow of site visitors and make a determination about what banners, keywords, text copy and graphics convert at the highest rate. The lessons learned in short-term marketing can then be implemented in the long-term marketing strategy. Marketers can determine the effectiveness of sales copy and landing pages, implementing them in a long range of marketing activities.

Long Term Online Marketing

Search Engine Optimization

Undoubtedly the most time consuming, yet important aspect of long-term marketing involves preparing and optimizing a website for search engines. Currently the majority of Internet surfers seeking a product or information look to search engines. Most Internet surfers use keywords to search for the product, service or information that they are looking for. Knowing your audience and optimizing a site for keywords and phrases that potential consumers would use in their search for a product or service is critical to being found on the Internet.

Search engine optimization pays long-term dividends, but is an ongoing process, as the search engines themselves are constantly evolving their algorithms. The goal of search engines is to provide web surfers the best sites suited to the web surfers' search terms.

Often, changes implemented will not be "seen" by search engines for several months. It is important to follow search engine guidelines and be patient.

Fresh Content & Communication

A stream of fresh content like newsletters, tips or blog posts will result in long-term quality traffic. Fresh content that is posted and updated on a regular basis will encourage visitors to return. Archived content will build a base for a variety of related keywords.

Syndicated Articles

Related industry articles will result in genuine interest from a very targeted audience. Providing related content articles that are available for syndication will result in links back from websites that contain similar content. Over time, articles can define a company's expertise on a subject area. Ultimately, syndicated articles can build confidence with prospective customers and a level of trust.

When designing a marketing campaign, consider threading long-term and short-term marketing efforts so that sales are stable and consistent. By implementing a marketing plan that involves both short and long-term efforts, sales success can be achieved.

Marketing Strategy : Celebrity Endorsement

The recent Tiger Woods 'confessions' opened a whole lot of debate on the role of celebrity endorsement as a marketing strategy. The issue of celebrity endorsements and its 'side effects' is one of the most widely discussed topic in the branding world. Every time there is a controversy involving the celebrity, these chatter arise and dies down soon .

In this context, it should be understood that celebrity endorsement is a powerful promotional tool . If used creatively, celebrity endorsement can propel a brand to a high growth trajectory. But like any strategy, this option too has its own share of disadvantages. The latest Tiger Woods episode again highlight the issues brands can face when their endorsers ran into trouble.

Will this episode refrain marketers from using celebrities any more ? Never. We will be seeing more of these endorsements in the future also. But there are lessons to be learned from this current developments.

The problems that brands face when their endorsers land up in trouble is more when brand depend heavily on the celebrity for equity ( common sense !). When brands use Celebrities as a pivot upon which the entire brand equity is generated, the risk is more and any adverse actions on the part of the celebrity will affect the brand's strategy.

In the case of Accenture, Tiger Woods was the axis for all their promotions. The brand was so closely associated with the celebrity that coming out of that association will cost both money , time and energy. But the silver lining for Accenture is that Tiger Woods was only a symbolization for the corporate brand. The current controversy is in no way going to affect Accenture's consulting business. Only issue is that the brand needs to find another powerful symbol to convey its message.

For other famous brands like Nike and Gillette too, there is only less impact of this controversy because Tiger Woods does not play a crucial role in their brand building strategy. Both these brands have other celebrities to bank upon.

Marketers should understand that using celebrities should only be a part of the big picture and not the picture itself. There are no short cuts to fame. If at all one is using celebrities as the main talking point, derisk by using more than one (if you can afford that). Otherwise run parallel theme based campaigns to help the brand stand on its own.

Indian brands tend to rely heavily on celebrities for equity. The brand owners should understand that this tendency is because of the focus on short-termism and lack of creative thinking. Celebrity endorsements should only be a part of the strategy not the strategy itself.

How To Choose A Network Marketing System

A network marketing system is crucial to your online success. But, is your network marketing system lying to you? Here are some things to consider when choosing and following a network marketing system. Duplication Slap Search engines do not like duplication. That’s why we work hard to put out original content. That’s why we rewrite our articles. If your network marketing system is not fully customizable, they are setting you up for failure before you ever begin. When choosing a marketing system be sure that you have the ability to place your own unique content on your pages. Link Love One method of keeping your pages search engine friendly is having most links point directly to your own website. However, most systems have your website links pointing directly back to their main website. They might have your name tacked on at the end, but it is always pointing back to their website. This gives them higher authority and guarantees that their page will be displayed before yours. So, when choosing a network marketing system be sure you can host your website on your own domain and all links point directly to you, not anyone else. Who’s Primary Business? The ultimate goal of any network marketing system is to lead your prospects back to your primary business. Does your system allow you to use your own business and not theirs? Who is ultimately going to benefit from the system you choose? It’s a question most definitely worth asking. Complete Training The first 2 years of my network marketing career was nothing but failure. It took 2 full years for me to figure out why. Here it is in a nutshell. My upline was giving me just enough information to give me a little success without being competitive to them. When choosing a network marketing system make sure that you are given complete training. This includes both free and paid methods. Everything from social media to content marketing all the way to email marketing and yes, even personal development. Generating Leads Many systems give you a way to generate leads. If not they are not even worth considering. However, who has control of these leads? Who is emailing these leads. If you do not have 100% control over the leads you generate something is wrong. Even if your system sends out just one email to your list that means they are storing your list somewhere. When choosing a network marketing system make sure you have complete control over the leads you are generating. Cost Many systems claim to be free only to, at the last minute, spring costs on you. Now, I am not saying anything is wrong for there to be a cost involved. Quite the opposite. In fact, if they are asking for money to use their system I know they are not using sneaky methods to benefit from me in other ways. The point is, make sure the network marketing system you are thinking about is completely transparent. Both in their intentions and their cost. A good network marketing system will be of huge benefit to your online business. They will save you time, money and save your downline from attrition. However, be sure to do your research on any system before settling in. If they have a free or very low cost trial period do not feel bad about taking it. This will allow you to fully sum up what they are about and allow you to form an educated opinion.

A Target Marketing / Unique Selling Proposition Article

Note from publisher: Targeting customers through a unique selling proposition (USP) is critical. Here, Steve Hill explains six ways to effectively "tell them what you do for them" with the USP.

"Don’t tell them what you do. Tell them what you do for them.” As a small business owner, service provider or medical professional, one of the biggest challenges you will face is telling others what you do. The challenge comes from the fact that most people are only interested if what you do fits what they need or want.
Otherwise they are not interested. You must tell the listener how your product or service can benefit him, and how you can do it better than others who do what you do.

This is your unique selling proposition (USP).
A great USP has these key elements:

1. Outward Focus.

Instead of talking about you, your offering or your credentials, your USP should focus outside, on the prospect or customer.

2. Targets a specific group or niche.

The best USP statements are personalized to the group or individual you are addressing. For example, when speaking to a doctor, I would say

“I help medical professionals find more profitable candidates for their elective procedures.”

When speaking to a diverse group (such as the chamber of commerce) I would be more general:

“hofcommunications designs hair-on- fire marketing programs that help you attract more clients and earn more money.”

3. Easily understood and retained.

Detailed discussion of process should be reserved for a sales presentation, and are not appropriate for an introduction.

Stating your USP clearly and quickly makes it easy for your prospect to remember you when you follow up. What you do should be self-explanatory.

4. Offers an obvious benefit.

Tell your prospect how you can ease his pain. This presupposes that you understand the problems of your target market, and have a solution.

Some people get this backward, and create a solution in search of a problem (or create a problem in search of more problems!).

5. Avoids jargon.

Engineers and purveyors of technical services love to talk the talk. Here’s one I heard recently:

“We create enterprise software for core competency implementation.” (Huh?)

Even if your target market is highly specialized, you should assume that you share only one common language – English.

6. Integrates easily with your marketing materials.

Your USP should become of your branding efforts, and should appear on all your marketing materials, including your business cards, stationary, and website and brochures. In some instances, your USP becomes your brand:

“Have it your way. At Burger King.”

