What Marketing Plan? Budget... what budget?

[Warren Cottis]

It's always interesting when I take an enquiry for this internet marketing platform or that internet marketing platform and I ask "what's your budget?" Some times the answer is "we don't have a budget just give us a price".

I then politely explain that we don't flog websites we are more interested in working with our clients to build their businesses using internet marketing platforms.

Which leads me into this extract from my latest ezine and it's how I see things from my side of the fence...


"Peter Drucker said the purpose of a business is to generate new customers... and there are only two functions in a business that achieve that... marketing & innovation... and every other function is an expense.

So why do most small to medium size businesses have no marketing plan or marketing budget? And for the bulk of those that do... why does the plan look like a dartboard?

Unfortunately... because most small to medium size business owners don’t realise that they are really in the business of marketing. Their marketing dilemma is that they suffer from “marketing idea of the week” syndrome instead of implementing a systematic approach to the problem of small business marketing.

Maybe they perceive the concept of marketing as some “smoke and mirrors” process? This could not be further from the truth because every marketing endeavour must be measurable or you are flushing money down the toilet.

Overall your Marketing Plan has one single objective... “Getting people who have a specific need or problem to know, like, trust and do business with you AND to refer you to others who have this same need or problem” – John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

There are plenty of free Marketing Plan templates available on the internet and they will talk about overwhelming things like Executive Summaries, SWOT, Objectives etc but the key structural elements you need are:

Identify your marketing activities and set a budget for each of them.
Your plan needs to be easily shared with key people inside and outside your business.
You need to delegate the tasks and responsibilities for implementing the plan.
You must be able to monitor progress and results regularly.

Now... commit to your Marketing with a Plan, Budget and Calendar. It’s Essential!"

[Tracey Anne]

This is a timely post for me Warren. My business is still new, and I'm wrestling with the 'don't want to keep spending without earning' vs 'won't earn unless I spend' quandary. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

[Warren Cottis]

Thanks for the comment Tracey Anne

My ezines tend to run on a topic until I feel readers need a change... for instance, I did five consecutively on email marketing.

Since this topic just jumped out at me this morning I intend to now write a series on small business marketing and getting a return on investment.

If you would like to receive them you only need to go to the 360 "contact us" page and subscribe.

[Tracey Anne]

Done. Thank you Warren.

[Burgo]

I am very pleased to see there is another who has read Drucker.

Marketing and Innovation. Hmmmmm I would have said Marketing and Sales.
Without a sale you dont have a customer.

Marketing and Innovation will attract those that are seeking what you have to offer but until you close the sale they are not customers.

Just how many small business or soloists have a business plan, and in this business plan should be a marketing plan. However it appears that there are quite a number of soloists and small business that dont understand what marketing let alone a marketing plan is all about. There have been many discussions here on the forum, and there is still a confusion between marketing and sales.

So how are you going to convine people they need a marketing plan?

[small business marketing]

Great post Warren.

To Warren and Burgo, as an Australian Duct Tape Marketing coach, my view is that a marketing plan simply answers who you are, what you do, who needs it, how you plan to get their attention, when you plan to do it and how you plan to pay for it…in a way that everyone in your business, network, and client base clearly understands. It does not need to be this complex, amorphorous thing that takes 14 months and $22,000 to do....(not saying you were implying that but alot of business owners I come across seem to have this sort of perception)...

There are some great tools out there that can help business owners and one that we use with our clients is Marketing Plan Pro by Palo Alto, but ANYONE can start off by just answering the points I mention above and you'll be well ahead of most of your competitors (I say this because in my experience most small business owners do not have a business plan or marketing plan).

I too read and love alot of Drucker's material and I guess whilst I see clear distinctions between Sales and Marketing, I think of them in a Yin & Yang type of context. They are mutually inclusive, supporting, reinforcing - the whole is greater than the sum of the two parts....

Love what you do. Do what you love.
Gary