Five Successful Marketing Techniques

Here are 5 successful marketing techniques you can use to increase your sales. All of them are simple to use. And they're effective for building any businesses.

1. Keep Adding Something New
Every time you add something new to your business you create an opportunity to get more sales. For example, something as simple as adding new information on your web site creates another selling opportunity when prospects and customers visit your site to see the new information.

Adding a new product or service to the list of those you already offer usually produces a big increase in sales. The added product increases your sales in 3 different ways:

• It attracts new customers who were not interested in your current products and services.
• It generates repeat sales from existing customers who also want to have your new product.
• It enables you to get bigger sales by combining 2 or more items into special package offers.

2. Become a Valuable Resource
Look for ways you can be a resource for your prospects and customers. Supply them with free information. Help them do things faster, easier, less expensively. You get another opportunity to sell something every time they come back to you for help.

3. Separate Yourself from Your Competition
Find or create a reason for customers to do business with you instead of with someone else offering the same or similar products. For example, do you provide faster results, easier procedures, personal attention or a better guarantee?

Determine the unique advantage you offer to customers that your competitors do not offer. Promote that advantage in all of your advertising. Give your prospects a reason to do business with you instead of with your competition and you'll automatically get more sales.

4. Promote the End Result
Your customers don't really want your product or service. They want the benefit produced by using it.

For example, car buyers want convenient transportation with a certain image. Dental patients want healthy and good-looking teeth without suffering any pain. Business opportunity seekers want personal and financial freedom for themselves and their family.

Make sure your web pages, sales letters and other sales messages are promoting the end result your customers want.

5. Anticipate Change
Change is the biggest challenge to your business success. The days are gone when a business could constantly grow by simply repeating what it did successfully in the past ...or even recently. Aggressive, innovative competitors and rapidly changing technology make it impossible.

Expect change and prepare for it. Don't wait until your income declines to take action. Develop the habit of looking for early signs that something is changing. Then confront it before you start to lose business.

Tip: Insulate yourself against the impact of change by increasing the number of products and services you offer and by using a variety of different marketing methods. Only a small portion of your total business will be affected if the sales of one product decline or the response to one marketing method drops.

How many of these 5 proven marketing techniques have you overlooked or ignored? Start using them today and you'll see an immediate increase in your sales.

Copyright 2002 Bob Leduc

See more: www.businessknowhow.com

How to Earn Money from Blogging

If you are looking for a way to earn money from the Web and love to write, then consider starting a blog. Blogs have become an important online medium, with some bloggers attaining huge success and earning good money from their online writings.

There are a number of ways you can earn money from a blog. Note though that earning money will not be easy and will not come quick, as you will have to first build an audience, establish your credibility and prove that your blog is worth reading.

The video covers primarily the advertising route to earning money from your blog. You can post ads – whether by impression, per click or per action – in your blog and you get paid accordingly. Some advertisers will compensate you for every 1,000 views of their ad. Some are cost per click, where you earn money when a visitor clicks on an ad. Others will pay you only when you give them a sale or a lead. Watch the video to learn how you can earn money for your blog through advertising and read the articles “How to Earn from Your Blog”  and “How to Make Money from Blogs and Blogging”

However, here are other ways you can earn from your blog:

1. Get paid to write.

One way to earn money by blogging is through pay per post programs, where you write about a company’s products or services and you get paid for the post. For some programs, you can set the price you are willing to accept per post, even set a price per word as well as a price per link. Depending on your traffic and topic, some pay per posts can earn you as little as $10 per post or as high as $1,000.

Examples of pay per post programs include

• PayPerPost http://www.payperpost.com
• Smorty http://www.smorty.com
• Blogitive http://my.blogitive.com/pages/howto
• Loud Launch http://www.loudlaunch.com
• Blogging Ads http://www.bloggingads.com
• SponsoredReviews http://www.sponsoredreviews.com
• Blogvertise http://www.blogsvertise.com

Check the requirements of these pay per post programs. Some will require you to disclose that the blog post is a paid post. Others will allow you to freely write whatever you want as long as you include the advertiser’s link in your post. Others will require you to write a post based on the advertiser’s press release or marketing materials.

