A lot of people are at a loss when it comes to deciding how to approach the
marketing plan process and how to stay within time and budget constraints. To make for a less
stressful marketing plan process, keep in mind these 10 tips:
1. Think Strategy First
An overall marketing strategy drives many decisions. If you first identify general goals,choosing appropriate marketing programs for a small business plan becomes much easier.
2. Decide Format
Putting together a general outline and deciding how you will publish the plan can help you better visualize steps you need to take. Examples are (a) a full, detailed report
including Executive Summary, the plan itself, and back-up data, (b) a single summary sheet, or (c) something in between. Size and structure of the small business can help
determine the scope of the plan.
3. Set Aside Time
A good, strategic marketing plan requires a certain amount of analysis. Early stages in the process go smoother with minimal interruptions. Make it easier for those working on the
plan to concentrate by setting aside “closed” time during early planning stages. In a busy,small business environment, this can be accomplished by working during off hours or
putting aside a short time – 30 minutes to an hour – each day.
4. Brainstorm
New, creative ideas flow more freely when people are not inhibited by preconceptions.
Hold a brainstorming session, with two rules: (a) there are no bad ideas and (b)everyone’s ideas carry equal weight.
5. Shorten The List
Implementation suffers severely when there is an overload of marketing projects,especially in small businesses with a small or one-person marketing department.. The list
of potential projects generated in the brainstorming session can be shortened by concentrating on those likely to be the most profitable and those that take advantage of
the company’s internal strengths.
6. Make The Plan Flexible
Business does not operate in a vacuum, so your plan needn’t exist in one. For example,the business environment may change during the year or additional marketing
opportunities may arise. Building in flexibility to adjust throughout the year can avoid the pitfall of continuing down an unproductive path.
7. Have Measurements In Place
Knowing if and how well a program works can help you identify opportunities for improvement. In your marketing plan or in back-up documents, set explicit goals and
measurements.
8. Evaluate Past Programs
Past programs are one of the first places to look when deciding which programs to include. Those that worked well may bear repeating. Those that did not should be revised
and improved or omitted from the marketing plan.
9. Time line Critical Projects
Effectiveness of a marketing plan depends on strong implementation. Including time lines for the most critical projects – especially those that revolve around trade shows, holidays,
or other time-sensitive events – will help assure smooth implementation.
10. Publish A Summary Sheet
A marketing plan is easier to track and more likely to be used when a one-page summary sheet clearly reflects goals, strategies, and planned marketing programs. Post the
summary in high-traffic areas and/or above desks to help maintain focus throughout the year.
Tag Archives: Plan
Restaurant Marketing Plan – 3 Key Concepts
When writing a restaurant marketing plan, it is important to keep in mind why you are writing it. A marketing plan obviously outlines how your company will market its business but it is also important to keep in mind that marketing efforts are all created in order to generate business by articulating what and who your company is. In this sense, the marketing mix that your company chooses to employ should be an accurate representation of your company concept.
Choosing a Marketing Mix
Choosing the right blend of marketing tools is like creating a good team. Making sure that your marketing efforts are complementary and working together in synergy is essential to your restaurant’s success. If you send out coupons to one group while advertising in high-end magazines, your marketing efforts will be fighting one another, creating separate brand images which ultimately will turn off customers.
The marketing mix chosen must reflect the business. For example, if you are a high-end restaurant, excessive promotional discounts may deteriorate your brand and articulate to customers that “this restaurant does not deserve full price”.
Catering to Customers
Promotion and marketing should appeal primarily to the restaurant’s target market. This may mean giving discounts to college students if you operate primarily in a college town, sponsoring local community organizations if your market is primarily a small tight-knit community, or emphasizing appealing aspects of your business such as a famous chef if your clientele is primarily high-end. Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for a restaurant’s marketing plan; it all relies upon appealing to the particular group of customers that make up your core clientele.
Remember What You Are Selling
Your restaurant is a business and, ultimately, if you cannot get your food in the customer’s mouths it will be difficult to break even. Though some restaurants’ reputations sell the experience more than their food (ie: Hooters, Medieval Knights, etc.), in general, marketing efforts should center around why your food is appealing, exotic, high-quality, or in some way unique. There must be some reason certain customers will want to dine at your restaurant as opposed to any other competitor’s establishment.
Conclusion
The most important thing to keep in mind is that marketing efforts must be cohesive and promote one brand image in order to create an adequate representation of the company’s concept. Choosing appropriate marketing vehicles that reflect your establishment and how your food is unique are keys to an effective marketing plan.
Fundamentals of a MMA School Business Plan
If you are planning on opening your own martial arts school or MMA training facility making sure you have done thorough planning is essential to your success, just as in any other business. Often even more important as many of those who choose to open their own schools may have strong martial arts backgrounds but limited business experience. One of the best ways to get some real world business experience in this industry is to become an instructor for a school or MMA training center first. This will give you great insight and first hand knowledge of how others operate their businesses as well as what works and what doesn’t.
There is so much more to building a successful school and business than just being a great fighter or teacher. You could hire professionals to handle all the areas you are not experienced in, but as a new start up you will probably be limited on capital and expendable funds. The worst thing you can do is get a month into business and realize you hadn’t planned for many of the expenses or overestimated the amount of revenues you can realistically make. If you don’t have a college degree or experience running your own business it may be wise to take a couple of short courses on business management or entrepreneurship. Failing to plan is planning to fail, so make sure you dedicate sufficient time and resources to doing it right the first time. You can either draft a plan yourself, or these days it is pretty inexpensive to have someone do it for you, which gives you the added benefit of a third party unbiased opinion who can help keep your expectations realistic.