Ultimately, your USP becomes your primary marketing message, your elevator speech.

Much like scriptwriters who are coached to sum up the plot in one sentence, your unique selling proposition provides a clear, concise benefit statement that positively represents you and your company, and leaves a memorable and favorable impression in the mind of your prospect.

7 Ways to Improve Profit Through Both Long- and Short-Term Strategies

Your marketing mix is the combination of promotions, products, places (distribution channels), and prices you choose for products, services, and the overall business. It is important to strike a balance between those four "Ps". By including both short- and long-term marketing strategies of each, you can create an even more profitable marketing mix.

Long-Term Marketing Strategies

Long-term strategies build brand and company awareness, and give sales revenue a gradual, permanent boost. Some of the benefits are indirect and cannot always be directly associated with profit. For this reason, long-term strategies can be difficult to execute when the focus is short-term.

Branding activities.

High profile activities and general-purpose advertising contribute to your company's image by building familiarity and trust. This, in turn, can create customer loyalty. Successful branding can have a large impact on market share, but is a gradual process so cannot always be definitively measured.

Industry relationships.

Building healthy relationships with distributors and others involved in the industry puts you in a position to know about new opportunities and potential problems as they occur. Long term, this improves the flow of product from you to your customers and creates new distribution channels.

Giving.

Donating money, services, and time can build a positive image with customers and employees. Over time, this increases a company's trustworthiness. When they see you consistently giving something back to the community, they are more confident you will take the same care with them.

Research and development

A new product pipeline and research are short-term expenses, but represent future sales. Conduct research with customers (or potential target markets) and design products to meet their needs. This ensures future growth.

Short-Term Marketing Strategies

Short-term strategies create immediate revenue. Sales and accounting people often prefer these to long-term approaches because the results are direct and quantifiable. The disadvantage of relying strictly on short-term approaches is the effect is temporary. They tend to be limited-time techniques that do not work well over time. Some examples ...

Reduced price sales.

Sales encourage customers to act. Holding a sale will give customers who have been "meaning to buy" an incentive to do so, resulting in a revenue boost. Frequent sales can erode profit over time as customers become "trained" to wait for a sale instead of buying at full price.

Group discounts and offers.

This is a good way to introduce your products or services to a new set of customers, or give important groups a permanent discount. Carefully evaluate long-term impact, however. Over time, the gain in sales may not offset the cost of continual price reductions.

Blended Marketing Strategies

Some marketing strategies have both long- and short- term benefits. Pay per click (PPC) advertising, for example, is a way to communicate temporary price reductions or highlight a promotion. PPC can also build long-term brand awareness, however, as you expose more people to a Website.

Together, long- and short-term marketing programs help achieve immediate sales goals while building business reputation and goodwill. Implement both and your business will prosper for years to come.

Creating a Marketing Plan

1. Action steps.

In order to accomplish your objectives and ultimately, your goals, you will need to schedule time each day (or whatever timeframe works for you) to do whatever it is that will move you towards your ultimate goal. Consider this time as you would an appointment with someone that you would never cancel or stand up -- such as the President, the Pope or any V.I.P. that you admire.

It’s common for small business owners, especially new ones, to put the needs of their business second while putting the needs of their clients first. In order to succeed, you must carve out time on a regular (preferably daily) basis to continually advance your goals and your marketing plans.

2. Identify the obstacles.

I am a strong proponent of positive thinking and visualization, and believe it critical to the success of any entrepreneur -- I sincerely doubt that this surprises you given my choice of goal format (lol)!

However, it is naive to believe that positive thinking alone will get you where you want to go. Successful entrepreneurs identify and list the obstacles to their goals and have a plan to overcome each one. The worst (and best) that can happen is that you don’t need your "Plan B."

3. Schedule your day.

Have you ever finished the day feeling that you’ve done nothing toward your objectives? Or worse, that you worked your butt off and feel there is nothing to show for it?

In reviewing each day, you should take a few minutes to plan the next day and identify steps that move you closer to your goals. Doing so is good for several reasons, but most especially it: 1) puts your subconscious to work "behind the scenes" on those tasks while you enjoy your evening and 2) eliminates that "what do I do first" feeling that prevents most people from diving into their day.

You now have all the tools you need to create a dynamic marketing plan which will move you closer to your ultimate goals. Armed with these tools, next week we’ll examine the most productive way to manage your day and bring yourself even closer to achieving your goals.

Business owners often find it difficult to know whether their marketing tactics are working. This can be especially tricky when you use a combination of marketing activities simultaneously, or if using personal-contact tactics such as networking.

No matter what business you're in, your marketing should be accountable. So here's a few ways to evaluate how well you're doing. Look at your sales (or fee income).They should be going up! But be careful about what you measure. Some firms have a longer sales cycle than others. To get an accurate picture you might need to also measure the number of new leads being generated, or the number of appointments, or the number of billable hours achieved. Remember discounts or variances in fees will affect total sales values. Ask your clients. Check to find out where they heard of you. Most businesses never ask this question and miss out on gleaning valuable insights into how clients select a service provider. Does your advertising and/or promotional activity produce direct responses?

It should. If your answer is "I don't know" then you've got some work to do. In addition to 2) above, there are some things you can do to improve response rates. Firstly, make sure you are advertising in the right media. Choose media to suit your selected audience. Be as specific as possible. And avoid rejecting options just because they don't look "exciting", such as trade journals that might have relatively small readership. Importantly, check with your audience to make sure they actually do read the publication.Use a strong headline that asks a pertinent question, or gives a solution-oriented statement.Include a clear call-to-action.
Tell people what they should do. For example: Ring today for your free appointment; Ask for our free information sheet.Include multiple methods of contact. Phone, email, and web site are all important. Give prospects a choice of how to contact you.Do your networking activities create new opportunities for you?One of the major principles of effective networking is to "give" rather than "sell". That is, you should look to help others as you spread word about your services. But this softly, softly approach can make it hard to measure effectiveness.To measure your networking activities make sure you track the source of incoming enquiries. Then see if any of your visible/tangible tactics can be credited with generating the enquiry. If not, then maybe you can safely say it was a referral generated by networking.
This is made a lot easier if you're a member of a lead-generating club such as BNI or Leads. You'll get specific feedback each week from these groups.Do your marketing tactics make it easier to sell your services? To do this your marketing activities and/or material should do the following:Attract qualified prospects (who have shown a specific interest in your services).Anticipate and diffuse potential questions/concerns from prospects.Be easy to use when personally selling to prospects. For example: material should be relevant; images/charts easy to understand; and be presented in a format the prospect will be likely to keep.Focus on your client needs and your points of difference (Unique Selling Proposition).
Check your sales conversion rate.The best approach here is to look at your historical records and determine whether your conversion (or closure) rate has improved. "Selling" is an important part of the "marketing" function, so make sure you assess your success at closing the sale, rather than just focus on generating new leads.Does your plan have a positive return on investment Does it bring in enough new/repeat business to justify the expense? Rather than just look at the "marketing budget" as one total, you really need to evaluate the cost effectiveness of each specific marketing activity. Even if you think you're getting a great ROI overall, maybe you can do even better by changing or eliminating unproductive tactics.

What Inexpensive and Free Marketing Ideas Do You Recommend?

What small business isn't looking for free marketing ideas or at least marketing ideas that are inexpensive that they can use to get the word out about their products and services? Small businesses often have correspondingly small marketing budgets that get stretched pretty thin over the course of a year. What inexpensive and free marketing ideas do you recommend?

Pass on the freebies you get.

My medical supply companies use great free gifts to entice us retailers to purchase volume. I do it ... and give my medical clientele a great gift when they make a purchase at my store. They love me for a snuggly blanket, a beach bag, pewter knick knacks, pins, pens and much more.

