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| Welcome to Our Newsletter | ||
| January 1, 2007 / Issue Number 18 | ||
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By: Tim Haas Owner/Web Developer Haas Consulting Marketing & Web Development Services View Our Webpage |
Welcome to our new and current subscribers! This newsletter is published monthly by Haas Consulting. It is here to be a source of information for anyone who would like to learn about webpages, marketing, and other business related topics. Please feel free to email us with topics you would like to learn more about. You may view past issues at www.thaas.info/articles.php. Enjoy! What makes a good marketing plan? I wonder; have you ever read an article, heard an orator preaching about, or been given advice on the importance of a marketing plan for your business? Anyone that has been in business for any length of time or studied business in school most certainly has! Customers don't show up out of the blue, you must find them and bring them into your business. A marketing plan is a great idea and an absolute must at some level. The question then becomes, "What makes a good marketing plan for my business?" You don't need to feel awkward or self conscious about not knowing the answer to this. Most business owners are not experts in marketing. If you were, you would have opened a marketing business instead of the business you did.Let's start by breaking down what a marketing plan is:
Wow! That sounds simple . . . or does it? A properly developed marketing plan will identify in detail:
You may be thinking, "Easy! All I have to do is write down everything I already know and voilà*, I'm done!" Not quite, the value of marketing plan isn't in what you know, it is in what you learn. Research is the key to a successful marketing plan. No matter how much you know about your business, products, and services there is still plenty that you do not know. Determine what your product or service is, then take the extra step to research it. How is it delivered? What is the existing or anticipated demand? What is driving this demand? Discover what it is about that product or service that is important to the people you expect to buy it. This rolls nicely into determining who your target audience is. There can be a little bit of the ,"What came first, the chicken or the egg?" way of thinking here, but you will manage. With all that information oozing from your cranial cavity, you will want to create a message to deliver to your target audience. What information about you, your products, services, and business do they need to become motivated to do business with you? Message in hand, how do you deliver it? What marketing vehicles are available for you to use? There are several things to consider.
Great! Now you know the who, what & how about your marketing plan. It is time to organize and execute.You may not think so right now, but six weeks from now you will not be able to remember all the details of this remarkable piece of work. Executing your plan will be next to impossible if you can not go back and review it. Depending on your individual plan you will need to update the website, create ads for newspapers or magazines, send direct mail, and attend to all of the details that will make it work. It is very important to stay on top of your marketing plan. This is where many people fail. Most people can muster together enough time and energy to put a couple of weeks into developing a plan, but sticking with it throughout the entire year is something else all together. You need to understand that the greatest marketing plan in the whole world is worth absolutely nothing if it is not executed. Do not despair, if you don't think you can invest the time . . . not all is lost. You can hire professionals to manage your marketing for you. It can be their responsibility to do all the busy work. Let them develop, execute, and evaluate the results of the marketing plan. A quality marketing firm will involve you with your marketing plan, while removing many of the burdens from you. Our own practice is to interview you, create the plan and present it for approval. We do all the tedious research, answer your questions, and help you make a knowledgeable and informed decision. Once the plan is approved, we manage it. It is our responsibility to create the collateral (ads, brochures, etc) and distribute them. We work with you to track the results and meet monthly to discuss how well the plan is performing. Of course this is all done for a fee, nothing to be feared, you get alot for your money. Just one benefit of this is that you now have a multitude of fresh minds marketing your business. Your time is freed, so you may apply it elsewhere. One of the key concepts in hiring a marketing firm is that you can spend the same amount of money and get better results than if you had not hired the firm to represent your marketing needs. Your paying for their expertise to apply your marketing dollars where and in ways that they will do the most for you. Another key concept is that when you hire a marketing firm they are looking out for your best interests. They deal with the sales people. Sales people are trying to get as much of your marketing dollars as they can, but that may not be in your best interest. There are many places to invest in marketing, putting all your money in one "basket" really isn't the best idea around. One final thought to leave you with is this. Even giants like Coke and Pepsi invest huge amounts of their resources in marketing. Why!? They control the market and are instantly recognizable. Well they know and understand something very important about marketing, momentum. They know to stay at the top they need to continue to market. It is cheaper and easier to maintain their stature than it is to let it slide and try to constantly regain it. The lesson to be learned? Work your marketing plan, then let it work for you! * The expression which means “behold!” is voilà. It comes from a French expression literally meaning “look there!” In French it is spelled with a grave accent over the A, as voilà, but when it was adopted into English, it lost its accent. Such misspellings as “vwala” are common.
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Marketing & Marketing Management Services!
We are a full service Marketing Firm. From creating a marketing plan to layout, design, and seem less execution, our goal is to help you make the most out of your marketing!
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Note: Clients without a link are *Denotes Clients using our hosting services for websites previously designed with another developer. |
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We have recently launched our newest endeavor, a business directory for Hutchinson, MN. Our contact with clients and other business people in the community has demonstrated to us that there is a huge need for this type of marketing vehicle. Many business people have been dismayed by traditional marketing vehicles. Our new website provides the public with many valuable resources including, but not limited to:
It also provides the business owners with valuable resources as well.
If you are interested in learning more about ShopHutchinosnMN.com please give Sheila a call at 320.587.4314 This website is not affiliated with the Hutchinson Leader or Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. |
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Rental Link.com An innovative search directory for rental units in the Hutchinson area. www.snopes.com Heard a juicy rumor lately? This website will let you know if it is true or not. Check out the urban legends and weird news. www.answers.com Find answers to just about anything here. School resources, references, dictionaries and more. * By providing these links we are not endorsing the services or products being offered. We are only offering links to other websites that may be of interest to you.
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