Your marketing plan should be a fluid, flexible, and dynamic guide to bringing attention to your company and products, while enticing customers to buy. It should help you take advantage of shifting markets and selling opportunities. Brad Sugars of Entrepreneaur.com lists five ways you can mess up a great marketing plan.

The first pitfall is “fluff.” Fluff is saying your product is the best in the world. Fluff is saying that everyone will like it. Odds are neither of these statements would be true with your products… or anyone’s for that matter. Stick to good, but accurate statements. You’re customers will appreciate the honesty, and the actual target market will pay more attention.

Know the true cost. You know your costs in manufacturing and shipping your products to your customers, but what are the additional costs when marketing is figured in? How many units will you need to sell to breakeven on your marketing campaign? Run all of the numbers and then decide how big or small your marketing plan should be.

Creativity isn’t everything, but it can get you nothing. The right amount of creativity mixed with generous amounts of planning and tactics is far better in the long run. For example, a very creative, yet niche marketing campaign designed for a small target market will not be near as profitable as a mediocre advertisement for a national customer pool.

Advertising is only one part of marketing. Ads are what people see and hear, but marketing is what they experience. How do your ads complement answering the phone in the office, or the color scheme of your storefronts? Does your packaging fit your marketing message? You want to grow your brand and ads help, but are not all.

Finally, in looking to reach new customers don’t forget your existing ones. Your current customers are already “sold” on your company and products. They are far more likely to buy from you, than anyone else. Here’s a common example: How many times have you seen a great deal that you can’t have because it’s for new customers only? Makes you want to leave that company and see what’s for new customers somewhere else, doesn’t it? Create campaigns that attract new buyers, but also encourages the ones you have to buy again.

Big business is what often makes the news, but it is small businesses that keep the country afloat. Our country’s economy really needs small businesses to survive. In fact, some figures from the U.S. Small Business Administration indicate that half of the private sector is employed by a small business. This is something you may not have realized if many of your friends, family and acquaintances work for large corporations.

Not only do small businesses employ a large swath of the population, they also are an area of continued growth. Small businesses have created 60-80% of all new jobs over the last 10 years.

Sadly, our recent economic turmoil has not been a boon for the small business sector. Financial fears have caused some people to stay in jobs they might have otherwise left to start entrepreneurial ventures. On the other hand, layoffs from the employer-based system may encourage more people to attempt to start their own businesses.

This is why small business owners need to watch the Presidential campaign closely. Both candidates have spoken of the need for serious reforms to our current employer-based system. These reforms could really help small businesses.

Check back later this week to read more about some the reforms the presidential candidates are discussing.

In today’s technology driven society, many small businesses are making the wise decision to market their products online. Customers now expect that a worthy company has a website with information available 24/7. In the past, most internet marketing consisted mostly of having a website or placing banner ads on other websites linking to their own site. Now, many small businesses are finding it necessary to have a stronger internet marketing program in place in order to increase sales.

The goal of internet marketing should be to communicate a company’s message about what products or services they offer, sell products and services, and/or provide internet advertising space for other small businesses. In order for your small business to be successful in internet marketing, you need to have a website that offers information that is the equivalent of an offline brochure. A small business can either collect email addresses or purchase email addresses of potential customers. With a few key strokes, you can send your online brochure to thousands of potential customers. Email marketing is the equivalent to direct mail marketing.

Small businesses can chose to offer banner advertisements for a fee. Businesses will pay to place a small ad on your website that will link others to their website. This is extremely popular with websites that have a great amount of “hits”. Banner advertisements are the equivalent of traditional advertisements in publications like a newspaper.

Businesses may also want to set up a blog link so that people can post comments, express opinions or make announcements or recommendations about your products or services on the website. Your blog can also be produced by your company to promote your products and services.

If you chose to set up a website for your company, be sure to engage a good search engine. An internet search is based on selected keywords. Using good keywords is important because they will improve the sites natural ranking when a search is performed.

If the thought of web design is overwhelming, there are many website design businesses that can help build your website for you for a fee.

Planning how you will advertise your small business can be as important as actually running your business. Your goal should be to make a memorable and credible advertisement that people will stop and take notice of. Effective advertisements can be either read or heard.

Advertisements should be simple yet unique to your small business. People will have trouble remembering a complicated ad or message. Each advertisement that you run should support the concept of your company. Does your company focus on having the best price, quality or selection? Pick your headline message and drive your concept home to the public.

Good advertisements have personality and style. Make a commitment to stay with your advertising plan for at least a year. Doing so will help the consumer avoid confusion as to who your company really is. Never degrade the competition. This will often drive your business away instead of bringing it in.

Make sure that your advertisement looks or sounds professional. Have you ever been up late at night and heard some of the strange ads running on radio and television stations? Many of those are likely to drive business away. Consider contracting help with graphics or writing if this is not a strong suit for you. Don’t be afraid to try out desktop publishing software that is available for a nominal fee. Many of these programs have wonderful diversity and can help you create a great advertisement with little cost. You will find that radio and television ads are more difficult to produce and are best left to the professionals

Many small businesses are in crisis when it comes to funding their employee’s health care policies. The continued rising costs have out-priced many companies from being able to provide insurance for their staff. It is not surprising that sixty percent of Americans, who do not have insurance, come from a family where the head of household is self employed.

