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Archive for business plan

Successful Marketing With A Plan

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 22, 2018 No Comments

How to Plan Your Marketing Successfully

Marketing isn’t simple. To do it right, it requires a great deal of planning. Small businesses without massive marketing budgets have to handle this aspect of their business themselves and for many this is no easy task.

This is why businesses create a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a detailed document that includes the data you need to make marketing decisions and set a course of action that you can implement immediately. Drafting a marketing plan takes a great deal of time and work, but here are a few questions to get you started.

Who Is Your Target Market?

If you’re already selling, take a look at your existing customers. Who are they? What do they like about your company’s products? Try to recall any positive feedback you’ve gotten from them. Naturally, if your brand resonates with these individuals, it will resonate with others like them.

If you don’t already have customers, defining your target market may take a bit more work. Look at companies that offer similar products to yours. Who is buying from them? Who could benefit from your products? Try doing some market research to glean some idea of who your target market is.

What Makes Your Products Unique?

There are bound to be other companies out there selling goods similar to yours. So, what makes yours different? Why would someone buy from you and not another company? Remember here that ‘products’ actually means your offering, which includes services as well. The term refers to whatever people buy from you.

If the unique qualities of your products don’t come to mind immediately, some work needs to be done. Do some soul searching and look for the strengths of your products. If, in the end, you find that your product unfortunately resembles basically everything else on the market, how can you change it to make it unique?

What Do You Want Your Marketing to Achieve?

Every business takes for granted that it needs to market, but why? The ‘why’ is critical. You need to identify exactly what you hope to achieve through your marketing because this will guide all of your efforts and help you choose which tactics are most appropriate.

Once you know who your target market is, what’s unique about your product or service, and what you want to get out of your marketing efforts, you’re ready to get started with your marketing plan.

Categories : Marketing Plan
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Business Goals

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 20, 2018 No Comments

Identifying Your Business Goals

Before you get into marketing your business, you need to identify its business goals. Although we take for granted that a business’s goal is to increase revenue, that’s not the end of the story. There are many other types of goals companies strive to achieve.

Product Creation

Some businesses are driven by the desire to offer excellent products that make life easier for all of us. Your business goal may be to create the most innovative products on the market. This is a wonderful goal because products are at the heart of any business’s success.

Customer Service

Your business’s goal may be to serve your customers and help them solve their problems. It may also be to lend help to the community or to strengthen the community of your customers. This is also an excellent choice because good customer service leads to more sales.

Customer Retention

Your goal may be to not only gain new customers and increase revenue, but to keep the customers you have. Businesses do this by creating a community for their customers and by remaining open to their feedback in order to improve their products or services.

Growth and Expansion

Maybe your business’s goal is to grow and expand, eventually moving into new markets and new enterprises. If this is the case, conducting market research to find new areas would be a major part of your overall strategy.

Efficiency

A major goal for your company may be to tighten up your processes. This might include challenging your salespeople to reach an ever higher sales ratio or streamlining your shipping in order to reach your customers more quickly.

Changing the World

Some companies have as part of their vision to enable social change. Your goal might be to make the world a better place through the use of your products and services. This is a goal for many companies that produce environmentally-friendly products or work to streamline their operations so that they’re more ecological.

Increasing revenue and profit isn’t the only goal of most businesses. Look at your business currently and ask yourself what other goals you have. This will help you as you plan your marketing.

Categories : Business Development, Marketing Plan
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3 Things Your Business Plan Must Have

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 18, 2018 No Comments

Businesses of every type need a business and marketing plan.

Don’t think you can skip by on this important step because you offer a service instead of a physical product. Every business can benefit from a business plan.

First Step, Focus.

When you create a business and marketing plan you need to focus on the reasons for the business: Who do you want to serve? What do you want to provide? When do you want to start? Where will you set up shop? Why do you want to start such an endeavor? How will you meld all these things together to create a prosperous business?

These are the primary reasons why you’re going into business and they should always be at the forefront of your mind when making decisions.

Something else to focus on is your big dream. How much money do you want to make over the next 5 years? Do you want to sell multiple products or have several locations? Everyone’s big dream will be different but you should write it down as part of the plan. Write it out — in a detailed story or draw a picture to represent that BIG DREAM.  Don’t ignore this step as it is the core of your business.

Second Step, A Plan.

Think of your business and marketing plan as a mountain. Your mission statement is at the base of the mountain while your big dream is at the peak. Everything in between is what you need to plan and these steps should also be incorporated into a business plan.

What products/services do you want to create? How often do you want to produce a product? How can you implement some passive income or affiliate income into your business? Are there any speaking engagements or online summit opportunities that will expand your reach and your followers? What can you add to your sales funnel for those not yet ready to commit?

