I’m hoping you have your niche market defined and your SWOT analysis complete, because now the fun really begins.
Creating a marketing plan
A very easy and fun definition of a marketing plan is “painting a big picture of what you are going to sell, who you are going to sell it to, where and how you plan on selling, and how much you are going to make.”
You are in business, which means making a profit is your goal. Typically in Direct Sales, it is making a profit selling a product to satisfied customers, by fulfilling a desire, want, need or solving a problem they have. How fulfilling is that? I enjoy hearing a huge Thank You from people who have just paid me for my product! I smile and think, “NO, THANK YOU! I get to help you and make money, life is good.”
Now you can take all the information you have gathered and use it to craft a specific marketing plan. I suggest compiling a minimum of one year.
Mark the season that particular products sell well without much help. Only you know that, but checking with others in your business can shed some light on the seasons that sales are great.
Mark specific times or events you want to highlight in your plan, such as trade shows, expos, Open Houses, Holiday parties, any one or two-time event you will put extra focus on.
If you hold home shows, now it the time to commit to how many and often you will hold shows. Now you can book shows into the times set aside. No over-booking, overcrowded schedules or under crowded schedules, and it looks professional to have your openings ready to show potential hostesses.
Now is also the perfect time to brainstorm about how to get exposure for your product, you, or your business. If you sell something a bride would want, maybe your local bridal show would be a good place to have a booth. You can talk to others in your business and go in together on the cost and booth coverage.
Where do your customers hang out? Where do they go and what activities do they do? Where do they work? The answers will be in your niche market customer profile. You want to know where you can reach your target customers. Build your marketing plan around the answers to these questions. For example, if one of the hobbies that your market has is cooking, figure out where you will meet cooks, and be there!
Use the productivity goals you set (more about this in a future blog article) to determine your schedule. If you want to create $5000 a month, than you know you will need $1250 a week or $179 daily average.
Let this process be fun, add activities you want to do that also support your business! Be creative in thinking up ways to get your product message out there. Brainstorm with others in your business, interview successful leaders in your company about the most outrageous marketing they have done, listen to experts in the field for their ideas. This can be one of the most fun parts of having your own business!
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
