Small Business Owners and Self-Employed People Need to Write Down a Marketing Plan

“Good plans shape good decisions. That’s why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.”Lester R. Bittel

When small business owners and self-employed people are asked, it is not unusual for them to acknowledge not having a written marketing plan. Sir Richard Branson is said not to have any marketing plan when he started the 1st Virgin business many years ago.

One study of entrepreneurship reveals that approximately 50% of entrepreneurs and business owners didn’t have a business plan or marketing plan when they first started the business. What was the outcome? Nine out of 10 failed within a year.

Small business owners and self-employed people, when asked about their marketing plans, usually answer as follows: “I don’t have one.” “It’s in my head coz I know the business so well.” Worse: “I don’t know what a marketing plan is.”

WHY DO YOU NEED A MARKETING PLAN?

Well, a marketing plan is a road map that details a route you should take to successfully promote and expand your business. It is critical to the success of a business, in fact, to all businesses! If a small business wants to achieve its potential, a marketing plan must be implemented!

Marketing is more than just ordering business cards or creating a flyer, it’s how you communicate with your current and potential clients. It is important to get your name out in the business community and differentiate your products and services from that of your competitor. If you don’t market your products or services, how will people know that you are a serious business owner or worse, in business? With a marketing plan, you will have a game plan in place.

A marketing plan is an integral and valuable tool for determining the success of your business and the overall direction that your product or service should be taking. It should:

Guide

In marketing, you will think, record, and document all your ideas, products and services offering, price, distribution channel, programs, sales direction, customer segment, and so on. I have experienced whereby I suddenly realized that my business is not going in the right direction because I didn’t follow my marketing plan. Have you experienced that? Or perhaps you suddenly realized that the thing you do know supposed to be done many months ago because you forgot about it? And you forgot because you don’t jot it down and plan for it? This is what I mean that marketing plan as a guide.

Ideas

People said the more you talk about your ideas the more refined it becomes. I think this is true. Did you ever experience when you talk to more people you generated a lot more ideas? When people give you feedback it triggers another dimension of your ideas? If you are, so where do you keep all these ideas? It should be in a marketing plan.

Resource Plan

In marketing, there is only one scarce thing: RESOURCES. Some people have a lot of money but lacked ideas and another group is the other extreme; more ideas and less money. Many of us probably the latter than the former! In the marketing plan, we will tackle things like people to hire, pricing, distribution plan, sales programs budget, and so on.

Strategy

Similar to business strategy, the marketing plan will capture strategies required to support your business strategy. For example, if your business goal is to achieve a 20% increase in sales, your marketing strategy would be to 1) introduce a new product, 2) increase price for premium offerings, 3) recruit more distributors and offer a commission scheme, and so on. A strategy is a king. When you can see your business in totality, I can assure you that you will find it easier to maneuver. A marketing plan is a place to address all these issues.

Risk

In our marketing plan we shouldn’t only concern about making money or positive points, we also should address the risk we are taking. for example, it is common for a marketing plan to capture things like, “require additional staff to handle sales call”, “additional investment from the management budget will increase chances of increasing 10% sales target” and many more. Imagine if you can factor your risk earlier and think through it, wouldn’t it be better for you?

Pricing

I once said in my Marketing Plan Breakthrough that, “Price is the key determinant of your profits”. I stand firm to keep it that way. In your marketing plan, you will address pricing plan for your distributors, customers, multiple segments (some business charge differently – price discrimination), and cost price i.e. your raw materials and things like that. Not many address price correctly and bear in my mind that we need to standby a few pricing plans to respond to the market. Take for example during the festive season, if everyone is lowering the price and slashed their price or even ignited a price war, what do you do about that? Follow suit or wait? If you want to follow, how far? If you want to wait, how long? You capture all this in the pricing plan.

Customer Segment

This is talked about most of the time, but let’s accept the fact that today’s customers are fragmented into smaller niches. Your product and service will not be consumed by only one segment and at critical mass. it is likely to be consumed by smaller segments and multi. No more critical mass, but rather a solid spread of niches. For example, who buys iPods today? If Apple only thinks about yuppies they are making a big mistake because iPod is also used by women and people with an active lifestyle. Another example, who buys from hypermarkets? If hypermarket only focuses on households, they may not survive or be successful like today. Hypermarket main segment is small business restaurant operators that buy in larger quantities compared to households and on daily basis. I’ve been there, I know!

