March 30, 2007

Do You Need A Marketing Plan?

Why do you need to market your business? You need to market your business in order to let customers and potential customers know about the services or products you are selling.

If no one buys from you - you don't get any income and can't continue your businesses. Marketing is so important. Of course there's so many business owners who don't actively market their business. They passively market their business and are satisfied with the traffic they get from walk-in customers or word of mouth.

If your business is going to thrive, not just survive you need a marketing plan.

You can hire a consultant or purchase a $180 copy of Palo Alto Software's Marketing Plan Pro.

I took the software for a spin and found it pretty good - in many respects. But lacking in one area.

What's good about it.

Marketing Plan Pro helps you discipline your mind and focus on creating a robust plan for how to market your business.

What I think is REALLY helpful are the built in marketing plans that come with it. You can start a plan from scratch or look at other plans and customize them for your own needs.

Although Marketing Plan Pro is powerful with many components, there's a folder like wizard which makes it very easy to know where you're at in the marketing planning process.

You'll also find charts and spreadsheets which will help provide you with a very important, fact based, analysis of your plan.

Inside the box you'll find books and discounts the WSJ and other offerings.

What's missing.

I hope the next version comes with links to online marketing options so you can implement and manage your marketing plan through the program. Beyond online marketing, it would be interesting if you could purchase TV, Radio and Print advertisements as well.

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