Writing a Business Plan
Just as a contractor uses a blueprint to ensure that a house will be built structurally sound, creating and writing a "blueprint" for your business - a business plan - will help you determine whether your business will be strong from the start. A good business plan has two basic goals: it describes the fundamentals of your business idea and provides (projected) financial data to show that you will make good money in a measurable amount of time.
Mapping out your Marketing Plan
One of the fundamental procedures involved in any successful business operation is the creation and implementation of a marketing plan. But before you set pen to paper, you'll need to do a little research to define your target audience and to understand its needs. Your target audience is a specific group of customers that your company aims to reach. Once this is determined, programs to reach these targets (such as social media, direct mail or email advertising) can be developed.
Developing your key messages or Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is one of the most critical components of a marketing plan. These themes will be woven throughout all your company's materials so that your customers and prospects clearly understand what makes your business unique, and confirms why they should be buying from you and not your competitors.
Beginning to Build Your Companies Brand
Your name and logo is often the first impression of your company for prospective clients. It should identify your company in a positive and memorable way, so that when customers and prospects are seeking the products and services you offer, they first think of you. The key to building a successful, professional-looking brand is clearly defining your company's personality and the experience you want your customers to have with your company.
Creating Sales and Marketing Materials
After your marketing plan is formulated and your identity established, there are several "must haves" you'll need to create, to communicate with your customers and prospects. These items include a stationery system (letterhead, envelope, business card and mailing label), sales materials (such as a brochure, pocket folder with inserts, and a presentation), a website that has been optimized with keywords for search engines like Google, and a social media presence (such as a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile and Twitter account, to name a few). Other materials may follow, depending on how you want to generate leads, and how often you want to contact your customers.
Getting it Done
You have several choices to help you get started, depending on your time, budget and resources. You can purchase software programs, you can hire and manage several companies to handle each different part of this process, or you can hire an integrated professional marketing company to take care of it all.
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