I have seen many definitions of marketing, but my favorite is this one: “Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want.”

What appeals to me about this definition is what is missing. There is no mention of selling, advertising, promoting, or any activity on the part of the product or service provider.

This definition is about the customer, their wants and their needs. It captures the very essence of what marketing is really about, the customer!

The Marketing Process connects your product/service to a potential customer’s needs and wants.  It is a step-by-step procedure anyone can use.   In many ways, marketing is like a science experiment.

How does it work? Think back for a moment to your fourth grade class, where you learned the scientific process. Your teacher carefully explained the elements of the process:

• Observe the environment – Look for patterns and trends.
• State the hypothesis – Based on your observations, make preliminary conclusions about your environment.
• Determine elements to test – Describe elements you wish to learn more about. Identify parts of your hypothesis to test.
• Design the experiment – Select the specific techniques you will use to test your assumptions.
• Conduct the experiment – Follow the plan you have laid out, carefully collecting and analyzing the data.
• Prove or disprove the original hypothesis and begin again.

The elements of the marketing process are very similar:

• Observe the environment – Study competitors, industry trends and consumer preferences.   It might be helpful to create a S.W.O.T. Matrix (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threat analysis) to organize your information
• Define your target customer – Based on your research make preliminary conclusions about who you believe the best candidates for your products. What benefits do they seek?
• Define your goals – Describe your goals clearly and completely.
• Create a marketing calendar and a budget – This calendar identifies when and how you will spend your funds.
• Measure the results – When following the plan you have created, measure the effectiveness of all expenditures.
• Use the information – and begin again.

Just as good researchers conduct experiments over and over again to verify their conclusions, good marketers must do the same.

Need help with this process? Consider a copy of my book – The Science of Marketing to help you get started.

BusinessMap: A Practical Guide to Business Planning – $35.00

As a small-business owner, you need a map — a business plan! Without it, you are traveling blind. Often, the road to achieving your goals is a series of small steps. Creating a schedule for these interim steps or milestones will help you track progress toward the overall goal. In this combination book and companion CD, you will discover a step-by-step process complete with numerous examples to help a new business owner create a viable business plan.

Accompanied with blank forms and outlines, “Business Map” provides you will all the necessary information to get your started. Business Map contains:

• Outline of what your plan should contain along with a complete listing of the questions your plan should answer throughout the process
• How to avoid the 10 most common mistakes small business owners make when writing their business plan
• Excerpts from plans across a range of industries to help you formulate your plan

BusinessMap includes a CD with sample plans, outlines and spread sheets to build proforma financial statements.

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

Confessions of a Networking Junkie – $25.00

Savvy networkers know that it is healthy for a business to get its BUZZ from networking. With a solid base of contacts and referral sources, a true networking junkie can say goodbye to cold calling and scale back on expensive advertising.

Discover a simple 12-step program designed to help any novice create a plan for their networking addiction.

As you use the workbook and listen to the 25 minute companion CD you will learn:

•  Simple techniques to put the right words in your word of mouth marketing
• Practical strategies to build a referral network
• Tools you can use to find business in your business card pile

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

The Entrepreneur’s Notebook: A Guide to the Science of Marketing – $20.00

Every company, large or small faces the same challenge – to create effective marketing. The difference? Large companies typically have a systematic process for the development of their marketing plans. Now you can learn the secret to big company marketing.

In this combination reference manual and workbook, you will find a step-by-step process to make your marketing investments more effective.

• Apply the Science of Marketing to your business
• Prepare a SWOT Analysis and use it to create realistic action plans
• Build a Marketing Pyramid and use it to form your Marketing Plan
• Segment the market, identifying the best potential customers
• Use what you know about your customers as the foundation of quality communication

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

BusinessMap: A Practical Guide to Business Planning – $35.00

As a small-business owner, you need a map — a business plan! Without it, you are traveling blind. Often, the road to achieving your goals is a series of small steps. Creating a schedule for these interim steps or milestones will help you track progress toward the overall goal. In this combination book and companion CD, you will discover a step-by-step process complete with numerous examples to help a new business owner create a viable business plan.

Accompanied with blank forms and outlines, “Business Map” provides you will all the necessary information to get your started. Business Map contains:

• Outline of what your plan should contain along with a complete listing of the questions your plan should answer throughout the process
• How to avoid the 10 most common mistakes small business owners make when writing their business plan
• Excerpts from plans across a range of industries to help you formulate your plan

Check our a free preview or order your copy today!

