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Thread ID: 91994	2008-07-25 03:49:00	Marketing Plan	pctek (84)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
692008	2008-07-25 11:18:00	Why not sponsor or teach a computer night class? Approach a local High School and set up a class to teach basic computer skills to adults. Parents talk to other parents so a nice way to get the community talking about you. Be known around the community as someone with knowledge they can trust and therefore trust your products.	sam m (517)
692009	2008-07-25 11:35:00	Why not sponsor or teach a computer night class?Better yet, offer to do a presentation to parents on computer safety for children e.g., how to stop them going to dodgy places or bypassing what security systems they have currently. You must have seen a fair bit of what bored kids can get up to on computers and the resulting mess. If you can involve the local paper and get a small article written about the upcoming class, even better! Free advertising for you. :thumbs: The parents will also know what tech shop to visit to have such messes fixed too. ;)	Jen (38)
692010	2008-07-25 13:27:00	Marketing is not just about advertising - there is so much more to marketing. In addition, selling and marketing are two different things. I suspect your intention is actually sales but here is a breakdown of Marketing 101 anyway : 1) Product - what are you selling? Don't think of it in terms of the computers and / or service you provide - what are the benefits to your customers of using you? Why would they want to use your business instead of one of your competitors? 2) Place - what is your place of business and where do you want to do business? Where are your customers located? Think physical & virtual. 3) Price - what is going to be your price point? Cheapest? Most expensive? Somewhere in between? What are people prepared to pay? What are you competitors charging? 4) Promotion - how are you going to promote yourself and your business? Do these methods of promotion tie into the rest of your plan? 5) Target Market - most importantly, who are you targeting? Who do you want as customers? People who are or aren't spending their own money? The elderly? Locals? People who are tech-savvy or people who aren't? And so on. And the wrong answer is 'everyone' (I've heard that one before). 6) Research - I can't stress this enough. You may know (or think you know) the answers to the questions above (which is not a complete list) but what is more important is what do your target market want and what do they think? What service do they want? How much are they prepared to pay? Is there a gap in the market such that you can differentiate yourself and carve out a profitable niche for yourself? A book worth reading is 'The 22 immutable laws of marketing' (or is it 20?) by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Your library may have it. Lastly, I suspect the real goal is sales. Invest $20 and buy the book 'How to master the art of sales' by Tom Hopkins. It is full of Americanisms but if you can look past that there are plenty of useful guidelines for identifying sales prospects, generating sales leads, engaging with clients and closing the sale etc. It is well worth the investment, and the cost will be more than repaid when you don't lose that sale for some inexplicable reason. Good luck! Andrew	andrew93 (249)
692011	2008-07-25 21:33:00	Marketing is not just about advertising - there is so much more to marketing. In addition, selling and marketing are two different things. I suspect your intention is actually sales but here is a breakdown of Marketing 101 anyway : 1) Product - what are you selling? 2) Place - what is your place of business and where do you want to do business? Where are your customers located? 3) Price - 4) Promotion - how are you going to promote yourself and your business? 5) Target Market - most importantly, who are you targeting? Who do you want as customers? 6) Research - I Yes you have it. Its not advertising as such. Well it is but not pamphlets and stuff. A pamphlet doesn't tell people if I am any good. A friend had a good idea - not classes but a similar idea. And thats the sort of thing I meant. She is going to try and arrange it - as she has decided she's my marketing manager now. :lol: (actually she should quit now - the pay is crap) :lol: I do home uses and small businesses, and farmers. Not interested in networking or schools or big business - theres plenty of others for that here. Its not going to be about price wars either, I will not be appearing on Pricespy and I have no interest in being an online parts shop either. However I try to be competitive. And yes, promotion - thats exactly it. Why did MS become the richest O/S company - it sure wasn't the product - it was marketing. And whatshername in Auckland who sold her company to Gateway. Ditto, she didn't even know anything about PCs, it was marketing. Its not entirely about sales either - I mean it is as far as I need to make a living but I'm not aiming to be the next whatshername or MS, just a sustainable good living with a good reputation. I think I am a fairly decent tech, and judging by some of the competitors down here I'm amazing in comparison. The point is to get word out that there is a place with expertise, patience, good after sales support who isn't just trying to flog you crap PCs and parts. A pamphlet doesn't tell people that, they need some proof. Or recommendation. Or something similar.	pctek (84)
692012	2008-07-25 22:52:00	Ask for some references from some of your good clients, in return for a discount on your next invoice. Then you could use these to show prospective clients how good your service is. Or you could ask them to recommend your service to one of their friends in return for a discount. Or as you leave you could ask them for the name of three friends that have a PC that you could phone to see if they need any help. (I have seen this technique work). These days just about everyone has a PC. Gee I should write a book ! I went to see Tom Hopkins live in Auckland and he was great !	Digby (677)
692013	2008-07-26 01:50:00	Ask for some references from some of your good clients, in return for a discount on your next invoice. Or you could ask them to recommend your service to one of their friends in return for a discount. Been there, done that. www.mcs.geek.nz I want a marketing campaign.	pctek (84)
692014	2008-07-26 02:37:00	I like the idea of flyers and 2c kids. All about people knowing you are there. Do something as suggested that gets you in the local rag.	Cicero (40)
692015	2008-07-26 03:06:00	Been there, done that. www.mcs.geek.nz I want a marketing campaign. If you want business cards, that are really good quality, look at click business cards, the NZ one. I had some done by them and they look really professional (full colour with a matt plastic coating) and were much cheaper than NZ printers. They also only took 2 days to get done.	robbyp (2751)
692016	2008-07-26 03:08:00	Better yet, offer to do a presentation to parents on computer safety for children e.g., how to stop them going to dodgy places or bypassing what security systems they have currently. You must have seen a fair bit of what bored kids can get up to on computers and the resulting mess. If you can involve the local paper and get a small article written about the upcoming class, even better! Free advertising for you. :thumbs: The parents will also know what tech shop to visit to have such messes fixed too. ;) That is good if you are the type of person that can get up and speak to people. Another option is to start up a blog, linked to your shop, possibily doing reviews on products.	robbyp (2751)
692017	2008-07-26 03:09:00	Well... if ya want... I could tell my aunty about your services. Within a week all of Gore will know about you :p :D She is one of the town gossips... you may have met her already coz she likes to know whos new in town, and whats happening ;)	Myth (110)
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