Win the war, not the battle...

Of the many misconceptions about marketing, perhaps the biggest is that there's a simple magic formula that will bring customers to your door if you'll just throw enough money at it. Take this path and you might just market your way into bankruptcy - or at the very least waste precious time, money and other resources.

When you set up shop as an entrepreneur, know that there will be no shortage of people who tell you that they know a surefire way to get the word out about your new venture. Some of these folks may be friends, acquaintances or family members who mean well but are unfamiliar with your product or service and its market niche. Some may be slick salesmen who show up at the very moment you're lamenting the lack of traffic in your location to tell you that their media vehicle is exactly what you need to get customers lined up at your door. Don't let either of these groups - however well intentioned - convince you to make a knee-jerk reaction and invest precious resources before you have carefully researched your options and put together a plan.

Truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all marketing plan for your company. What works for the guy who owns the title pawn shop down the street won't likely work for your upscale women's clothing boutique. The title pawn shop will most likely be strategically located in an area where all it may need is a large sign promising quick cash for car titles. The women's clothing boutique will need a more sophisticated and targeted approach to reach its intended audience. In that same vein, magnetic business cards are a great idea for the local pizza delivery guys, but won't likely put money in the pockets of the local dry cleaners - unless, of course, they also offer home delivery or pickup.

There are three main components to devising a marketing plan:

1. Know your product. I know, that sounds ridiculous - you KNOW what you're selling, right? You may know that you're selling purple widgets, but that's not enough - far from it. You need to know everything there is to know about your product or service - how people use it; what benefits they derive from it; where else they can get it if not from you...the list goes on. This is the foundation on which your marketing plan - and your very business - is built. Much more on this in later posts. Suffice it to say for now that just knowing the name and general features of the product or service you sell is not enough - not even close.  
2. Determine exactly what your marketing budget is before you make ANY decisions about how to spend it. Making even small marketing or advertising expenditures is a bad idea without knowing how much you have to spend - it can add up quickly. It's akin to buying your Christmas gifts without determining beforehand how much you have to spend...even if you only spend $25 here and $30 there, soon you may discover you've spent way more than you can afford to and you've only purchased half the gifts you intended to buy. [Wise entrepreneurs may choose to spend 5-10% of their gross sales on marketing and advertising their first year, with the dollar amount staying the same for the second and third years but being a smaller percentage of sales.  For example, a company forecasting $100,000 in first year sales may decide to spend $10,000 on marketing and advertising during that period. The second year, they may stick to the $10,000 dollar amount, but that amount may then be only 7.5% of their gross sales since hopefully their sales have increased due to the first year's marketing efforts.]
3. Before you spend the first dollar of your marketing budget, you must know your target audience. Money spent to reach prospects before you know exactly to whom you are selling might just as well be thrown out the window. Carefully consider who you want to reach with your message before determining how to reach them. A magazine ad that can be had for 90% off the regular price may sound enticing, but if that magazine doesn't reach your target audience it doesn't matter what you paid for it - you paid too much. Find out what your customers read, where they shop, where they live, etc - you need not invest a lot of money to accomplish this...I will be posting later this week about how to get this information without making costly market research investments to do so.

Know that a good marketing plan is neither developed nor implemented overnight. Businesses that jump into things too quickly may initially enjoy some measure of success, but that may very well be due more to luck than a good solid plan. Taking the time to carefully weigh your options and making your decisions accordingly may make the difference between winning the battle or winning the war.