David Frey has a very Unique Off line Consulting business, helping Brick & Morter Businesses increase their Profits through Direct Mail marketing and other Guerilla Tactics

The First of 'Six Deadly
  Small Business Marketing Mistakes'

By David Frey

 _________________________________________
  Your Seven-Step, One-Day Marketing Plan
  _________________________________________


  In my small business consulting experience I have noticed a
  similar attribute that is common in most entrepreneurs and
  business owners.  Most are 'do'ers' rather than 'planners.'

  In reality, being a do'er is perhaps the ultimate mark of a
  successful person.  It's what makes entrepreneurs a rare
  breed. Rather than thinking or wishing, they get out there
  and make something happen.

  But I have encountered many small business owners who get
  into trouble 'doing' the wrong marketing activities the right
  way or 'doing' the right marketing activities the wrong way.
  If you want to 'do' the right marketing activities the right
  way you must start with a marketing plan.

  * Factiod * Research studies have shown that small businesses with
  a marketing plan experience a 24 to 30 percent improvement in
  sales over those without.

  You don't have to kill a tree to create an effective marketing
  plan. In fact, you can create a successful plan for your small
  business in just one day. To begin, don't worry about writing
  style or making your plan fancy. Just go get a pencil and
  paper and let's get started.

  _________________________________________________

  Step 1 - Understand Your Market and Competition
  _________________________________________________


  A big mistake that many small business owners make is to
  latch on to a cool product or service without first understanding
  the market and what it wants (not what it needs). If you try to
  sell something that people don't want, they won't buy it.

  It's that simple.

  A profitable market consists of people who have dire wants
  that are being unmet, so much so that they will jump to buy
  your solution (product or service). A profitable market can be
  compared to a lake with thousands of starving fish. All you
  need to do is throw in the bate and it turns into a feeding frenzy.

  To get an understanding of your market you should ask yourself
  questions like:

  - Are there segments in my market that are being underserved?

  - Are the segments of my market for my product or service big
    enough to make money?

  - How much share of that market do I need to capture, to just
    break even?

  - Is there too much competition in the segment of my market to
    be competitive?

  - What are the weaknesses in my competition's offering that I
    can capitalize on?

  - Does my market want or value my unique competitive offering?

  _____________________________________

  Step 2 - Understand Your Customer
  _____________________________________


  Knowing your customer intimately is the first step to easy sales.
  Until you know (1) who your customers are, (2) what they want,
  and (3) what motivates them to buy, you can't prepare an
  effective marketing plan.


** Sidebar **

  Don't confuse 'wants' with 'needs.'  People don't necessarily
  buy what they need, but they'll most always buy what they want.
  For instance, have you ever known someone that went to the store
  to buy a pair of pants that they needed and came back with a
  new shirt, sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper
  who goes into the supermarket to buy some milk and eggs and
  comes out with a frozen pizza, cheese cake, and other goodies.

  People will buy what they want (even if they don't have the money!),
  not what they need. And yes, this even applies to those
  'sophisticated'corporate honchos (I used to be one, I should know).

** Sidebar End **


  To really get to know your customers you'll need to ask yourself
  questions such as:

  - How does my potential customer normally buy similar products
    (i.e. in a store, on the web,  door-to-door)?
 
  - Who is the primary buyer and the primary buying influencer in
    the purchasing process (i.e.   husband or wife, purchasing agent,
    project leader, secretary)?

  - What kind of habits does my customer have? For instance,
    where do they get their information (i.e. television, newspapers,
    magazines)?

  - What are my target customer's primary motivations for buying
    (i.e. look good, avoid pain, get rich, be healthy, be popular etc.)

  _______________________

  Step 3 - Pick a Niche
  _______________________


  If you say that your target customer is 'everybody' then nobody
  will be your customer. The marketplace is jam packed with
  competition. You'll have more success jumping up and down in a
  small puddle than a big ocean. Carve out a specific niche and
  dominate that niche, then you might consider moving on to a
  second niche (but not before you've dominated the first one!).


  You could be a 'lawyer that specializes in child accident
  liability' or a 'C.P.A. for used car dealers' or a 'dry cleaner
  for the Heritage Park subdivision in West Oaks, CA.' You
  get the picture. Make sure to choose a niche that interests
  you and that is easy to contact.  I can't stress this point enough.
  There's nothing more destructive than to pick a niche that you
  can't communicate with or that costs you a ton of money to
  contact.

  _________________________________________

  Step 4 - Develop Your Marketing Message
  _________________________________________


  Your marketing message not only tells your prospect what you
  do, but persuades them to become your customer. You should
  develop two types of marketing messages.  Your first marketing
  message should be short and to the point. Some may call this
  your elevator speech or your audio logo. It's your response to
  someone who asks you, 'So, what do you do?'

