King Solomon’s Introduction to Marketing Basics – Wise Counsel

With a little study we can see that there are several concepts and misconceptions about marketing that need to be addressed before we get into the meat of this article. The basic concept of marketing is ‘the diversity of activities used in assuring that we are meeting the needs of our clients and that we are getting a valuable return in response.’ A major misconception of marketing is that it only entails ‘advertising your product or service.’ Advertising is important, however, it is only one component in the process of marketing.

We can define the core meaning of marketing as ‘understanding’ your clients’ needs and ‘developing’ a plan that effectively addresses those needs. By understanding marketing in this way, a business owner who desires to see his business ‘grow’ can set the proper goals.

One of the most effective ways to grow or expand a business is to concentrate on ‘organic growth.’ For us to understand ‘organic growth’, we need to be aware of the fact that a business is a living organism. We can either let it tend to itself or we can discover what its needs are to help it grow. When determining what the business needs, we can determine what we need to do to make it thrive.

To get a better idea of how to create a successful business, we must look at two basic principles of marketing. Developing a ‘marketing plan’ is our first consideration. A plan for ‘ongoing promotion’ of our product or service is our second consideration. An often devastating mistake that many business owners make is to create a product or service and, without the proper preparation, engage in an advertising campaign. When we realize the relevance of these two basic components, it will become clear why this mistake can be a devastating and costly one.

When we develop a ‘marketing plan’ or ‘marketing strategy’, we create a guide that is necessary for the well being of a business. The first consideration in creating a marketing plan is research and analysis. This is not as difficult as it may seem. It may take a little time but it will be well worth the effort.

Let’s begin by looking at a simplified explanation of ‘marketing analysis.’ We can apply two of Solomon’s Keys to Success at this point.

Proverbs 1:5 (NASB) “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,” Wise counsel can be found in many forms. We should also remember, for those of us who think we know best, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” Proverbs 12:15 (NASB) In a nutshell marketing analysis involves the following:

A well built marketing analysis involves the following:

1.) Discovering our ‘market’ or the groups of potential customers that exist,

2.) Decide which of these groups of customers fit our marketing preference (target markets),

3.) Determine the needs that they have,

4.) Choosing the best products or services that might meet the needs of our target market,

5.) Determine the customers’ possible uses for those products and services,

6.) Keep track of your competitors’ activities,

7.) Determine the pricing structure that best fits your product and/or service and

8.) Decide on a plan for the distribution products and services to your target markets.

Various methods of ‘market research’ are used to gather information about markets, target markets and their needs, competitors, etc. A little Internet research will reveal many sources of specific information. We must remember to target our searches. We do this by beginning from a broad area of possibilities and with each subsequent search we can get more specific until we have discovered as much as possible about our market in general and our target market. The resulting information will become our ‘niche’ market, our specific area of a market that is best for our product or service.

When you have successfully developed your marketing plan, look at your ‘ongoing promotions’, which may include advertising, press releases, public relations, sales materials and customer service to name only a few. These terms can become confusing: advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity. These terms are often used interchangeably. They refer to different — but similar tasks.

Let’s look at a list of definition of each term.

1.) Advertising — presenting a product (or service) to potential and current clients. Advertising needs to be focused on a particular product or service. We must understand that an advertising plan for one product will be different from that for another product. Advertising is usually done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, website banners, etc.

2.) Promotion — Promotion can be defined as the tasks that maintain the product in the minds of the customer (product recognition). The ongoing effort of advertising, sales and public relations are often considered aspects of promotions.

3.) Public relations — Public relations is ongoing activities that ensure your product or service has a strong and positive public image.

4.) Publicity — being mentioned in the media. This is always the review of someone else but can include news releases.

The health and well being of a business is determined by the extent of diligent study and the application of the success principles that you learn through study. To best become acquainted with your product or service or customers or competitors, a sincere determination to be as diligent as possible is essentail.

Remember these principles in Solomon’s Proverbs to help you develop a growing and successful business.

Proverbs 10:4 (NLT) “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”

Proverbs 12:24 (The Amplified Bible) “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

Proverbs 13:4 (NASB) “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.”

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT) “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty”

Write this last Proverb over and over until it is embedded into your memory. It will be a blessing.