Developing a strategic marketing plan takes work - a firm understanding of the markets you plan to sell to, the products you and your competitors offer, your business objectives, and budget.
Part One- Market:
Objective: Identify and learn about the market segments you currently target and wish to target in the future– what motivates them to consider your products, what is their buying process, how do they consume media and how can we leverage former customer into longer term value for the business.
Steps to Accomplish:
• Learn Current Market Segmentation- Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, Behaviorial
• Profile Market Segments- Revenue potential, Market share potential, Profitability potential, Lifetime customer value
• Market Research- Primary (research you've commissioned on your own) and Secondary (industry research)
Part Two-Product:
Objective: Learn about the current portfolio of products and new product introductions being planned, primary and secondary uses, usage differences by market, core product benefits, competitors and competitive differentiators, seasonality, historical offers and measurement, lifecycle plan, profitability, complementary products in portfolio or outside portfolio, pricing and profitability.
Steps to Accomplish:
• Product management presentations on above
• Sample analysis and review
• Competitive analysis and technology trends
• Usage and satisfaction research- primary, secondary
Part Three- Business Objectives:
Objective: Understand key business initiatives, market conditions and revenue goals that will guide decision making.
Steps to Accomplish:
• This year's Business Plan – define objectives for the business in the short and long-term.
Part Four- Marketing budget, Prior efforts & results, other planned tactics & timing:
Objective: Learn the parameters of the marketing plan including budget, previous efforts and success measurements, planned tactics such as committed resources, major sales campaigns and tradeshow events.
Steps to Accomplish:
• Marketing meeting to review information and develop calendar of know tactics and market touch points.
Market Plan recommendation will include:
At the completion of this four step process, you should assemble a complete integrated marketing plan based on your business objectives, market segments, market research, product offerings, competitive positioning, and history of marketing success. This document should contain:
An overview of learnings, challenges and trends
Customer and prospect constituent groups
Key market touch points and communications strategies
Tactical recommendations
Measurement
Budget, Return, ROI
It is highly recommended that the plan incorporate a certain level of flexibility at the tactical level. As with any marketing campaign strategy, tactics should incorporate split tests, review and rework of marketing tactics. Budget should be repositioned to support marketing campaigns that show the greatest success.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Affirming Your Success
One of the keys to growing a successful professional practice is having a compelling vision - one that draws you towards success.
A strategy some people find of assistance is to use “affirmations” to “manifest their success” - you might have even hear this referred to as the “laws of attraction”.
Here are some tips on manifesting success through affirmations.
By definition, an affirmation is a statement repeated time and again either verbally or mentally - or written down.
The words of the affirmation statement - in themselves - when spoken, thought of, or written without visualisation or an emotional connection - make a very weak affirmation.
Affirmations, when worded correctly - and when emotionally charged - tap into the unlimited creative power of our subconscious mind, and manifest our desires.
For affirmations to be most effective they need to:
• be stated in the present tense.
An affirmation is more effective when stated in the present tense. For example; “I now have a wonderful job.” Avoid affirming something in the future tense, e.g. “I am going to have a wonderful job” or the results will always be waiting to happen.
• express a positive statement.
Affirmations need to be stated in the most positive terms possible. Avoid negative statements. Affirm what you do want, rather than what you don’t want. For example: “I am no longer sick.” This is a negative statement. Instead, affirm: “I am now perfectly healthy in body, mind and spirit.” This statement is much more powerful as it is positive and reinforces your desired goal and doesn’t confuse your subconscious mind with the mention of the undesirable condition.
• be short and specific.
Short affirmations are easy to say, and have a far greater impact at the subconscious level than those which are long and wordy. Keeping them specific and to the point adds power as the idea is uncluttered by extraneous elements.
The mechanics that make affirmations powerful are:
1. Repetition
The importance of repetition cannot be over emphasised. It embedds the affirmation into your subconscious mind.
2. Emotions
Get involved, be passionate, and use your emotions. Think carefully about the meaning of the words as you repeat them rather than just writing, typing or saying them.
3. Persistence
Practicing affirmations with persistence achieves results much sooner than practicing them periodically. Successive sessions will have a compounding effect.
4. Belief
You don’t necessarily have to believe your affirmation initially, in order for it to work. Belief will grow with your forthcoming successes. What you do need is the ability to “feel” what it would be like when the desire you’re affirming is fulfilled, or your need met.
