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Brainy Tidbits - Issue #37: Target Market
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MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits
The ezine with brainy ideas & resources
for marketers & small businesses
This newsletter brought to you each Tuesday by
Lois Carter Fay & The Marketing Idea Shop
http://www.marketingideashop.com
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com
Issue 37 - February 10, 2004
Reading time: 10 minutes
Circulation: 1367
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PLEASE FORWARD ~~~ WITHOUT CUTTING ~~~
to anyone who can use a few timely marketing
and creativity tips to improve their business.
Welcome to all our new subscribers!
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NEW! Special Report #3: Getting Creative: Methods to Your
Madness. See #2 below.
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. 5 Steps to Targeting Your Message
2. Creativity and Sleep
3. Quote of the Week
4. Guerrilla Marketing Teleseminar Coming
5. Steal This Idea: Research
6. Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers
7. A Little Marketing Fun
8. Smell the Coffee
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1. 5 Steps to Targeting Your Marketing Message
To win at the game of business, a company needs a good
plan. It can be done in-house, with a marketing
consultant, or with a marketing firm. Here are five steps
to developing and implementing a good marketing message:
--> Determine your company's strengths and weaknesses.
Before you can tell others who you are and what you do, you
need to know about yourself. Gather your employees together
and brainstorm a list of your company's strengths and
weaknesses. Write everything down that is said and wait to
evaluate it until you have exhausted all of the ideas.
Next, review each item on the list and decide if you should
keep it or eliminate it. It's likely you will find several
that can be combined so that you end up with a relatively
short list of strengths and weaknesses.
You can also develop a short survey and ask your customers
and vendors what they think your strengths and weaknesses
are. Their answers may surprise you!
--> Research your target market/customer.
Next, analyze your sales from the past three years. What
products or services are most profitable for you? Who are
your customers? What can you conclude about them? How are
they similar? Based on your profitability evaluation,
should you be targeting a certain type of customer, or
changing your current strategies? How do these customers
make their buying decisions? How can you influence those
decisions?
--> Investigate your competitors.
Who are your main competitors? When you lose a sale, why
does this happen? Which competitor generally makes the
sale? What is better about your competitors' products and
services? Why do your prospects choose a competitor instead
of you? What are the annual sales figures for your
competitors? What do they spend on their advertising and
marketing efforts? (Your industry periodicals and
associations can help you determine this.)
--> Differentiate yourself.
How are you better than your competitors? What is different
about your company? Is your product or service a higher
quality than your competitors'? Is it less expensive? Do
you have better customer service? Does your product last
longer? Require fewer repairs? Why do your customers choose
you?
--> Create a marketing plan and execute it.
Now that you know who you are, who your competitors are and
how you are better than them, you can create a roadmap to
follow: a marketing plan for your company. Remember to
include measurable short- and long-term goals, specific
strategies, and appropriate tactics to reach your goals.
Then, put your plan into action and evaluate the results,
making adjustments as required.
Create your own path to success! There's never a better
time than now to write your marketing plan. In my ebook,
MARKETING PLAN ESSENTIALS: ONLINE & OFF, you'll find tons
of questions to spark your creativity, help you identify
your target market, and prompt you to develop a
hard-hitting marketing plan. To read more about what you'll
learn, or buy the ebook and be reading it in just minutes,
visit:
MarketingEssentials.htm
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2. Creativity and Sleep
by Joyce Wycoff
Did you get enough sleep last night? If not, you may be
short circuiting your creativity. And if you didn't sleep
on a problem, you missed a golden opportunity.
Scientists at the University of Luebeck in Germany devised
a simple numerical problem to test the ability of
participants to recognize a new way of solving the problem.
The interesting result was not just that sleep was
important...but that it was more than twice as effective to
"sleep on" the problem.
People who tackled the problem in the evening and returned
refreshed after eight hours' sleep were more than twice as
likely to spot the shortcut as those who had stayed awake.
Another group who tried the problem first in the morning,
and then spent a normal eight hours of the day awake, were
just as bad at spotting the trick as those who had stayed
awake all night.
The researchers believe that the reason for the improved
performance of the group that slept on the problem is that
our brains restructure our memories as we are sleeping, in
effect priming us for the solution when we awaken. Of
course, "sleep has long been thought to improve creativity.
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards said the riff in
'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' came to him in his sleep,
while the 19th-century chemist Dmitri Mendeleev literally
dreamed up the periodic table of elements," states AP
science writer, William McCall.
In case you're wondering why creativity is at such a
premium, studies have shown that 70 million Americans are
sleep-deprived. Maybe it's time for a nap-couch in every
office...for those 30-minute power naps.
Reprinted with permission from InnovationNetwork,
http://thinksmart.com
*******************
If you have ever struggled to come up with a solution to a
problem in your business or personal life and been stalled
at the gate, you'll want to pick up a copy of Marketing
Idea Shop's newest special report, "Getting Creative:
Methods to Your Madness." It is jam-packed with ideas to
jump start your creativity.