Corrective Plan

A marketing plan is a living document. Trust me, the moment you have it and experience planning your marketing, you will realize this. Therefore, it is a plan that allows you to assess past strategies and results and at the same time allow you to make necessary corrective measures to fit your business growth. for example, who expected the 2008 financial crisis to hit us so badly? No one other than the few so-called “economists” but how did respond to it? Severely. Many businesses closed including many giants. But the good thing is, many have solid marketing and business plans, therefore they make quick corrective actions and moved forward.

Innovation

Once sat in a meeting of project and business updates and suddenly one of the directors said, actually with all that we have now we can be in the medical device market. Viola!!! This medical device company used to service government hospitals and they have all the pieces of equipment. It’s just that they never thought of going direct to the hospitals and take the lion’s share of the business. In that meeting, after going through the company’s yearly updates, this “innovation” came instantaneously and the next year they are pitching about it to the government hospitals directly.

Imagine if you can do all these and manage all these in a marketing plan? Systematic, organized, well thought, innovative, and captured all your pertinent business information, don’t you find having a marketing plan is useful for your business?

Writing Biographies to Get Paid

Helping people to effectively use social media to boost the growth of a business – or start a new one with a small investment – is part of my multi-line online business. For example, aspiring writers and those wanting to write to get paid can enter, with my help, the lucrative business of writing personal, professional, and family biographies.

There is a rich market for biography writing services. Successful business owners and professionals, as well as politicians, can recognize that a family biography can be a great blessing to the living family members and those who come after them. You can get an idea of how a family biography is written by visiting my personal blog at https://www.facebook.com/pirafamily
 
To interested individuals, I explain and demonstrate the effective techniques that my associates and I have been using to easily find clients on social media. We reach and engage prospects with interesting posts and articles. Our primary audience includes my network of over 20,000 friends and first-level connections on Facebook and LinkedIn.
 
We also reach many more prospects thru our other social media sites, such as Social Media Marketing Facebook Group (7,900 members), Online Business Opportunities Facebook Group (5,200 fans), and Academic Research & Writing LinkedIn Group (3,344 members)
 
For one to prosper in an online business, he simply has to apply the effective marketing strategies that my associates and I use. I am also available for coaching, mentoring, and consulting on online business.
 
I started my multi-line online business in 2006 after I experienced working with, and learning from, a South Korean-American who had pioneered in online business, i.e., no physical office, no salaried employees, no official in-person meetings, etc. So far, the business has been flourishing, certainly, with God’s blessings.
 
Do you want to boost your online business – or start another like biography writing – with more chances of success by using the advice and service of a veteran in the business? If yes, let’s chat about it on Messenger, WhatsApp, or whatever is convenient to both of us. To your success.

OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AND EARN FROM AN ONLINE BUSINESS

Here’s brief info for individuals who are looking for a simple way to learn effective marketing strategies and techniques in online business and, at the same time, make money.

A. MARKET TARGET

Owners and principals of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), professionals, and self-employed persons are the primary market target of this business.

B. PRODUCTS/SERVICES

Helping people move up in their businesses or careers is our main business. My teammates and I provide professional ADVICE and SERVICE in these areas:

MARKETING & SELLING

1) Reviewing the past and current marketing performance of the business

2) Preparing the annual marketing plan

3) Planning a sales campaign

4) Preparing social media content and collaterals

5) Training the marketing staff

6) Monitoring marketing performance

7) Recommending corrective measures in case marketing objectives are not achieved

BUSINESS LOANS

8) Assisting owners/principals of small and medium-sized business enterprises in the Philippines to get funding, including non-collateralized loans, from financial institutions. Amount: Php300,000 to 10,000,000.

EDITING & WRITING

9) Research and writing assistance in academic writing projects, such as theses, dissertations, research papers, or journal articles

10) Assistance to write marketing/sales campaign plans, articles, and blogs.

C. UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

The comprehensive and intensive TRAINING I acquired in Marketing and other areas of business operation in various enterprises is the USP of my service offering. My highest academic degree is a doctorate in education.

I occupied management positions in Marketing, Sales, Public Relations, and General Management for a period of 20 years after I earned a college degree in liberal arts.

Thereafter, I became an independent contractor/service practitioner in real estate, education, public service, consumer and industrial goods, etc.

I have a strong ONLINE PRESENCE that is suitable for marketing operations. On Facebook and LinkedIn, I have more than 20,000 friends and first-level connections.