Business Promotion

Business Promotion

Use www.myemark.com/? for location id and for driving customers to your doors. Also emark is really good aa a signature in email.

—Guest Pilot

Marketing Idea

Specify the special features and promote .Find the real/genuine custmers. Spend on advertising and stick on quality.

—Guest Winson.D.Komban

Marketing Ideas

Contact all local schools and ask to advertise in their newsletter. Usually they will do it for a tiny fee or for free.

—Guest Angela White

List on a free mobile business directory

www.milesurfer.com is a recently launched website that is offering free business advertising on their mobile phone portal for Interstate Highway roadside businesses. The business information will be available to the millions of interstate travelers who journey down the highways of the US. The technology is designed to be able to work on most of the cell phones in use today with internet access. Not just iphones or smart phones. No GPS required either. Which means your ad can reach many more people. Its a great marketing and advertising opportunity for these type of businesses. Its FREE and its easy to sign up with the online form. Check out the site for more information.

—Guest Rocky

Free Marketing Strategies

When I attended the Self Employment Assistance program, one of the first rules for marketing your business was to get the word out to your friends, family and personal business contacts. If you go to the doctor, mention your business to the secretary. If you are in a line-up at the grocery or department store, strike up a conversation and casually mention you own a business and what you do. Similarly the dentists office, the veterinarian, the people who provide services to you like a handyman, painter, carpenter, your neighbourhood restaurant.....have your bus. cards handy if they ask for one. You can probably count the number of friends, family and business contacts you have to maybe 100+ but then add all the people THEY know and your contact list can build to thousands. Referrals make up the majority of new clients you receive. Use customer service skills to further market your business with present customers by doing follow-ups, asking for feedback, mailouts or newsletters.

—DianeCoville

Ask for Referrals

I've had a fair bit of success by just coming out and asking clients for referrals. I ask them too if there's anyone they know who might be interested in my services and if they're reluctant to give me names, I ask them if I can leave them extra marketing materials to pass along. Even if I don't get any specific lead though I've put the idea of passing my name along to someone in their head- but you have to ask!

—Guest Diva1

7 Ways to Evaluate Your Marketing Plan

Business owners often find it difficult to know whether their marketing tactics are working. This can be especially tricky when you use a combination of marketing activities simultaneously, or if using personal-contact tactics such as networking.

No matter what business you're in, your marketing should be accountable. So here's a few ways to evaluate how well you're doing.

1) Look at your sales (or fee income). They should be going up! But be careful about what you measure. Some firms have a longer sales cycle than others. To get an accurate picture you might need to also measure the number of new leads being generated, or the number of appointments, or the number of billable hours achieved. Remember discounts or variances in fees will affect total sales values.

2) Ask your clients. Check to find out where they heard of you. Most businesses never ask this question and miss out on gleaning valuable insights into how clients select a service provider.

3) Does your advertising and/or promotional activity produce direct responses?
It should. If your answer is "I don't know" then you've got some work to do. In addition to 2) above, there are some things you can do to improve response rates.

Firstly, make sure you are advertising in the right media. Choose media to suit your selected audience. Be as specific as possible. And avoid rejecting options just

• because they don't look "exciting", such as trade journals that might have relatively small readership. Importantly, check with your audience to make sure they actually do read the publication.
• Use a strong headline that asks a pertinent question, or gives a solution-oriented statement.
• Include a clear call-to-action. Tell people what they should do. For example: Ring today for your free appointment; Ask for our free information sheet.
• Include multiple methods of contact. Phone, email, and web site are all important. Give prospects a choice of how to contact you.

4) Do your networking activities create new opportunities for you? One of the major principles of effective networking is to "give" rather than "sell". That is, you should look to help others as you spread word about your services. But this softly, softly approach can make it hard to measure effectiveness.

To measure your networking activities make sure you track the source of incoming enquiries. Then see if any of your visible/tangible tactics can be credited with generating the enquiry. If not, then maybe you can safely say it was a referral generated by networking. This is made a lot easier if you're a member of a lead-generating club such as BNI or Leads. You'll get specific feedback each week from these groups.

5) Do your marketing tactics make it easier to sell your services? To do this your marketing activities and/or material should do the following:

• Attract qualified prospects (who have shown a specific interest in your services).
• Anticipate and diffuse potential questions/concerns from prospects.
• Be easy to use when personally selling to prospects. For example: material should be relevant; images/charts easy to understand; and be presented in a format the prospect will be likely to keep.
• Focus on your client needs and your points of difference (Unique Selling Proposition).

6) Check your sales conversion rate. The best approach here is to look at your historical records and determine whether your conversion (or closure) rate has improved. "Selling" is an important part of the "marketing" function, so make sure you assess your success at closing the sale, rather than just focus on generating new leads.

7) Does your plan have a positive return on investment (ROI)? Does it bring in enough new/repeat business to justify the expense? Rather than just look at the "marketing budget" as one total, you really need to evaluate the cost effectiveness of each specific marketing activity. Even if you think you're getting a great ROI overall, maybe you can do even better by changing or eliminating unproductive tactics.

51 Online Marketing Techniques to Improve Your Website's Success

There is no single "magic formula” to a successful Website. You can, however, make your own magic with a mix of marketing programs that is right for you. Your choices depend upon your overall goals and strategies. A laundry list of marketing tactics that have worked for others -- and some of the benefits or features of each -- is below. They are in no particular order because each Website is unique. The tactics that will help you reach your goals may be completely different than the tactics that are right for another Website.

1. Write and distribute articles available for free republication -- Provides a "sample” of your writing or knowledge and creates inbound links to your Website.

2. Write and publish your own ezine -- Develops a list of interested prospects and provides a way to communicate directly with subscribers.

3. Distribute Website or newsletter content via RSS (xml) feeds -- Provides a way to reach prospects without email and creates more ways for potential prospects to find your Website.

4. Rewrite sales page(s) -- Increases conversion rates for your product.

5. Start an ongoing SEO campaign -- Improves organic search engine rankings and increases number of visitors.

6. Test different Website configurations -- Improves conversion rates and profit.

7. Send postcards or notes to Website customers/visitors via "snail mail” -- Additional point of contact improves conversions and recall.

8. Add a signature to your email -- Increases exposure to your site and communicates your marketing message.

9. Spend one hour each day on prospecting new customers or visitors -- Spreads the word about your product/service/Website and improves awareness.

10. Offer a podcast -- Recipients can listen to the mp3 file while away from their computers. A way to verbally communicate with prospects.

11. Blog -- You can easily share thoughts and resources up to several times a day.

12. Audio message on Website (With start and stop under visitor control) -- An additional way to verbally communicate your message.

13. Online radio show -- Attracts visitors to your Website on a regular basis and is a way for visitors/listeners to know the "personality" behind your Website.

14. Survey visitors as a research method -- Helps you understand the needs and problems of your visitors.

15. Include a daily (weekly, monthly) interactive survey for visitors -- A way to make your Website "stickier” and is a reason for repeat visits.

16. Provide a discount coupon, available only online, and advertise it offline -- Pulls new and repeat visitors to your Website.

17. Offer a free ebook that you wrote/developed and allow reprints -- Creates a viral marketing effect and provides a sample of your work.

18. Show others’ advertisements on your Website (examples: AdSense or Yahoo! Publisher Network) -- Adds a source of revenue for you and more research options for your visitors.

19. Implement a customer loyalty program -- Increases repeat purchases and builds a more loyal customer base.

20. Offer a gift with certain orders over a certain amount -- Increases average order size.

21. Write press releases to announce important news -- Spreads the word about your business and creates additional avenues of contact with those interested in your industry.

22. Hold an online chat -- Interactive way to communicate with prospects and draws visitors to the site.

23. Launch a direct-mail campaign, sending 3 to 6 postcards - spaced a week or so apart - to prospects - Draws new visitors to your Website.