The foundation of any business plan is market research. Again doing this yourself can give you more great ideas and insights for your new company or you can outsource it. The SBA (Small Business Association) and their website have a wealth of information as well as offering small business loans. According to the SBA the essential elements of a business plan include:
- Executive Summary
- Market Analysis
- Company Description
- Organization & Management
- Service or Product Line
- Funding Request
- Financials
Certainly this is a great time to get into the MMA or Self-Defense business for you, so do it right and Good Luck!
Best Forex Investment Plan – How to Formulate a Forex Investment Plan
Best Forex Investment Plan
Contrary to what you may have read, there is no formula that is going to make you an instant millionaire. You can make things as likely as possible for you to succeed by formulating you own forex investment plan that will also to some degree protect you from possible calamity.
When taking a delve into the Forex market you will have three basic time frames with which to hold your currency. Short, medium and long term. Each particular term has it’s advantages and disadvantages.
1. The short term trader (the scalper) is going to be trading very quick trades often buying and selling currencies to and fro several times a day. Leveraging is required here to both make a profit and also protect your investment.
2. The medium term trader holds on to the currencies between a day and up to a week or so. The big advantage of the medium term trader is that profit can be made on the least amount of capital invested. This term of investment is the type that people who are new to Forex trading will normally start on because it has less risk involved with it. Profits can be increased by leveraging.
3. The long term trader can hold the currencies from weeks to months and even years. Leveraging is also required here as well as short term trading to both make a profit and also protect your investment. Best Forex Investment Plan
Whichever plan that you decide to use, stick to it. Don’t try all three at once as this will surely cause confusion and lead to losses.
Technical analysis is a perfect tool for you to use in your forex investment plan to help you crack the Forex market. Following trends by using statistical analysis can lead you, the investor, to make decisions that are going to be profitable.
Technical analysis can be used to monitor many indicators as well as the all important price activity. When you get to know more about your personal needs in Forex market, you can get programs that will bring together large amounts of the data that you want included in your analysis. You will be able to customize and organize your plans for your personal investment strategy. Best Forex Investment Plan
The investor has the potential to isolate himself from huge swings in the Forex market because the market is open for twenty four hours a day not including weekends.
A Forex investment plan should include a stop/loss and take profit order. Basically the stop/loss order will allow you to get out of the trade before things really hit the fan. It can be set when you make the order at a certain level and when the currency falls below that point, it stops the order automatically.
The take profit order is the same as stop/loss but will stop the order when it has reached the level that you have set to reap the rewards. It is a dilemma because you do not want to curb your profits by putting a take profit on your order but unless you watch your account all day, the currency may drop like a stone and you may lose it all. It’s better to take little and often.
The great thing about the internet age is that you can get demo accounts set up from Forex trading companies before going live into the real market. A Forex investment plan should include demo accounts as they are fantastic resource for getting to know how things work and for formulating your forex investment plan. They are free and you get a certain amount of “dummy” currency to play with. Best Forex Investment Plan
Creating a Forex Trading Plan
Creating A Forex Trading Plan
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Despite what you have read, all of the promises there is no system that will make you an instant millionaire in forex trading. You can increase your chances of success by implementing a forex trading plan and to protect you from going broke.
When you start to dig deep into the Forex markets there are three simple time frames in which you can trade Forex.
     –    Short Term
-         Medium Term
-         Long Term
 All of these strategies have their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to Forex Trading. No one strategy is better than the other. ÂÂ
1. Short Term
Or as the Forex trader is known as the scalper and they are going to be trading very quick trades often buying and selling currencies back and forth many times throughout the day. Leveraging is required here to both make a profit and also protect your investment.
2. Medium Term
The medium term forex trader will hold the currency from one day to one week. The big advantage of the medium term trader is that profit can be made on the least amount of capital invested. This is looking at more established trend lines and trading with wider stops.
3. Long Term Trader
The Long Term forex trader or investor  can hold the currencies from weeks to months and even years if they can see a direction for that currency. Leveraging is also required here as well as short term trading to both make a profit and also protect your investment
Where traders make the biggest mistake is start out as a short term trader, the trade will go against them and they then decide to hold on to this currency trade until it turns around so they are forced to become a medium term trader. What will normally happen is they will end up with a lot of bad trades and ultimately end up broke. So whatever your strategy is trade it and stick to it.
Tools of the Trade:
When trading on the Forex Markets most traders use Technical Analysis for find trades. There are a number of technical analysis strategies that you can to help you become a profitable trader.
Technical analysis can be used to monitor many indicators as well as the all important price activity. When you get to know more about your personal needs in Forex market, you can get programs that will bring together large amounts of the data that you want included in your analysis. You will be able to customise and organise your plans for your personal investment strategy.
The other advantage of being a long term trader is you isolate yourself from the huge swings as the markets are open for so long.
Every single Forex Trader should use the golden rule of using stop losses, as they will help you to protect your capital.
The take profit order is the same as stop/loss but will stop the order when it has reached the level that you have set to reap the benefits. It is a dilemma because you do not want to curb your profits by putting a take profit on your order but unless you watch your account all day, the currency may drop like a stone and you may lose it all. It’s better to take little and often.
Time to Trade, the advantage of the modern age is the internet, mobile phones where you can trade from anywhere in world. You can set up accounts with a broker, even use a demo account until you feel comfortable. When selecting a Forex Broker remember finding a great Forex Broker is an important as selecting a winning trade. If you are uncertain who is a great Forex Broker, visit the CFD FX Report as they have recently researched all the brokers to find who they believe to be the best Forex Broker in the market. They are some excellent education lessons to be learnt from them as well.
So if you wish to learn more on Forex Trading feel free to visit us to gain more knowledge on the Forex Trading.