You'll learn how to use the Creative Whack Pack® to solve
your marketing problems, how to create a mind map to
generate a picture of your solutions and a path to success,
how to brainstorm alone or in a group to get lots of
creative ideas, and many other ways to come up with not one
but many ways to solve your problem.
This 11-page report contains 11 links to more creativity
resources...most of them F~REE. Buy "Special Report #3:
Getting Creative: Methods to Your Madness" today for just
$9. You can download it and be reading it in just minutes.
Here's the link to buy:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=41484&ProductID=1692862
Or if the link is broken, use this:
http://tinyurl.com/3yy2d
Or call me at 800-203-8660 to order offline.
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3. Quote of the Week
"I believe in being kind. I hope you do, too. February
9-15, 2004 is Random Acts of Kindness Week. Make us proud
of you. Please do something kind today."
~~Lois Carter Fay
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4. Guerrilla Marketing Teleseminar Coming
by Marcia Yudkin
Everyone wants to be treated as one of a kind, says Jay
Conrad Levinson, who has edified readers in 39 languages
with his "Guerrilla Marketing" series of books. "It is
quite difficult but crucial," he says, "to create a human
bond with customers," instead of treating them as instances
of the demographic groups to which they belong.
For marketers, this means keeping generalizations about
your customer base, however solid, to yourself. Never write
or say when answering questions or responding to a
complaint, "Our typical customer feels such-and-such" or
"Everyone else likes this feature." That's irrelevant and
sometimes even insulting to the one who doesn't.
It means developing a voice for your marketing that makes
you real, while still professional, to your customers, so
that they in turn respond as the individuals they are.
It means making personal gestures that show customers
they're more than entries on a balance sheet. For
Levinson, FedEx's competitive edge comes from the fact that
the FedEx driver gives his dog a biscuit.
"The stronger the human bond, the stronger the business
bond," says Levinson.
Reprinted with permission from Marcia Yudkin's, "The
Marketing Minute."
*******************
HEAR JAY LEVINSON LIVE: To establish his worldwide
reputation, Jay Conrad Levinson must have worked himself to
the bone, right? Not at all. Since the 1970s, this gifted
writer and marketer has worked only three days a week.
Hear his secrets of selecting the right projects to work
on, delegating wisely, structuring time and achieving
excellence but not perfection, in a one-hour telephone
seminar at 4 p.m. Eastern time, February 19, 2004.
Admission: $49. The live session is limited to 100, so
register now! For more information or to register, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/2ztpa
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5. Steal This Idea: Marketing Tip #24--Research
Primary vs. Secondary Research
by Robert Grede
There are two different types of research you need to
understand your customers: Primary and Secondary.
Primary research is research you do yourself; secondary
research is research conducted by others.
Primary research consists of surveys and focus groups,
interviews and case studies. Laborious, time consuming and
often expensive.
Secondary research is easier and cheaper. Industry trade
groups and trade magazines offer heaps of information on
your industry, such as buying and selling habits, peak
selling months, or a geographical breakdown of the highest
consumption areas for various product categories. Trade
magazines may even publish lists of the sales people,
manufacturers' representatives, and wholesale distributors
for your industry. Just ask.
©2004 by Robert Grede. Robert Grede is the author of NAKED
MARKETING - THE BARE ESSENTIALS (Prentice Hall) and an
acclaimed speaker. To find out more:
http://www.thegredecompany.com
or order his book through
Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735201129/ref=nosim/marketingidea-20
or http://tinyurl.com/yrhzl
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6. Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers
--> Amazon: 2 for the Price of 1
Here's a special deal from Amazon on Shel Horowitz's
marketing books. Those of you who joined my list before
September may remember Shel Horowitz and his successful
one-day "virtual book-signing" for his new book,
"Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First." Now
Amazon is offering quite a deal if you buy that one
together with his practical low-cost marketing how-to book,
"Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World."
Visit the link below and then scroll down a bit to "better
together," and you can get both these
wonderful books for $28.32 including domestic shipping.
Considering that Shel sells "Grassroots" for $28.45
including domestic shipping, it's like getting "Principled
Profit" as a no-cost bonus. How do they do it?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961466669/ref=nosim/marketingidea-20
Or if the link is broken, use this:
http://tinyurl.com/36mxl
--> Tom Antion's Butt Camp: Only 1 Session Left
There's still time to learn how to make big money sitting
on your butt in front of the computer, just like Tom
Antion. His "Electronic Marketing Butt Camp" is a one-day
Internet marketing seminar that is scheduled just once more
in the first quarter. Tom's one of the few out there making
a bundle on the Net and considered by many to be an
Internet guru. I've seen his checking account statement,
and he's the real thing--more than $40,000 deposited in
just one month, almost all from the Internet. And you have
the opportunity to get in on it. I attended Tom's three-day
Internet Marketing Retreat and it's the best investment
I've ever made in my business. This program is MUCH LESS
expensive and less time-intensive, so go for it! If you
can't attend, buy the tapes. They're great.