24. Partner with other online businesses by mentioning each other's products/services in your ezine Websites -- Opportunity for synergies between businesses.

25. Launch an affiliate program -- Creates a sales force for your product.

26. Offer different versions of your product -- Provides a "tiered” choice for customers.

27. Participate in others’ affiliate programs -- Develops an additional source of revenue and expands your product offerings.

28. Open a merchant or third party processor account -- Increases your ability to take payments online and improves customer service.

29. Offer free shipping -- Improves customer service.

30. Have a limited-time offer -- Encourages customers to buy now rather than later (or never).

31. Conduct a workshop or class -- Builds credibility and attracts prospects.

32. Add testimonials to your Website -- Helps establish credibility and shows experience.

33. Participate in interviews -- Displays your expertise and attracts new customers.

34. Study your competition -- Helps you understand what is happening in your industry and better address important issues and needs.

35. Launch a pay per click advertising campaign -- Attracts new prospects to the Website pages you want.

36. Hold a teleseminar -- Provides a way to attract potential prospects and customers get to know you better.

37. Put a "refer-a-friend” link on every page -- Reminds people to tell others about your site and encourages viral marketing.

38. Set up an autoresponder course -- Is a value-added service to visitors and increases exposure to your product and Website.

39. Continually split-test your sales page(s). Change a single element (headline color, for example) and test against the current version. Replace anytime you get a page that converts better than the current - Over time, this dramatically improves profit.

40. Develop a mailing list of "hot prospects” and send them a brochure about your Website -- Improves awareness and attracts new customers.

41. Communicate your URL and tag line at every point of contact with customers and prospects -- Increases awareness and interest; improves recall; and attracts new customers.

42. List your Website in appropriate directories -- Provides more points of contact with potential customers, helps search engine rankings.

43. Install a "bookmark this page” script on each page -- Encourages repeat visits.

44. Improve a marginal product -- Increases sales and provides an additional opportunity to communicate with customers.

45. Provide a "co-branded” product or service -- By partnering with another Website to create a new product, improves both businesses .

46. Offer a contest -- Provides additional "stickiness” and encourages repeat visits.

47. Become active in online forums and groups -- Establishes you as an authority on your subject, improves credibility, and increases points of contact with potential prospects.

48. Move your primary call-to-action "above the fold” and test different page positions -- Can dramatically improve Website conversions.

49. Install live customer service on site. Staff with knowledgeable people so potential customers can get immediate answers - Improves customer service and conversion rates.

50. Develop different versions of your products (example: print book, audio book, ebook, etc.) -- Meets needs and preferences of customers in more ways.

51. THE MOST IMPORTANT ONLINE MARKETING TECHNIQUE: First, implement to your greatest ability. Then, persist. Improve upon and tweak implementation of each marketing program until it works for you.

Finishing Your Marketing Plan

Marketing plans can feel like a pain in the neck (not to mention other body parts). Reality is quite the opposite. Small business owners, and others without a boss to impose a due date, often find themselves "too busy" to complete a marketing plan or update the existing one. If this sounds like you, then you are leaving profits on the table and the best thing you can do for your business is finish a 2007 marketing plan. Here are five tips to help you follow through with planning:

Have an Approach To Planning

Before you begin, research different options and tools for writing your marketing plan. There are several correct ways to complete a plan.

Once you have chosen your approach, stick to it. If you begin pulling procedures from several different methods, you may become overwhelmed and never finish. The critical part is completing the plan so you have a strategic document to act from.

Make Time To Finish a Formal Plan

If you do not set aside dedicated time for completing your marketing plan, it will always be pushed to the back burner and never completed. Schedule marketing plan development as you would a meeting. Block time out on your calendar and keep that appointment.

Build in Implementation Timelines and Evaluation Measures

Your marketing plan isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on (or the drive it’s stored on) without strong implementation. Following timelines leading up to and evaluating performance during execution can make for smoother implementation.

You can use specialized project management tools to automate timeline creation or do it manually in a spreadsheet or text document. If you are completing a timeline manually, start with the due date and work backwards. Note each major project milestone leading up to completion and the time needed for each component. This will give you intermediate deadlines, so you will know if you fall behind schedule. Leave room for comments and notations about who is responsible for each aspect of implementation.

Also, know how you will measure success, and set up ways to monitor project results. Problems are easiest to solve early on, before the entire budget has been spent and there is time to adjust for improvement.

Execute Year Round

The place for your marketing plan is "front and center," not in a drawer next to the tax returns. Refer to it often throughout the year as you execute the marketing programs you've planned. This keeps you focused on programs in the plan.

Measure Opportunities Against Strategies

New marketing opportunities present themselves often. Without a visible plan, you may find yourself darting after opportunities instead of following a strategic plan. Whenever a new opportunity arises, refer to your marketing plan and ask yourself if it fits with one of your marketing strategies. If so, decide (1) which program in your plan it will replace and (2) if funds are best spent on the original or new project. By going through this exercise, you will be less inclined to make poor marketing decisions.

Take these tips to heart and you’ll find your business running more smoothly and profitably.

Small Business Marketing Mentors - story

Success comes from visualizing and manifesting treasures from what others see as common useless rocks. Looking at things in a different way, being positive and learning from the experiences of others can help.

Having a mentor available can bring years of experience at your disposal so that you can accomplish unimaginable task in a very short time. A mentor can show you how to use tools and talents you have never seen before. Guide you through the steps necessary to an end result you never even thought was possible.

A mentor can provide a safety net of courage where you have none and provide the strength of knowledge to replace the ignorance of doubt.

To illustrate this I would like to tell you a story of how I turned rocks into treasures many years ago without even knowing I had the slightest shred of skill to do so. How I was taught to spend my money and get a world of benefit from it.

When living in Clovis, NM I met an interesting elderly gentleman, he was tall and thin with a very long handlebar mustache a classic miner type old timer.

By sticking a rock in my face, he surprised me while I was working on a picture frame in a craft shop. He said with a very gruff voice "look at at" and pulled it back, then licked it. He then stuck it back in my face saying "At's wha it gona look like when it all shine up"

I was a little taken aback from his in your face approach and slightly irritated from his interruption on my very delicate woodwork. So I answered with “Yea right, that’s nice”. He smiled as he twisted the end of his mustache and said “See ya later” then walked off to another part of the craft center. I got right back to work and soon forgot about the man.

About two hours later I decided to take a break from my woodwork and stretch my legs. I walked trough the building to see what kinds of crafts the others were doing. There was a photography darkroom, a ceramics shop, painting etc. on my way back to the woodshop I passed a door where the old man shouted out “Com in heer, et me sho ya sumpin”.

Not wanting to offend the man I stepped in the door and took interest at what he had to show me. I was shown some polished rocks he called Jasper, Moss Agates and Fire Agates. I actually did find them beautiful with colors and shapes that could only be painted by god himself.

He then picked up a dusty gray rock and put it in my hand as we went over to a very dirty machine. It had mud and water all over it. He explained the water was to keep the blade of the saw cool. Turning it on, he told me to cut the rock and see what I could find.

I sliced the rock right down the middle and again cutting a piece about a quarter inch thick. It was a piece of Moss Agate which is milky white with green copper deposits running through it. The veins of green looked like Moss which grows on the trees in the southern USA. This is how it gets its name.

You could find all sorts of shapes and designs, like looking for objects in the clouds; your imagination was free to see what ever you wanted. After a few minutes of studying the rock I found that right near the center and off to the right a bit, was the most perfect oak tree sitting on a hill.

I imagined a green field of grass with a gently curved hill on the horizon, a single tree growing strongly and spreading its limbs in the sky. It was the perfect shape of a fully matured oak tree. I showed it to the old timer and he shouted “Perfect!... ets cutter out”.

He handed me a template with different shapes on it and asked me to choose the one I thought was right. After laying the template on the rock I soon found an oval shape which framed the tree as if it were a picture.

