Marketing

Marketing

The basic marketing checklist includes: product, pricing, promotion, positioning, publicity, packaging, pass along, and permissions. Marketing should make your product stand out like a purple cow. If you saw a purple cow it would stand out from the rest. (See Purple Cow by Seth Godin) The new rule for business is to create remarkable (not very good, but remarkable) products that the right people will SEEK out. This way you are not spending all your time trying to market to everyone. We must all be marketers and innovators. Marketing means asking new questions and trying new practices. Market to the customers you think will most likely influence other customers. Create something that appeals to the market. Create inventors (of new products) and milkers (those who maximize profit from current products).

Creating a niche means producing a unique product or service. This way you don’t have to compete with price. You don’t want something no one cares about. You want to be the single white tulip in the field. What is the unique valuable part of your product?

We need to improve our Likeability. One way is to improve your likeability is to improve your smile by smiling in your eyes. You should dress in a way to show respect for your clients/audience. Don’t overdress trying to put people to shame. You want to dress equal to your peers. You also want to have a great handshake (eye contact, appropriate verbal greeting, smile, grip and firm squeeze, smooth and dry handshake.) The point is that first impressions are important. Get feedback from your target audience.

Phil Romano believes that being an entrepreneur means being creative. He loves to create things that help people. What is the niche that will help those around us? What makes us stand out from the rest? Phil says that actions speak louder than words. He founded Fuddrucker’s and Macaroni Grill. He likes to actively create something that has never been created before. We shouldn’t think about making profit but rather we should think about doing something the customers want. He wanted to do all he could do and be productive. Even in his older age, he felt like now was the time to do things. Now he has started Hunger Busters to feed the homeless in his local community. Sometimes fear is a great motivator. If something doesn’t work, we are dead in the water, so we have to make it work. Having fear is a motivation of being an entrepreneur.

$100 Challenge Project “The Perfect Cookie”

This past week the order for boxes came to deliver my cookies in. I tried to sell to the neighbors, but got no sales. Tonight I am bringing samples to a game night with some friends to advertise and promote my business. I finished the elevator speech and think that went well. 

Marketing - HMM

Each department plays a role in marketing so that value can be brought to the customers. Problems need to be identified. Customers have basic wants, needs, and demands. Demands are what a customer wants (stated, real, unstated, delight, secret) and is willing to pay. Research as to what customers wants and what needs to be done. Direct Marketing is selling to customers direct (not through wholesalers or retailers). Relationship marketing is learning about your customer and customizing product to meet their needs. Marketing is planning the concept, price, promotion, and distribution of ideas to satisfy individual and company goals.  (Identify target, know competition, brainstorm new ideas, what is competitive edge, create a marketing plan, put strategy into action, evaluate effectiveness of strategy.) Once you know your competitor, you need to think about their strategy, objective, strength and weakness (what share of the market do they possess), ways of doing business (are they slow moving, selective, a tiger Fast to assault, or unpredictable) Consumers like new choices. Continuing to come up with new offerings is helpful because most things have a life cycle and go out of demand. Building loyal customers means being able to build your business by offering additional services and products that benefit a customer. Over time the customers will buy more from your business.