Market Your Way to Success

Many people are under the mistaken belief that all they have to do is have a good product or service and the business success will miraculously happen. Nothing could be further from the truth. Granted, you do need a good product or service, but you also need to let people know your company exists. You must have a good marketing strategy.

Marketing strategy encompasses identifying customer groups, also known as target markets. Often, a small business can better serve their customers than larger competitors regarding customization, service, delivery time, and even pricing in some cases. However, larger companies have volume advantages, which can also equate to lower prices. It is important to know you cannot be all things to all people. You must analyze your capabilities and your limitations within those capabilities.

A key to success will be to analyze where you will be investing your marketing dollars. Far too many people nickel and dime themselves out of business because they didn’t take time up front to evaluate where they are, where they have been and where they need to go. However, the flip side are people who are not willing to invest anything. They are penny pinchers to the point their business will suffer.

Marketing is a very complex subject; it deals with all the steps between determining customer needs and supplying them at a profit. Your marketing results can be improved through a better understanding of your customers.

Factors you need to address are who is your market, why do they buy from you, what is your budget, what distribution channels will you use, how will you promote and what price will you charge?

Key to success of your marketing

• Success in your marketing will be higher if you focus your attention on solving your customer's problems. Far too often, companies spend most of their time focusing on how the customer can help them.

• Profitable sales volume is usually a better goal than just trying to get more sales. The problem with focusing only on more sales is if you have not determined your profit margins, you could actually be losing money with each sale. It is a better company goal than maximum sales volume.

• You have to determine the needs of your customers through market research. Then you must decide on specific markets to serve and determine what product or service will satisfy those needs.

Market research deals with obtaining good information about your market. There are a few ways to do this. One is to survey your current customer base. This is good, to a point. Your current customer base is only as good as your previous marketing and promotions campaign. So, although you may obtain great information from your current customers, there could be potential customers out there who don’t know you exist, or if they do know you exist, have not done business with you yet.

You could also hire a market research firm to gather data. The challenge with that for some small businesses is that it can be very cost prohibitive.

With good market research information, you can find out areas of great satisfaction by your customers, and areas of dissatisfaction that can be addressed.

Target Marketing is about focusing on a specific market and focusing your promotions, publicity and advertising efforts to that market. A reality is that owners of small businesses have limited resources to spend on marketing activities. Developing a more laser beam approach in what they are doing will be key for their success. As with many large companies, they have little room for error or wrong choices when it comes to investing their marketing dollars. Actually, large companies have little room for error, and yet, with the way some foolishly throw money into campaigns, you would think the opposite were true.

Market Mix Four primary areas you need to gain insight into are your products and services, pricing, promotion methods, and distribution.

Pricing Setting prices is about creating a balance between what you need to stay in business, make a profit and the market's perception of what your product is worth. Determining what to charge for your product is one of the most important things you must do prior to beginning a major marketing campaign. Fact is, if you under price your product or service, every sale you make could be costing you money instead of making you money. If you don’t keep an eye on this, you may be in financial trouble long before you realize it.  On the other hand, if you over price, you may not generate enough sales to stay in business.

A mistake many start-ups make is to charge the lowest price without evaluating if that makes business sense. A small business owner simply pulls a number out of the clouds, thinking that is what they want to make without having first determined all the costs of making the sale and doing business. Costs which include your fixed and variables.

If you undercharge your product or service may be perceived as low end. Additionally, you will have to sell more of a particular item to make up for the low profit margins.

Promotion is everything you do to let your customers know you exist. Promotions include advertising, events, tradeshows, brochures, sales letters, direct mail, press releases, web sites, e-zines, affiliate programs, premiums, samples, and product demonstrations.

Your budget will impact some of your distribution decisions. For example, if you are a small business owner with very limited resources, it may not be feasible for you to do direct mail. However, you may find that by not doing direct mail you will be limiting valuable revenue streams.

Nothing is set in stone with marketing. What worked last year, may not work this year. With the use of the Internet there are even more options available. Your success will be determined by your ability to be flexible, open-minded, and educated as to who your market is and what your offerings are. You must know how you can match your market to your offerings in the most efficient, cost effective and quality fashion. Above all you must value your customers. An often forgotten, and yet extremely powerful, marketing tool, is your customer’s level of satisfaction. When they are happy they tell others. What better marketing tool could you use?

