BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 1 Marketing & Promoting Your Small Business WANTED: CUSTOMERS For a Lifetime! What to do? What should it cost?

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 2 The 3 R’s of Target Marketing Researching Your Market Reaching Your Market Retaining Your Market

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 3 Pre- Marketing Tactics Determine if you have a market Determine if your market is profitable Determine the “uniqueness” of your product or service Protect yourself: your product & service

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 4 Protecting Your Product or Idea Protect Your Work (and make sure you are not infringing on the rights of others) Disclosure Letter –For your records –To have potential stakeholders sign Journal…demonstrate you are an active rather than passive business activity Copyright, Trademark and Patents

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 5 Protecting Your Ideas Patent – a grant from the Patent and Trademark Office to the inventor of a product, giving the exclusive right to make, use, or sell the invention for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application. Check out: – www. uspto.govwww. uspto.gov –

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 6 Protecting Your Ideas Trademark – any distinctive word, symbol, design, name, logo, slogan, or trade dress a company uses to identify the origin of a product or to distinguish it from other goods on the market. Service mark – the same as a trademark except that it identifies the source of a service rather than a product. Check out Secretary of State Trademarks/Service Marks ™

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 7 Protecting Your Ideas Copyright – an exclusive right that protects the creators of original works of authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works. Copyrighted material is denoted by the symbol ©. Check with the Library of Congress Copyright Office-

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 8 Market Research an organized objective way of learning about your customers Get to know your market Get professional help, use the local library and on-line databases Evaluate Current Buying Trends…evaluate growing NEEDS in your community Find a NEED and Fill IT!

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 9 Conduct Market Research Identify your Target Market Get to KNOW your Target Market personal observation, sample questionnaires, how will your product/service benefit the Target Market, Ask Questions Identify Your Competition We can learn so much from our competition- both direct and indirect. DO a Strength- Weakness Evaluation Find out YOUR NICHE!

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 10 Keys to Market Research on the Internet 1.In-depth analysis of your industry 2. Identify Your Customers 3.Recognize Your Competition 4. Put it all together, and have vision for the future

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 11 Step 1: Understand Your Industry An in-depth analysis of the industry is important and essential for market-research. It shows you’re the industry “business environment” and the trends. It helps you answer the questions- What are future industry tends? What current economic or regulatory issues impact the industry? How are your suppliers doing? For industry information Check out: Small Business Associations: BusinessTown Encyclopedia of Associations SCC on-line Trade Associations Trade Publications & Groups

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 12 Step 2: Identify Your Customers Consumer information is a Key Element in the market research process. What do you need to know about your customers and clients in order to best meet their needs? Trade & Professional Organizations can help with customer profiles Demographic information can help you target and determine “buying behaviors.” Check out: click on 2000 Census Profiles) –National: –State: –SCC on-line databases RAND

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 13 Step 3: Recognize Your Competition Knowing what your competition is up to is critical to the survival of your business… Always ask.. Who are my competitors? What do they offer? Where do they advertise? What unique features and benefits do they provide? Check out: (meta search) The Yellow Pages (B2B Directory)

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 14 Evaluating the Competition: Through the Customer’s Eyes The “weaknesses” of your competition are the keys to your success They help you determine your UNIQUE benefit for your customer

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 15 Evaluating Your Business with the Competition DO a SWOT Analysis Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats Profile the competition What do they do right? What do they do different? Would could you do better? What is your competitive advantage?

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 16 Testing the Market Survey people are asked questions. In person, telemarketing, focus groups Questionnaires data gathering form used to collect information by a personal interview or through the mail What to consider… 1.Types of information determining need, indicating lifestyle, figuring the best channel to reach, how they feel about the competition 2.Distribution- mail, telemarketing, interviews, group 3.Evaluation of Responses color-coding prior to sending

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 17 Your Marketing Mix is Unique! The right ingredients include a “mixture of the FOUR P’s Product (or service) Place (or distribution) Promotion (communication that influences the buyer) Price (not always the KEY factor) Also “positioning, packaging and personal relations”

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 18 Part II: Reaching Your Target Market Develop a strategy to cost effectively REACH your market By studying your TM you know where they shop, what conveniences they like, what they will be willing to pay… Develop the Marketing Mix! Price, Product, Place & Promotion! Wanted:Nice,RichClients

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 19 Develop a Realistic Budget What can I afford? Why? How can I get the best “bang for the buck”? What channels are used in your industry & by your TM? Prioritize your marketing choices Often the type of business dictates the type of marketing (personal services rely on referrals and word of mouth more) What if I cannot afford to market???

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 20 Putting Your P’s to Work for You All of your P’s work together to design a “marketing strategy”..this is the mix that reaches your Target Market Product/Service Positioning- keep the needs of the customers in mind! Place- means distribution and the distribution channels used Price- Recognize the Price Ceilings & Floors Promotion- Timing of Market entry, Advertising, Publicity, Alternative Marketing, Marketing on the Net, Community Marketing

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 21 Product- Service Line Positioning the Product/ Service Line is critical Distribution channels are ALL of the individuals and organizations involved in moving your product (or service) from producer to the end-user Many of these folks are your Internal Customers (Internal Market) Developing “strategic alliances” is key

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 22 PLACE…the Pipeline to the Customer Consider the needs, attitudes and location of your target market & your suppliers and employees What is the primary method? Direct Sales, Mail Order, Wholesale, Consignment Where will the “service” be provided? Location & Distribution Factors to consider (market, supplies,labor force, competition, cost, home-based or not)

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 23 Price…with a profit margin Biggest obstacle…pricing a product or service for what we WANT to sell it for, rather than what it WILL sell for… Price Ceiling is the top amount the market will bear and is determined by the market Price Floor is the lowest amount you could sell & still meet expenses Profit Margins differ greatly in every industry and in business size When determining your pricing strategy take into account all the costs involved!

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 24 Promotion…anyway to advertise your business. Evaluate Your Options Timing of Market Entry -adjust to the nature of your business. Is your product seasonal? Advertising -reminding customers about the benefits of your product in printed or spoken matter Publicity or PR -“free advertising” E- Marketing Alternative Marketing – Displays, Community Involvement, Networking, Trade Shows, Direct- Mail, Brochures, Telemarketing, promo gimmicks

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 25 Thoughts for Next Week Doing the SWOT… For your business, or potential business, do a quick scan of the business environment and review of your business. Ask yourself these questions... What are your businesses… Strengths & Weaknesses? (internal) What is the current business environments’.. Threats & Opportunities ?(external)

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 26 Group Work Where to look for help? Please create a group of 3 –Write your own ideas down –Write a survey questionnaire together –SurveysSurveys –At home, Do a Google or Yahoo Search [dogpile] “How to write a planning survey”

BUS 211_M&A Summer 2006 Courtesy of sjh 27 For Next Week Please read the text Chapter on Marketing. Please hand in one SWOT for your dream company/business. Please hand in your group work. Wanted one suggestion to make this program “better” for you. [Is this a survey?]