Marketing 101

In my experience with small business, owners are usually quick to pull the trigger and leap into ideas without doing their homework. Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when considering your marketing strategies.

1. The old "take a step back and look at your business" line still holds true. Sit down and consider what you are doing, what is working, and where you want to improve. Set goals for your business, and remind yourself of these goals as you go along. Understand your market and target market.

2. SWOT - Make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It's not a bad idea to have your employees and some outsiders do the same. Hint: There is always at least one threat; if you can't think of one then you're doomed.

3. With any marketing strategies do a SMART Analysis; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound. This is a great way to break down a plan and see if it is something that can actually help your business. Google Chief Economist Hal Varian said it best, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it". Businesses quickly forget the "Measurable" part of the analysis. I like to look at the new age of marketing as a constant loop of Plan, Execute, Observe, Analyze, Adjust, Execute, Observe, Analyze, Adjust, Execute, Observe...... with each iteration happening at shorter and shorter time cycles as we rely more heavily on internet marketing channels.

Those are just a few thoughts to get this blog started. Comment away, you won’t hurt my feelings.

More to come….

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