Choose Joy

Many years ago, while facilitating a seminar in San Jose, California, I met Renee.  From the moment she walked into the room, the energy shifted. She lit up the entire room. 

Although most people will take a while to warm up in a seminar, that was not the case with Renee. She seemed to enjoy meeting strangers, laughing and enjoying what was in front of her. 

While talking with her at break, I was intrigued by her attitude. Due to a very detectable accent, I asked her where she was from prior to living in the States. She casually responded, “I used to live in Germany.” Having grown up with a mother who moved from Belgium to the United States after World War II, I am often curious about European accents. When I commented that her accent didn’t sound German, Renee simply smiled. She said, “Well, actually, during the war the German’s were kind enough to give me a place to live rent free called Auschwitz.” 

She went on to explain that she and her mother had been in the camp for the last year and a half of the War. They had been sought out like animals by bounty hunters after a former friend of her mother’s had turned them in to the Nazis. 

Rather amazed with her casualness, I asked her how her experiences in the camp changed her life. She said she lives by the philosophy and belief, “There is no past and there is no future. You can hold on to whatever memories of the past you choose, whether they are good or bad. We can learn from the past, but we don’t have to hold on to it. As far as the future, you can plan for the future and yet, you really have no guarantees on it. The real point of power is to fully enjoy the present moment as if it is your last.  And the way to enjoy it is to have a good attitude about what you do have in life rather than what you don’t have.” 

Renee had the unique ability to recognize we choose how we respond to our experiences in life: we can choose anger because we think we got dealt a raw hand, or gratitude for opportunities not otherwise possible.

Response is based on perception. Two people can be in the exact same situation and both may react differently. How often does someone blame another for making them mad, sad, happy, hurt, joyful, and angry or any number of other emotions? The reality is that no one can make us any of these things. If you think they can then you have given someone else the power to tell you how to feel.  Empowered individuals realize they are fully in charge of their own responses and reactions to any given situation. We may not have control over a situation, yet we do have power over our reaction to the situation.

Choice is the key to true happiness in life. You have the choice to either accept or disregard what you are reading. You have the choice of interpreting the information in a way that best serves you at this point in your life.  You also have the choice for happiness, health, prosperity, fullness and much more based on your beliefs. And these choices have nothing to do with what we have going on outwardly. It is an inside job. This is where most people choose to stop. They don't want to believe they actually have choice in what they believe or what they manifest in their lives. 

The joy of life is within the choices we make. How we choose to react to that particular situation creates the next link and all links that follow, pleasant or unpleasant, happy or sad, positive or negative. When an experience occurs and all we have is a memory of the experience, our perception will determine our level of joy. Choose joy.

ATTRACTING PERFECT CUSTOMERS

Featuring Laura Arrelano
The Power of Strategic Synchronicity in your Business
As a result of this session, the thought "We need more customers" will be replaced with

"Our business now attracts perfect customers only"

• Learn The New Way: Strategic Synchronicity and how it affects your business
• Be clear on the signals you are sending out that may be attracting less-than-perfect customers
• Generate the kind of business you desire with the people you enjoy doing business with

March 27, 2003  9:00 - 3:30
Only $75 pre-paid Includes lunch!**
($85 at the door)

Olio Ristorante @ Sheraton City Center
150 W. 500 S., SLC

TO REGISTER please call Phyllis LeFevre 801 244.8333  or email  PL@mymomentum.net

Includes lunch, so please register by March 24, 2003

April 10, 2003 
Toastmasters Meeting - 7 a.m
Kathleen Gage will present a talk about possibility in one's personal and professional life. During her presentation, Gage will read from her recently released book Message of Hope.
The meeting takes place at Denny's at 7200 South just off Interstate 15 at 465 West in Salt Lake City.

May 7, 2003

East Bay Women’s Group

Lunch meeting presentation

By Kathleen Gage

San Leandro, California

Services provided by Turning Point, Inc

• Corporate Training
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