Many small businesses are busy with day-to-day activities
with no time left over to create a marketing plan to
follow. Well, summer is a great time to put together a
plan that will help build your company's image and provide
guidelines for marketing your business for the second half
of 2006.

Step 1: Determine Your Value Proposition What makes you
better and more valuable to your customers than the
competition? What is your major selling advantage? How do
you solve the problems facing your customers? Write down
the answers to these questions, then write a summary of
them. Try to narrow in on your value proposition until it
is a concise statement of 1 or 2 sentences.

Step 2: Create a Brand Identity for Your Business All of
your marketing and promotional materials should have a
consistent look and feel, and also have a consistent message.
Logos are important; if you don't have one, consider having
a professional create one for you. Also think about coming
up with a tag line or slogan.

Step 3: Develop Your Web Site It is an expectation today that
even small businesses have a company web site. Visitors must
be able to quickly find information about your company, where
it is located, and how to contact you for more information.
It's okay to start small and add features and content as your
business grows, but make sure you have a professional, useful
web site available as soon as you can.

Step 4: Create a Marketing Kit We are all familiar with the
standard "leave-behind" brochure, but for small businesses
it can be an expensive investment that becomes outdated very
quickly. A more useful approach may be to create a marketing
"kit" as an alternative. Try using a regular manila file folder
with a color label on it that has your company name, logo, and
slogan. Then add an introduction letter, a data sheet of
products and services, a press release, a short biography or
history, a current company newsletter, and any other collateral
that makes sense for your business. This way, your information
is "file-cabinet-ready" instead of ready for the "circular file,
" making it more likely to be read and saved.

Step 5: Promote and Advertise Map out a plan to do something
each week (or month) to help promote your business. Send out
press releases, sponsor community events, and place ads in
local newspapers or industry magazines. It takes approximately
six impressions before a customer will begin to remember your
company and what it does. Be creative - think of ways to be
visible and active in your community, and don't forget to look
for opportunities on the web, too. If you need some online
promotion ideas, check out the March 2006 issue of Biz Talk
(available in our archives).

Article written by Lauren Hobson.