Every time that you have a need - and that need is met - a certain “feeling” is produced in you. You need to evoke that same feeling when you state your affirmation. In other words, you need to feel that what you desire has already happened. Without this feeling, your affirmation is powerless.
Remember to personalise your affirmations. They need to resonate for you. The stronger your connection with the affirmation, the deeper the impression it makes on your mind, and the sooner you will experience positive results.
So there you have it - the simple formula for creating affirmations that work.
Based on the above, why not try creating your own affirmations and create your own success.
A strategy some people find of assistance is to use “affirmations” to “manifest their success” - you might have even hear this referred to as the “laws of attraction”.
Here are some tips on manifesting success through affirmations.
By definition, an affirmation is a statement repeated time and again either verbally or mentally - or written down.
The words of the affirmation statement - in themselves - when spoken, thought of, or written without visualisation or an emotional connection - make a very weak affirmation.
Affirmations, when worded correctly - and when emotionally charged - tap into the unlimited creative power of our subconscious mind, and manifest our desires.
For affirmations to be most effective they need to:
• be stated in the present tense.
An affirmation is more effective when stated in the present tense. For example; “I now have a wonderful job.” Avoid affirming something in the future tense, e.g. “I am going to have a wonderful job” or the results will always be waiting to happen.
• express a positive statement.
Affirmations need to be stated in the most positive terms possible. Avoid negative statements. Affirm what you do want, rather than what you don’t want. For example: “I am no longer sick.” This is a negative statement. Instead, affirm: “I am now perfectly healthy in body, mind and spirit.” This statement is much more powerful as it is positive and reinforces your desired goal and doesn’t confuse your subconscious mind with the mention of the undesirable condition.
• be short and specific.
Short affirmations are easy to say, and have a far greater impact at the subconscious level than those which are long and wordy. Keeping them specific and to the point adds power as the idea is uncluttered by extraneous elements.
The mechanics that make affirmations powerful are:
1. Repetition
The importance of repetition cannot be over emphasised. It embedds the affirmation into your subconscious mind.
2. Emotions
Get involved, be passionate, and use your emotions. Think carefully about the meaning of the words as you repeat them rather than just writing, typing or saying them.
3. Persistence
Practicing affirmations with persistence achieves results much sooner than practicing them periodically. Successive sessions will have a compounding effect.
4. Belief
You don’t necessarily have to believe your affirmation initially, in order for it to work. Belief will grow with your forthcoming successes. What you do need is the ability to “feel” what it would be like when the desire you’re affirming is fulfilled, or your need met.
Every time that you have a need - and that need is met - a certain “feeling” is produced in you. You need to evoke that same feeling when you state your affirmation. In other words, you need to feel that what you desire has already happened. Without this feeling, your affirmation is powerless.
Remember to personalise your affirmations. They need to resonate for you. The stronger your connection with the affirmation, the deeper the impression it makes on your mind, and the sooner you will experience positive results.
So there you have it - the simple formula for creating affirmations that work.
Based on the above, why not try creating your own affirmations and create your own success.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Article Banks are Internet Marketing Gold
Summary: It's more than possible to market your business and become an expert using articles. In the process, you gain links back to your web site, and the articles you write can be placed in a booklet, ebook or your future book, too! Now, if you need articles for your ezine, website, magazine, or newspaper, you can request articles at no cost to you through article banks. It's a win-win-win! (win for you, win for the writer and win for your subscribers!)
What's the difference between an article directory and an article bank?
Article directories are one-way places on a web site where the site's owner lists their articles. Here you can read the articles and sometimes these articles are available as free or paid content for publishers.
Article banks are two-way web sites or pages within a web site. They are places where authors "deposit" articles to invest and where lenders "take" the article to use. The "interest" someone pays for using an article consists of a bio or resource box. Each article bank site includes guidelines for authors and potential publishers. Authors retain first rights - retain ownership - to articles placed on article banks. Some article bank sites publish ezines that include recently submitted articles, ad swap requests and/or an "articles wanted" area, too.
For Business Owners
Article banks are a way to advertise your business and gain link popularity, ezine subscribers and new clients. At the end of each of your article, place a 5-6 line bio, with a link back to your web site!
For Authors
Are you a new writer? Gifted writer? Business owner who enjoys writing? Writing can be an excellent way to market services or products with little capital outlay. Articles posted to an article bank include a short bio (sometimes called a resource box) about the author. This would include a copyright year, the name of author, and a link to the author's web site at the end of each article. Some article bank sites or publishers may request an authors' picture and/or logo, too.
