E-Marketing Plan ELC310 Steven Young

1. E-Marketing PlanELC310Steven Young

2. Company description • OWA will be focused on the production and sale of stained glass art, and fine art photography. • In addition, international Fair Trade arts & crafts will be offered at fair prices. • Stained glass art and fine art photography will be available over a wide price margin to accommodate anyone, from those on a tight budget to those seeking “one-of-a-kind” fine art.

3. Situation Analysis • The business will be a combination of a physical store, located next to my home in Frenchville, Maine, and an e-business. • The business will start off as a two person (wife and husband) operation. Steven Young will produce fine art photographs and specialized photographic services for sale, and will maintain the Web page and business management. Janice Young will produce stained glass art for sale, and will be “manning” the store.

4. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS • Business owners have expertise in production and sale of highest-quality “fine art” photographs and stained glass art. • We will offer variations less time consuming products such as candleholders and digital “fine art” photographs at modest cost (widget), and more unique and expensive one-of-a-kind items at premium cost. • Our store, located next to our home, is paid in full, therefore we have low operating costs, and no costs associated with travel to work. • We have excellent equipment for the production of product including several glass kilns, extensive photography and darkroom equipment, and computer, scanning, and printing hardware and software.

5. SWOT Analysis • WEAKNESSES • Small staff (of two) to do all the marketing, production, sales, and support. This may be problematic if we have higher than anticipated orders. • We may also encounter higher than average shipping costs when purchasing materials or shipping product. • The main resource that is lacking is cash.

6. SWOT Analysis OPPORTUNITIES • Strong market for stained glass art, as it is unique, hand-made, has many potential applications, and may also have function (candleholders, plates, etc.). • Product(S) also relatively light and small, and though fragile is easy and inexpensive to ship. • “Fine art” conventional photography, and in particular large format view camera photography, will be increasingly rare and valuable. • Advances in digital photography enable quicker, cheaper, and easier production of photographic enlargements.

7. SWOT Analysis THREATS • Our major obstacle is one of organization and time management.

8. Demand analysis • Strong market for product offerings of OWA worldwide through internet sales as unique and hand-made products have value to many people. • There is a local market for product offerings in northernmost Maine, and NW New Brunswick through the physical store, however, the relatively small local population is limiting. • Product offerings are generally small (inexpensive to ship) and easily inspected inside and out for worldwide shipping. • Local internet access is excellent, and high-speed internet and toll-free telephone service will be employed by OWA. These factors are very favorable for OWA’s access to the world-wide market. • We will be able to access both US and Canadian local customers, due to proximity to New Brunswick, Canada.

9. Segment analysis One World Artisans offers products in niche markets, well-suited for Market Segmentation including: • Stained glass art and supplies to the art community, • Archival photography is well suited to address the needs of historical societies, government groups, and others with vested interest in photography longevity. • View camera photography is essential for “serious” interior and exterior architectural documentation. • Quality digital enlargements will be sought by those wishing high quality images with maximum archival properties.

10. Demographics OWA Customers tend to be older, and more highly educated than the norm. In addition, the international Fair Trade offerings may be attractive to ethnic and cultural groups.

11. Psychographics Interests • OWA will cater to photography enthusiasts by providing archival digital enlargements. • Cater to history buffs, and family record keepers by offering archival digital copy and restoration. • There are strong art-related Interest Communities which support and encourage activities. There is the Artistree Gallery, artist’s cooperative in Fort Kent, Maine, the Aroostook Visual Arts Coalition (AVAC) out of Presque-Isle, and the Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Program (SACAP) in Houlton. Values • Our One World Artisans name, Credo, and Fair Trade offerings may be attractive to holistic-livin, Wall Mart-hatin, ex-hippy-lookin, liberal-actin, granola-crunchin, peace-lovin, tree-hugging crowd; not to mention folks that just like unique-hand-made products for a good price. Lifestyle • The lifestyle of some people is consistent with their values (though not always). These people tend to support products and services consistent with their values in higher proportion vs. availability.

12. Technographics

13. Key Customer Base

14. Supply Analysis Supply analysis • OWA has competitive advantages in production of fused glass art, view camera photography, archival digital photographs, and conventional silver-based archival black and white photography. • Profit levels in each of these avenues exceed 50%, so efforts will be focuses on supply of these goods and services. • If time of the resident artists (producers) is limited, then lesser-valued items will be outsourced to enable focus on these high-value avenues.

15. Sales Objectives Sales Objectives • Our objectives are for monthly sales of $4,000, at a 40% profit margin, yielding $1,600 in net profits monthly.

16. Productivity Analysis

17. E-Marketing Strategy E-Marketing Strategy • We will offer products online on our website. Our E-Marketing strategy will focus on establishing brand identity, ultimately creating an association of One World Artisans with quality, proficiency, service, and value.

18. Implementation Plan Several milestones must be ahieved to implement the plan including: • Site preparation; • Purchase and installation of brick & mortar store; • Electricity and phone hookup; • Business signage (highway and store); • Purchase of.com domain(s); • Purchase of web hosting service; • Setup of merchant credit card account; • Purchase of raw materials; • Product production; • Web page creation; • Advertising; • Sales; and • Customer service.

19. Budget

20. Evaluation Plan Evaluation Plan • Performance metrics will include: • tracking of sales (for performance assessment and to steer product focus), • benchmarking of recurring (fixed) costs for store operation (heating oil, electricity, and internet), • tracking of supply costs (glass, solder, ink, paper, chemistry, etc.).

21. Answers to Key Questions Who are the customers? • Persons seeking unique hand-made products for themselves and for gifts. • Persons requiring photography services. • Persons seeking materials for stained-glass work. How does the customer make decisions about buying this product or service? • We must ensure that customers know about our offerings and that they “see” the difference between these items and lower quality mass produced items. • The customer must have a pleasant store or site experience. Fine line between enough attention and too much. • The customer must be assured that transactions would be secure. • Word of mouth is huge, so customer service can help or kill you. Be nice, or at least pretend to be.

22. That’s it! (part 1) • Questions If more time, then “Key Questions”

23. Answers to Key Questions (cont.) To what degree is the product or service a compelling purchase for the customer? • Signed individual pieces, limited-edition photographs, fine quality international art and crafts should be showcased to increase their desirability. How will the product or service be priced? • Higher priced than machine-produced items, but competitive with other hand-made products. How will the venture reach all the identified customer segments? • The venture will target art communities, potential clients for archival and architectural photography, and customers seeking unique hand-made items.

24. Answers to Key Questions (cont.) How much does it cost (in time and resources) to acquire a customer? • Advertising expenses to date have equaled approximately $500, which resulted in 10 new customers. This equaled a customer acquisition cost of only $20. We will be investing in radio advertising on Channel X radio, and will track results. How much does it cost to produce and deliver the product or service? • The average cost of product production is approximately $10, which sells for $14.

25. Answers to Key Questions (cont.) How much does it cost to support a customer? • Approximately 1 sale out of 100 will require repairs or maintenance, and the cost of maintenance is usually equal to the value of the product in time and materials. How easy is it to retain a customer? • Customer retention takes effort in customer service, quality of product, and follow-up. You are only as good as your last job.

26. That’s it! Questions???