Be careful though. While pay per post can be very profitable – it is not uncommon for some bloggers to earn $100 a day — many frown on pay per post programs. Your own visitors may be turned off when you sing praises for a product or service because they paid you to write favorably for them. Search engines also frown on these programs, with the possibility that your blog may be penalized and page rank stripped.

2. Become a Freelance Blogger.
There are companies, including non-profit organizations, which want to start a blog but have limited manpower to maintain the blog, write its content and even market the blog. Hence, they look for freelance bloggers who can write for them.

You will need to prove that you are adept at blogging with a creative writing style and solid grammar. You will be asked to submit samples of your blog posts to see if it matches the style and tone of the blog.

Go to sites such as eLance.com http://www.elance.com  to look for jobs hiring freelance bloggers. On eLance.com, for example, there are about 15,000 jobs listings for a blogger in the last 15 days.

How to Make Money from Blogs

Webopedia defines a blog as “a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.”

Blogs have become a popular tool for both businesses and individuals to share their voice, thoughts and musings to the world. Some blogs are created to give a more “humane” face to a business, allow interaction with customers, even as a tool to generate traffic. Others write blogs to share their passions and attract like-minded individuals.

Whatever the reason for creating a blog, the next question is: What can you do to make money from your blog?

Here are steps to starting a blog and earning money from your writings:

1. Set up your blog. You can have the option of using their URL (e.g. http://widgetsblog.blogger.com) or use the blog software in your own domain name (http://www.widgetsblog.com). Some of these are free, while some has monthly/annual subscription

Here are some places that will allow you to create your own blog

• Blogger http://www.blogger.com
• Typepad http://www.typepad.com/
• Moveable Type http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/
• Wordpress http://www.wordpress.org/

However, if you are thinking of using your blog to earn money, you need to check first with the blog platform whether they allow ads to be put on the blogs. Some blog platforms have strict policies and will delete your blog if you put ads on them. Blogger.com, being owned by Google which also runs the contextual advertising program Adsense, is one of the ads-friendly blog platforms around.

2. Create great content. Everything starts with content. With great content, you can attract more traffic and more engaged visitors, which gives you higher likelihood of monetizing your blog.

Why will they want to read your blog? Why will they want to spend their time in your blog? Provide value, useful information and other benefits to the readers. Your blog can contain up-to-the-minute news and analysis; or it could be a witty and amusing look at pop culture. Give a reason why visitors will frequent your blog.

3. Get traffic to your blog.
You can't earn from your blog if the blog does not have traffic. Many make the mistake of believing that once they create a blog, people will immediately flock to it. There are millions out there so why would they visit your blog?

Getting traffic is going to be your biggest challenge. Here is a comprehensive list of places where you can list your blogs and syndicate its content - Resources for Marketing Your Blogs and RSS Feeds

One useful technique for getting traffic to your blog is to use carnivals. Carnivals are a technique for showcasing your blog. Carnivals occur once a week to once a month, and you need to submit your blog post to the carnival moderator. Find blog carnivals that fit your topic at BlogCarnival.com http://blogcarnival.com/bc/

4. Think of how to monetize your blog. One of the most common ways of earning money from blogs is through advertising and donations. Here are some ways you can earn money from your blog:

Contextual advertising programs

• Google Adsense  = Adsense is one of the easiest to join and best way to make money from blogs, and Google’s ownership of Blogger.com makes it easy to start earning from blogs
• Yahoo Publisher Network  = in addition to their contextual advertising program, also offers RSS advertising
• Chitika eMinimalls   = contextual advertising that pays per click and focuses on product-based advertisers

Blog-specific ad networks

• Federated Media Publishing   = ad network that represents high traffic and most influential blogs offering mostly through CPM and flat rate advertising
• AdGridwork   = an advertising network offering text ads; as well as a traffic exchange network

