At this point, you will have modified your business plan according to your business structure and your strategies.
Back when you put together your feasibility study, you should have touched on pieces of your marketing plan.
You have identified your niche, your competition, and the geography where you plan to do your business.
So, what is marketing? It is getting the word out and collecting the money that closes the deal.
Your marketing functions will take up a huge portion of your getting started budget. It will continue to be a huge part of your budget for a long period of time since you are the new kid on the block and you need to get the attention of your potential buyers remembering that your competition will not stand still and just let you waltz right in and start taking away their customers. Would you?
Among the activities of marketing are:
Online Marketing
Public Relations
Social Media
Marketing Research
Advertising
Direct Marketing
Social Media
Pricing
Publicity
Branding
Strategy
Order Processing
Merchandise Display
Trade Shows
Associations
Sales
Customer Service
Some of the above are subsets of others while some subsets are missing. But this list should give you a clue to the scope of marketing.
Without getting into too much detail here, let us touch on the advertising piece. Advertising takes on several venues like:
- TV
- Radio
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Trade publications
- Trade shows
- Public relations
- Seminars
- Web presence
- And more
Each of these have subsets that in many cases allow you to target your audience more closely through such things as demographic sorting, regions, survey results, etc.
Your web presence will include your website, blog, email, newsletters, social media, podcasts, browsers, and a variety of other options as they arise.
For small businesses to succeed, they must not attempt to compete with the giants in their market. They need to slice their piece in the void created by those same giants.
They are leaving a lot on the table that small businesses can fulfill. This is often called the niche that makes you a success. Once you have decided who you want to sell to, then why not check out our free list of social media sites to see if there is a group of people already congregating, just waiting for you.
Additionally, we have discussions, social media sites, and products/services that all have something to do with helping you on your way to a successful business.
