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Now that you've perfected your product, hired employees, and ramped up production, it's time to market your goods to potential customers. This is a very important part of the process, since a solid marketing strategy can be the difference between success or failure regardless of the quality of your offerings.
Large corporations have the resources to hire devoted marketing professionals, conduct tests with potential customers, and trumpet their message on multiple mass media outlets. But as a small business, you'll need to be more creative and selective with how you connect with your market. Remember, word of mouth (or, increasingly, online social media) is very powerful and essentially free.
Although certainly not an exhaustive list, the following are some items that you may want to consider when developing a marketing strategy or plan for your business, product, or service.
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: Does it fix something? Clean something? Do you eat it? Drink it? Does it have medicinal values?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: The young? The old? The rich? Men? Women? Children? Teenagers? Spanish-speaking individuals? Tourists? Lawyers? Doctors?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: United States? Europe? Drug stores? Supermarkets? Clothing stores? Internet?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: Television? Radio? National magazines? Local newspapers? Trade Journals? Billboards? Internet? Sky-writer planes?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: Yourself? A professional advertising and marketing firm? Your children?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: 20% of your budget? 40% of your budget? $1,000? $100,000? $1,000,000? Sky's the limit?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: 20% of your budget? 40% of your budget? $1,000? $100,000? $1,000,000? Sky's the limit?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: The price? The unique nature? The color? The durability? The adaptability?, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: Ecstasy? Relief? Comfort? Tasty? Refreshing? Security, etc.)
______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Potential considerations: One day? One week? Ten Months? Ten Years?, etc.) |
Is Your Marketing Strategy Legally Sound? An Attorney Can Help
You could have the best product or service in your industry, but without a solid marketing plan you likely won't find much success. Marketing is the crucial discipline of analyzing your target market. So why would you need an attorney? Even if you don't think you need legal help, a brief consultation with a small business attorney can alert you to certain laws and regulations that may affect how you market your product.
