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King Solomon's Introduction to Marketing Basics - Wise Counsel
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When we ponder the world of marketing, we will discover that there are several concepts and misconceptions that need to be addresses. The basic definition of marketing describes the various tasks that determine your continuing efforts to meet the needs of your customers and, of course, that you are getting a valuable return for your efforts. One consistent misconceptions of marketing is that marketing only concerns your advertising your product or service. Though marketing your product is a serious consideration, it is only one component in the marketing process.
We can define the essence of marketing as 'understanding your customers' needs and developing a plan that addresses those needs.' By understanding marketing in this way, a business owner who has a desire to 'grow' his business can set the proper goals.
What is meant by 'organic growth?' This is a wonderful concept. Your business is a living organism and, as a living organism, it must be cultivated and nurtured. We can ignore its needs and let it fend for itself or we can determine those needs and do whatever is best to make it thrive.
We should look at two basic components of marketing in order to get a better idea of the things that we need to create a successful business. The first component of marketing that we need to consider is 'developing a marketing plan.' The second component is the 'ongoing promotion.' One mistake that many business owners make is to create a product or service and immediately jump into an advertising campaign. When we define these two basic components, you'll understand why this mistake can be a disappointing and costly one.
For the survival of your business, it is extremely important to develop a 'marketing strategy' or 'marketing plan.' Refined research and analysis are the first steps to developing the 'marketing plan' best suited to your business. Don't let this frustrate you. This is not as grueling as it sounds. It may take some time and effort on your part but you will find that it is well worth every minute.
To help us understand, we should look at the advice of King Solomon, the wealthiest man who ever lived. This will show us the effectiveness of marketing analysis. We can apply several of Solomon's Keys to Success in our ongoing marketing efforts.
Proverbs 1:5 (NLT) "Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance" Guidance or wise counsel can be found in many forms. We should also remember, for those of us who think we understand everything, " Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others." Proverbs 12:15 (NLT) In a nutshell marketing analysis involves the following:
What must we do in 'marketing analysis'?
1.) Determining our 'market' or the groups of potential clients that exist,
2.) Determining our 'target market' or those clients that we prefer to serve,
3.) Learning the needs of our target market,
4.) Decide which of your products or services might meet their needs,
5.) Determining the uses our potential clients might have for our products and services,
6.) Understanding what our competitors are doing,
7.) Determine the pricing structure that best fits your product and/or service and
8.) Decide on a plan for the distribution products and services to your target markets.
There are numerous methods of 'market research' that can be used to gather information concerning markets, target markets and customer needs, competitors' products, etc. The ease of Internet research will reveal many sources of specific information. We must target our searches on the Internet search engines. This can be accomplished by beginning from a broad area of possibilities and with each subsequent search get more specific until we have discovered as much as possible about our market in general and specifically our target market. The resulting information will determine our 'niche' market, our specific area of a market that is best for our product or service.
After having developed our marketing plan, we should look at our plan for 'ongoing promotions.' Our plan for ongoing promotion will include advertising, public relations, sales and customer service to name a few. These terms (advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity, and sales) can easily become confusing. These are terms that are often used interchangeably. However, they refer to different but similar activities.
Let's look at a list of quick definition of each term.
1.) Advertising -- presenting a product (or service) to potential and current clients. Advertising needs to be focused on a particular product or service. We must understand that an advertising plan for one product will be different from that for another product. Advertising is usually done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, website banners, etc.
2.) Promotion - keeping our product in the minds of our customer (product recognition). The ongoing activities of advertising and public relations are often considered aspects of promotions.
3.) Public relations -- Public relations is ongoing activities that ensure your product or service has a strong and positive public image.
4.) Publicity -- being mentioned in the media. This is always the opinion (good or bad) of someone else but can include news releases.
These are a few of the many terms that need to be learned. The health and well being of our business, your business, is determined by the extent of diligent study that you do and the application of the principles that you learn through study. To best know your product or service or clients or competitors, you must develop a sincere determination to become as diligent as possible.
Remember these few examples of Solomon's Proverbs to help you develop a growing and successful business.
Proverbs 10:4 (NLT) "Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich."
Proverbs 12:24 (NASB) "The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack hand will be put to forced labor."
Proverbs 13:4 (NASB) "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat."
Proverbs 21:5 (NASB) "The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty."
Commit this last Proverb to memory. It will serve you well.
About the Author
Good marketing plan is necessary to a successful business. Visit Rev. Bobby at The Christian Success Institute to study Solomon's Success Principles through an intense study of the Book of Proverbs. Earn a residual income while you learn Biblical Marketing Principles
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