A marketing plan is essential to the success of your business. When it is orchestrated strategically and effectively, a marketing plan will be the driving force behind a small business’s growth. Your plan should include all of your marketing research, your target demographic, the product or service that your company sells, positioning, promotions, pr, advertising and pricing.

Initially, it’s good if the plan covers one year. Markets change, especially in this economic climate. People come and go. Later on you can expand and develop long-term strategies, but when you’re just starting out putting your plan down on paper covering a year is a good place to start.

Putting all of the components of your plan in one place is useful for a variety of reasons. First off, this makes it easy for mentors, peers and employees to evaluate the plan and add input if you desire. Second, if you have a plan easily accessible you can review it often – at least quarterly – to make sure that your business is staying on track.

Writing down your plan is easier than it may seem at first. Take it step-by-step and you’ll have a smart marketing plan in no time. The Small Business Administration recommends the following steps.

Define your business.

Describe your product or service. Define your geographic marketing area, your competition, and describe how your company differs from the competition. Then elaborate on your promotion methods versus your competition’s promotion methods. Lastly, you should talk about your price and your distribution methods or business location.

Define your customers.

Research the demographics of your current customer base and find out how your customers typically learn about your product or service. Establish what qualities your customers enjoy most about your product or service – this could be convenience, availability, reliability, affordability or something else entirely. Then, it’s time look at the other side of things – what do your customer like least about your product or service? How can this be changed to increase your customers’ level of satisfaction? Finally, you should note the patterns or habits that your customers and potential customers share. You should also note how you plan on reaching out to prospective customers.

Define your overall plan and budget.

You should look at your previous marketing methods and note which ones have been most effective in reaching your customers. Consider the costs of these methods compared to sales. Also, break it down into cost per customer. You should also consider what percentage of your profits can go towards your marketing campaign. Then, take a look at what marketing tools will fit inside that budget. Marketing tools may include advertising, direct mail, social media, telemarketing or public relations activities. If you use these tools, you also need methods for measuring their overall effectiveness so you can get the most bang for your buck.

Creating a marketing plan may seem daunting at first but in most cases your common sense will guide you. Sometimes less is actually more – your marketing plan does not necessarily need to be lengthy and verbose. It simply must provide a real snapshot of your business and industry and it must have enough substance to make it useful.

Let’s use Socrates as an example… despite his foundational place in the history of ideas and thought, Socrates actually didn’t really write anything. Socrates radically and skeptically claimed to know nothing at all except that he knew nothing!

How does this fit into creating and delivering truly effective customer presentations? Knowing that Socrates knew nothing, he really spent his life asking questions.

Say for example he was meeting a potential customer who did not understand why they might need a product or service that he was offering. He would no doubt ask them questions about what they did, how they did it, why they did it and what their needs and desires were. Through their answers, he would lead them to understand why they would need what he had to offer.

The key here was that he did not at any stage tell them what he was offering or what he could do for them. To use his original assertion, he did not actually know if the customer needed or wanted what it was that he had.

Know what your customer wants

So not knowing what your customers really want, why do business owners in Las Vegas deliver presentations about their capabilities?

So what is the secret of creating an effective customer presentation then? The key is to be unique in what you present and make your presentation truly relevant to your potential client. You must address their specific issues, concerns and desires, and offer solutions to solve their problems.

Ask yourself

What is your customer’s key problem or need (obviously this would be something you can help with)

If their problem was solved, or their needs fulfilled, how would that help your customer in the long run? Would it save them time? Money?

How do value this savings of time, money or resources?

What happens if your customer did NOT have their problem solved?

Why have they not yet been able to solve their problem themselves or with another vendor?

Once all of these questions are answered, you can go on to tell a customer how you can help and why you’re the best candidate to help them. Next, outline an implementation plan of what needs to be completed, a timeline, and budget to help them get to their goal.

How to Find Free Blog Templates for Las Vegas:

A quick search in almost any search engine for free blog templates will turn up scads of results. But just picking a link and grabbing a great-looking free template isn’t the best idea. While most providers of free blog templates are on the up-and-up, some templates will have hidden links or other things included that you’re not going to want in your blog.

Another reason to be choosy about free templates is the importance of SEO. SEO means Search Engine Optimization, and it’s what tweaks your blog to make it easy for the search engines like Google to find. If you want to attract people who might search on the phrase “red cars,” for instance, you’ll want to optimize your site for the keyword “red cars.” Not all blog templates, free or for sale, do a good job with this.

It’s important to choose SEO-friendly free blog templates because these will allow you to get your keywords in places that the search engines like. This lets your site get indexed by the search engines, and helps it rank higher for the phrase so more people searching for your keyword will be able to find your blog. Without SEO-friendly templates, as well as good SEO practices in all of your links and blog content, you may be faced with the classic case of building a wonderful site that no one sees.

There are many blog templates out there that you can purchase that are SEO-friendly, but unless you find one that you can’t live without, save your money. There are plenty of great free blog templates available, as well as free tutorials on how to use them. You can start by looking at these websites:

• http://freetemplates.blogspot.com/
• http://free-7.blogspot.com/2009/05/seo-friendly-blogspot-template.html
• http://courtneytuttle.com/seo-wordpress-themes/
• http://www.idwebtemplate.com/
• http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/
• http://www.blogskins.com/

To take a step back, a blog can be a valuable marketing tool to help promote your business and position you as an expert in your field. Adding a blog to your Las Vegas website can help increase organic traffic.

You have to find the time to write and post at least two articles a week for it to be truly effective.  They should be articles of at least 200 words each and should contain links to other websites if possible. You should have at least 3 months of content published before you submit your Las Vegas blog to blog directories. There are a lot of national blog directories to submit to.

About Vintner Grill

Vintner Grill is a lively American Bistro nestled in West Las Vegas in the neighborhood of Summerlin. The bistro’s compelling architecture combined with the simplicity of the modern decor gives the dining experience a casual elegance. The focal point for the dynamic outdoor patio is two large canopies in an illuminated setting with custom-made couches and drapery. Created by Executive Chef Matthew Silverman, the menu features American dishes with Mediterranean influences from Spain, France, and Italy. Signature dishes include the lamb osso bucco, white bean hummus, and veal London broil. Decadent dessert selections are provided exclusively by chocolatier Vosges Haut-Chocolat, a luxury chocolate experience not to be missed. Visit their website at www.vglasvegas.com.

Some of my favorite menu items:

• white bean hummus with olive relish and spicy pita chips10 pan seared crab cakes with taragon cream, roasted peppers and mache
• sweet butter lettuce salad with warm brie, wild herbs and orange-balsamic vinagrette
• heirloom tomato salad with fresh mozarella, aged balsamic and micro-arugula10
• any of the wood-fired flatbreads

If you are interested in having me speaking at your group or company’s next event on marketing or online marketing in Las Vegas, please contact me at 702.341.0085.

About the Nevada Society of Children’s Book Writers

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, formed in 1971 by a group of Los Angeles based writers for children, is the only international organization to offer a variety of services to people who write, illustrate, or share a vital interest in children’s literature. The SCBWI acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers and others involved with literature for young people. There are currently more than 19,000 members worldwide, in over 70 regions, making it the largest children’s writing organization in the world.