Business Backbone
Networking and Marketing
Earlier we made mention of Marketing Plans, but marketing is an ongoing, evolving
concept that needs to be regularly reviewed.
Marketing requires logos, tag lines, trade marks, data bases, web sites, advertising
(newspaper, journal, radio, TV, internet), promotional material, presentations, lectures,
forums, associations, cross sales.
Ask yourself some simple questions:
- what do I do? Can you describe the service/product you are selling in a sentence;
- what benefit is your service/product to a client? Why does it have appeal - it saves time, it is
cheap/expensive, it makes a person look/feel good, it is environmentally friendly;
- where can you contact me? Potential customers want to know where to find you, they want to be able to communicate
with you. You need a specific business address, a telephone number and an email address;
- is my market local (ie within 3-5 kms of your business address), State wide, national
or international?
- is my focus on a particular industry segment?
- is my focus on a particular gender?
- is my focus on a particular age group?
Once you have answered these questions, you need to start collating your promotional material
- a web site, business cards, flyers/hand outs. For more information on websites click here
Industry segments
Step 1 - find your industry segment
What types of people would buy your product/service? If you import high quality Italian suits your answer may be
lawyers, accountants, financial planners, doctors - the professional people. If you import steel capped working boots your answer
may be people working on industrial surroundings, those that work on building sites. Generic trades may include electricians,
plumbers, brickies, carpenters. A Telco may introduce a new ring tone - their focus may be students aged between 14-23 at either
schools or other educational facilities. In each case you need to 'get' to those industry segments and spread the word that you
have what they want.
Time to road test our the software that generates statistics for our business plans.
We have collated the details of thousands of Australian businesses and placed them into a data base. Depending on your target market,
you may wish to find all accountants within a particular post code, or in Australia. Give it a try below - you have been given four
industry segments and have the ability to insert four different post codes to see how many of that type of business are in those post codes.
When you click 'submit', statistics will be returned:
- for the post codes you selected;
- for the whole State relevant to those post codes; and
- for Australia.
Additionally, the pie charts that you see below are also automatically generated and inserted into your business plan.
Step 2 - find your industry association
Most professionals are members of an association. In the case of accountants, they may be members of CA or CPA or lawyers in WA may
be members of the Law Society of Western Australia. The same applies for doctors, physios, dentists, opticians - they are all in some way
connected to an association. Find out which one and then do whatever it takes to befriend the association.
Associations circulate journals/newsletters to their members. Discuss the possibility of inserting an advertisement into the journal,
or ask the editor to 'road test' your product/service. If your product/service is recommended by the editor, a percentage of the
association's members will certainly try it.
While on the subject of journals, please also consider any journal or media publication that may be read by people in your industry.
Consider the 'local rag', State and even National newspapers, magazines specific to the industry or those that have sections dealing
with issues that concern your industry.
Step 3 - find people within the industry
Compile a data base of the businesses within your industry segment. If you are limiting your focus to a specific area, then only collate
data for that area. Capture as much information as possible including name, street address, telephone number, email and web address. These
details will your market specifics - potential numbers of clients, their contact details and location, those that you know are clients of
the opposition.
You now have the ability to market directly to these businesses by letter, pamphlet drop, email (please remember the SPAM Act) or telephone.
Step 4 - find non competitive (to you) businesses that sell into your industry
You are not the only business that provides a product/service into your chosen market. Find other types of business that do not compete with you, that
also provide their products/services to your industry segment. If you sell Italian shoes, you may want to consider partnering with the Italian suite
importer. If you are a caterer, you may want to partner with a florist, a lawyer with an accountant.
You have the ability to combine your products and offer them to your clients as well as your associate's clients. Associate cross selling is without
doubt a very powerful, cheap marketing tool. Find an associate and take advantage of their client base