D. MARKETING ASSOCIATES

Freelancers work with me as Marketing Associates (MA). The main task of an MA is to CONNECT me to the people in the niche market that we agreed on. He or she does it by posting relevant info on social media, engaging, and getting the respondents to communicate with me.

E. WHAT AN MA CAN EXPECT

The minimum cost of my professional coaching/mentoring/ consultancy service is USD40 per hour. A related job can cost as much as USD1,000. For referring the client, the MA gets 10% of the income the business receives.

This business affiliation trains the MA on the application of best practices in social media marketing. He or she can use the skills to market his or her own product/service and those of his or her future clients. Actually, MAs are learners today as I was more than 15 years ago.

P.S. My partners and I hardly do anything to look for clients. Potential clients find us as a result of our noteworthy online activities. Eventually, you will get to this situation, too, i.e., gain or exceed our stature and earning capacity, if you start working with, and learning from, us today.

Write a Marketing Plan for Your Business

To everyone in business, a very important piece of advice is WRITE A MARKETING PLAN. This is one of the measures recommended in an article from the Paypal editorial staff titled ‘How to get set for online success in 2021’.  Without it, you’re like someone traveling to a new location without a road map.

Investopedia says “the marketing plan details the strategy that a company will use to market its products to customers. It identifies the target market, the value proposition of the brand or the product, the campaigns to be initiated, and the metrics to be used to assess the effectiveness of marketing initiatives.”

Furthermore, “the marketing plan should be adjusted on an ongoing basis based on the findings from the metrics that show which efforts are having an impact and which are not.”

A complete marketing plan would have these sections: Target Customers, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), Pricing & Positioning Strategy, Distribution Plan, Special Deals, Collateral Materials, Promotions Strategy, Online Marketing Strategy (including Social Media Strategy), Conversion Strategy, Joint Ventures & Partnerships, Referral Strategy, Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices, Retention Strategy, and Financial Projections.

Dave Lavinsky, in a Forbes.com article, writes that “completing each of the 15 sections of your marketing plan is real work. But, once your marketing plan is complete, it will be worth it, as your sales and profits should soar.”

If you don’t write a marketing plan, chances are you’ll remain eating the dust left behind by your competitors who have sound marketing plans. Don’t let this happen to you.

Get a knowledgeable marketing man to write (or review and, if necessary, rewrite) your current marketing plan. You may also contact me for a free consultation.

Academic and Business Writing Group on LinkedIn Continues to Grow

This group serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas on academic and business writing. Group members can get from other members various kinds of help to enable them to complete their writing projects with less difficulty. The help can be in every possible form such as advice, suggestion, or even just a word of encouragement.

 As of this writing, the group has 3,521 members with 126 of them active during the past 7 days. I manage a similar group on Facebook.

 Academic writing is writing which communicates ideas, information and research to the wider academic community. It can be divided into two types: student academic writing, which is used as a form of assessment at university, as well as at schools as preparation for university study; and expert academic writing, which is writing that is intended for publication in an academic journal or book. (From eapfoundation.com/writing/what)

 Business writing is a professional communication tool (also known as business communication or professional writing), which corporations and other professional entities use to communicate with either an internal or external audience. It includes memorandums, reports, proposals, emails, and a variety of other business-related written materials are all forms of business writing (Richard Nordquist).

 POST VIEWS

 What makes me feel good is the number of views that my posts got last week, including the following:  

 1.     A video titled Maging Matapang Ka Para Sa Bayan that I had posted got 132 views in 7 days

 2.     Someone else’s post read: “A hungry stomach, an empty pocket, and a broken heart teach you most valuable lessons of life.” The comment I had submitted received 128 views in 7 days: In such a situation, one would know what to do after reading these biblical verses:

 Psalm 34:10: The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

 Matthew 6:31-32: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

 Philippians 4:19: And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

 3.     “The presence of good and bad bosses is a reality in life” was another post which caught my attention. My commented, “In many cases, a bad boss is a reason for a person to seek and work harder to be in a better situation” generated 99 views in 6 days.

 SOCIAL MEDIA GROUPS

 People love to hold discussions with one another and do it frequently on social media groups. Both the creators/owners of such group enjoy many benefits. My marketing strategy includes using social media groups. Examples: Academic & Business Writing on LinkedIn, 3,521 members; Social Media Marketing on Facebook, 8,332 members; and Philippine Furniture & Art on Facebook, 772 members.

NOTE

I’m very happy that my newsletter is getting the interest of an increasing number of friends and connections. Last week’s edition had 900 views and the number count of subscribers reached 1,772.

