Will You Add? - Business

Analyzing Your Business & Market
Before you can develop an effective marketing plan for your business, you must know the answers to the following key questions and then proceed to preparing a feasibility study.What business are you really in?What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of your company?What are the strengths and weaknesses of your products/services?What are your company’s goals?Identifying Strengths and WeaknessesCompany imageProducts and services (including price)Benefits to customersThe cost of producing these products or servicesManagement skillsHuman resourcesBus

ou receive in the then and based on that was it worthwhile to spend the money you did. Also are there things you had to do during the process to adjust for and any other notes that you want to keep track of if you decide to use this down the road again)

8. Samples - I personally keep a folder that has all the advertising samples that I have used along with a results log (like the one in step 6). I keep a running log for each piece of marketing I use so that later on if I want to use the same piece again - then I can quickly look and see how succesful it was in other similar newsletters that I ran it in...saves me having to look through past plans to find the ad, keeps things all in one place.

You can make this as easy or as elaborate as you wish, this is your plan and its purpose is to serve you. The important thing to understand is that you use it to track the successes of tactics so you know if it is worth it to you to use again.

A mini-marketi

Promotional Products - Assisting All Avenues of Your Business
Memorabilia, souvenirs, mementos, monograms- our society treasures them. We are collectors. We emboss, engrave, customize, and personalize. We give so many gifts in our day to day lives for just about any occasion. And, we enjoy receiving gifts. We embroider blankets for weddings, bibs for babies, dog bowls for pets, backpacks for children, and golf bags for adults.Items such as these are also given out regularly by businesses as promotional marketing products. But, do many of these entities know that there is a way to give them out to elicit maximized responses? There does exist a science, so to speak, regarding promotion

If I were to ask you right now, what marketing tactics have you used, umm, say in the last month, could you tell me?

Chances are you probably could rattle them off quickly enough.

Now, say if I asked you if you knew the results those tactics brought. Meaning do you know specifically what each tactic brought in as far as sales, new leads and/or new subscribers, could you tell me that?

If you can, then fantastic!!!

If you can't, then know that you aren't alone, many business owners fall into the trap of not planning and tracking. When you think about it though, the word "plan" seems so, daunting, doesn't it? I mean really, all you want to do is "get at it," right??

What if I gave you a little tool that would take about ten minutes to set up and it would give you a clear picture of where you are, what is working and what isn't?

Doesn't seem so daunting now, huh??

Ok... hang with me for a bit and I will give you a tool that I use and many other successful marketers are using as well ;o)

First of all, why do you need to set a plan of action in the first place?

I think we all know "why" we should be doing it. In order to know what is working and what isn't. If you are paying for advertising and you aren't tracking the results, then how do you know if that investment is paying off? If you knew the answer to that, then you could decide a few things:

1. If it is working then of course you continue on with it.

2. If it isn't then you let it go and spend that money elsewhere.

You should track EVERYTHING...yes even the free classified ads you place. People will dispute this with me and say "what for, it's free, if I get a hit, cool, it didn't cost me a thing!"

Valid point...but consider this...what is YOUR time worth? Sure, it's free, but the time you take in submitting to the "free" stuff, takes you away from the other tasks that could be making you money. We call that "opportunity cost." Your time then is not FREE. If you have a "submitter" and it takes a few minutes, you just click and it runs then fine, you should try and always automate as much as possible. However, if you are posting on an individual basis...and it takes you an hour or more and you aren't getting anything out of it...is it really worth it???

Put a price on everything, even your time ;o)

Ok, let's get to the Plan.

This Plan can be used for each and every tactic that you put into place or you can use it as a General Plan as an overall game plan, the idea is to at least use it.

--------Sidebar------
Note that this mini-plan is NOT the same as a Marketing Plan you would need to provide to your Banker for securing a loan. They require much more information that what is here. This is a tool to be used "in-house" only
--------------------------

-------Start-----

Mini Plan For: _____________________________

Dated: _________________

1. Purpose (what is the purpose of your marketing, ie to add subscribers to my list)

2. Target Audience (the specific group that you are trying to capture, ie start up eBusiness owners, pet owners..etc).

3. What Tactic Are You Using (if it is a classifed in a newsletter, then be specific, provide a sample of the ad and what newsletters you have put this ad in).

4. What Is Your Budget

I have this much time per week ___________

I have this much money to spend: $________

5. What Is Your Schedule (break it down into steps of the things you need to have in place for this particular tactic)

6. Results (log to day your ad run or the day tactic was implemented from there track your results. Day 1 ad placed no hits, Day 2 received 2 hits).

7. Final Evaluation/Notes (once the particular campaign is over, then you look at the purpose, if it was to add subscribers, how many did you receive in the then and based on that was it worthwhile to spend the money you did. Also are there things you had to do during the process to adjust for and any other notes that you want to keep track of if you decide to use this down the road again)

A mini-marketin

Job Search -- One of the Secrets of a Trade Show
A trade show is a great place to network, look for a job, find a new employee or develop a partnership.Are you in the market for a change? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s always smart to be willing to chat.CAVEAT – Don’t gossip. Don’t be negative. Don’t burn bridges. Every industry is a closed loop, so what goes around comes around. You never know who knows what.HERE'S A START - 50 QUESTIONS.......These can be asked in an official interview or during a random, casual conversation. Listen carefully not only to the words but the tone and context.1) Why did or do you want to leave your last emplo

I use and many other successful marketers are using as well ;o)

First of all, why do you need to set a plan of action in the first place?

