Yes, you may have heard that I got a full-time job. After more than a year of working part-time, taking the occasional consulting gig and doing some tour guiding to fun places like Seattle and San Francisco, I have accepted an offer to be the manager of the Business Resource Innovation Center in Carson City, NV. This is a very exciting opportunity for me to be part of the solution in helping to create jobs in Northern Nevada. My initial focus will be to provide one-on-one business counseling as well as business curriculum development. Mentoring entrepreneurs will also be a big part of my efforts.
The BRIC is a one-stop shop for many business services in Carson City. In addition to housing the business branch of the library and business development, there are many other city departments that call the BRIC home. Business licensing, the permit center and the engineering, planning and building departments all can be found in one place just north of city hall. The overarching goal of the BRIC is to support and nurture business activity in Carson City and the surrounding region. And in the near future, there will be additional programs that will help new businesses get off the ground as well as help existing businesses reach new levels.
More exciting things to come! I must say that I can't wait to start helping and inspiring folks to make a big impact on the community.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Budgeting, Your Marketing Plan and the New Fiscal Year
Yes, it is budget time for those of you who have your fiscal
year the same as the calendar year. Some
take this process a little more seriously than others. As one of my professors from graduate school
said, “It all depends.”
If your business is relatively stable and has minimal impact
from the external environment, then the annual budgeting process is probably
pretty simple (don't we all wish we could say this!). And if your business is
in the start-up phase or has a volatile competitive market, you may have
extensive meetings with others in your organization in order to get as much
input as possible into your plan for next year.
Or you may be a public company and there are a whole different set of
rules for developing plans and the disclosures to the public that are required.
-from B2Bmarketinginsider.com- |
The bottom line is that your marketing plan will dictate
much of the financial planning for your organization. Yes, the number crunchers are going to have
input on how interest rates and depreciation schedules will affect your income
statement, but it’s the marketers and sales staff that have the real influence
planning for future revenues. That is
why all businesses need look at the fundamentals of marketing in one way or
another to properly plan for the coming year.
The essence of all marketing plans focus on what is
affectionately called the 4 P’s. They
are product (or service), price, promotion and place (or distribution).
Product is simply what you are selling. Price is what you are charging for the
product. Promotion includes all the
advertising, social media activity, public relations and promotions. Place (or distribution) focuses on the cost
of getting your product and your customer together. Marketing plans should also
focus on the affect of competition and the external environment on each of the
4 P’s.
The common mistake when creating or changing your marketing
plan is that it does not have enough detail.
You also need to identify the market in which your products are
sold. There was a specialty retail
company that first started out by saying that they were in the candle
market. Then they realized that they
were in the bigger home décor market.
Then after much research they realized that they were in the even bigger
gift market. Look to the behavior of
your customers to find out how they are using your product and that will give
you a hint as to how you should position what you are selling.
When you review your price structure, ask yourself if any
customer questions have come up. How do
your prospects that don’t buy react to your prices? Do you offer volume or promotional
discounts? Price is the determining
factor for the customer’s perceived value of everything that you are providing. In today’s economy, most people are motivated
to find the best possible price and value. Only if
you have the luxury of being a monopoly do you have less concern about
price. And even monopolies have to
consider the cost of barriers to entry into their markets. When considering price, market share becomes
a factor. The more you reduce prices,
you most likely will gain market share yet reduce profitability. It’s a tough balancing act between your
profitability and gaining customers. And
this all plays into your market strategy.
Are you Mercedes or are you Toyota?
Either strategy will have huge implications on your pricing.
Many people consider that the meat of their marketing plan
is what is really their promotional plan.
Remember that your promotions are designed for one thing – to get people
interested in what you have to offer.
Once they walk in the store, make that phone call, check out the website
or send an e-mail, it is up to the remaining parts of the marketing plan and
your promise to show value. Although you
may spend a good deal of time considering the many alternatives to getting your
message out into the firmament, you need to balance your efforts with the other
very important parts of your overall marketing plan.
Place or distribution focuses on how you get your product or
service connected to your customer. Does
it require a vast distribution network and what is the cost of that
network? How do prospective customers
get to your website? Or do you drive a
truck full of produce down to the Farmer’s Market? You may have wholesale and retail customers
that take delivery in completely different ways. This part of the marketing plan is dedicated
to making sure that you are being most cost efficient in getting the right
goods to the right customers.
With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, be looking here for a new post about
a different way to look at retail and the components that can determine success in
the retail universe.
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