Hand-made clay torso, Falling Water Woman, by Tammy Vitale of Tam’s Originals

Am going to share the Marketing Plan outline I just received from the Small Business Development Corp contact I made last week.  She calls it her 3 page "simplified" plan. 

First, a blogpost that ties in with our marketing theme.  Copyblogger is a great blog for ideas on writing sales pitches, headlines – all the things that go into getting press, which is, of course, marketing.  The April 28 post, Your Unique Story Proposition   says:  "The fact is, a great sales letter can be a blueprint for small business success. It’s been established over and over again in direct marketing that a great product mixed with a great sales letter is a business in and of itself.

"It’s good advice for any entrepreneur to sit down and write a business plan, even if you have no intention of seeking investment funds. The process of writing the plan forces you to not only carefully examine your assumptions, but to think about issues that you might not otherwise contemplate until they became a problem.

"Rather than write a stuffy business plan, let’s do something fun. Why not sit down and write a sales letter that effectively sells your product or service?"

He suggests using a story rather than a linear way of thinking.  Great stuff.  Right down the path I plan to take when putting together my marketing plan.  And I agree totally that putting in writing forces the abstract into the concrete – business or life (which is why everyone should take the time to journal).  I printed out this particular blog to use as a reminder when I’m working with my market plan.

Ok, Here’s the outline.  It’s still a bit linear for me, but it is a great jumping off point.  As with all things entrepreneurial and artistic, starting with one thing doesn’t mean you will end in the same space.  But having a way to move into the space to think about it is great.  I deleted the launch plan because I’m launched and because it was very linear and table oriented.  Doesn’t mean you can’t create one yourself – basically it’s a timeline (by this point I’ll do this, etc).  If anyone feels lost without that paragraph, let me know and I’ll go ahead and print it.

Don’t try to do it all at one sitting.  Bite and chew.  Bite and chew. 

MARKETING AND SALES PLAN OUTLINE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is a short summary of your plan. Emphasize your focus and your goals as they pertain to reaching your customer.

Write several sentences or bullets describing your company’s strengths and achievements (internal). Write several sentences or bullets describing your company’s opportunities and threats. These may be external to your organization.

Present

Write about your present projects or focus.

Goals

Write about your short and long term goals including dollar amounts (projections).

PURPOSE

This section allows you to state what you believe your purpose is.

Your purpose should express the values of your company. It can include the BEHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) as well. This is the goal that would be reality in an ideal world. Your purpose can be written by all employees and can be referred to frequently for inspiration.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Write about your company’s “Unique Advantage” or UA. Why would a business or consumer use your product or service over another?

TARGET MARKET (S)

This section provides a profile of market segments and the names of specific people or companies in each segment. Include revenue and employee figures in this section to determine the profile of your target market.

Current Customer Base

Having done your research, you will write several sentences defining your customer. This is important to do before you expand into new markets.

OBJECTIVES

This section focuses on prioritizing your market segments. Write an approximate percentage (of concentration of your efforts) for each market segment. For instance, B2C may be 80% of your focus and B2B may be 20%. You may choose to use dollar amounts instead of percentages.

MARKETING STRATEGIES

This section provides information on how we will market the company to prospects and current customers. Each segment may have its own unique strategies ie you would market differently to commercial v. residential customers.

·        Marketing Package (include brochures, white paper, endorsement letters, etc.)

• Presentation Materials (PowerPoint Presentation) This section can be generated with the information/graphics/copy produced for your print materials.

·        Joint Venture/Lead Partners (Write about the companies, organizations that will help you promote your services/products. Keep in mind that barter is used to promote online businesses and has been a mainstay in marketing for a century or more)

·        Sponsorships/Memberships

·        Mass Mailing to Target Audiences (Postcards, letters, etc.)

·        Trade Shows

• Events to Be Attended

Initial Sample Letter

SALES STRATEGIES

This section describes how we plan to sell our services and product.

The steps we will take to attract new customers are as follows:

1.      Identify prospects.

2.      Send letters to prospects.

3.      Follow up with a telephone call. You can include the script for your phone calls here.

4.      Arrange visit(s). Describe your procedure for arranging visits.

5.      Develop a seminar series.

6.   Close sales. To close sales we will do the following: (List how you will close       on a sale.)

COMPETITION

This section focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of your primary competitors. This helps your company position itself with prospects and helps employees focus on what makes their company unique. A sample follows:

CompetitorsRus                                    First company in area                Expensive

Cash rich

                                                            Stock rich

                                                            Good reputation