Posts Tagged ‘business’
Writing a Business And Marketing Plan That Works
October 20, 2011 | 
Author Robert Kiyosaki, in his bestseller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” talked about an incident when a writer approached him for advice on selling her book. Kiyosaki told her to change her title into something catchier, something with more “pop”, something that will appeal better to the masses. The writer who felt her artistic freed had just been insulted, was outraged. “This is a well-written book! I will not make changes.” “Oh,” Kiyosaki said casually. “I know I’m in no position to critique your writing. I am not a best-writing author. But I am a best-selling author.”
Sales. At the end of the day, even the best product or service needs to be marketed well in order for business to thrive. So many business owners neglect the marketing part of their trade; the assume that quality productw will sell themselves. But while making sure that you’re coming up with A+ wares help in turning a profit, you need a good business and marketing plan in order to actually put money in your pocket
What is a business and marketing plan?
Put simply, a business and marketing plan is a roadmap that documents what your business is, what your business hopes to achieve, and what marketing strategy you plan to apply in order to meet your business objectives. Included in a business and marketing plan are information about your target consumers, how you plan to stand out from the competition, the marketing mix (also known as the 4 P’s: product, price, place and promotion) and how much money you plan to invest on your marketing needs.
If you are a newbie at marketing, worry not. Writing a business and marketing plan is not rocket science. It does, however, require a lot of thought, foresight, research and creativity.
What do you need to consider when making a business and marketing plan?
Consider the following 3 Main Parts of a Business and Marketing Plan:
Information about the Current Market
How is the industry doing right now, and where do you see your business amidst the fray? Perhaps the market is thriving, and you want to go out and challenge the current leader. Or perhaps the market is weak, but your product and service is such an innovation, it’s guaranteed to find loyal consumers. Or the market is awesome, and your product needs more tweaking in order to sell well.
Don’t just be guided by your gut instinct; do the research. What is the profile of your target market: age, socio-economic class, preferences and general buying behavior? Who are your competitors, and how are they doing? Having this information on hand can help you in planning the best marketing strategy that will benefit your business.
Marketing Strategy
Consider the case of General Motors (GM) in the 70s. At its inception, Ford was the market leader. They produced a great selling car called the Model T. The only problem: the car was only available in black. GM saw and responded to the demand for individuality among car owners. They sold cars in a variety of colors. The simple decision helped GM eat up Ford’s market share!
Your marketing strategy outlines your tactics in responding to threats and opportunities you’ve identified in your market study. Is your product and service well-differentiated enough to justify higher pricing than the average? Should you serve the current market or look for underserved niches? Do you use direct marketing with attractive salespersons, or do you take out an ad in the local classified? Brick and mortar world or e-business? Your business and marketing plan must include your specific game in making it in the world of commerce.
Action Programs
Lastly, you need to spell out how exactly your marketing strategies will be turned into reality. Branding your business, for example, is a marketing strategy that needs a lot of careful study. Your brand equates to your presence in the market; it must be comprehensive enough that it tells people everything they need to know about you, but punchy enough that it sticks in people’s minds. Your action program may start with first consulting with a branding specialist, brainstorming with your team members, market-testing a brand idea. In this part of your business and marketing plan, you need to know what will be done, when it will be done, how it will be done, who would do it, and how much it will cost.
Remember marketing is your main chance to connect with potential and current customers! Deliberation pays off — there’s nothing like the joy of seeing satisfied customers and hearing the ding of the cash register!
Written by tandelynweaver
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Marketing Delusion No 9 – Marketing Occasionally And Randomly Brings The Clients My Business Needs
One of the biggest marketing delusions most of us service business owners have suffered from is believing that we can market once in a while, and get all the clients our business needs. Rather than putting together a strategic marketing plan and marketing regularly, we only market when we have no work to do. We market in “fits and starts”, marketing furiously when business is slow, and ignoring marketing altogether when we are busy delivering services. Because of this lack of marketing planning and consistency, our business is prone to peaks and valleys of new business and revenue. There is no well-thought-out plan of cohesive activities, designed to keep our business name in front of our target market
That, however, is not the only “price” your business will pay when you only market occasionally and randomly. There are other costs to this approach.
1. Sporadic marketing does not provide the feeling of familiarity that your prospects need to decide to buy from you.
If you fail to put together a marketing plan, and don’t market consistently, your target market never develops any feelings of familiarity with your business. Most prospects are somewhat cautious about investing in services because of fear of “fly by night” type businesses. They want to know that a business is stable, has been around, and will be around. One of the best ways for you to establish that reputation is by having a consistent and effective marketing plan, consistently executed. Familiarity breeds the willingness to consider you a potential provider of services.
2. Occasional marketing won’t develop your brand recognition with your target market.
If you only market occasionally, you will not set up the situation where your target market recognizes your brand. Brand recognition is a big factor in providing the feeling of safety and comfort your prospects need to consider becoming your client. If prospects do not recognize your brand, they will choose your competitor who has a more recognizable brand (even if their services are not as effective as yours). The human animal has some degree of “hard wiring” about wanting to make a safe choice. To make the most of this fact, you must market consistently, and develop that brand recognition for your business.
3. Without a marketing plan, consistently executed, your marketing does not develop momentum, or start to produce results.
Recognize that familiarity and brand recognition are big factors in the decision process when a prospect considers buying your services. To take full advantage of these facts, you must put together a marketing plan that develops momentum, and predictably delivers new clients. Most owners of service businesses fail to recognize that they must continue to market, even after they are getting results. They believe that the results will continue without the marketing. No, the marketing drives those results, and you must consider marketing to be an activity as necessary and frequent as brushing your teeth.
4. Unless you market regularly, you will not distinguish your business from your competitors.
It’s easy to imagine that we’re so good at what we do, that it should be obvious to our target market and that they should flock to us. If only it were so! The truth is that you must market regularly or your market will not be able to distinguish your business from that of your competitors. The ones who market the most are likely to be the ones who get the biggest share of the market. Of course, it is not just marketing alone that makes this true. It is also the effectiveness of the marketing as well. However, you want to get your marketing message out in front of your market on a regular basis, so that when they are ready to make a buying decision, they will think of you and your business.
5. Consistency in marketing efforts builds the impression in your target market that you are trustworthy and dependable. They feel comfortable with you and your business.
One of the things that your target market wants to see from a provider when they are considering buying services is that you seem trustworthy and dependable. Marketing communicates those solid, comfortable feelings. When your prospects see your marketing message delivered in multiple ways over time, they come to trust you, and see you as a solid citizen in the community. They become comfortable with the idea of buying your service.
Random and occasional marketing will never bring your business the steady stream of new clients that you need. In fact, sporadic marketing is basically ineffective and virtually a waste of your time and efforts. It’s time to throw off this marketing delusion, and settle on a well thought out marketing plan and consistently execute it.
Suzi Elton provides business writing that attracts targeted prospects to your service business and converts them into clients for you. She is a Robert Middleton Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach, as well as a professional writer. Her website offers a free series of 8 assessments you can use to analyze your own site.
Written by AakA
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Posted in Marketing | 
Tags: Brings, business, Clients, Delusion, marketing, Needs, Occasionally, Randomly | 
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