“This one” I said as I showed it to the wrinkle faced man.

Handing me a piece of aluminum wire with the end sharpened like a pencil, he explained that the aluminum would mark it and would not wash off when cutting it on the wet saw.

He showed me how to trim the excess away and get close to the line. We then heated a glob of hard wax on the end of a piece of dowel rod which was about six inches long then stuck it to the opposite side of the rough cut oval slice.

After cooling, it then had a very sturdy handle for the next step.

Moving to another odd contraption an axle with four or five wheels of different abrasives going from rough to an almost smooth texture I began to shape the slice to its final shape. First taking off the rough corners left from the wet saw. Then taking off the excess and getting as close to my line as I could without grinding it away.

Starting from the roughest wheel and working to the smoothest I ground it so the sides were thin and the middle was thick, to the shape of the oval outline. The tree was in the center standing proudly on the hill. It became a smooth mounded stone with a dull finish.

At the end of the grinder was a spinning disc of what looked like rubber or leather. A small jar of polishing compound was nearby so I could occasionally dip my piece of art in and replenish the polishing wheel. After polishing we changed the disc to a buffer pad and in quick order it was a shining masterpiece.

My mentor inspected my work and slowly his long mustache began to rise from the grin beneath. ”Wonderful job!” he declared. “Let go fine a prop er setin fer it”. He quickly guided me to the display counter I was asked to pick one out. I found a gold oval setting that looked as if it were two gold ropes framed around the shinny oak tree sitting on a hill. Kind of like a cameo necklace.

I was instructed how to install it permanently and was given a moment to admire my newly created master piece. The attendant then told me the price of the setting. I quickly dug out my wallet and delivered the cash.

I thanked the old man for the lesson and headed back to the woodshop to pick up my picture frames. This was the first of several trips to the lapidary shop and I made many pieces of jewelry from old dusty rocks.

Now you may think that the old man had found a way to relieve me of my money but the experiences I had and the knowledge I gained was priceless. I found some wonderful landscapes and hidden remnants from the past.

The family times I would not trade for all the money in the world. My Kids and I spent a many a wonderful day scouring the New Mexico countryside for hidden treasures. I gave my wife the proud oak and had great times learning from the long mustached old timer.

Sure he talked funny and looked funny, but he was filled with a wealth of knowledge gained from an interesting and long life. I learned lessons in marketing and lessons of life that I would not have learned in any other way.

The moral of this story is “You never know what gems are inside of a common rock, until you look deep inside the rough exterior”

Success comes from visualizing and manifesting treasures from what others see as common useless rocks.

Obstacles to Effective Communication

While a message source may be able to deliver a message through a transmission medium, there are many potential obstacles to the message successfully reaching the receiver the way the sender intends. The potential obstacles that may affect good communication include:

• Poor Encoding – This occurs when the message source fails to create the right sensory stimuli to meet the objectives of the message. For instance, in person-to-person communication, verbally phrasing words poorly so the intended communication is not what is actually meant, is the result of poor encoding. Poor encoding is also seen in advertisements that are difficult for the intended audience to understand, such as words or symbols that lack meaning or, worse, have totally different meaning within a certain cultural groups. This often occurs when marketers use the same advertising message across many different countries. Differences due to translation or cultural understanding can result in the message receiver having a different frame of reference for how to interpret words, symbols, sounds, etc. This may lead the message receiver to decode the meaning of the message in a different way than was intended by the message sender.
• Poor Decoding – This refers to a message receiver’s error in processing the message so that the meaning given to the received message is not what the source intended. This differs from poor encoding when it is clear, through comparative analysis with other receivers, that a particular receiver perceived a message differently from others and from what the message source intended. Clearly, as we noted above, if the receiver’s frame of reference is different (e.g., meaning of words are different) then decoding problems can occur. More likely, when it comes to marketing promotions, decoding errors occur due to personal or psychological factors, such as not paying attention to a full television advertisement, driving too quickly past a billboard, or allowing one’s mind to wonder while talking to a salesperson.
• Medium Failure – Sometimes communication channels break down and end up sending out weak or faltering signals. Other times the wrong medium is used to communicate the message. For instance, trying to educate doctors about a new treatment for heart disease using television commercials that quickly flash highly detailed information is not going to be as effective as presenting this information in a print ad where doctors can take their time evaluating the information.
• Communication Noise – Noise in communication occurs when an outside force in someway affects delivery of the message. The most obvious example is when loud sounds block the receiver’s ability to hear a message. Nearly any distraction to the sender or the receiver can lead to communication noise. In advertising, many customers are overwhelmed (i.e., distracted) by the large number of advertisements they encountered each day. Such advertising clutter (i.e., noise) makes it difficult for advertisers to get their message through to desired customers.

Keys to Effective Communication

For marketers understanding how communication works can improve the delivery of their message. From the information just discussed, marketers should focus on the following to improve communication with their targeted audience:

• Carefully Encode – Marketers should make sure the message they send is crafted in a way that will be interpreted by message receivers as intended. This means having a good understanding of how their audience interprets words, symbols, sounds and other stimuli used by marketers.
• Allow Feedback – Encouraging the message receiver to provide feedback can greatly improve communication and help determine if a marketer’s message was decoded and interpreted properly. Feedback can be improved by providing easy-to-use options for responding, such as phone numbers, Internet chat, and email.
• Reduce Noise – In many promotional situations the marketer has little control over interference with their message. However, there are a few instances where the marketer can proactively lower the noise level. For instance, salespeople can be trained to reduce noise by employing techniques that limit customer distractions, such as scheduling meetings during non-busy times or by inviting potential customers to an environment that offers fewer distractions, such as a conference facility. Additionally, advertising can be developed in ways that separates the marketer’s ad from others, including the use of whitespace in magazine ads.
• Choose Right Audience – Targeting the right message receiver will go a long way to improving a marketer’s ability to promote their products. Messages are much more likely to be received and appropriately decoded by those who have an interest in the content of the message.

Communication Delivery

Communication takes place in the form of a message that is exchanged between a source and receiver. A message can be shaped using one or a combination of sensory stimuli that work together to convey meaning that meets the objectives of the sender. The sender uses a transmission medium to send the message. In marketing the medium may include the use of different media outlets (e.g., Internet, television, radio, print), promotion-only outlets (e.g., postal mail, billboards), and person-to-person contact (e.g., salespeople).

Additionally, communication can be improved if there is a two-way flow of information in the form of a feedback channel. This occurs if the message receiver is able to respond, often quickly, to the message source. In this way, the original message receiver now becomes the message source and the communication process begins again.

Communication Participants

For communication to occur there must be at least two participants:

• Message Source – The source of communication is the party intending to convey information to another party. The message source can be an individual (e.g., salesperson) or an organization (e.g., through advertising). In order to convey a message, the source must engage in message encoding, which involves mental and physical processes necessary to construct a message in order to reach a desired goal (i.e., convey meaningful information). This undertaking consists of using sensory stimuli, such as visuals (e.g., words, symbols, images), sounds (e.g., spoken word), and scents (e.g., fragrance) to convey a message.
• Message Receiver – The receiver of communication is the intended target of a message source’s efforts. For a message to be understood the receiver must decode the message by undertaking mental and physical processes necessary to give meaning to the message. Clearly, a message can only be decoded if the receiver is actually exposed to the message.

The Communication Process

The act of communicating has been evaluated extensively for many, many years. One of the classic analyses of communication took place in the 1940s and 1950s when researchers, including Claude Shannon, Warren Weaver, Wilbur Schramm and others, offered models describing how communication takes place.

