Archive for 'Marketing Plan'
Marketing Budget – Where Do I Start?
In most marketing courses, they teach you that the marketing budget should be a percentage of your overall gross sales, usually somewhere in the 2% to 5% range. Although this may be good to use as a guide, the marketing budget for your business is not something determined by a ... more >>
Value of a Competitive Analysis
When was the last time you analyzed the competition for your business? If you are like most small businesses, it has been a while or maybe it has never happened at all. Before you can analyze your business’s strengths and weaknesses, you need to understand your competition for comparison. A ... more >>
Market Segmentation – Finding Your Ideal Client
Last month we talked about choosing your prospects based on how your products and services appealed to that target market. To review, a target market identifies customer groups that are in need of your products or services. This month, we want to take that effort one step further by determining ... more >>
Year End Marketing Planning
It’s that time of year where many small business owners begin to scramble to create a marketing plan for the new year. To shortcut the process, here are some last minute tips that will help you plan your marketing and avoid the ad hoc mistakes that many fall into when ... more >>
Cultivate Market Perception
Developing your positioning statement and key marketing messages is essential to establishing your market perception. It is important that your marketing efforts establish value in the minds of your customers. To do an effective job of developing your messages and positioning, you need to understand the difference between these two ... more >>
Growing Your Small Business
Came across this great post by John Jantsch called Maybe It’s a Problem With the Bowl. These words ring very true. If you want to grow your business, you have to think big, act big, and change what you are doing in order to realize growth.
Your marketing will reflect these ... more >>
Five Key Parts of the Marketing Plan
Small businesses seem afraid to write a marketing plan. Not sure if it is because the owner feels the business doesn’t need one or whether it’s because they don’t know how. A small business benefits from a marketing plan as much as a big business, and maybe even more.
Defining how ... more >>
Consistent Marketing is an Investment in Your Business’s Future
One point I continue to stress with everyone I speak with is to be consistent in marketing your business. Ad hoc marketing produces ad hoc results.
Just as you need consistent fuel for your health, your business needs consistent fuel for its health and future success. Fuel for your business is ... more >>
What’s Your Value?
If you struggle to acquire new clients, chances are your value is not aligned with what your prospects want or need. Trying to sell your services to someone who doesn’t understand what’s in it for them is a waste of your time and energy.
Speak with your clients about how you ... more >>
