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Introduction to Marketing for 1st time Business Owners
By
Ben Botes
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Copyright Ben Botes and
My1stBusiness.com – 2003 – 2005
Marketing is determining which orders you would like to
win. Selling is getting out there and winning orders once
you have decided which orders you would like to win.
Marketing is a continuous process of creativity, research,
testing, analysis, development and implementation. We must
stay close to our customers. We must satisfy our
customers' needs and anticipate their wants. We love our
customers and we always do that little bit extra for which
we do not get paid.
Specialize and be excited in what you do
There is a strong relationship between high self-esteem
and peak performance. The more you love doing something,
the greater will be your success. All successful
businesses specialize in their areas of excellence. Many
unsuccessful people drift into areas where they do not
have the excitement, enthusiasm, energy, knowledge, etc.,
to establish competitive advantage and find their market
segment.
A few questions for you to answer at this point are:
Which product or service would you like to produce and
sell?
In which area of human activity would you like to improve
the lives of other people?
To which area of human improvement can you bring
excitement and enthusiasm?
What is your area of excellence?
What is your core business?
For which product or service are you prepared to be a
product champion? What would you love to do to improve the
lives of others for 16 hours each day, even if you
received no financial reward?
What is it that makes you feel valuable and worthwhile?
Differentiate for a competitive advantage
Perhaps the biggest question in any business is: why
should anybody buy this product or service ... from me?
This is in fact two questions. The first question is: why
should anybody buy this product or service?
What is the benefit?
What is the improvement in the life of the customer?
How is the customer's life enriched by acquisition of the
product or service?
If you cannot answer this question, then you do not know
why a customer should buy your product or service.
Remember the law of cause and effect. There is a reason
for everything. There has to be a reason why your customer
buys the product or service.
Segmentation or the creation of a market niche
If people buy from you because you are such a lovely
person, then your market niche may well be your circle of
friends and friends of your friends. If you own the
village grocery store, then your customers are probably
restricted to those living within a five-minute walk or
two-minute drive, i.e. the local community. If yours is
the best or cheapest product on the market, then this
opens up huge opportunities. Who is your customer? Who
buys this product or service? Identify your market
segment. Describe your customer - age, sex, income,
occupation, education, other interests, area where he or
she lives, type of family, other products he or she buys,
etc. Where exactly is your customer? Identify the
geographical concentration, understanding that 80 per cent
of your customers will be within 20 per cent of your
catchment area. How is your product normally distributed?
How would you expect your customer to buy your product or
service? To which customers does your competitive
advantage make a big difference? Is there a small segment
of the market which you could dominate?
Answer there question when considering your market niche:
Who are your customers?
Where are your customers?
Who cares that you are the best?
Who cares that you are the cheapest?
Who cares that you are the local dealer?
Who cares that you are such a nice person?
The answers to these questions establish your market
segmentation, or your market niche, i.e. a small segment
of the market which you can dominate.
Concentrating your efforts
With a view to succeeding in business, we have to
concentrate all our resources, hitting our market segment
with our competitive advantage in our area of excellence.
We have to concentrate our creativity, our marketing, our
sales skills, leadership skills, finance, time, energy,
excitement, enthusiasm, advertising and promotional
efforts, production facilities, etc., all of these
resources being concentrated in enriching the lives of our
customers - at a profit.
Is the benefit we offer worth more to the customer than
the price the customer is expected to pay?
Can we provide the benefit at a cost which is lower than
the customer is willing and able to pay?
Can we provide the benefit at a profit?
These are four of the most important steps to consider as
a business owner. For more in formation on marketing for
first time business owners, please go to http://www.my1stbusiness.com.
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