RSS Advertising

• Feedburner   = text link ads in RSS feeds are offered by CPM basis
• Moreover’s Feed Direct   = advertising program which inserts contextual ads in the RSS feeds (in partnership with Kanoodle)
• Pheedo  = RSS ads are both CPM and CPC basis, and appear at the end of each post
• BidVertiser Ads For Feed   = the contextual ad agency now offers an advertising program for RSS feeds
• Feedvertising  = run text link ads in RSS feeds via flat rate pricing (not CPM or CPC)

Other sources of income

• Text link ads - you can sell for fixed price for a fixed period of time
• Donations (yes, you can beg)
• Affiliate programs such as Commission Junction http://www.cj.com  and the Amazon Associates program

 See more: www.powerhomebiz.com

bluevizia Marketing Manager

bluevizia Marketing Manager is effective marketing strategy software for your company’s marketing management. It is made by marketing experts for developing long-term strategic marketing planning. Even if you’re not a marketing guru, this marketing planning software guides you step-by-step through the entire process of analyzing your business and developing your marketing strategy.
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8 Keys to a Strong Marketing Strategy

The Building Blocks to Successful Marketing: It’s More than Sales and Advertising

Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a one person shop, to be successful, you must have a marketing strategy and you must implement it consistently. However, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you don’t have to be a creative genius.

The key is developing a marketing strategy that forms a solid foundation for your promotional efforts. Implementing promotional activities such as advertising, direct mail or even networking and one-to-one sales efforts without a marketing strategy is like buying curtains for a house you are building before you have an architectural plan. How would you even know how many curtains to buy or what size they needed to be?

You can develop a strong marketing foundation by:

1. Defining your product or service: How is your product or service packaged? What is it that your customers are really buying? You may be selling web-based software tools but your clients are buying increased productivity, improved efficiency and cost savings. And if you offer several products or services which ones are the most viable to promote?

2. Identifying your target market: Everyone or anybody might be potential clients for your product. However, you probably don’t have the time or money to market to Everyone or Anybody. Who is your ideal customer? Who does it make sense for you to spend your time and money promoting your service to? You might define your ideal customer in terms of income, age, geographic area, number of employees, revenues, industry, etc. For example a massage therapist might decide her target market is women with household incomes of $75,000 or more who live in the Uptown area.

3. Knowing your competition: Even if there are no direct competitors for your service, there is always competition of some kind. Something besides your product is competing for the potential client’s money. What is it and why should the potential customer spend his or her money with you instead? What is your competitive advantage or unique selling proposition?

4. Finding a niche: Is there a market segment that is not currently being served or is not being served well? A niche strategy allows you to focus your marketing efforts and dominate your market, even if you are a small player.

5. Developing awareness: It is difficult for a potential client to buy your product or service if they don’t even know or remember it exists. Generally a potential customer will have to be exposed to your product 5 to 15 times before they are likely to think of your product when the need arises. Needs often arise unexpectedly. You must stay in front of your clients consistently if they are going to remember your product when that need arises.

6. Building credibility: Not only must clients be aware of your product or service, they also must have a positive disposition toward it. Potential customers must trust that you will deliver what you say you will. Often, especially with large or risky purchases, you need to give them the opportunity to “sample”, “touch”, or “taste” the product in some way. For example, a trainer might gain credibility and allow potential customers to “sample” their product by offering free, hour long presentations on topics related to their area of specialty.

7. Being Consistent: Be consistent in every way and in everything you do. This includes the look of your collateral materials, the message you deliver, the level of customer service, and the quality of the product. Being consistent is more important than having the “best” product. This in part is the reason for the success of chains. Whether you’re going to Little Rock, Arkansas or New York City, if you reserve a room at a Courtyard Marriott you know exactly what you’re going to get.

8. Maintaining Focus: Focus allows for more effective utilization of the scarce resources of time and money. Your promotional budget will bring you greater return if you use it to promote a single product to a narrowly defined target market and if you promote that same product to that same target market over a continuous period of time.

Before you ever consider developing a brochure, running an ad, implementing a direct mail campaign, joining an organization for networking or even conducting a sales call, begin by mapping a path to success through the development of a consistent, focused marketing strategy.

See more:  www.businessknowhow.com

8 Secrets to Marketing Success

Let's discuss the 8 secrets business owners can use to greatly improve their marketing success.

Secret #1: Give marketing top priority. 