Read more about the program and sign up here:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?AFID=97748&u=antion.com/buttcamp.htm
Or if the link is broken, use this:
http://tinyurl.com/27p2k
--> *** BRAND-NEW Version 2004 JUST RELEASED! ***
JUST RELEASED: VERSION 2004 of Corey Rudl's best-selling
"Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the
Internet"
... With 1,000+ pages of up-to-the-minute research, test
results, examples, case studies, and the newest and hottest
strategies for marketing your business on the Internet. In
10 easy-to-follow steps, with 61 comprehensive lessons, you
get:
**> Step-by-step advice you can use to start your very own
Internet business in as little as 48 hours.
**> How to build a top-selling web site... for LESS than
$100!
**> Where to find hot products (in 20 minutes or less!)
that you can start selling TODAY.
**> 100s of FREE and cheap online tools, resources, and
software to automate your site (and save at least 35 hours
a week).
**> How to get #1 rankings in the search engines and get
tons of F~REE traffic from the "Big Guys" like Google.
**> Secrets to writing sales copy that increases sales by
400% (or MORE) -- immediately.
**> Get 1,000s of NEW visitors to your web site... F~REE.
... And this is just the tip of the iceberg! Check it out
at:
http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/808772
...you'll be glad you did.
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7. A Little Marketing Fun
One day, shortly after Suzie and Jeff got married, Jeff
came into the kitchen to find his new bride preparing a ham
to go in the oven. Suzie took the ham and cut off both ends
and then put it in the baking pan. "Why did you do that?"
asked her surprised husband.
"That's the way Mom taught me to do it," she replied. But
since she didn't really know why she was supposed to be
doing it, they decided to ask her mom the next time they
saw her. When they asked Mom why she told Suzie to cut off
both ends of the ham before baking it, her mother replied,
"That's the way Grandma taught me to do it." Since no one
knew exactly why they were supposed to do this, they
decided to ask Grandma.
"Grandma, you taught Mom and Mom taught me to cut off both
ends of the ham before baking it. Why do you do it that
way?" Suzie asked.
"To fit the pan," replied Grandma.
Don't get caught up in always doing things as they have
always been done! It may be time to think of a new way to
do it! Special Report #3: Getting Creative: Methods to Your
Madness will help you generate LOTS of new ideas. Pick it
up here for just $9:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=41484&ProductID=1692862
Or if the link is broken, use this:
http://tinyurl.com/3yy2d
Help get better jokes here...please send me your marketing,
PR or sales jokes. I'll be happy to give you credit and
list your website! Email me:
mailto:lcf@marketingideashop.com?subject=marketing_joke
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8. Smell the Coffee...
It's been a busy week. Our grandchild, Madeline Rose,
turned one year old yesterday. Papaw Don flew up to Battle
Creek, Michigan for the weekend to celebrate the happy
day.
Our youngest, Nessa, went to Florida last Tuesday on a
school trip and returned safely late Saturday night. She
had a fun time. The weather here was terrible all last week
so Nessa didn't even miss much school.
"Snow Days" helped ease the pain for her sister, Roni, who
has never been to Florida. It was fun to have only one
child home for the weekend. I took Roni to Red Lobster for
dinner on Friday night, and we both enjoyed it. Then we
watched the marathon movie, "Gone With The Wind."
I also found time to finish the book I was reading, "Prey"
by Michael Crichton. Wow! What a compelling book. Even
though I have worked with a lot of technology companies, I
wasn't very knowledgeable about nanotechnology. This book
made nanotechnology not only understandable, but
fascinating.
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MORE PRODUCTS
I encourage you to visit the Marketing Idea Shop website
for lots more information. Plus, you'll find a lovely
picture of me there! There are f~ree articles, past copies
of Brainy Tidbits, resources, ebooks and special reports.
Remember, we are constantly adding new products to our
store. To learn more, visit:
http://www.marketingideashop.com
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THE FINE PRINT
THANK YOU!
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Reprinted from "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits," a F~REE
ezine from Marketing Idea Shop and Lois Carter Fay
featuring brainy ideas and resources for marketers and
small businesses. Subscribe today at
http://www.marketingideashop.com and receive
F~REE by
email "67 Ways to Promote Your Business."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Published by:
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Founder, Marketing Idea Shop
and President, Strategic Business Partners
Lois Carter Fay is a writing and marketing expert with a
bunch of gray hairs (no, not from worrying...it's just what
comes with experience). Strategic Business Partners is a
marketing consulting firm with ideas and strategies to grow
your business. Marketing Idea Shop is an online resource
for marketers and small businesses with lots of brainy
marketing ideas for you.
411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, VA USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660
lcf@marketingideashop.com
http://www.marketingideashop.com
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