In general, communication is how people exchange meaningful information. Models that reflect how communication occurs often include the elements shown below:

Types of Promotion Objectives

The possible objectives for marketing promotions may include the following:

• Build Awareness – New products and new companies are often unknown to a market, which means initial promotional efforts must focus on establishing an identity. In this situation the marketer must focus promotion to: 1) effectively reach customers, and 2) tell the market who they are and what they have to offer.
• Create Interest – Moving a customer from awareness of a product to making a purchase can present a significant challenge. As we saw with our discussion of consumer and business buying behavior, customers must first recognize they have a need before they actively start to consider a purchase. The focus on creating messages that convince customers that a need exists has been the hallmark of marketing for a long time with promotional appeals targeted at basic human characteristics such as emotions, fears, sex, and humor.
• Provide Information – Some promotion is designed to assist customers in the search stage of the purchasing process. In some cases, such as when a product is so novel it creates a new category of product and has few competitors, the information is simply intended to explain what the product is and may not mention any competitors. In other situations, where the product competes in an existing market, informational promotion may be used to help with a product positioning strategy. As we discuss in the Targeting Markets tutorial, marketers may use promotional means, including direct comparisons with competitor’s products, in an effort to get customers to mentally distinguish the marketer’s product from those of competitors.
• Stimulate Demand – The right promotion can drive customers to make a purchase. In the case of products that a customer has not previously purchased or has not purchased in a long time, the promotional efforts may be directed at getting the customer to try the product. This is often seen on the Internet where software companies allow for free demonstrations or even free downloadable trials of their products. For products with an established customer-base, promotion can encourage customers to increase their purchasing by providing a reason to purchase products sooner or purchase in greater quantities than they normally do. For example, a pre-holiday newspaper advertisement may remind customers to stock up for the holiday by purchasing more than they typically purchase during non-holiday periods.
• Reinforce the Brand – Once a purchase is made, a marketer can use promotion to help build a strong relationship that can lead to the purchaser becoming a loyal customer. For instance, many retail stores now ask for a customer’s email address so that follow-up emails containing additional product information or even an incentive to purchase other products from the retailer can be sent in order to strengthen the customer-marketer relationship.

Targets of Marketing Promotions

The audience for an organization’s marketing communication efforts is not limited to just the marketer’s target market. While the bulk of a marketer’s promotional budget may be directed at the target market, there are many other groups that could also serve as useful target of a marketing message.

Targets of a marketing message generally fall into one of the following categories:

• Members of the Organization’s Target Market – This category would include current customers, previous customers and potential customers, and as noted, may receive the most promotional attention.
• Influencers of the Organization’s Target Market – There exists a large group of people and organizations that can affect how a company’s target market is exposed to and perceives a company’s products. These influencing groups have their own communication mechanisms that reach the target market and the marketer may be able utilize these influencers to its benefit. Influencers include the news media (e.g., offer company stories), special interest groups, opinion leaders (e.g., doctors directing patients), and industry trade associations.
• Participants in the Distribution Process – The distribution channel provides services to help gain access to final customers and are also target markets since they must recognize a product’s benefits and agree to handle the product in the same way as final customers who must agree to purchase products. Aiming promotions at distribution partners (e.g., retailers, wholesalers, distributors) and other channel members is extremely important and, in some industries, represents a higher portion of a marketer’s promotional budget than promotional spending directed at the final customer.
• Other Companies – The most likely scenario in which a company will communicate with another company occurs when the marketer is probing to see if the company would have an interest in a joint venture, such as a co-marketing arrangement where two firms share marketing costs. Reaching out to other companies, including companies who may be competitors for other products, could help create interest in discussing such a relationship.
• Other Organizational Stakeholders – Marketers may also be involved with communication activities directed at other stakeholders. This group consists of those who provide services, support or, in other ways, impact the company. For example, an industry group that sets industry standards can affect company products through the issuance of recommended compliance standards for product development or other marketing activities. Communicating with this group is important to insure the marketer’s views of any changes in standards are known.

Objectives of Marketing Promotions

The most obvious objective marketers have for promotional activities is to convince customers to make a decision that benefits the marketer (of course the marketer believes the decision will also benefit the customer). For most for-profit marketers this means getting customers to buy an organization’s product and, in most cases, to remain a loyal long-term customer. For other marketers, such as not-for-profits, it means getting customers to increase donations, utilize more services, change attitudes, or change behavior (e.g., stop smoking campaigns).

However, marketers must understand that getting customers to commit to a decision, such as a purchase decision, is only achievable when a customer is ready to make the decision. As we saw in the tutorials covering Consumer Buying Behavior and Business Buying Behavior, customers often move through several stages before a purchase decision is made. Additionally before turning into a repeat customer, purchasers analyze their initial purchase to see whether they received a good value, and then often repeat the purchase process again before deciding to make the same choice.

The type of customer the marketer is attempting to attract and which stage of the purchase process a customer is in will affect the objectives of a particular marketing communication effort. And since a marketer often has multiple simultaneous promotional campaigns, the objective of each could be different.

What to Include When Writing a Marketing Plan

For those new to marketing plans, the thought of writing a marketing plan from start to finish may feel daunting. It need not. The level of detail you choose to include will depend on your resources and situation. If you have extremely limited manpower or other resources, you may be constrained to a "broad brush," basic marketing plan approach. If your plan must support your claims to others in the company, more back-up detail in your marketing plan may be appropriate.

Writing a Basic Marketing Plan

Include a summary at the beginning. Like any business report, your plan write up should begin with a summary. The traditional executive summary is one option.

I prefer to include - either in addition to or instead of the executive summary - a one-page table. The table makes everyday use of your plan easier. In one glance you can be reminded of your marketing challenges, objectives, strategies, and tactics as well as budgets and deadlines. Also, as your plan evolves throughout the year, the table makes it easier to modify the plan.

Other features of a basic plan include the following:

• Explain your reasoning. Make some reference to why you chose the specific objective(s) and strategies in your marketing plan. This will make it easier to justify the plan to others (if necessary). It will also help you make smarter, strategic decisions.

• Identify your target customers. By doing so, you will be better able to develop effective advertising messages.

• Write one or more positioning statements. In the statement(s), specify the customer needs you are fulfilling, benefits your products/services offer, and features that deliver those benefits.

• Explain key issues and opportunities when you write a marketing plan. These can best be identified through industry and/or competitive analyses.

• Include preliminary budgets and timelines for your action plans / programs.

Write an Advanced Marketing Plan - Expanded Content

By including detailed analysis and arguments to substantiate your plan, you can write an expanded marketing plan:

• Describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats your business faces (SWOT analysis).

• Explain the business environment. What are your competitors’ strategies? What potential substitutes are available?

• Include the trends in your industry and how they affect both online and offline activity. Show growth projections.

• Detail the financial aspects when you write the marketing plan. Include break even analysis for your products or company as well as for the tactics included in your plan. Discuss assumptions made when completing your financial analysis. Show how implementation of your plan will be profitable to your business.

• Include a calendar of events that shows milestones in the coming weeks or months.

You can be as detailed or top-line as needed when you write a marketing plan. In any case remember that your marketing plan is always a work in progress. It may be current, but it is never "done."

What is Marketing Definition

Marketing Definition is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and/or services.

The key word in this marketing definition is "process"; marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.

It's a huge topic, which is why there are tomes written on marketing, and why you can take a four-year marketing degree. But essentially marketing involves everything you do to get your potential customers and your product or service together.

When you're putting together a marketing program for your business, concentrate on the marketing basics, the four key components of any marketing plan:

• products and services
• promotion
• distribution
• pricing.

The name of the game in marketing is attracting and retaining a growing base of satisfied customers. Creating and implementing a marketing plan will keep your marketing efforts focused and increase your marketing success.

Marketing Plan for the Independent Inventor

Many first-time business owners think that by simply placing an ad in a local newspaper or a commercial on a radio or a television station, customers will automatically flock to purchase their product or service. This is true to a certain extent. Some people are likely to learn about your invention and try it, just out of curiosity. But hundreds, even thousands, of other potential customers may never learn of your business. Do develop an adequate marketing program. What you as a potential business owner must do is maintain a thorough understanding of your marketing program, and use it to extract advantages from the marketplace. Go over different strategies and techniques until you understand how to apply them to get the results you desire. Remember, your aim is not only to attract and keep a steady group of loyal customers, but also to expand your customer base by identifying and attracting, new customers and to reduce risks by anticipating market shifts that can affect your bottom line.

