3M's: Missed Marketing Mistakes

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the agricultural aspects of like, but this is one thing I did not notice until I was in my first AG class (in high school). The Chick Fla cow that promotes eating chicken should not worry about becoming a hamburger. Why you ask. Because this cow is a dairy cow. Our milk we buy from the store actually come from the chick fla cow; not our hamburger meat.

Certifications

When deciding your next business adventure do your research. Of course you have to make a marketing plan and that does a lot of research for you, but what if you already have a business and what to branch out in it. Lets say we have a lime hauling and spreading service. Everyone keeps asking you if spread fertilizer too. But you don't and are looking into starting to spread. The first step would be look and see if you need a permit and you do. so find out all the item you need before apply. Then you need to find out what equipment you need, when the best time to spray is, does it have a season, should you take a class on it? Hopefully you see where I am going with this. Just because you open a lime hauling and spreading business does not mean you can only haul and spread lime.

Should you hire friends to work for you?

The is a topic talked about frequently in the business world. From my experience I would say you can hire friends as long as you don't care to close them or if you are not real close. Things will get uncomfortable when situation arise and you may end up hating each other. We hired an employee that is friends with us and that was a topic we had before we hired him. So far we have not had any problem but he has only been with us for a few months.

Leasons learned

When you own your own business take careful consideration into your name. You may just have one dump truck right now but in the future do you plan to have more? Or do you plan on expanding into other fields as well. Once you pick your name. have it copy righted and insurance with you can not change it or add to it. I have learned this from experience. If your store name is Lily's Gifts, LLC you can not simple change the name on your cards and shirts to Lily's Gifts and Monograms, LLC with out following certain protocol.

Missed Business Opportunity- Online Dating

Online dating is the new way to date. Every time you turn on the TV you see a commercial advertising a dating web site. Smaller cities like Huntsville, AL are not quite large enough to get a large pool of single candidates. A wonderful idea would to be open up a business being a match maker. Rather than using an online site which can be full of lies and dangerous people. You can use the match maker and make sure the person is real and has a safe back ground. Of course this method of dating would be more expensive then a dating website, but it could be totally worth it in the end.

Partners/Employees

It is very important to find the best possible partner. When found CR Trucking and lime Services I had to make sure that the person I picked was accountable , trust worthy, and a hard work. It is hared to find good help in this day and age. As a company we have already we are on our third employee for lack of work ethic. It always good to call reference even for the smallest of jobs. Lessons are learned everyday when you own and operate your own business.

Business cards and Pamphlets

When designing your business cards and pamphlets make sure they send a clear image of your company or service. Do not have poor grammar or inappropriate context. If you have an agricultural business you should not have a pink glittery business card. Same goes with the pamphlet. 

Where to base your company out of.

When picking the base location for your company pick somewhere that is central to all the places you will need to go. If you plan to work in Birmingham, Alabama do not have your warehouse in Huntsville. Think ahead is what a smart man once told me. Find out where are target market is before you plant roots. You go to them. they will not come to you.

Hiring New Employees

When hiring new employees for a seasonal potation where do you look? In my case I had to think about someone who could efficiently run farm equipment. For the most part everyone has full time job during the day. (9-5) Seasonal part time workers are normally high school students or retired citizens. But do you trust them with that they need to do alone? In my case I chose a retired citizen. For many reasons. One they are older and therefore wiser. I can trust them alone with expensive equipment. The gentleman has a back ground in farming. When the season is over he will be okay because he was before we met. These are something's one has to thing about when operating a seasonal company.

Company Image

A company's image means a great deal more then someone would believe. Let's use the stores Hot Topic and Hollister. (I am not dissing on either one.) When someone thinks of the store Hot Topic you automatically like of a person who as a ton a tattoos, body piercings, and wear a lot of black. When you think of Hollister you think preppy, snooty, and expensive. When creating your target market make sure you the target you want will also want you.

You are your business

You are your business. When you go out in public you are not only representing you and your family but your business as well. Your social media account will also represent your business. So be careful what you say and post. It could harm a business friendship or future client.

When and Where to Advertize

When advertizing for your company it is important to know who your target market is. If you have an agricultural business you probably do not need to waste time advertizing in a mall. Your time would be better spent at a farm expo or cattleman's meeting.

Perfect time to launch your business

If you plan to open a sport shop it would be best to open between a sports season. For example: You can open between football and baseball season. That way the players can buy their equipment for the next sport from you. They can also order uniforms or tee shirts as well. You will be there for them when they need you most.

Outline for a marking plan

This can be very helpful when it comes time to start a marketing plan.

 

Outline for a Marketing Plan

written by Tim Berry of Palo Alto Software http://www.paloalto.com

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The exact nature of your business, your marketing strategy, and the uses for your marketing plan dictate its contents. You add detail or take it away to suit your needs. In the real world you’ll want to customize your outline according to whether you are selling products or services, to businesses or consumers, or you’re a nonprofit organization.
Palo Alto Software partnered with marketing guru John Jantsch, creator of the proven Duct Tape Marketing System, in the developement of Marketing Plan Pro v11  powered by Duct Tape Marketing. The software  has several outlines to help you tailor your marketing plan.
The 30-Minute Marketing  Plan offers just the basics, a very simple plan that you can get done quickly. It is a good way to document your thinking, or just get started. It lets users who are already familiar with the Duct Tape Marketing System briefly summarize the main sections of the marketing action plan. Click here to see a PDF of a 30 Minute Marketing Plan outline.
The Basic  Marketing  Plan is  a modest  marketing plan for the people who don’t have the time, or the need for  an extremely  detailed plan. You can start here, including  such topics  as internal Marketing Training, drafting your Marketing Materials, and more.  You can Switch to the Standard plan later when you need to expand your marketing activities. Click here to see a PDF of a Basic Marketing Plan outline for the same company.
The Standard Marketing Plan walks you through all the steps of the Duct Tape Marketing System. It includes the most detail, and breaks each task down into smaller steps for you to plan your marketing actions in detail. Click here to see a PDF of a Standard Marketing Plan outline for the same company.
The marketing plan examples linked above show how the same company begins its marketing program with a simple action plan and then expands its plan and activities.  Note that in each case the idea is to write a plan that serves just the needs of moment. It is an action plan.
Write the plan, take the actions, review the results. Keep what works, change what doesn’t, and expand the plan and the actions as the company grows.

• Click here to see a PDF of a 30 Minute Marketing Plan outline
• Click here to see a PDF of a Basic Marketing Plan outline for the same company.
• Click here to see a PDF of a Standard Marketing Plan outline for the same company.

Creating advertizement

When it comes time to make and create a business card I suggest using Vistaprint. They have a wide selection of designs and colors and are not overly priced. If you would like to make pamphlets as well I suggest using Staples. They a wide selection as well, but they also offer same day pick. This allows to start marketing a lot sooner. They are also reasonably priced as well.

Networking

If you plan on establishing an agricultural company your time would be best spent with the agricultural community. After attending events you will make acquaintances and friends. They can give you insight on how to make your business plan better. Once the company is up and going they will more then likely use you for your products or services.

Wedding Business

A wonderful business idea would be a wedding planner at the beach that does budget weddings. Just because a person wants to get married at the beach means they have a large amount of money they can spent. There's need to be someone who can say what's the price range, how many people, and be able to make it happen.