Third Step, Action Steps.

This is where your planning steps are broken down into smaller, actionable steps. Instead of just saying I want to write a book, break the process down further. How much time can you dedicate each day to writing? Do you want to self-publish or find a publisher? You’ll need to hire an editor and someone to design the cover. These are actionable steps that can easily be crossed off your to do list once completed.

Don’t be thrown off here. You don’t need to plan 5 years’ worth of action steps at one time. The idea is to plan a year at a time, keeping your focus in mind, so that the action steps become a pathway or a blueprint to your big dreams.

Not sure how to proceed?? Take a look at our Profitability Breakthrough Mastermind where we will develop your marketing plan and business plan over the course of the program. It combines training, coaching, consulting and masterminding. What does that really mean? Well, it means that we give you all of the resources that you need to develop your marketing skills and implement a solid marketing plan. You have full access to a coach for feedback, Q & A, coaching and you are part of a mastermind group that can support you on your journey.  I believe that the real power of a mastermind group is the combination of the people that show up and participate.  It can motivate you into massive action. It can provide you with a space tor idea generation. It is a program that help you put together your plan for profitability based on the five step profit formula!  It gives you a place where other owners and leaders come together to share, listen, inspire and grow!!

Categories : Business Development, Marketing, Marketing Plan
Tags : , , ,

Creating Your Marketing Plan

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 9, 2017 No Comments

marketing planHow to Plan Your Marketing Successfully

Marketing isn’t simple. To do it right, it requires a great deal of planning. Small businesses without massive marketing budgets have to handle this aspect of their business themselves and for many this is no easy task.

This is why businesses create a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a detailed document that includes the data you need to make marketing decisions and set a course of action that you can implement immediately. Drafting a marketing plan takes a great deal of time and work, but here are a few questions to get you started.

Who Is Your Target Market?

If you’re already selling, take a look at your existing customers. Who are they? What do they like about your company’s products? Try to recall any positive feedback you’ve gotten from them. Naturally, if your brand resonates with these individuals, it will resonate with others like them.

If you don’t already have customers, defining your target market may take a bit more work. Look at companies that offer similar products to yours. Who is buying from them? Who could benefit from your products? Try doing some market research to glean some idea of who your target market is.

What Makes Your Products Unique?

There are bound to be other companies out there selling goods similar to yours. So, what makes yours different? Why would someone buy from you and not another company? Remember here that ‘products’ actually means your offering, which includes services as well. The term refers to whatever people buy from you.

If the unique qualities of your products don’t come to mind immediately, some work needs to be done. Do some soul searching and look for the strengths of your products. If, in the end, you find that your product unfortunately resembles basically everything else on the market, how can you change it to make it unique?

What Do You Want Your Marketing to Achieve?

Every business takes for granted that it needs to market, but why? The ‘why’ is critical. You need to identify exactly what you hope to achieve through your marketing because this will guide all of your efforts and help you choose which tactics are most appropriate.

Once you know who your target market is, what’s unique about your product or service, and what you want to get out of your marketing efforts, you’re ready to get started with your marketing plan.

Have you checked out our Million Dollar Marketing Plan Webinar??

Categories : Marketing Plan
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Business Planning Essentials

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on August 8, 2017 No Comments

business planning3 Things Your Business Plan Must Have

Businesses of every type need a business plan. Don’t think you can skip by on this important step because you offer a service instead of a physical product. Every business can benefit from a business plan.

First Step, Focus.

      • When you create a business plan you need to focus on the reasons for the business:
    • Who do you want to serve?
    • What do you want to provide?
    • When do you want to start?
    • Where will you set up shop?
    • Why do you want to start such an endeavor?
    • How will you meld all these things together to create a prosperous business?

These are the primary reasons why you’re going into business and they should always be at the forefront of your mind when making decisions.

Something else to focus on is your big dream. How much money do you want to make over the next 5 years? Do you want to sell multiple products or have several locations? Everyone’s big dream will be different but you should write it down as part of the plan.

Second Step, A Plan.

Think of your business plan as a mountain. Your mission statement is at the base of the mountain while your big dream is at the peak. Everything in between is what you need to plan and these steps should also be incorporated into a business plan.

What products do you want to create? How often do you want to produce a product? How can you implement some passive income or affiliate income into your business? Are there any speaking engagements or online summit opportunities that will expand your reach and your followers? What can you add to your sales funnel for those not yet ready to commit?

Third Step, Action Steps.

This is where your planning steps are broken down into smaller, actionable steps. Instead of just saying I want to write a book, break the process down further. How much time can you dedicate each day to writing? Do you want to self-publish or find a publisher? You’ll need to hire an editor and someone to design the cover. These are actionable steps that can easily be crossed off your to do list once completed.