Social media has been an asset to the multi-line business I started 18 years ago. If you wish to know more about it and find out if I can help you in your career or business by providing you with my insights and experiences in online business, send a private message.

A Means for Me to Keep in Constant Touch with You

During the last 7 days, I managed to continue my social engagement without difficulty. I made all the efforts to keep in constant contact with clients, prospects, and other people with whom I could share social network-related insights and experiences for our mutual benefit.

POSTS I SHARED

1.  PROFESSIONAL NETWORK A professional network is a group of people who have connected with one another for career or business-related reasons. Members, who are called contacts or connections, can share information which may include, but is not limited to, job leads. My network includes 15,291 first-level connections on LinkedIn.

 2.  ACADEMIC WRITING Anyone planning to write a dissertation, a thesis, or some type of academic writing may contact me for ideas about selecting a topic, gathering related literature, and preparing a thesis proposal.

3.  MARKETING STRATEGY Success may be eluding you in your business if you haven’t defined your target audience, used a convincing sales proposition, and delivered the right message to your prospects. With the right marketing tactics in place, you strengthen your marketing efforts to win more customers in your market niche.

4.  PERSONAL or PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Many people spend lots of money to buy gadgets and personal accessories but hardly set aside money to buy books, attend paid seminars, and/or get professional mentoring or coaching.

5.  THESIS TOPIC A good thesis topic is a general idea that is in need of development, verification, or refutation. Research has been done on the topic, but there exist new aspects to be explored or more to be discovered.

ONLINE PRESENCE

The number count of my Facebook friends is close to the allowable limit of 5,000 friends. It is complemented by members of GROUPS and fans of PAGES that I created and still manage, including Social Media Marketing (8,207 members) and Online Business Opportunities (liked by 5,265 people and followed by 15,437)

On LinkedIn, Academic & Business Writing Group has 3,490 members. A similar group on Facebook has 423 members.

NOTE

You’re welcome to interact with me on the above-mentioned topics. No cost or obligation without a prior agreement.

Children should consider having their family history written

This can be a great blessing to the living family members and those who come after them. The readers of the history can learn from the events, thoughts, and growth in the lives of the subject family members, even from those things that may otherwise seem trivial.

Among the strong reasons to create a family history are the following:

• People want to know who the subject family members are and where they come from.
• A family history can help the living family members gain knowledge and appreciation for those who have gone before them, where and how they lived, why they made the choices they made, and how they shaped the family’s future.
• It will help the living family members gain greater understanding of themselves and how they fit in the overall picture of their family.
• It will help preserve family stories for future generations.

The usual sources of family history information are living relatives of the subjects, who may remember events in the lives of people in the history as well as friends, neighbors, work associates, or others who might have known something about them.

In addition, the book touches on the geographic area where the subjects lived and about the weather, politics, world and community events that had a direct effect on them. Also included are details of illnesses and cause of death.

ProficiencyPlus assists and trains persons who wish to write family histories or biographies for their own families or others. Send a message to grpira@gmail or WhatsApp +63 916 299 0625.

How To Market Your Product Successfully

This is a customized/personalized training program from which a participant will learn effective methods to REACH, ENGAGE, and CONVERT prospects on social media.

It is recommended to those who are marketing durable products and services, such as home and office furniture, paintings, real estate, financial services, writing, etc. Training covers 3 main areas:

1) Identifying and understanding motivations of the market target

2) Determining the unique selling proposition of your product based on the value that customers realize from it

3) Using proven social selling methods and tactics to deliver your selling message.

The course takes up to 6 weeks. The first part is a WORKSHOP consisting of 3 sessions, each for 30 to 40 minutes. The participant takes these sessions within 10 days. The participant will do assigned work after each session. By the end of the workshop, the participant will have prepared, under the guidance of the workshop facilitator, a marketing plan covering at least 6 months.

The second part consists of a 30-minute CONSULTING/COACHING session for each of the first 4 weeks of the implementation of the marketing plan. At the start of the marketing campaign, the participant will have prepared an attractive social media profile, started to make new connections, and ready to publish his first posts to build his brand and attract potential clients.

With the marketing plan developed in the workshop, the participant can expect to produce the planned SALES RESULTS and make money within the planned campaign period.

Take this online workshop to boost sales and earn more in your business. For info about cost and other details, send your name, location, and contact info to gerrypira@gmail.com or WhatsApp +639162990625.