The primary reason any customer chooses to buy your products or services is because of effective marketing. The marketing process starts at the very beginning and continues forever! It begins with Product Development, ensuring that the product or service fills a need for potential customers, so they will want to buy it. The next step is Pricing to ensure that the business will achieve profits from sales and that customers will perceive price to be less than their value of the benefits they receive. Effective Positioning allows potential customers easy interaction with the business to evaluate the product or service. The final step is Promotion, where the business communicates with their potential customers about the existence and benefits of the products or services to entice them to contact the business to learn more. Marketing is culminated in Sales, when your customers value of their benefits exceed the price of the product or s! ervice. You generate successful sales only because you complete positive Product Development, Price, Positioning, and Promotion. In fact, you will want your business to be a marketing businesses. You will want to focus on marketing at all times, to succeed.

Secret #2: Do not confuse advertising with marketing.

Advertising is only a part of the last marketing step, Promotion, and it occurs late in the game. You will often think advertising is all there is to marketing, so you overlook the other 3 very important earlier marketing steps. Consequently, you will lose the opportunity to control and develop over 75% of all marketing, which must be well done first, to allow advertising to succeed.

Secret #3: Do not base your marketing solely on your own opinions and desires.

Owners believe their power and freedom of choice, as the boss, means that they don't have to deal with the opinion of others. "I am now my own boss" is only partly true. You are in virtual control of either succeeding or failing to convince - The Customer- to buy your products or services. You want to avoid IMPOSING your opinion on your potential customers. Focus on fulfilling the perceived wants and needs of your customers, from Their Perspective, so you will greatly increase the number of customers that will decide to buy your products and/or services.

Secret #4: Learn all you can about your potential customers.

You want to conduct in depth research of your chosen potential customers. You will want to learn everything possible about Who your potential customers are, What your potential customers THINK want to buy, Why they THINK they buy, How they THINK they buy, and When they THINK they buy.

Secret #5: Learn how to screen out undesirable customers.

You have the right and obligation to determine which potential customers you will agree to serve. You should screen out undesirable customers early so you can focus more attention on customers you want to serve. Sadly, you often may not know how to select desirable customers from the pool of potential customers you encounter. As a result, you often spend too much time, money, and energy trying to deal with a handful of hard-to-please customers who frequently demand lower prices at the expense of better customers, who go elsewhere because they were ignored. You should know the key criteria to help you decide which potential customers are acceptable.

Secret #6: Know and appreciate the value of your existing customers.

You may often become so focused on getting new customers you ignore your existing repeat customers. Your business will probably not survive without repeat business. Repeat customers present a wealth of opportunities to you. They frequently provide you excellent feedback; they provide an excellent reference and referral service (read free advertising
); they are the least expensive and most likely source of additional business, and their unnecessary departure causes substantial damage. Upset customers will complain to at least 5 to 9 others. Stay close to your existing customers and learn as much as you can from them.

Secret #7: Create a positive identity that is distinct from your competitors.

Most customers compare. They need a good reason to choose your product or service over others. You complete more sales when you understand your competitors extremely well and position your products or services for positive customer comparison.

Secret #8: Consider the overwhelming power

Emotion has on the process of deciding to buy. The entire buying process is governed by emotional forces (some say over 80% of the entire process is emotional). Yet, you probably focus your energies on price and avoid the real emotional reasons customers will buy. You should know and feel the emotional connection your potential customers will attach to your business, your products and/or services, and the way customers interact with your business. You will want your entire marketing program to address the emotional issues to attract and keep the right customers.

The normal human thinking process of deciding to buy almost always starts with an emotional need. The emotional need causes the customer to consider buying something to fill it. The search and evaluation of the possible choices of products and or services is also frequently emotional, and additional emotional forces are often added. The price issue comes in near the end and, in reality, the customer wants to know the price to help justify the emotional decision they have already made. In fact, the request for the price from a normal customer is a very strong buying signal (does the cost allow me to buy what I want and is it fair for what I decided to get?). Business owners succeed when they know how to deal with this emotional process and permit the customer to complete this process through final payment.

