As the statistics show, the majority of startup ideas never get off the ground. The experts offer a variety of reasons for this, from lack of planning to not enough capital, but in most cases the reason comes down to one problem -- a failure to market the business.
The bottom line in business is to make money. That money comes from sales, which in turn come from two sources -- new customers or repeat customers. For a startup, it's all about securing the new customer. The only way to get those new customers coming to you is marketing, and marketing the right way.
Here are the first five things you need to do to market your new business:
Know Your Product
If you have invented your own, brand new product, you probably know everything there is to know about it...or at least you think you do. Often, new products have uses and benefits beyond their intended use. For example,
Know Your Market
Narrow down the exact type of people you expect to benefit from your product. Then, figure out what else they have in common. Do they read the same periodicals? Do they shop in the same types of stores? Do they live in comparable neighborhoods? Same level of education? Same types of jobs? The more you know about the potential customers you are trying to reach, the easier it is to reach them.
Know Your Competition
Learn everything you can about the other businesses that are currently filling your customers' needs. If you think you don't have any competitors, think again! Even if you open the only restaurant in town, your competition is eating at home. Even if your product is a brand new invention, it solves a problem for your customers that they are solving some other way now. Find the competition and study them -- how do they market their product? Who are they trying to reach? How do they set prices, get the product to the customer, etc. Then, look for innovative ways to make YOUR product a better choice.
Develop a Marketing Plan
Your startup marketing plan doesn't have to be particularly formal (unless you are looking for loans or investment), but it does need to be complete. Simply launching a ready-made website is not enough. In fact, just uploading a new website is not likely to attract any business at all -- it's like leaving your business card on the moon, if nobody knows it's there, it won't do you any good. Include multiple marketing routes (ways to reach your potential customers) and be sure to include a) an online presence, b) networking (online and off), and c) advertising (print, online ads, whatever your market will see).
Get Started
There is no need to wait until every detail is done before you start marketing your business idea. At a minimum, set up a quality website right away so that it begins drawing traffic and moving up the search engines as soon as possible. Get the word out -- talk to everyone you know and meet about what you are doing. Get your potential customers excited about what you are doing. Not only will this get your business off to an excellent start, it will also motivate you to get the less exciting details of your business completed!
Remember, one critical key to startup success is marketing. No matter how great your idea, it will not sell itself. That's a huge part of YOUR job as an entrepreneur!
-K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur, is founder of LaunchX and authors a small business startup blog. The LaunchX System is designed to help entrepreneurs start a business based on their own idea. It includes step-by-step business startup instructions, key software, business tools, and more -- a complete business kit. Visit LaunchX.com to learn more about this revolutionary way to become an entrepreneur.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=K._MacKillop
The bottom line in business is to make money. That money comes from sales, which in turn come from two sources -- new customers or repeat customers. For a startup, it's all about securing the new customer. The only way to get those new customers coming to you is marketing, and marketing the right way.
Here are the first five things you need to do to market your new business:
Know Your Product
If you have invented your own, brand new product, you probably know everything there is to know about it...or at least you think you do. Often, new products have uses and benefits beyond their intended use. For example,
Know Your Market
Narrow down the exact type of people you expect to benefit from your product. Then, figure out what else they have in common. Do they read the same periodicals? Do they shop in the same types of stores? Do they live in comparable neighborhoods? Same level of education? Same types of jobs? The more you know about the potential customers you are trying to reach, the easier it is to reach them.
Know Your Competition
Learn everything you can about the other businesses that are currently filling your customers' needs. If you think you don't have any competitors, think again! Even if you open the only restaurant in town, your competition is eating at home. Even if your product is a brand new invention, it solves a problem for your customers that they are solving some other way now. Find the competition and study them -- how do they market their product? Who are they trying to reach? How do they set prices, get the product to the customer, etc. Then, look for innovative ways to make YOUR product a better choice.
Develop a Marketing Plan
Your startup marketing plan doesn't have to be particularly formal (unless you are looking for loans or investment), but it does need to be complete. Simply launching a ready-made website is not enough. In fact, just uploading a new website is not likely to attract any business at all -- it's like leaving your business card on the moon, if nobody knows it's there, it won't do you any good. Include multiple marketing routes (ways to reach your potential customers) and be sure to include a) an online presence, b) networking (online and off), and c) advertising (print, online ads, whatever your market will see).
There is no need to wait until every detail is done before you start marketing your business idea. At a minimum, set up a quality website right away so that it begins drawing traffic and moving up the search engines as soon as possible. Get the word out -- talk to everyone you know and meet about what you are doing. Get your potential customers excited about what you are doing. Not only will this get your business off to an excellent start, it will also motivate you to get the less exciting details of your business completed!
Remember, one critical key to startup success is marketing. No matter how great your idea, it will not sell itself. That's a huge part of YOUR job as an entrepreneur!
-K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur, is founder of LaunchX and authors a small business startup blog. The LaunchX System is designed to help entrepreneurs start a business based on their own idea. It includes step-by-step business startup instructions, key software, business tools, and more -- a complete business kit. Visit LaunchX.com to learn more about this revolutionary way to become an entrepreneur.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=K._MacKillop
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