1. If it is working then of course you continue on with it.

2. If it isn't then you let it go and spend that money elsewhere.

You should track EVERYTHING...yes even the free classified ads you place. People will dispute this with me and say "what for, it's free, if I get a hit, cool, it didn't cost me a thing!"

Put a price on everything, even your time ;o)

Ok, let's get to the Plan.

This Plan can be used for each and every tactic that you put into place or you can use it as a General Plan as an overall game plan, the idea is to at least use it.

-------Start-----

Mini Plan For: _____________________________

Dated: _________________

1. Purpose (what is the purpose of your marketing, ie to add subscribers to my list)

2. Target Audience (the specific group that you are trying to capture, ie start up eBusiness owners, pet owners..etc).

3. What Tactic Are You Using (if it is a classifed in a newsletter, then be specific, provide a sample of the ad and what newsletters you have put this ad in).

4. What Is Your Budget

I have this much time per week ___________

I have this much money to spend: $________

5. What Is Your Schedule (break it down into steps of the things you need to have in place for this particular tactic)

6. Results (log to day your ad run or the day tactic was implemented from there track your results. Day 1 ad placed no hits, Day 2 received 2 hits).

A mini-marketi

Benchmarking and Performance Management (1)
Comparing outcomes could be fascinating. For example if you are eager to know whether there are more divorces in Hollywood than on average?To measure the length of someone you can use a yard-stick, ruler or a measuring tape. If you have taken the measure, you can than compare it with others. If you want to compare the performance of activities, or the level of a competence or capability, you can use a benchmark.A benchmark could be the outcome of activities or competences that have previously been measured. Such a benchmark serves like a reference, like a norm that can been set as a target.Mutual fund managers use

u money. We call that "opportunity cost." Your time then is not FREE. If you have a "submitter" and it takes a few minutes, you just click and it runs then fine, you should try and always automate as much as possible. However, if you are posting on an individual basis...and it takes you an hour or more and you aren't getting anything out of it...is it really worth it???

Put a price on everything, even your time ;o)

Ok, let's get to the Plan.

This Plan can be used for each and every tactic that you put into place or you can use it as a General Plan as an overall game plan, the idea is to at least use it.

-------Start-----

Mini Plan For: _____________________________

Dated: _________________

1. Purpose (what is the purpose of your marketing, ie to add subscribers to my list)

2. Target Audience (the specific group that you are trying to capture, ie start up eBusiness owners, pet owners..etc).

3. What Tactic Are You Using (if it is a classifed in a newsletter, then be specific, provide a sample of the ad and what newsletters you have put this ad in).

4. What Is Your Budget

I have this much time per week ___________

I have this much money to spend: $________

5. What Is Your Schedule (break it down into steps of the things you need to have in place for this particular tactic)

6. Results (log to day your ad run or the day tactic was implemented from there track your results. Day 1 ad placed no hits, Day 2 received 2 hits).

A mini-marketi

How-To Transform your Unorganized Office into an Efficient, Productive Office
There are some necessary procedures that should be in place to ensure that your office is working like clockwork.Did you know that you can gain a lot more hours in your day if you have an organized office. Organized and efficient = more productive = increased profit.Let’s take it one at a time and look at all of the different systems in your office.Let’s start by looking at your phone system: Do you have someone who answers the phone for you Do you need someone on a full-time basis to answer the phone or would a part-time person or a virtual assistant work better If yo

_____________

Dated: _________________

1. Purpose (what is the purpose of your marketing, ie to add subscribers to my list)

2. Target Audience (the specific group that you are trying to capture, ie start up eBusiness owners, pet owners..etc).

3. What Tactic Are You Using (if it is a classifed in a newsletter, then be specific, provide a sample of the ad and what newsletters you have put this ad in).

4. What Is Your Budget

I have this much time per week ___________

I have this much money to spend: $________

5. What Is Your Schedule (break it down into steps of the things you need to have in place for this particular tactic)

6. Results (log to day your ad run or the day tactic was implemented from there track your results. Day 1 ad placed no hits, Day 2 received 2 hits).

A mini-marketi

The Big Downshift
I took a trip last fall to explore western North Dakota with my best friend. We were a couple of Thelma and Louise adventurers who set out on the drive across the state to go back in time to visit Medora, the former home of Roughrider and president Theodore Roosevelt and current home of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.Here's your North Dakota history lesson: Medora was founded in April of 1883 by a 24-year old French nobleman, the Marquis De Mores, who named the town after his wife Medora, daughter of a wealthy New York City banker. With financial backing from his father-in-law, he founded the town of Medora east of the ri

A mini-marketing plan like this keeps you organized and on track. You can tell very quickly which of your campaigns worked and from there determine if you want to re-use it again.

Good luck!

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