A few words of caution for authors:
Never give blanket permission to anyone to use your articles. Not an article bank, web site or author. Instead, set boundaries and your articles will appear in places you'd enjoy visiting. When someone requests to use your article, check their web site or request a copy of their ezine. If you don't like the web site, the product or whatever - remember to say "no"!
If you don't always catch your own writing mistakes consider hiring a Virtual Assistant or Copywriter to assist you with proof reading, submitting articles, or even keeping track of places your article appears.
Place your articles on your web site as a way for your potential clients or publishers to get to know you better. If you provide your articles for free, make sure that your bio includes a link to your web site or ezine information. Also include an easy way for anyone to request permission to use your article as text or to copy the code directly from your web site (if you allow that).
If someone wants to use your article and they'll receive compensation, you deserve compensation, too. Money, ad's in newsletters, paid membership, yearly subscription, a copy of an e-book for you to use and send your clients, these are all ways for you to be paid. If the way someone suggests you'll be paid, doesn't agree with you, well, here is another place you can say "no".
For Publishers
Article banks are for you if you don't enjoy writing or are looking for some extra content for your ezine, magazine, web site, e-book, etc. With the permission of an article's author and sometimes the article bank owners themselves, you will be provided with free content. In return, the author will provide you with copyright information, a brief bio and link to their web site. Many of the sites below contain both article banks and ezine directories. When you visit article banks, look for the other services that the site owner provides for you as a publisher and utilize the other helpful services, too. If you find yourself using an article bank over and over again, consider providing a link from your site to their site - maybe on a "recommended links" page. It's an excellent way to thank the site owner for providing such a valuable resource.
What's the difference between an article directory and an article bank?
Article directories are one-way places on a web site where the site's owner lists their articles. Here you can read the articles and sometimes these articles are available as free or paid content for publishers.
Article banks are two-way web sites or pages within a web site. They are places where authors "deposit" articles to invest and where lenders "take" the article to use. The "interest" someone pays for using an article consists of a bio or resource box. Each article bank site includes guidelines for authors and potential publishers. Authors retain first rights - retain ownership - to articles placed on article banks. Some article bank sites publish ezines that include recently submitted articles, ad swap requests and/or an "articles wanted" area, too.
For Business Owners
Article banks are a way to advertise your business and gain link popularity, ezine subscribers and new clients. At the end of each of your article, place a 5-6 line bio, with a link back to your web site!
For Authors
Are you a new writer? Gifted writer? Business owner who enjoys writing? Writing can be an excellent way to market services or products with little capital outlay. Articles posted to an article bank include a short bio (sometimes called a resource box) about the author. This would include a copyright year, the name of author, and a link to the author's web site at the end of each article. Some article bank sites or publishers may request an authors' picture and/or logo, too.
A few words of caution for authors:
Never give blanket permission to anyone to use your articles. Not an article bank, web site or author. Instead, set boundaries and your articles will appear in places you'd enjoy visiting. When someone requests to use your article, check their web site or request a copy of their ezine. If you don't like the web site, the product or whatever - remember to say "no"!
If you don't always catch your own writing mistakes consider hiring a Virtual Assistant or Copywriter to assist you with proof reading, submitting articles, or even keeping track of places your article appears.
Place your articles on your web site as a way for your potential clients or publishers to get to know you better. If you provide your articles for free, make sure that your bio includes a link to your web site or ezine information. Also include an easy way for anyone to request permission to use your article as text or to copy the code directly from your web site (if you allow that).
If someone wants to use your article and they'll receive compensation, you deserve compensation, too. Money, ad's in newsletters, paid membership, yearly subscription, a copy of an e-book for you to use and send your clients, these are all ways for you to be paid. If the way someone suggests you'll be paid, doesn't agree with you, well, here is another place you can say "no".
For Publishers
Article banks are for you if you don't enjoy writing or are looking for some extra content for your ezine, magazine, web site, e-book, etc. With the permission of an article's author and sometimes the article bank owners themselves, you will be provided with free content. In return, the author will provide you with copyright information, a brief bio and link to their web site. Many of the sites below contain both article banks and ezine directories. When you visit article banks, look for the other services that the site owner provides for you as a publisher and utilize the other helpful services, too. If you find yourself using an article bank over and over again, consider providing a link from your site to their site - maybe on a "recommended links" page. It's an excellent way to thank the site owner for providing such a valuable resource.
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