A Study of Marketing Basics Using King Solomon's Principles | Marketing

By BobbyKeating
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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 range of activities involved in assuring that you are meeting the needs of your customers and that you are getting a valuable response in return.' One major misconceptions of marketing is that it is only 'advertising your product or service.' Even though advertising is important, it is only one component in the process of marketing.

Developing a good understanding of the needs and wants of your customers and developing a plan that addresses those needs is the essential element of 'marketing.' For a business owner to want his business to grow is a natural aspiration. Giving close attention to 'organic growth' is the most effective way to help your business grow.

What is meant by 'organic growth?' This is a wonderful concept. Your business is a living organism and, as a living organism, it must be cultivated and nurtured. We can ignore its needs and let it fend for itself or we can determine those needs and do whatever is best to make it thrive.

Let's look at two basic elements of marketing to help us get a better idea of the activities that we need to do to create a successful business. The first element of marketing that we need to consider is 'developing a marketing plan.' The second element is your 'ongoing promotion.' A serious mistake that many business owners make is to create a product or service and immediately begin an advertising campaign. After a further explanation of these two basic elements, you'll understand why this mistake can be a disappointing and costly one.

For the survival of your business, it is extremely important to develop a 'marketing strategy' or 'marketing plan.' Refined research and analysis are the first steps to developing the 'marketing plan' best suited to your business. Don't let this frustrate you. This is not as grueling as it sounds. It may take some time and effort on your part but you will find that it is well worth every minute.

To help us understand, we should look at the advice of King Solomon, the wealthiest man who ever lived. This will show us the effectiveness of marketing analysis. We can apply several of Solomon's Keys to Success in our ongoing marketing efforts.

Proverbs 1:5 (Amplified Bible) "The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly]" Wise counsel can be found in many forms. We should also remember, for those of us who think we understand better than others, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise." Proverbs 12:15 (Amplified Bible)

What must we do in 'marketing analysis'?

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

2.) Determining our 'target market' or those clients that we prefer to serve,

3.) Determine the needs that they have,

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

5.) Determining how our potential customers might use our products and services,

6.) Understanding what our competitors are doing,

7.) Determining the pricing structure that we should use and

8.) Deciding how we should distribute our products and services to our target markets.

There are numerous methods of 'market research' that can be used to gather information concerning markets, target markets and customer needs, competitors' products, etc. The ease of Internet research will reveal many sources of specific information. We must target our searches on the Internet search engines. This can be accomplished by beginning from a broad area of possibilities and with each subsequent search get more specific until we have discovered as much as possible about our market in general and specifically our target market. The resulting information will determine our 'niche' market, our specific area of a market that is best for our product or service.

After we have developed our marketing plan, we need to consider our plan for 'ongoing promotions.' Our ongoing promotion will include advertising, public relations, sales and client service to name a few. These terms (advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity, and sales) can easily become confusing. These terms are often used interchangeably. However, they refer to different but similar activities.

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

1.) Advertising -- effectively presenting a product (or service) to potential and current customers. Advertising must be focused on one particular product or service. This demonstrates that an advertising plan for one particular product or service might not work for another product or service. Advertising is done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, website banners, etc.

2.) Promotion - keeping our product in the minds of our customer (product recognition). The ongoing activities of advertising 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 opinion (good or bad) 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 few examples of Solomon's Proverbs to help you develop a growing and successful business.

Proverbs 10:4 (NASB) "Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."

Proverbs 12:24 (NLT) "Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave."

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.

About the Author

Good marketing plan is essential to a successful venture. Visit Rev. Bobby at The Christian Success Institute to learn Solomon's Success Principles through an intense study of the Book of Proverbs. Earn a residual income while you learn Affiliate Marketing Principles

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