What’s Developing #2

Here is an update on a few things in my work list. If any of these is interesting or has value to you, let me know and we’ll cooperate for mutual benefit.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS

These can help you and me with a variety of things like finding business/sales prospects, locating assistance, making or receiving advice, seeking a new job. On FACEBOOK, these connections are our friends/fans and on LINKEDIN, first-level connections.

Are you finding it hard to get prospects? If yes, let me help. You might be able to find your needs in my prospect database, which includes over 15,000 complete names, each with info details such as location, business/work, position, email address, and phone number.

FACEBOOK PAGES

If you don’t have a Facebook Page, you’re leaving money on the table. Businesses use Pages to share contact information, post updates, share content, promote events and releases, and — perhaps most importantly — connect with their Facebook audiences. It’s a FREE WAY to market your business. My dominant Facebook Page (Online Business Opportunities at web.facebook.com/newpursuit) has 5.3k likes.

FACEBOOK GROUPS

Facebook groups are a powerful marketing tool, helping you attract NEW CUSTOMERS and engage current ones with exclusive content, community, and support. Participating actively in social media groups is productive, but you get more benefits by creating and maintaining your own Facebook Groups. Check my groups such as Social Media Marketing at web.facebook.com/groups/pirag has 5,576 members and Philippine Furniture & Art at web.facebook.com/groups/1734541673449608 has 615 members.

ACADEMIC WRITING

A new contact said she was taking her Ph.D. and in need of help in her writing projects. I wrote back: “I can help in all phases of the writing, including the preparation of the dissertation proposal, gathering related literature, writing the entire manuscript, coaching for the oral presentation, and the finalization of the approved manuscript.” That’s my message to whoever needs writing assistance.

I receive such inquiries in my Thesis & Dissertation Writing Group, which I created in 2010 on another social media platform. Today, that group has 3,141 members. Receiving such inquiries is one of the benefits a social media group owner enjoys.

You may ask me for more information about that other social media platform and ways to use it for marketing/business purposes. Today, that site has almost 740 million members with over 55 million registered companies.

NEW CONTACTS

I get new contacts frequently. Last week, one asked me to give him a salaried job and two asked for sales referrals. Without checking my profile, another wrote, “Sir if you are interested in weight gain weight loss or maintain your diet healthy so I personally recommend you natural things.”

A message from another new contact: “I faced problems to get payment from direct customers.” “I also have great skills in writing assignments of business deprtments such as eassy, reports, business plan and so on..”

One other new contact also wrote me: “I am a freelancer since 4years but I am trying to find better avenues.” My reply: “By yourself, it’s difficult. Get a social media marketing coach to help you.”

Yes, I’m wracking my brains for what to do to help these people.

NOTA BENE

I welcome opportunities of working in close cooperation with friends like you on matters related to Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Writing – for our mutual benefit.

WHAT’S DEVELOPING #1

This is the title of a series of posts I’m starting today. It summarizes a few things I’m handling from day-to-day. If any of these is interesting or has value to you, let me know and we’ll see how we can cooperate to handle it for mutual benefit.

FUNDING FOR BUSINESS ENTERPRISES

Non-collateral loans are now a part of my conversations with business owners and managers. I assist them to apply for this type of loans, which they can use for bridge financing, additional working capital, or business expansion. Loan amounts: PHP300T to PHP10M payable within 3 to 12 months. Loan application can be done online. Processing takes up to 7 business days from the receipt of complete application documents. You can refer to me people who need money for business purposes.

AUTHORING A BOOK

This is the topic that a long-time friend of mine and I have started to talk about. He’s writing a book on an historic event in our country. I suggested him to consider the following: Is the book an historical account or just his point of view/opinion on the event? Who are his target readers, and what is their position as regards the subject of his book? What is its central message to the readers? What does he want to accomplish in monetary and non-monetary terms? What’s his budget?

BUSINESS NETWORKING

Last Saturday, I attended for the first time the weekly Zoom meeting of Virtual Networking Global 2 upon the invitation of Joey P. Reyes, one of my close friends and business associates. I plan to attend regularly to meet people and network with other entrepreneurs.

SHIPYARD TO BUY

Shipbuilding in the Philippines is active as it has a demand for smaller vessels in the domestic market. The country is also an exporter of large, commercial ships for the international market. As published recently by a newspaper, a French company has pledged P1.5 billion in investments for a shipyard project in the Philippines. At my end, a client of a friend of mine is looking to buy a shipyard with at least 50 hectares.