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Preparing for Recovery
Most American’s are aware of the recently passed Economic Stimulus Plan called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). While it’s expected to cost $787 billion dollars and span over a 10 year period, the ARRA will likely impact individuals, government agencies as well as small and medium size businesses on a variety of levels.

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably taken action to comply with some of the short term conversions such as implementing the New Wage Withholding and Income Payment Tables. You may have also inquired about tax incentives and small business loans being offered courtesy of the ARRA. But what have you done to prepare your business for long term success?

Recovery verses Success
In today’s fluctuating economy there are no guarantees. Success in business, as in life requires hard work, dedication, and a massive amount of planning. In order to achieve more – business owners are thinking strategically about outsourcing some of their general accounting and marketing services.

These savvy business owners are using reputable organizations to provide IT, business development, and human resource services, while sparing the expense of employing and managing an entire department. Commonly, contract providers are blending sophisticated, top notch professionals with modern efficiencies and state-of-the-art technology to produce a high-quality product at a fraction of the in-house cost.

Not only are the businesses outsourcing, they’re working to identifying pieces of the Stimulus Plan, specific to their industry, that can aid them in the recovery process.
The Power of Resources
Two of the most useful Web sites on the Stimulus Plan are the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service. Both sites share documented details about the stimulus plan and explain:

• Tax incentives for small businesses
• New COBRA rules
• Provision for implementing energy efficiencies
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit for employers who hire members of a targeted workforce

Another noteworthy resource is the U.S. Small Business Administration. The organization has created a list addressing some of the most frequently asked questions by small business owners.

If you’re still unclear on what your next steps should be, Esteemed Consulting can help. We specialize in affordable business and marketing  consulting solutions that are designed to quickly and efficiently produce results so that your business doesn’t just recover; it succeeds.

Achieve More— call Esteemed Consulting today at (858) 780-9983 and schedule a no-cost one hour consultation.

You might remember the 4P’s of marketing: product, price, place & promotion which when combined represent the Marketing Mix. This classic model is designed to help businesses achieve an optimum balance between their controllable marketing efforts and desired sales results. But like most models, it has not kept pace with the digital age where services are the norm, the Internet is our primary communication vehicle and the customer rather than the business sits in the center of the mix.

Marketing Promotion

When businesses think about their marketing mix, it is most often in relation to the fourth P, Promotion. This refers to the various tools or controllable methods of promoting a product, service, brand or company. Today it is easy to get lost in the tactics of promotion, especially when there are so many choices.  Traditional approaches such as advertising, telemarketing, trade shows and direct mail still get strong response rates but are often cost prohibitive.

Contemporary favorites such as websites, email, newsletters and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are centered on digital information delivery and by their flexible nature, can be more closely aligned with the needs of target audiences. These channels have the benefit of being measurable allowing you to quantify a return on your marketing investment, but also require ongoing management and marketing resources to ensure longer-term results.

Progressive strategies for promotion such as leveraging mobile devices, Social Networking channels, and other communication tools have now entered the mix.  While we can feel the shift and sense the opportunity for “grass roots” brand evangelism within these targeted communities, this is a new frontier. Like all new frontiers, it lures us with the potential for great rewards, but it also presents the worst kind of risk- the unknown.

Limited Marketing Budget

With all of these choices combined with the pressure cooker of economic uncertainty, even the savviest of marketers may find themselves wondering….. What should I do? What can I do? And what should I keep and or cut in order to achieve the best results for my smaller than usual marketing budget?

Marketing tactics without an overall strategy, or even current strategy, is often the problem. Start making your plan by thinking about your business in a very simplistic way including the: who, what, when, where and how of your business.  The next step is to, layer in your business goals, target audience, value proposition, sales model and your competitive landscape. Ideally this information should all fit on one to two pieces of paper. If you have more than that, you may be overcomplicating it. From here, you can then ask yourself if your current marketing campaigns and tactics support the strategy, identify gaps and evaluate the best use of your marketing investment.

When evaluating your marketing mix it is important to start with your target audience and understand their preferences as they relates to your product or service. Segmenting prospects so your message is more targeted and relevant to the individual recipient is a great way to lift results.

The best known brands employ a variety of marketing media and tactics, measure everything and stick with the ones that generate the best results.  They constantly refine their marketing promotion strategies to ensure they reach their target audience at the right time, right place and with the right message.  While it is not an easy task to do well, local and regional businesses can use the same approach and reap comparable rewards.

If you would like expert help with your marketing strategy, contact Esteemed Consulting at www.esteemed.com . We offer affordable marketing consulting and marketing service solutions that can quickly and efficiently help your business- Achieve More.

Tags: Marketing Mix, The 4 P's

From a technical perspective, writing a blog is easy…. but actually doing it, like most things, is not as easy as it first appears. It was not the ability to find worthy topics or even having a perspective you think others may find interesting that was hard.

For me, I approached blogging  as if I was gradually wading into a swimming pool when just jumping in would have been more fun and far less time consuming.  As a seasoned marketing professional, my hesitation was nothing less than embarrassing.

From an analytical perspective, I am sure it was just fear of exposure or some other psychological reason I don’t fully understand, but no matter the path that brought us together I can now share my thoughts with you… and the rest of the world!

Is anybody listening?

Today, Esteemed launched its new website.

Thank you for visiting!

Tags: Marketing Services