What a wonderful opportunity! You can take charge of learning, succeed in your goals, and have a ball along the way.

See more: www.powerhomebiz.com

Write a marketing plan #9

Here's how I developed and implemented a marketing plan
Escherman is a digital public relations (PR) and marketing consultancy based in Richmond, Surrey which launched in January 2008. Owner Andrew Smith identified a gap in the market for measurable, integrated digital PR and marketing programmes that combine new techniques such as web analytics and social media with traditional PR content development skills. Here Andrew describes how he devised the company's own marketing plan.

What I did

Research and analyse
"When I first had the idea of starting the company, I had over 20 years experience in PR, primarily promoting technology companies. I had a shrewd idea that there was a gap in the market for the kind of PR service I intended to offer. The proposed business strategy was to bring together innovative online PR solutions under one roof and offer highly accountable results that would have a measurable impact on customer sales. The initial step in writing the marketing plan was research and SWOT/PEST analysis.

"First, I analysed the current position of existing PR agencies against the wider economic, technological and social background. This confirmed that traditional 'non-digital' agencies were in decline, with only one third making a profit.

"I also talked to search marketing agencies (at the time the most advanced area of digital solutions) to get a glimpse of how other new methods I intended to base the agency around might evolve. On top of all that, I talked to potential customers, including ex-clients and industry leaders, to ascertain their current PR and marketing needs.

"Last, but not least, I undertook competitor analysis, looking closely at the operation and cost bases of other PR agencies that styled themselves as digital communications experts."

Define overall strategy

"Because I'd researched thoroughly, the marketing strategy to some extent wrote itself. The perceived value of the business' offering was clear from talking to potential clients. However, I had to be realistic about the volume of business the company could cope with in its first year. I was confident of gaining clients, but didn't want to risk under-servicing because of limited resources. It was therefore clear that the marketing strategy should focus on higher margins and lower volumes.

"I identified a select handful of potential customers and included topline financial objectives based on an analysis of fee income throughout the industry. I also addressed the resourcing issue by planning to outsource certain marketing activities, such as document preparation."

Plan tactics and implement them

"I planned marketing tactics to support the strategy, including detailed pricing and how to publicise the business to the defined target market. Obviously a website and online presence was essential. Because we would be selling ourselves on our ability to reach the media and consumers in innovative ways, we had to practice what we preached. In particular I looked at ways to exploit my LinkedIn profile and the website's blog so as to maximise the possibility of being picked up in internet searches carried out by potential customers.

"Another key tactic was to identify a series of networking events that I would attend to spread the word about the company. We also planned for growth by instigating dialogue with other, non-competitive PR agencies with a view to partnering with them. Marketing our services as a seamless add-on to their own is already proving successful and provides a valuable additional route to market.

"We revisit the marketing plan regularly and monitor our progress against a set of Key Performance Indicators to keep us focussed. The proof of the pudding is that we met our annual target in the first six months of being in business."

What I'd do differently

Set a deadline"While it's crucial to research thoroughly when preparing a marketing plan, I probably spent too long agonising over every possible outcome. Setting a firmer deadline for writing the plan might have speeded up the implementation."

Accept that not everything will work
"When it came to implementing the plan, parts of it didn't work as expected and had to be adapted as we went along. Accepting the element of risk and having confidence in your idea at the planning stage is ultimately more useful than striving to produce the 'perfect' plan."


See more: www.businesslink.gov.uk

Write a marketing plan #8

Tips for writing a marketing plan

It is important for a marketing plan to:

• set clear, realistic and measurable targets - for example, increasing sales by 10 per cent
• include deadlines for meeting targets
• provide a budget for each marketing activity
• specify who is responsible for each activity

Make sure you think through each of your objectives logically. For example, you might set a target for the number of new enquiries. But if you don't provide the resources and training to follow up these enquiries and turn them into sales, you will have increased costs without any benefits.

Link to your strategy

Assess the business environment to identify the opportunities and threats that you face. Look for where you can capitalise on your strengths or where you need to overcome a weakness.

All parts of your business must work together. For example, if you have limited cashflow you should avoid seeking large orders from customers who demand extended credit or that will involve you in heavy, up-front costs.

