Sunday, January 30, 2011
Marketing Ideas - Thinking outside the square: When Big fish eat Little fish
Marketing Ideas - Thinking outside the square: When Big fish eat Little fish: "There has been much talk over the last month in regards to retail owners and their fight against the online shopping explosion. If you did..."
Monday, January 24, 2011
Why Marketing?
Many businesses ask themselves the question, why do I need Marketing? Surely all I need to do is advertise more, don't I?
What a lot of businesses don't realise is that there is more to growing and expanding their business than meets the eye. A lot of time by pouring money into advertising a business may as well be burning it to keep themselves warm this winter.
Marketing works on the premise of developing a strategies to achieve the long term goals of the business. This could mean expanding a business to the point where the owners may wish to franchise or it could mean building a business big enough so that it is bought out by a larger company.
It is within this strategy that markers are able to see how the business is performing financially and in relation to its competitors. This involves examining the businesses customers in relation to its long term goals.
By sitting down with a marketer you are getting an external, unbiased view of your business. It is from this view that you are able to highlight areas of your business that you may not have thought of exploiting before.
Utilising the skills of an expert marketer could save you thousands of dollars and mean that you are connecting to more people in a more effective way. Advertising is only one way that businesses are able to reach their target audience and can be effective when it is used correctly.
If marketing has changed the way that you do business, tell us about it and how it made a difference.
What a lot of businesses don't realise is that there is more to growing and expanding their business than meets the eye. A lot of time by pouring money into advertising a business may as well be burning it to keep themselves warm this winter.
Marketing works on the premise of developing a strategies to achieve the long term goals of the business. This could mean expanding a business to the point where the owners may wish to franchise or it could mean building a business big enough so that it is bought out by a larger company.
It is within this strategy that markers are able to see how the business is performing financially and in relation to its competitors. This involves examining the businesses customers in relation to its long term goals.
By sitting down with a marketer you are getting an external, unbiased view of your business. It is from this view that you are able to highlight areas of your business that you may not have thought of exploiting before.
Utilising the skills of an expert marketer could save you thousands of dollars and mean that you are connecting to more people in a more effective way. Advertising is only one way that businesses are able to reach their target audience and can be effective when it is used correctly.
If marketing has changed the way that you do business, tell us about it and how it made a difference.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Getting started with Marketing - Brainstorming
Everyone has had that moment in their lives. You know the one great idea that will change everything. It just so happens that this is not so uncommon.
The trouble is that not many people capitalise on these ideas or more importantly really brainstorm that single idea and turn it into five ideas or more.
I have expanded on many ideas in the past and these are the techniques that I have found to be the most effective.
Firstly It is important to outline what the original idea means to you and what you would like to achieve from it. I means using the the "G" word. Thats right writting down your goals.
As scary as that may be for alot of people it can be a crucial step in following through on your original ideas and gaining the full benefit from your intended project. By understanding where you want your idea to go you can understand how to get there.
As an example if you had an idea for a routine that woould improve your childs learning then sit down and write why it is important to you and who will be the main people effected. By linking emotion to your idea you give it momentum and create passion. All of a sudden its not just an idea, but a project that you are passionate about.
The second step is to take your goals and your original idea and break it down into steps. Essentially pull it to bits. For example if you had an idea to design a new brand of footwear for children you might want to look at all the attributes of the product and most importantly who your target market will be and the end benefit that the target market will receive. Look at every single part of the idea such as the name of your product, colour, shape, sizes, where it would sell, who would buy it, why they would buy it, can we sell accessories for it? (Polisher, socks etc..) The list is endless but the more information that you explore the clearer your idea will become.
Think who is buying your product and what it is your really selling. An example of this is the success of crocks. Even though a lot of people think they look ridiculous, there are countless people who still wear them in public. They purchased the crocks not for their looks but because they were comfortable. Therfore crocks were selling comfort and not just a shoe.
For the second step it is crucial that you write down every single idea that comes to you regardless of how ridiculous it sounds. The ideas need to be big, colourful and bold so consider using butchers paper and hang them from your wall. Mindmaps are great as they allow you to expand your ideas but also think logically as to how your ideas are arranged. It can be beneficial to bounce ideas of another person, but make sure that you trust that person to keep your ideas to themselves.
The third step is to examine the results of your brainstorming. Like a genius painter observing his or her work stand back and examine what has been achieved. Chances are that you will have created many more ideas and will have a map of what it is that you want to achieve. You may even combine a couple of the ideas that you have thought of to create a brand new idea!
The trouble is that not many people capitalise on these ideas or more importantly really brainstorm that single idea and turn it into five ideas or more.
I have expanded on many ideas in the past and these are the techniques that I have found to be the most effective.
Firstly It is important to outline what the original idea means to you and what you would like to achieve from it. I means using the the "G" word. Thats right writting down your goals.
As scary as that may be for alot of people it can be a crucial step in following through on your original ideas and gaining the full benefit from your intended project. By understanding where you want your idea to go you can understand how to get there.
As an example if you had an idea for a routine that woould improve your childs learning then sit down and write why it is important to you and who will be the main people effected. By linking emotion to your idea you give it momentum and create passion. All of a sudden its not just an idea, but a project that you are passionate about.
The second step is to take your goals and your original idea and break it down into steps. Essentially pull it to bits. For example if you had an idea to design a new brand of footwear for children you might want to look at all the attributes of the product and most importantly who your target market will be and the end benefit that the target market will receive. Look at every single part of the idea such as the name of your product, colour, shape, sizes, where it would sell, who would buy it, why they would buy it, can we sell accessories for it? (Polisher, socks etc..) The list is endless but the more information that you explore the clearer your idea will become.
Think who is buying your product and what it is your really selling. An example of this is the success of crocks. Even though a lot of people think they look ridiculous, there are countless people who still wear them in public. They purchased the crocks not for their looks but because they were comfortable. Therfore crocks were selling comfort and not just a shoe.
For the second step it is crucial that you write down every single idea that comes to you regardless of how ridiculous it sounds. The ideas need to be big, colourful and bold so consider using butchers paper and hang them from your wall. Mindmaps are great as they allow you to expand your ideas but also think logically as to how your ideas are arranged. It can be beneficial to bounce ideas of another person, but make sure that you trust that person to keep your ideas to themselves.
The third step is to examine the results of your brainstorming. Like a genius painter observing his or her work stand back and examine what has been achieved. Chances are that you will have created many more ideas and will have a map of what it is that you want to achieve. You may even combine a couple of the ideas that you have thought of to create a brand new idea!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)