Tweet

Entrepreneur's Success Center- Six Steps to Marketing Success

Guest post by: Stephen Blakesley

Article Overview: Entrepreneurs need marketing help Entrepreneurial success is often achieved on the back of a sound marketing plan. Here is a six step marketing plan that never fails. Great information for the entrepreneur that has no formal marketing training. Follow this plan and become the "lead dog."

Entrepreneur's Success Center- Six Steps to Marketing Success

Many business fail for want of sales and sales often suffer because of poor or total lack of marketing. Before your fork out money to hire people, especially sales people, you need a marketing plan.

To begin, let's be clear. Marketing and Sales are different. I know, "elementary, my dear Watson," but you would be surprised to know the number of people who do not know or appreciate the difference. Marketing is about who is needs your product or service, is likely to buy it, and why they would buy it. Sales on the other hand is communicating that message and giving people a reason to by from you or your organization versus someone else.

A marketing plan should be developed before you hire people, rent space, or make anything, just to be basic about it. If you, the entrepreneur, do not know why people want and need your product or service, how could anyone else, especially a customer? Since sales and the resulting revenue are the life-blood that keeps businesses alive, produces growth, and provides resources for future growth, marketing success is essential. Marketing is communicating the whys to the potential buyer i.e. Why do I need this? Why should I buy from you versus someone else?

So here are 6 steps to help you develop a marketing plan:

1. Identify the features of your product and service

2. Determine the benefits of buying or owning your product or service

3. Identify the number of people who would buy your product and service, where and how they can be contacted

4. Determine the means you will use to communicate to those people you have targeted

5. Implement your plan

6. Measure the results in terms of sales

Identify Features

Think carefully here! Don't just settle for the surface or obvious features. Drill deeper. Look at what you can appeal to prospects. Go beyond product features. Look at pricing, delivery, and value features. Get them down on paper so you can communicate them to prospects, suppliers and employees.

Determine the Benefits

A Swiss Army knife, has 109 features but maybe only a handful you will ever use. Think carefully through the the features and learn t translate them into benefits. An example is XYZ Cleaners is nearby, inexpensive, delivers and stands behind their work. Those are all features. The right person would benefit by being able to stop by on the way home from work instead of making a special trip, they would be able to save money, not only on gas but on the cleaning price itself, and can count on replacement if a garment is damaged. WoW! Where is that cleaners?

Determine Market Demographics and Psychographics

Many people identify their target market by buying a city map, putting and X at your location, placing a cup over the top of the X and drawing a circle around the cup and believing that all, inside the circle is the target market. They might be right, but most likely, they are wrong. You may be in the middle of a low income neighborhood and selling a high priced product. Not many, nearby are going to by your product. So determine not only where the buyers are but what they look like and think about before you start.

Use Multiple Means to Deliver the Message

Don't simply depend on one message deliver system, us multiple means to deliver your message, radio, TV, email, direct mail, networking, etc. Direct is still one of the most efficient means of delivering a marketing message and also one of the least expensive.

Implement Your Plan

The Devil is in the details they say. Certainly, the best marketing plan in the world will not be effective if it isn't put to the test. Make a plan and implement it.

Measure Results

Know what works and what doesn't. Keep doing the things that work and stop doing the things that don't.

Here you have, what I call the Reader's Digest version of your marketing plan. If you do nothing else, but this, you will be have built a sound foundation and be ready to succeed!

Related Articles
  Starting a business...what options are available?
  Starting a business…what are my options?
  Business Survival Tips from "WILD THINGS"
  Learn More About An Advanced Call Center Service
  How to use forum marketing successfully
  SMEs the difference between entrepreneurs and franchisees
  Do's and Don'ts of Networking
  Staying In Focus
  How To Break The Failing Marketer Curse And Have Network Marketing Success!
  Goals Lead to Success
  Just Play the Hand You're Dealt!
  [How to find a great leader in network marketing]
  Seek and ye shall find – the right information
  Entrepreneurs and Success-Seven Qualities that Matter Most
  Learning From Other Successful Entrepreneurs
  Marketing to get results!
  Responsibility of Entrepreneurs
  Entrepreneurial Thinking
  How to Start a Call Center
  Millionaire Internet Marketing Basics! ~SUCCESS SECRETS EXPOSED

Article Tags: business success, Entrepreneur, marketing, marketing plans, success



Related Forum Posts
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Re: Drop out Billionaire - I reveived Bill Bartmann's DVD "9 Steps To Achieve Any Goal" as part of my monthly pack from Success University a few months back. It is a great presentation. I've watched it several times but not for a while so I'll view it again in the coming week. He is one of the greats. Like the best success mentors, he speaks with authority because he has come through much tribulation. His program sounds like a great bargain at $100 a year.
Success Strategies - How to get the results you want now? Success Strategies and Action Steps I have used are: The Power of Choice Where you are at this present moment, is exactly perfect from the choices you have made. If you want to be somewhere else, you have to decide clearly what that is (your goal/outcome) and create action steps to achieve this. The Power of Focus The book "The Power of Focus" by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt, is one of my treasures in my Entrepreneur Library. If you focus on what you want versus what you do not want, your conscious and sub-conscious mind will direct attention to this. The movie, What the Bleep, Down the Rabbit Hole, explains this in detail about quantum physics and what we create in our lives. The Power of Commitment This is not about commitment to others. The first step is the commitment, your word, you make to yourself. Accountability and responsibility are additional success strategies and ingredients to creating the success, defined by you, that you want. The commitment to others reflects your integrity, your word and the team you work with. Co-workers, clients, yoru family, friends and community. My Success Acronyn in Success Breakthroughs(c) is: S pecific & self-directed U nlimited opportunities & possibilities C reate powerful outcomes C onsistent measureable results E xperience pwoerful transformation S olution and action-oriented S uccessful habits and outcomes Break Through to Powerful LIfestyle & Performance Choices Moira
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - June 4 - Hi Evan, I just joined this forum and looking forward to positive interactions. I'd say great collection of weekly reads. My top two picks from your list are 4 Facebook Marketing Tactics and 8 Brands That Have Found Success on FB - very interesting and informative resources especially for entrepreneurs who want to get the most out of online marketing. Thanks, Melanie James


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Why Your Own Internet Marketing Website Is A Must

Rumor Has It

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.