Remember to focus on your long-term strategy. Reducing customer service might boost short-term profits, but next year you might not have any customers left.

Make it happen

A plan will not happen by itself. You need to make someone responsible for monitoring progress and chasing up overdue activities. Reviewing progress will also help you learn from your mistakes so that you can improve your plans for the future.

Write a marketing plan #7

Implementing your marketing plan

Your marketing plan must do more than just say what you want to happen. It must describe each step required to make sure that it happens.

The plan should therefore include a schedule of key tasks. This sets out what will be done, and by when. Refer to the schedule as often as possible to avoid losing sight of your objectives under the daily workload.

Resources

It should also assess what resources you need. For example, you might need to think about what brochures you need, and whether they need to be available for digital distribution (by email or from your website). You might also need to look at how much time it takes to sell to customers and whether you have enough salespeople.

Cost

The cost of everything in the plan needs to be included in a budget. If your finances are limited, your plan will need to take that into account. Don't spread your marketing activities too thinly - it is better to concentrate your resources to make the most of your budget. You may also want to link your marketing budget to your sales forecast.

Control

As well as setting out the schedule, the plan needs to say how it will be controlled. You need an individual who takes responsibility for pushing things along. A good schedule and budget should make it easy to monitor progress. When things fall behind schedule, or costs overrun, you need to be ready to do something about it and to adapt your plan accordingly.

From time to time, you need to stand back and ask whether the plan is working. What can you learn from your mistakes? How can you use what you know to make a better plan for the future?

Write a marketing plan #6

Plan your marketing tactics
Once you have decided what your marketing objectives are, and your strategy for meeting them, you need to plan how you will make the strategy a reality.

Many businesses find it helpful to think in terms of the four Ps:

• Product - what your product offers that your customers value, and whether/how you should change your product to meet customer needs.
• Pricing - for example, you might aim simply to match the competition, or charge a premium price for a quality product and service. You might have to choose either to make relatively few high margin sales, or sell more but with lower unit profits. Remember that some customers may seek a low price to meet their budgets, while others may view a low price as an indication of quality levels.
• Place - how and where you sell. This may include using different distribution channels. For example, you might sell over the internet or sell through retailers.
• Promotion - how you reach your customers and potential customers. For example, you might use advertising, PR, direct mail and personal selling.

For a more comprehensive approach, you can extend this to seven Ps:

• People - for example, you need to ensure that your employees have the right training.
• Processes - the right processes will ensure that you offer a consistent service that suits your customers.
• Physical evidence - the appearance of your employees and premises can affect how customers see your business. Even the quality of paperwork, such as invoices, makes a difference.

Write a marketing plan #5

Your marketing plan is your marketing strategy in action

Your marketing plan is how you put your marketing strategy into practice. It should therefore be a practical reflection of your strategy.

If you understand the market well, you can probably break it down into different segments - groups of similar customers. For example, you can break the business market down into businesses operating in the same sector and/or of a similar size.

For each segment, you need to look at what customers want, what you can offer and what the competition is like. You want to identify segments where you have a competitive advantage. At the same time, you should assess whether you can expect high enough returns to make the segment worthwhile.

Often, the most promising segments are those where you have existing customers. See what you can do to expand sales to these customers. If you are targeting new customers, you need to be sure that you have the resources to reach them effectively.

Once you have decided what your target market is, you also need to decide how you will position yourself in it. For example, you might offer a high quality product at a premium price or a flexible local service. Some businesses try to build a strong brand and image to help them stand out. Whatever your strategy, you need to differentiate yourself from the competition to encourage customers to choose your business first.

See how to create your marketing strategy.

Write a marketing plan #4

Your marketing objectives

Your marketing objectives should be based on understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and the business environment you operate in. They should also be linked to your overall business strategy.

For example, suppose your business objectives include increasing sales by 10 per cent over the next year. Your marketing objectives might include targeting a promising new market segment to help achieve this growth.

