Why is a Marketing Plan so Important?

You may wonder why it is so important to have a marketing plan and why it is crucial for a new business. Well, a marketing plan is strategic. By writing down your marketing strategies ahead of time, it will help your business run more smoothly. A marketing plan also helps you stay focused. A plan helps you to stay organized and on track. The marketing is more likely to get done on your time schedule and you will not have to spend time brainstorming because you will already have a whole plan on paper or stored in the computer. This marketing plan will also assist with goal setting and reaching. If you have everything mapped out you can focus on getting to the destination.

The Importance & Value of Business Networking

Networking is key to any small business success. Also, networking builds self awareness by allowing you to develop a verbal presentation of you values, beliefs, and professional experiences. Another reason networking is crucial is because it helps refine interpersonal communication skills by contacting diverse group of professionals. Networking events are a great opportunity to find professional inspiration. It also helps to discover new and developing industries that may align with your skill set. Bottom line, networking is the key to connecting and flourishing in the business world. It helps to build relationships, grow, and influence others.
   

Propaganda by Edward Bernays

This week, our recommended reading for class was Propaganda, by Edward Bernays, since we are are learning about public relations. Edward Bernays is supposedly the father of public relations. In the book, he describes what propaganda is and how it is applied to society. It is an explanation on how an elite class run the world through the change of public opinion using propaganda as a tool. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. It is a must read in the entrepreneurial world! I highly suggest it.

Different Channels of Online Marketing

There are many different ways you can market online. There are different approaches for everyone to take, you just have to find the one that best suits your business or even use them all! One of the best ways to online market is to search engine optimize, which is the way to enhancing rankings of a website in the unpaid organic search list. Another option is to pay per click which is an effective way by being the speediest form of online marketing by driving targeted traffic to your web page. Email is also a great source for online marketing because it is used as a bridge between the highest point business and other sales. Video marketing is another great option due to videos being amazingly social, and brilliant when it comes down to advertising perspectives. Also, blogging is a huge online advertising source because it can have recordings, podcast, articles, and ect promoting anything related to the topic.

Evaluating Business Opportunities

When evaluating new business opportunities you have to keep a lot of things in mind. Relationships are a key thing to evaluate before taking on new business. Having existing relationships with necessary customers, partners, hires, and investors can save you a lot of time, and reduce costs and risks. Access to costumers is another key component to check in on. If you have have existing relationships or easy access to costumers, then you can get feedback about your product much easier. Seeing if you have enough passion for the potential opportunity is something very important that you have to ask yourself because starting a new business can be challenging and is very time consuming. While evaluating yourself, also make sure you have the skill set required and can recruit a team who also does. If the skill set required to execute the business plays are demonstrated throughout the team, execution risk should be less. Another thing to verify within yourself is the ability to validate by seeing how confidant you can be. The ability to draw cash flow is another thing that has to be evaluated because financing is invested by the founders at first. Also, see what the size of the market is and how large of an opportunity it is. Make sure your team and company would be diverse. See what the quantity of work to be done is and then verify you are qualified to complete the tasks.

Choosing a Small Business Location

When looking for places to start a small business you have many things to consider. One very important thing is to see if your suppliers or distributors are close in proximity. Another key thing to consider is if there are a known group of people that would eagerly accept the products you are supplying. Also, figure out who your target market is and aim for your location to be in the heart of that community. Something else to think about when picking your small business location is if there are other businesses in the ares that compliment yours. Make sure when you do find a dream location, that it is within your price range and meets the needs of business. Last, but certainly not least, be sure you are in a location that is always a growing business hub with many opportunities in the near future.

Entrepreneurial Pricing

Entrepreneurial pricing is a great thing you will want to implement into your business. There is a process that comes with entrepreneurial pricing that helps shapes businesses. Being innovative, proactive, and giving risk assumptions are the bases that are covered int he process. You also discover and develop a business plan, then recourse, manage, and harvest it. Something else the process provides is a checklist for managers to determine the extent of entrepreneurial pricing. Without entrepreneurial pricing, the road can lead to stagnation or demise so it is very import it that you plan and execute the process to make sure it is in your business plan.