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A few days ago I introduced this challenge to my readers, to help me write the second edition of my book, :The Entrepreneur’s Notebook.

Every few days I present a piece of the original text, and ask for suggestions or additions. Contributors will be included with credit in the revised text, which will be released some time next summer.

Today’s Text comes from the Section on Your Brand Position

Once you have defined a market segment, and determined it is large enough, the last step in this process is defining your market position. This is the unique niche your business will serve and the key benefits you provide.

What do you want existing and potential customers to think of when they hear your name? What solutions do you offer them? The impression you are hoping to create should be captured in a clear concise statement which describes your target customer, the primary benefit they are seeking, and how the benefit will be delivered.

What is your brand position?  How do you describe your company and the unique market space you own?

For Roundpeg our Position Statement reads like this:For small business owners, who want to grow, Roundpeg provides, practical, affordable and productive marketing to make their phone ring.

Keep in mind this is not advertising copy. It is an internal definition of who your company serves, and what you provide which will help you create effective marketing messages.

In contrast our marketing message is simply: Roundpeg, we help small businesses become big businesses

So what is your brand position?  Will you share your favorite examples?

A few days ago I introduced this challenge to my readers, to help me write the second edition of my book, :The Entrepreneur’s Notebook.

Every few days I present a piece of the original text, and ask for suggestions or additions.   Contributors will be included with credit in the revised text, which will be released some time next summer.

Today’s Text comes from the Section on YOUR CUSTOMER IS A THREE DIMENSIONAL BEING

Do not ever lose sight of the fact that your target customers are more than just numbers. Behind the demographic segments there is a psychological element as well. This psychological component includes interests, problems, values, philosophy and motivations.

Interests - What do your potential clients think about? Where do they spend their time? How do they react to things? What’s important to them? What fascinates or intrigues them?

Problems – What do they find annoying, disturbing or frustrating? What are their aversions? What do they dislike? What do they fear?

Values – What do they hold in high regard? Where do they put their time and their money? What are their politics? What do they take a stand about? What and who do they admire?

Philosophy - What is their attitude to life and business? How do they approach challenges? Are they optimistic and accepting or pessimistic and cynical?

Motivations - What makes them take action? Do they move away from things or move towards them? When will they commit to something? When will they ignore advice or accept advice?

The more you know about these psychological elements, the easier it is to write effective marketing copy.   As you create a very specific description which gives your marketing focus, it is important to balance the description with an analysis of the attractiveness (factors such as profitability and potential sales) of the segment.

Do you have examples of how you have used these psychological elements to target or attract your clients?

A few days ago I introduced this challenge to my readers, to help me write the second addition of my book, :The Entrepreneur’s Notebook.

Over the next few weeks I am going to post sections of the original text and ask for additions, corrections and other ideas.  Anyone who submits ideas will be included in the list of contributors for the book.

Today’s Text comes from the Section on Defining Your Target

The process of defining your target customer is not about limiting to whom you sell, but simply to whom you actively try to reach with your marketing materials.

Few companies, with the exception of perhaps Coca-Cola® or McDonalds®, have sufficient funds to support a true mass market campaign, reaching all consumers.

Instead, savvy marketers look to down their audience to those people who are most likely to buy. Their goal is to craft a message which is relevant to these prospects and potential customers. It is about reaching the right customers, with the right message, at the right time!

So I am looking for thoughts and ideas on how to segment your market, find or define your niche, as well as examples of companies you think do this well.

In 2003 I wrote the Entrepreneur’s Notebook. I had no illusions of winning a Pulitzer prize. I simply wanted to create a workbook I could use with my clients, and perhaps sell a few more along the way.

A few days ago, I opened the last box of 50 from the first reprint.   Two things occurred to me:

1. Somewhere in the world there are more than 900 business owners with a copy somewhere in their office, hopefully filled out.
2. It is time to work on the second edition

As I get ready to review the contents, I know there are things I want to change, sections I want to add, especially about using social media as part of your marketing mix.  Clearly this was not on my radar screen five years ago.

But in the spirit of Social Media, I would like to make this next edition a collaborative process.  So periodically, over the next few weeks, or months, (however long this takes,) I am going to post sections of the book.   I hope you will add your comments, suggestions and ideas.   And if I include your content, which in many cases I am sure I will, you will be listed among the collaborators in the forward of the book and on on-line.

Interested?  I hope so!  Here is the first topic – just as a warm up:

If you boil marketing down to one phrase or concept.  What is your most important marketing rule?