Objectives should always be SMART:

• Specific - for example, you might set an objective of getting ten new customers.
• Measurable - whatever your objective is, you need to be able to check whether you have reached it or not when you review your plan.
• Achievable - you must have the resources you need to achieve the objective. The key resources are usually people and money.
• Realistic - targets should stretch you, not demotivate you because they are unreasonable and seem to be out of reach.
• Time-bound - you should set a deadline for achieving the objective. For example, you might aim to get ten new customers within the next 12 months.

Write a marketing plan #3

External and internal analysis for your marketing plan

Understanding the environment your business operates in is a key part of planning, and will allow you to discern the threats and opportunities associated with your area of business. A PEST analysis helps you to identify the main opportunities and threats in your market:

• Political and legal changes such as new regulations
• Economic factors such as interest rates, exchange rates and consumer confidence
• Social factors such as changing attitudes and lifestyles, and the ageing population
• Technological factors such as new materials and growing use of the internet

You also need to understand your own internal strengths and weaknesses. For example, the main strengths of a new business might be an original product and enthusiastic employees. The main weaknesses might be the lack of an existing customer base and limited financial resources.

A SWOT analysis combines the external and internal analysis to summarise your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You need to look for opportunities that play to your strengths. You also need to decide what to do about threats to your business and how you can overcome important weaknesses.

For example, your SWOT analysis might help you identify the most promising customers to target. You might decide to look at ways of using the internet to reach customers. And you might start to investigate ways of raising additional investment to overcome your financial weakness.

Write a marketing plan #2

Marketing plan summary and introduction

Your marketing plan should start with an executive summary, which gives a quick overview of the main points of the plan.

However, although the executive summary appears at the beginning of the plan, you should write it last. Writing the summary is a good opportunity to check that your plan makes sense and that you haven't missed any important points.

Business strategy
It's a good idea to introduce the main body of the plan with a reminder of your overall business strategy, including:

• what your business is about (your business mission)
• your key business objectives
• your broad strategy for achieving those objectives

This helps to ensure that your marketing plan, your marketing strategy and your overall business strategy all work together. For example, suppose your business strategy is based on providing premium quality products and service. Your marketing strategy and plan will need to take this into account, targeting customers who appreciate quality, promoting your product in ways that help build the right image and so on.

Write a marketing plan #1

Introduction

Marketing is a key part of business success - and you should use a marketing plan as a basis for executing your marketing strategy.

A marketing plan sets out clear objectives and lists the actions you will take to achieve them. Perhaps most importantly, it looks at how you can ensure that your plan becomes reality.

A marketing plan includes factors such as deciding which customers to target and how to reach them, how to win their business and keep them happy afterwards, as well as continually reviewing and improving everything you do to stay ahead of the competition.

Remember that marketing in itself will not guarantee sales, but a well-researched and coherent marketing plan will give you a much better chance of building long-term, profitable relationships.

This guide outlines the key areas to look at in an effective marketing plan and what you should include in it.

Create your marketing strategy #6

Here's how I chose the right marketing mix

Human resources consultancy Wickland Westcott reviewed the marketing strategy for its assessment and development services, and a new focus and a more structured approach have rapidly paid dividends. Co-owner and director of assessment and development, Colin Mercer, describes the process.
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Create your marketing strategy #5

Tips and pitfalls

Before looking at new markets, think about how you can get the most out of your existing customers - it's usually more economical and quicker than finding new customers.

Perhaps you could sell more to your existing customers, or look at better ways to retain key customers.
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Create your marketing strategy #4

Developing your marketing strategy

Once you understand your business' internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats, you can develop a strategy that plays to your own strengths and matches them to the emerging opportunities. You can also try to minimise your weaknesses.
Read more »

Create your marketing strategy #3

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses

Every business has strengths and weaknesses. Your marketing strategy must take account of how your business' strengths and weaknesses will affect your marketing.

An honest and rigorous SWOT analysis, looking at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is a good starting point for your marketing strategy document.
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Create your marketing strategy #2

Key elements of a successful marketing strategy

Your existing and potential customers fall into particular groups or segments, characterised by their 'needs'. Identifying these groups and their needs through market research, and then addressing those needs more successfully than your competitors, should be one of the key elements of your marketing strategy.
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