  The second type is your complete marketing message that
  will be included in all your marketing materials and promotions.
  To make your marketing message compelling and persuasive
  it should include the following elements:

  - An explanation of your target prospect's problem.

  - Proof that the problem is so important that it should be solved
    now, without delay.

  - An explanation about why you are the only person/business
    that can solve your prospects problem.

  - An explanation of the benefits people will receive from using
    your solution.

  - Examples and testimonials from customers you have helped
    with similar problems.

  - An explanation about prices, fees, and payment terms.

  - Your unconditional guarantee.

  _______________________________________________

  Step 5 - Determine Your Marketing Medium(s)
  _______________________________________________


  Remember, when I said that it's critical to choose a niche
  that you can easily contact? When you go to choose your
  marketing medium(s) you'll understand why that was sound
  advice.

  Your marketing medium is the communication vehicle you
  use to deliver your marketing message. It's important to choose
  a marketing medium that gives you the highest return on your
  marketing dollar (ROMD). This means that you want to choose
  the medium that delivers your marketing message to the most
  niche prospects at the lowest possible cost.

  The following is a smattering of tools you have at your disposal
  to get your message out:

  - Newspaper ads
  - Posters
  - Contests
  - Card decks
  - Seminars

  - Television ads
  - Signs
  - Sweepstakes
  - Door-to-door
  - Teleclasses

  - Radio ads
  - Banners
  - Trade shows
  - Yellow pages
  - Articles

  - Classified ads
  - Newsletter
  - Charity events
  - Networking
  - Infomercials

  - Billboards
  - Take-one box
  - Telemarketing
  - Magazine ads
  - Special events

  - Sales letters
  - Flyers
  - Email
  - Movie ads
  - Ezine ads

  - Postcards
  - Doorhangers
  - Agents
  - Media releases
  - Fax broadcasts

  - Brochures
  - Gift Certificates
  - Word-of-mouth
  - Website
  - Sign picketing

  - Business cards
  - Catalogs
  - Air Blimps
  - Public speaking
  - Window display

  The trick is to match your message to your market
  using the right medium. It would do you no good to
  advertise your retirement community using a fast-paced,
  loud radio spot on a hip-hop radio station. This is
  a complete mismatch of the market, message, and medium.

  Success will come when there is a good match of these
  three elements.

  ________________________________________

  Step 6 - Set Sales and Marketing Goals
  ________________________________________


  Goals are critical to your success. A 'wish' is a goal
  that hasn't been written down. If you haven't written
  your goals, you're still just wishing for success. When
  creating your goals use the SMART formula. Ensure that
  your goals are, (1) Sensible, (2) Measurable,
  (3) Achievable, (4) Realistic, and (5) Time specific.

  Your goals should include financial elements such as
  annual sales revenue, gross profit, sales per sales
  person etc. However, they should also include non-financial
  elements such as units sold, contracts signed, clients
  acquired, articles published etc.

  Once you've set your goals, implement processes to
  internalize them with all team members such as reviewing
  them in sales meetings, displaying thermometer posters,
  awarding achievement prizes etc.

  ________________________________________

  Step 7 - Develop Your Marketing Budget
  ________________________________________


  Your marketing budget can be developed several ways
  depending on whether you want to be more exact or develop
  just a quick-and-dirty number. It's good to start out
  with a quick-and-dirty calculation and then to support it
  with further details.

  First, if you have been in business for over a year and
  tracked your marketing-related expenditures you could
  easily calculate your 'cost to acquire one customer' or
  'cost to sell one product' by dividing your annual
  sales and marketing costs by the number of units
  (or customers acquired) sold.

  The next step is to take your cost to sell one unit or
  acquire one customer and simply multiply it by your unit
  sales or customer acquisition goal. The result of this
  simple computation will give you a rough estimate of what
  you need to invest to meet your sales goals for the next year.

  _____________

  Conclusion
  _____________


  There you have it, The Seven-Step, One-Day Marketing Plan.
  It's simple really. Of course you'll need to study up a bit
  more about your marketing medium(s) of choice, their
  appropriateness for your message, and their associated costs.
  But try not to make the development of your plan a laborious,
  drawn-out task. Remember the 80-20 rule. 80% of your results
  will come from 20% of your effort.

  My final word of advice is to make sure you set aside
  uninterrupted time to develop your marketing plan. It could
  very well be the most important document to which you and
  your team members will ever refer.
  

  Happy Planning!

  David

  http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com

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