Last week on Capital Hill, a bipartisan coalition of House members introduced a new bill (HR 6210). This bill would allow small businesses to form statewide or nationwide pools of companies to jointly purchase health insurance coverage. Companies would then be able to find more affordable options for health insurance.

Another benefit to passing this law would be the tax credits that would then lower the cost of coverage for each company. This new measure would provide small business owners with a per employee annual tax credit of up to $1000, or up to $2000 per family. The company must contribute more than 60% of the insurance premiums in order to receive a tax credit. If this measure were to pass, insurers will be prohibited from raising rates if workers become ill or file more claims.

There is a similar bill currently in the Senate. Now is the time to call your representatives and tell them that you want them to support (HR 6210).

Fires, tornados, earthquakes, floods and hurricanes can be a real threat to everyone’s personal life as well as the operation of small businesses. Restoring your business to normal operations after a disaster is important for the recovery process in every community around the country.

Businesses that have a plan in place before a disaster typically have less loss, downtime and financial damage afterwards. Disaster preparations should be a normal part of every business planning, according to the federal and state governments.

A good disaster plan should include several elements. Businesses need to protect their data and inventory, physical property and most importantly their staff. Your plan should include provisions on what to do immediately after your business is destroyed. Businesses should have a plan in place to retrieve records on customers, vendors and employees. Businesses should decide in advance, which key employees it will need to maintain in the event of a disaster.

The Small Business Administration website has a list of preparation tips and topics for business owners to take into consideration when planning for a disaster. Visit www.sba.gov and search for “disaster preparedness” for more information. The Department of Homeland Security has disaster information available at www.ready.gov/business. FEMA also has disaster information on their website which provides step-by-step information for businesses of all sizes. Visit www.fema.gov for more information.

The old adage…”It’s better to be safe than sorry.” is a good one to follow under these circumstances.

The Community Express loan program was initiated in May of 1999 by the Small Business Administration. It was developed together with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and their member organizations. This is a pilot program that is offered to selected lenders in pre-designated geographic areas. It has, for the most part, served women, minorities, veterans and business owners in low to moderate income areas nationwide.

The program includes management and technical assistance, which is designed to help increase the loan applicant’s ability to be a successful business. Borrowers must receive “pre” and “post” loan closing assistance from local non-profit and/or from participating lenders in order to participate in this program. Assistance is coordinated and sometimes even paid for by Community Express lenders.

The SBA does not normally give start up money to small businesses. However, under this loan program, some companies may be eligible to receive start-up funding. For loans up to $25,000, there is no collateral needed, which is certainly a plus for newly formed businesses which most likely do not have collateral available to them. For loans from $25,000 to $150,000, lenders may use their existing collateral policy. Loans greater than $150,000 must follow the general collateral policy guidelines that are set by the SBA.

The maximum loan amount available under this program is $250,000 with the standard SBA guarantee percent followed. Community Express loans are subject to the same maximum interest rate as any other type of SBA loan available to small businesses.

This program is worth checking out if you are a small business.

In continuation to the post on Friday.

If you have outstanding medical bills that might be forcing you towards bankruptcy, contact the collection companies and the medical facilities. Providers (who are more sympathetic than collectors) will often reduce the bill if you are willing to make a lump sum payment to them. The payment is usually significantly lower than the actual bill. If that is not a viable option; ask to make small payments; without interest. Remember they too, want your money. Anything is better than nothing for them.

If a small business owner is having financial trouble personally, it will be very difficult to receive a Small Business Administration government-guaranteed loan. Not impossible, just very difficult. You can improve your chances of obtaining a loan by working to fix the problems that are plaguing your personal credit before you apply for an SBA loan. If you know that bankruptcy is in your future, obtain your SBA loan first and then file for bankruptcy. It is not wise to mislead anyone in the process, but don’t offer up information that a possible bankruptcy might be in your future. Declaring bankruptcy after you receive your loan does not make you automatically in default on the business loan. Make certain you continue to always make your loan payments on time. As long as the payments are good and you have not breached any part of your contract, you will not have trouble with the SBA or your lender.

In today’s volatile economy, some small business owners may be forced to look at the possibility of filing for personal bankruptcy. Of course, you should always try to keep your personal finances in order, but sometimes situations come up that will cause financial devastation. It is wise to know what to do if this situation comes up for you.

Firstly, don’t panic or throw in the towel. I know that is hard to say, but there may be some other options that you have not thought of yet. Many creditors offer programs for people who are financially strapped. If you have excessive credit card debt that you are finding impossible to pay back, contact your credit card companies and let them know what is going on. Don’t let time pass and subsequent negative credit force you into collections or bankruptcy. Lenders will often reduce your debt and interest rates rather than having to write off the debt completely. You will find that you will need to speak to several people before you find one person who will help you. Climb the corporate ladder. If one person says “no”, go higher and higher until you get that “yes”. Ultimately creditors want their money, so hard work usually pays off.

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion to this post.

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