Critical First Step for Business Success: Your Business Plan (PART I)
If you already have an online business or if you are thinking of starting one up, then it is critically important for you to have a business plan in place in order to achieve success with your internet marketing business.
A business plan is simply a road map that shows you where you are going with your business and how you plan to get there. Without a plan (road map), how will you know when you have achieved your goal or in other words, arrived at your business destination?
If you’re the owner of a small service business, having a solid Internet marketing plan in place can both increase your name and brand recognition locally in your geographic area, as well as expose you to a whole new set of potential clients throughout the world. To be effective, your plan should be in writing, not just committed to your memory. However, if you are like many internet marketers, you carry your business marketing plan in your head without bothering to commit anything to paper. This could be a serious detriment to your internet success.
Here are some ideas for your consideration in developing your Internet marketing plan:
BUSINESS OBJECTIVE:
What do you want to accomplish by using Internet marketing? Find new clients? Provide new or unusual services and information to existing clients? Sell services or products to current and new customers? Educate your target market or your staff about current or new products and/or services that you offer? Create an online social community for your target market?
How much funding do you have to spend each month on your internet marketing plan? Having a goal and budget in mind will make your marketing more effective and will make the difference between your success and/or failure.
LEAD GENERATION – PROSPECTING PLAN:
The most successful online business owners have a lead generation marketing funnel (think of it as an upside down triangle) through which they “funnel” prospective clients into their business. The process begins from the top of the funnel, representing low-cost or free products or services, designed to move clients down through the funnel to the narrower bottom outlet of the funnel.
As prospects move thru the funnel towards the outlet, they will gradually represent increasing investments or “assets” into your business because these individuals are the ones who will purchase your products based on their immediate and/or future needs. Their willingness to become your customer will depend on your product or service providing them with a resolution to their problem or possibly providing them something that will enhance their quality and enjoyment of life.
KNOW YOUR COMPETITION:
Knowing and understanding where you stand among your competitors can you help you strengthen your marketing message. You can begin by doing a keyword search for the terms someone might use to find your business online. You can simply type in your keyword into the Google Search Bar which will return you a list of current sites using that keyword plus it will also tell you how many times the keyword is searched daily. This will tell you what your competition is.
Write down the URL’s of your top 5 competitors. How popular and relevant are their sites? You can check their traffic ranking with Alexia, http://www.alexa.com/#traffic, as well as see what other sites link to them. Does your competition offer something unique? Where are the gaps in the service or product offerings?
KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET:
Instead of trying to market to everyone (the shotgun marketing approach), find a clearly definable target market that you can easily describe and locate. Are they male or female? What age group? What industry? What socio-economic group? Where do they hang out on- and off-line? What do they read? To what groups and associations (real and virtual, personal and professional) do they belong? How much money do they make? Can they easily afford your product or service? What keywords are they using to search for businesses like yours online? (Note–you can do keyword research with free downloadable software, http://www.GoodKeywords.com).
WHAT PROBLEMS WILL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE SOLVE?
The reason that someone will buy your product or hire to you to provide a service is to solve a particular problem that they have. What problems and issues plague your target market? How does your product or service solve that problem? How does your solution differ from that of your competitors? What makes you uniquely qualified to provide the solution to their problem?
BRANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS:
Your domain name is critical to your online business success. It can either help you be memorable or it can cast you into the caverns of hell, never to be found. At a minimum, you’ll want to acquire both your personal name as well as your business name and preferably with a .com (dot-com) extension, rather than a .net or any other extensions. If neither is available, try using a dash or dot between your name or business name or you can try to buy the .com versions of your product names and program names. If you use a full-featured domain registrar, you’ll be able to point and mask these domains to internal pages of your web site, or use them as stand-alone sales letter pages.
You may also brainstorm potential problems faced by your target market or solutions that you provide and buy those .com domain names also. Internet marketer Jim Gray uses this technique to market his Travel Business and Health Care Business online. This is a compelling solution to his target markets, such as:
– Travel – Helping people find 5 star accommodations for three star prices and introducing them to a way to earn a nice income while traveling.
– Health Solutions – Helping people find solutions to their health problems and at the same time providing them a means to achieve financial success thru distribution of highly effective health related products.
Creating a business plan is of such importance to your internet success, that I have broken this report into two sections (Part I and Part II).
Please login again for Part II in my next blog to view a continuation of my discussion regarding developing your business plan.