The Four P's of Marketing

To help you accomplish this aim, your marketing plan should include strategies typical of any marketing plan. The plan should especially include what marketers dub as the four P's of Marketing:

• PRODUCT
• PRICE
• PLACE
• PROMOTION

Review your plan. Make certain it contains the strategies listed below and on the next page and then determine how these strategies will be applied by you. Include a brief explanation for
each strategy.

Describe Your Target Market

• By age
• By sex
• By profession or career
• By income level
• By educational level
• By residence

Identify and describe your customers (target market) by their age, sex, income/educational levels, profession/career and residence. Know your customers better than you know anyone - their likes, dislikes, expectations. Since you will have limited resources target only those customers who are more likely to purchase your product. As your business grows and your customer base expands, then, you may need to consider modifying this section of the marketing plan to include other customers.

Identify Your Competition

• By market research data
• By demand for product
• By your nearest direct and indirect competitors
• By the strengths and weaknesses of competitors
• By an assessment of how competitors businesses are doing
• By a description of the unique features of your product
• By the similarities and dissimilarities between your product and competitor's
• By a pricing strategy for and comparison of yours and the competition's

Identify the five nearest direct competitors and the indirect competitors. Start a file on each identifying their weaknesses and strengths. Keep files on their advertising and promotional materials and their pricing strategies. Review these files periodically determining when and how often they advertise, sponsor promotions and offer sales.

Describe Your Product

Try to describe the benefits of your goods from your customer's perspective. Emphasize its special features - i.e., the selling points. Successful business owners know or at least have an idea of what their customers what or expect from them. This type of anticipation can be helpful in building customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Develop A Marketing Budget

• For your advertising and promotional plan
• For costs allocated for advertising and promotions
• For advertising and promotional materials
• For a list of advertising media to be used

Operating an effective marketing plan requires money, so you will have to allocate funds
rom your operating budget to cover advertising, promotional and all other costs associated with marketing. Develop a marketing budget based on the cost for the media you will use, and the cost for collecting research data and monitoring shifts in the marketplace.

Describe Location (Place)

• description of the location
• advantages and disadvantages of location

Again, try to describe the location of your business from your customer's perspective. Describe its assets -- i.e., the convenience, whether or not public transportation is accessible, the safety aspects - street lighting, well lit parking lot or facility, decor, etc. Your location should be built around your customers, it should be accessible and should provide a sense of security.

Develop Pricing Strategy

• pricing techniques and brief description of these techniques
• retail costing and pricing
• competitive position
• pricing below competition
• pricing above competition
• price lining
• multiple pricing
• material costs
• labor costs
• overhead costs

Although your pricing strategy may be based on the strategy devised by others, you should study this plan and the strategies used by competitors. That way you will acquire a thorough understanding of how to price your product, and you can determine if your prices are in line with competitors, if they are in line with industry averages and what adjustments you can make to bring them in line.

The key to success is to have an well-planned strategy, to establish your policies and to constantly monitor prices and operating costs to ensure profits. Keep abreast of changes in the marketplace because these changes can affect your bottom line.

Develop an Effective Promotional Strategy

• advertising media
• print media (newspaper, magazine, classified ads, Yellow Pages advertising, brochure)
• radio
• television
• networking
• business cards
• tee shirts, hats, buttons, pens

Develop a promotional strategy that uses various media for promoting your business. Monitor the different media identifying those that most effectively promote your business. Concentrate on developing material for these formats that clearly identifies your services, its location and price.

Since financial institutions weigh the soundness of your marketing plan when deciding whether your business is a good risk for their money, it is important that you prepare and present credible market data that shows there is a need in the community for your business and that demonstrates your ability to compete.

6 Common Market Research Mistakes of Small Business

Whether expanding a new line or starting a business, market research for your small business is a necessary component for success. As any business owner learns soon enough, risks are part of business. With limited resources, entrepreneurs know risk needs to be calculated. Employing market research helps you sort out the risks involved.

The benefits of market research for small business range from finding hidden niches and preserving capital to building customer loyalty and identifying more business opportunities with existing customers.

Before you take the path to greater customer understanding by market research, it's
important to know the common pitfalls encountered by small business. Avoid these 6 common mistakes in market research for small business.

Think It's Costly: Bob Kaden, market research expert and author of "Guerrilla Marketing Research" knows too well the challenge small business owners face to afford the costs of conducting market research. Small businesses believe focus groups and surveys are unaffordable. Marketing research costs can range from a few thousand dollars to $25,000 annually.

Should you hire a professional or go it alone? "If you have the time and interest to learn what it takes to do effective research, there is no reason you can't execute the studies yourself at a fraction of the cost it would take you to use a professional," states Kaden in "Guerrilla Marketing Research." On the contrary, Kaden feels a solid market research professional is invaluable. Spend the time to learn what you don't know and need to know.

Try Secondary Research Only: Research comes in 2 forms: primary and secondary. Primary research is first hand knowledge you gain directly from the marketplace and often uses techniques as focus groups and surveys. Secondary research is usually published studies available online or from your library providing broad knowledge about your markets. Learning about your business and industry from secondary research is a good start but primary research allows you to target your efforts and understand customers' attitudes in real time.

Use Web Searching: The Internet has opened up a flood of business information that was once available to big companies or those with money. No doubt conducting secondary market research on Yahoo or Google saves time and money for small business. Search engines mine only a portion of the web and often the good info you need will be part of the deep web or on a paid search like Lexis Nexis. To save money, visit your local library, business center, or college to gain access to the quality information you need at zero cost.

Hit the Wall: Any sizable research project runs into the U-shaped curve. Your enthusiasm and motivation are high at the beginning but as the project progresses you reach a wall. As you start to take in more information, the level of complexity rises. At this point it's easy to lose motivation and cut the research efforts short. Those who persist soon realize it all comes together in the end. To best manage your cycle of motivation for the project, start your secondary market research by getting an understanding of your industry. Don't wait too long to get in the field and talk to potential customers.

Rely on Family Focus Group: A common mistake of new startups is asking those close to you for feedback on your product and service. Those who know you will want to guard your feelings. Friends and family make the worst possible selection of a focus group. You need to talk to real customers about the pros and cons of your offer and use your friends and family as support not market research.

Big Company Attitude: You spent years in your industry and understand customers... who needs market research? You carry plenty of baggage and preconceived notions of customers needs and wants. Test your assumptions on the market for real insight on customer attitudes and behavior.

All too often business owners will downplay the importance of gaining customer insight by market research. It's absurd how many businesses are launched without ever talking to a single potential customer. Avoid the common errors and use market research wisely to position your business for success.

Methods of Market Research

Because of the expense of primary market research, most firms rely on secondary data sources. The three following recommendations will help you obtain useful secondary information:

1. Keep abreast of world events that influence the international marketplace, watch for announcements of specific projects, or simply visiting likely markets. For example, a thawing of political hostilities often leads to the opening of economic channels between countries.

2. Analyze trade and economic statistics. Trade statistics are generally compiled by product category and by country. These statistics provide the U.S. firm with information concerning shipments of products over specified periods of time. Demographic and general economic statistics, such as population size and makeup, per capita income, and production levels by industry can be important indicators of the market potential for a company's products.

3. Obtain advice from experts. There are several ways of obtaining this advice:

• Contact experts at the U.S. Department of Commerce and other government agencies.

• Attend seminars, workshops, and international trade shows.

• Hire an international trade and marketing consultant.

• Talk with successful exporters of similar products.

• Contact trade and industry association staff.

Gathering and evaluating secondary market research can be complex and tedious. However, several publications are available that can help simplify the process. The following approach to market research refers to these publications and resources that are described later in this chapter.