Don’t be thrown off here. You don’t need to plan 5 years’ worth of action steps at one time. The idea is to plan a year at a time, keeping your focus in mind, so that the action steps become a pathway or a blueprint to your big dreams.

If this seems like a daunting task, join me on my free webinar, Why You Need a Million Dollar Plan for a Million Dollar Business. We will discuss the importance of breaking down your tasks for more effective productivity as well as how to take ACTION, which is imperative to reach any goal.

Save your spot at this link REGISTER HERE

Categories : Business Building Strategies, Business Development
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Your Strategic Plan….2015

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on January 5, 2015 No Comments

strategic planningHave you created your 2015 strategic plan?

A powerful, focused plan can the key to creating the results that you see in your business.  The simple system for planning that I use is f*ree right here

Or you can watch me create a plan LIVE during tomorrow’s hangout on Internet Marketing Tuesday!! Register HERE

I will go step by step through this system and show you HOW to create your plan — and when you have it you will feel excited! If you are techy — you can create your plan right along side me.  You will need two screens or the know how to put two windows up love side by side….I’ve just learned how to do this and its not hard.

Every single time I have worked with a client on their plan — they come out of the process excited.  They are excited about what they have put together. It is usually a bit different from what they thought would come out and it is clearer and more focused than expected.

Spending time ON your business — creating powerful strategies is a worthwhile investment of your time resource.  I believe that time is most valuable resource and each year I create my new plan.

Then each week and each month you need to review the plan.  Plans that sit in a folder that you never look at again are less likely to be successful.  A plan that stays “alive” and you are regularly engaged with will produce greater results.  You will stay more focused and on target than those entrepreneurs that do not have a plan.  When you fail to create a plan you most likely are easily distracted and all over the place!

Of course, when you work with a coach and review your plan each week or each month with your coach, your results are even better.  BUT, this isn’t a sales pitch about coaching — it is an OPPORTUNITY to create your plan for 2015!

A strong strategic plan will give you the roadmap that you need for the year…. a roadmap that keeps your focused on your big vision and dream.  It always starts with the dream!

Tuesday 1/6/2015 12:30 PM EST!!

Categories : Social Media Marketing
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Planning for Success 2013: It's NOT Too Late!

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on April 5, 2013 No Comments

planning for successNow is the TIME to Prepare for your incredible year in 2013. Are You Ready?

It’s the end of the year and the perfect time to take a moment and reflect on all that you accomplished last year.  Evaluate what went well and what didn’t. This is the time of year to begin preparing for even greater success next year.  Perhaps this year was good or perhaps it wasn’t.  Now, is the time to gear up for more greatness in the New Year and make 2013 your best year (yet!).

If you have a business vision and strategic plan, pull them out and review them. Include your whole team.  If you don’t have a team, then review them with your coach, friend, colleague or an accountability partner.

As you review the vision and the strategic plan, write down what you have accomplished this year.  What went really well?  Make your list; you can even check it twice!!  Once you have created your accomplishment list, take a moment to celebrate all that you did well.  Then move on and review where you fell short.  What didn’t go quite right or well?  Where did you fail? What are your disappointments?  What did you start and not finish?

Taking time to evaluate the past year is a great way to learn from what went well, and what didn’t go well.  In that learning there are valuable lessons that you can glean.  List a couple of lessons for moving forward.  Did you get off track, side-tracked by something?  Did you not follow up with prospects?  Each lesson gives you ideas for guidance into the New Year.

As you review the vision and the strategic plan, take some time to reflect on whether it is still on target.  Is that vision still your vision or has it changed?  Make the necessary updates to that vision.  Many companies write short vision statements that barely communicate the overall vision.  Put great detail in yours so that you can feel it as you read it.  If your vision is to buy a new building for your company and increase your staffing by 50% then write a vision statement that includes that and describes that.  You can always have the short and concise vision statement on your business plan, but for your use, make it a detailed story, that really motivates you and inspires you each time you read it. Did you read it regularly this year?  If not, make that part of your practice in the upcoming year.

What is the vision for the upcoming year?  Where do you see your company at the end of the year?  What type of growth, new products, new clients, or customers?  What does it all look like?

Once you have your vision story written you can then focus on the strategies to accomplish your vision.  Your strategies should always be based on the overall vision.  When strategies are written that stray from the vision and purpose of the organization then you are going down roads that lead you in the wrong direction.  Your vision and values becomes your guide for making your business decisions.  Stop yourself, when you are making a decision and pull out that vision statement, your values statement and review the decision or opportunity with them all in mind.

