SCOREing small-business success
Workshop: Development and Implementation of an Effective Marketing Plan
When: Tuesday, May 19, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: SCORE Atlanta, 233 Peachtree Street, Ste. 1900
Details: Online at tinyurl.com/cydufq or call 404 331-0121

During this recession, the survival of your business depends upon how well you market your products or services. “Clearly, a reduction in your marketing expenditures will impact your ability to reach your objectives,” Jay Levy says. He is the marketing chair of SCORE Atlanta, “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”

On May 19, Levy and Bill Cooey will be presenting a workshop in downtown Atlanta called “Development and Implementation of an Effective Marketing Plan.”

Cooey will cover the online marketing portion since that is what he does for a living. His company, e3datasolutions.com shows clients how to maximize opportunities on the Internet. “Companies whose product sales were a given six months ago are (currently) scrambling to make a sale.” he says. Cooey maintains that finding the solution does not have to be expensive. “With the technology available for gathering information it is much easier now to be in tune with the market.”

Market research is the heart of your business plan. “Good research gives you real insight into how you are seen in the marketplace,” Levy says. It tells you “what your competitors are doing (and) what are the market's unfulfilled needs.” Importantly, filling needs is the crux of your ability to compete with industry giants, more entrenched competitors and entrepreneurs with deeper pockets than you have.

Here are some guidelines:

• Define the size of your marketplace
• Determine how much of the market you can capture
• Identify your potential customers
• Analyze your competition
• Learn how to reach your prospects
• Manage the cost of reaching your prospects
• Interpret your research into sales, expenses and cash flow
• For more tips, check out a “A Guide To Market Research” online at tenonline.org/sref/jc2.html

Because of the recession and the need for you to learn survival skills, the workshop will address how to market on a limited budget. That’s why Cooey devotes 45 minutes to inexpensive Internet marketing and answers your questions. “The ability to put far-reaching feet on the street by networking on the Internet allows the business owner to not only make thousands of contacts quickly, but also economically,” he says.

Levy agrees that marketing does not have to be expensive. “One of the best, yet inexpensive marketing options, is networking among current and prospective clients,” he says. “Attending association meetings and trade shows provides a low cost opportunity to build relationships in your market place.”

While corporate executives are slicing and dicing costly market research, some savvy small-business owners are cold calling on prospects, leaving business cards in strategic locations and putting flyers on windshields. As a result, prospects are contacting them. Other businesses are starting blogs, e-mailing online newsletters and snail mailing greeting cards during the off season so that the volume of holiday mail is not obscuring their message.

This workshop will be your opportunity to find out what techniques are working best during the recession. Learn from the workshop leaders and the attendees. Your future depends on it.