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by Kelly K. O'Neil
Award-Winning Business & Marketing Coach
Top grossing entrepreneurs are those who are highly effective at integrating all aspects of their business—from customer service and administration to business strategies and marketing activities. Of all the necessary elements of a successful business, marketing may stand heads above the others, because it needs to be consistent. Whether sales are up or sales are down, marketing must go on.
The primary definition of marketing includes the wide range of activities involved in making sure you continue to meet the needs of your customers and get value in return. These actions may include market research to find out your specific target market, such as which groups of potential customers exist, what their needs are, which of those needs you can meet, and how you should meet them. Marketing also includes analyzing the competition, positioning your product or service (finding your market niche), pricing your products and services, and marketing them through continued advertising, promotions, public relations, sales, and follow up.
The 5 secret "P"s of the marketing mix form the core of your marketing strategy and activities:
- Product — What are you selling? What are the features of your product or service? What are the key benefits? Who decides when your product or service is ready to be released to the marketplace? Who is your target client? Knowing your product and service thoroughly is essential to being able to market it to your prospects. Get completely clear about what you are offering, to whom, why they need it, and how it answers your prospects needs or problems.
- Price — How do you determine a price for your product or service? What are your overhead expenses? What are your production costs? What is your competition charging? What would be a fair price in the marketplace? Determine the right price so your clients will buy and you will profit. Check your net earnings over time and make price adjustments as necessary.
- Placement — How do you sell your product? What sales and distribution channels do you use? What's your sales process?
- Promotion — How do you promote your product or service? How do you create and promote your brand? Promotion keeps the product in the minds of the customer and helps stimulate demand for the product. Activities include speaking, newsletters, press releases, exhibiting at trade shows, and providing "special" promotions including giveaway products or special campaigns.
- Positioning — How is your product or service perceived in your market vs. the competition? How are you differentiating yourself? Have you formulated a positioning statement to use in all your promotions and marketing activities? A clear positioning statement must precede and promotional efforts as it is the cornerstone of all company communications. A well-crafted positioning statement defines your company's direction and expresses how you wish to be perceived. It will be the core message you will deliver in every medium to create clarity, consistency, and continuity in the way your organization presents itself to the market.
Marketing is especially challenging in the service profession where your product is "intangible." Therefore it is particularly crucial to establish a relationship with your customers and communicate clearly and consistently the value your services offer to them using the 5 "P"s.
Although people generally know what they want, few people actually know what they need. What the 5 "P" marketing mix can do for you and your business is help establish a need, build credibility, and ultimately drive sales and build profits.
© Kelly O'Neil 2006
 About the Author
Kelly K. O'Neil, Chief Strategy Officer, UpLevel Strategies
Business & Marketing guru Kelly O'Neil is passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed in business through her Business Mastery Success System™. She is the lead author of "Visionary Women Inspiring the World: 12 Paths to Personal Power" (Skyward, 2005) and is writing her second book Guerilla Business Strategy with mega-marketing genius Jay Conrad Levinson. Kelly's company received several awards for her exceptional work including the PR Compass award for outstanding Public Relations, The ADDY Award for Branding and recently received the Purple Cow Award acknowledging her company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in America by best-selling author Seth Godin.
For more information, or to subscribe to O'Neil's Arrive! E-newsletter filled with countless tips and resources for creating more profit in your business, visit www.uplevelstrategies.com. Please contact UpLevel Strategies at (408) 615-8150 for a Complimentary 30 Minute Strategy Session.
If you want to UpLevel your marketing effort, consider hiring the experts. The UpLevel Agency offers small businesses and emerging company's award-winning, full service marketing and promotion campaigns to create big business results on a small business budget. To learn more, please contact Julie Scoppazi at Julie@uplevelagency.com or 866.615.8150.
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to info@uplevelstrategies.com.
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