Strategies should point to the vision and be written in a way that they are measurable.  A strategy to build the business is too vague.  What does build the business mean, and how do you know if you have accomplished it?  But a strategy to provide coaching services to 50 new clients is measurable.  Or a strategy to increase product sales by 25% is measurable. Or to develop a new product; bring in a new product line; increase staff by 10; increase days off by 10; and the list can go on. The must do is making the goals SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant or reasonable and time specific.

Limit the number of strategic goals that you are working on so that your strategic plan remains focused and effective.  A huge document becomes overwhelming and cumbersome and often just collects dust.  A strategic plan should be a living, breathing document that you are very familiar with and guides our day to day activities because it is your focus.

Creating a new plan for the year is a great first step towards creating the success that you want. Working the plan and making it happen is the real key to producing the results that you want.

Working your plan just means keeping it in front of you, developing the smaller goals that move you towards the big goals and really staying focused.  When something doesn’t work, it is not the time to abandon ship, but rather, the time to refocus, re-strategize and continue the work.

Take time before the New Year to: review and update your vision statement and story; review your accomplishments and failures for the year and glean the valuable lessons from them; review your strategic plan and update your goals for the upcoming year.  Gear up for a focused and planned New Year that will ring in the next level of success for you and your company.

Once you have your plan then the essential key is implementation.  This is where many fall short.  They have great ideas, great plans and then fail to implement. There are good ways to follow through.

Break down your goals each month and week. Establish a system of accountability. Most people start out the year with a great plan and great strategy and as the year moves on, they lose focus and the plan drifts. A good coach provides you with the ongoing support and accountability to produce results.

Keeping ourselves accountable can be accomplished in a few ways. Here are our 11 tips for creating a focused and fun approach to success:

  1. Take the goal and break into smaller steps
  2. Make a chart to chart progress, each step of the way
  3. Hang signs around the house, in the car, at work — saying: “Stay Focused”.
  4. Tell family and friends about the goal and intention
  5. Create your own mastermind group to help you stay on track and support your ups and downs
  6. Partner with a friend or colleague to be an “accountability buddy”, share your plan with them and talk once a week or month to let them know how you are doing
  7. Hire a coach to help you identify your goals and keep them on track all year towards extraordinary success.
  8. Create celebrations of success, reward yourself — gold stars, dinner out, a new something!
  9. Meditate each day on focused goal attainment
  10. Write your goals down and read them everyday
  11. Have fun with each success and acknowledge it!

Spend some time creating your focused plan for success and give us a call if you need some help! Accomplishing the dreams, goals and things we desire is important for each individual and business. We look forward to hearing about your success.

One of my favorite tools to use in creating a plan for success is available for you at: www.bestyearplan.com

Or join me live at one of two Success 2013 workshops:

http://www.bizology.biz/coaching-packages

I have a wealth of opportunities for you to make sure your upcoming year is incredible!

 

Categories : Strategic Planning
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Gorilla Marketing

By Donna Price, Marketing Strategist & Business Consultant on October 3, 2009 No Comments

The term was defined by Jay Conrad Levinson way back in 1984 which gave rise to this new phenomenon although it had been around for quite some time before Levinson’s book. This form of promotion consists of gorilla marketers coming up with innovative and effective slogans and other eye-catching advertisements to pull toward them consumers. Sounds a lot like other forms of marketing? The distinction lies in that in gorilla marketing, uses a lower budget and more imagination rather than spending huge sums of money to attract consumers. Simplicity, therefore, is the key.

It is of course very different from the traditional marketing strategies that the world has known for several years. Gorilla marketing techniques which were first used by smaller organizations and businesses are now used by several large companies and brands to appeal to their consumers. These techniques take all forms, from the usual posters and billboards to street art and graffiti.

With the improvement of technology and media, companies can now engage their consumers in a whole new experience .It is important therefore for businesses to be able to identify the needs of their buyers and effectively cater to these needs. Street giveaways are an excellent way to attract consumers.

The key to effective gorilla marketing is to put up advertisements in least expected places but where the consumer is guaranteed to stop and look. The method of promotion should be one that is highly likely to have an impact on the person, whether by mere words or a simple picture.

Often companies who use gorilla marketing techniques, use in their posters and billboards, images that are in no way connected to the type of goods they sell. This is in order to grab the attention of the prospective buyer. The buyer would then be aware of the brand and curiosity may lead this prospective buyer to learn more about what good the company sells.

Gorilla marketing gets a persons mind working as soon as they see the advertisements and are therefore used not only by businesses but even by various charitable organizations working on various campaigns, to encourage donations and sometimes to merely make their voices heard.

Gorilla marketing has been around for quite some time now but still continues to be a highly effective means of attracting and appealing to consumers and today we can see how important these techniques have become in the world of marketing, with the rise of very creative advertisements being used by so many firms worldwide.

Categories : Marketing
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