Market Research

To successfully export your product, you should examine foreign markets through research. The purpose is to identify marketing opportunities and constraints abroad, as well as to identify prospective buyers and customers.

Market research encompasses all methods that a company can use to determine which foreign markets have the best potential for its products. Results of this research inform the firm of: the largest markets for its product, the fastest growing markets, market trends and outlook, market conditions and practices, and competitive firms and products.

Your firm may begin to export without conducting any market research if it receives unsolicited orders from abroad. Although this type of selling is valuable, the company may discover even more promising markets by conducting a systematic search. If your firm opts to export indirectly by using an intermediary such as an Export Management Company (EMC) or Export Trading Company (ETC), you may wish to select markets to enter before selecting the intermediary. Because many intermediaries such as EMCs and ETCs have strengths in certain markets, it is valuable to select the intermediary after deciding on markets to enter. You may also want to do market research if you export indirectly.

A firm may research a market by using either primary or secondary data resources. In conducting primary market research, a company collects data directly from the foreign marketplace through interviews, surveys, and other direct contact with representatives and potential buyers. Primary market research has the advantage of being tailored to the company's needs and provides answers to specific questions, but the collection of such data is time-consuming and expensive.

When conducting secondary market research, a company collects data from various sources, such as trade statistics for a country or a product. Working with secondary sources is less expensive and helps the company focus its marketing efforts. Although secondary data sources are critical to market research, they do have limitations. The most recent statistics for some countries may be more than two years old. Moreover, the data may be too broad to be of much value to a company. Statistics may also be distorted by incomplete data-gathering techniques. Finally, statistics for services are often unavailable. Yet, even with these limitations, secondary research is a valuable and relatively easy first step for a company to take. It may be the only step needed if the company decides to export indirectly, since the intermediary firm may have advanced research capabilities

Developing a Marketing Plan

As you can imagine, many foreign markets differ greatly from the United States. Some differences include climatic and environmental factors, social and cultural factors, local availability of raw materials or product alternatives, lower wage costs, varying amounts of purchasing power, the availability of foreign exchange, and government import controls. Once you have decided that your company is able and committed to exporting, the next step is to develop a marketing plan.

A clearly written marketing strategy offers six immediate benefits:

1. Because written plans display strengths and weaknesses more readily, they are a great help in formulating and polishing an export strategy.
2. Written plans are not easily forgotten, overlooked, or ignored by those charged with executing them. If deviation from the original plan occurs, it is likely to be due to a deliberate and thoughtful choice.
3. Written plans are easier to communicate to others and are less likely to be misunderstood.
4. Written plans allocate responsibilities and provide for an evaluation of results.
5. Written plans are helpful when seeking financial assistance. They indicate to lenders that you have a serious approach to the export venture.
6. Written plans give management a clear understanding of what will be required of them and thus help to ensure a commitment to exporting. Actually, a written plan signals that the decision to export has already been made.

This last advantage is especially noteworthy. Building an international business takes time. It usually takes months, sometimes even several years, before an exporting company begins to see a return on its investment of time and money. By committing to the specifics of a written plan, top management can make sure that the firm will finish what it begins and that the hopes that prompted its export efforts will be fulfilled.

What to Include When Writing a Marketing Plan

For those new to marketing plans, the thought of writing a marketing plan from start to finish may feel daunting. It need not. The level of detail you choose to include will depend on your resources and situation. If you have extremely limited manpower or other resources, you may be constrained to a "broad brush," basic marketing plan approach. If your plan must support your claims to others in the company, more back-up detail in your marketing plan may be appropriate.

Writing a Basic Marketing Plan

Include a summary at the beginning. Like any business report, your plan write up should begin with a summary. The traditional executive summary is one option.

I prefer to include - either in addition to or instead of the executive summary - a one-page table. The table makes everyday use of your plan easier. In one glance you can be reminded of your marketing challenges, objectives, strategies, and tactics as well as budgets and deadlines. Also, as your plan evolves throughout the year, the table makes it easier to modify the plan.

Other features of a basic plan include the following:

• Explain your reasoning. Make some reference to why you chose the specific objective(s) and strategies in your marketing plan. This will make it easier to justify the plan to others (if necessary). It will also help you make smarter, strategic decisions.

• Identify your target customers. By doing so, you will be better able to develop effective advertising messages.

• Write one or more positioning statements. In the statement(s), specify the customer needs you are fulfilling, benefits your products/services offer, and features that deliver those benefits.

• Explain key issues and opportunities when you write a marketing plan. These can best be identified through industry and/or competitive analyses.

• Include preliminary budgets and timelines for your action plans / programs.

Write an Advanced Marketing Plan - Expanded Content

By including detailed analysis and arguments to substantiate your plan, you can write an expanded marketing plan:

• Describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats your business faces (SWOT analysis).

• Explain the business environment. What are your competitors’ strategies? What potential substitutes are available?

• Include the trends in your industry and how they affect both online and offline activity. Show growth projections.

• Detail the financial aspects when you write the marketing plan. Include break even analysis for your products or company as well as for the tactics included in your plan. Discuss assumptions made when completing your financial analysis. Show how implementation of your plan will be profitable to your business.

• Include a calendar of events that shows milestones in the coming weeks or months.

You can be as detailed or top-line as needed when you write a marketing plan. In any case remember that your marketing plan is always a work in progress. It may be current, but it is never "done."

How to Get Started on Your Marketing Plan

When developing or updating a marketing plan, knowing where to start is often a challenge. To better develop effective marketing strategies, begin by gathering information about both your business and the larger business environment (competition, trends, statistics, etc).

Internally, the amount of information you gather about your own business will depend on your company size. Information can include business strategies and plans; company marketing plans; pricing; and income statements. Employee knowledge is also a valuable resource. As you gather information, if you at first turn to internal sources then expand your understanding through external resources you will do fine.

External information about the business environment often takes the form of existing research, articles, competitive information, and industry news. While these are often available in both print and digital, the focus here is finding information online.

Gathering Information Online - Getting Started

The numerous news sources and billion or so Web pages available on the Internet make finding information much easier than in pre-Internet days. Before the Internet, gathering information meant trips to the library, purchasing expensive publications and reports, and commissioning your own primary research. Now, it is a matter of knowing where to search.

You can start searching the Internet by looking in each of the general areas below. Organize useful material as you find it. Purchase, bookmark, or file each resource so you can draw upon it during marketing plan development.

These external resources, together with your internal company information, will be your initial knowledge base as you develop your Marketing Plan. As you progress along the planning process and the specific information you need become clearer, these initial resources are likely to be jumping-off points for gathering more specific information.

Information Sources

Annual Reports and other SEC Filings. These documents are required by publicly held U.S. companies and often include statistics and other industry information.

Books. Books can often provide detailed insight and analysis you cannot find elsewhere.

The Government. At last count 100 U.S. Federal agencies had statistical programs, many with data available on the Web. You can find the complete list at fedstats.gov/agencies/index.html.

Message Boards and Newsgroups. You can pick up on trends, hot topics in the industry, and competitor information by following discussions.

News Articles. These often give clues to the business environment and can lead you to additional information sources.

Newsletters. By reading and subscribing to competitor and industry newsletters you can get insight into current promotional tactics and other activities.

Research Sites. Archives, press releases, newsletters, and executive summaries on these sites can provide relevant research findings and statistics.

Search Engines and Directories. Search by keyword or drill down into directory sub-categories to find information.

Subject Sites. There are some general sites - suite101.com, about.com, and business.com to name three - with numerous topic-specific pages. Check for pages relating to your industry or product.

Trade Associations and Publications. You will often find industry information, statistics, and membership lists online.

White Papers and other Company Publications. Companies will sometimes publish free white papers that summarize the industry trends or other information.

Search these resources and follow a sound marketing plan strategy for greater business success.