Naples Daily News and SCORE Present:

1. Naples Daily News and SCORE Present: Marketing your Business on a Budget

2. Our Presenters • Robin Calabrese- Director of Community Publications • Lissa Craig Ford- Retail Sales Director • Len Egdish –Director of Online, Real Estate and Direct Mail Media • Dan MacAlister-Creative Director

3. Needs Analysis Why we ask so many questions.

4. To understand your business • We need to know about your business and what you want to accomplish with it. Are you desiring to reach the local market or is your business more global

5. To understand your target • Why we ask what we do… …In order for us to understand your business better we have a series of questions that help enable us to guide you with your marketing decisions. Questions like who are you currently reaching and who are you trying to reach will make a big difference in how you market your business. If you are looking to reach price concise buyers versus image buyers the marketing strategy will be very different from each other.

6. To understand your plans for the future • If you plan on adding another location or introducing a new product line and the advertising message doesn’t reflect the change, we will not be as successful for you.

7. To understand ways to drive more business • By understanding when you get the most customers and when you want to drive more business we can help you with a plan to grow business on slow days or help move slow products.

8. To provide advertising solutions that work • By providing solutions that are based on your needs our business will always be an important part of your marketing plan. Yes, we are in it for the business… …our business is to grow your business!

9. Why do we need to do the analysis? • By creating a marketing budget that fits within your means we can ensure you get the results you are looking for within your budget, we can advise you on what type of product you need

10. Needs Analysis questions • 1 Describe your typical customer: age, sex, marital status, educational level, household income. • What areas do your customers come from? • How far will they travel to shop at your store? How much does the average customer spend per visit? • How often does a customer return? • What specific type of customer would you like to attract more of? (Secondary Customer) • What makes your business unique? Why should customers choose you over your competition? • If I met one of your customers on the street, what would they say about your business? • Are there any misconceptions about your company that you would like to overcome? • 5 Who would you describe as your main competitors? continued…

11. Needs Analysis questions • 8 What kinds of promotions have you used in the past? Which worked well? Which did not? • What other media formats have you used? Which worked well? Which did not? • 9 What special offers do you make to gain new customers or to increase traffic? • 10 What plans do you have to grow your business? (product changes, new promotions, new store openings, etc.?) OR What are your goals for your business? 6 What are your major product lines and brands? Do you offer Co-op reimbursements? • What are your busiest days of the week? Why? The slowest? Why? • What are your busiest months of the year? Why? The slowest? Why? continued…

12. Needs Analysis questions 14 What products do you offer that have universal appeal? For example.... 15 What positions do you need to fill? 16 What positions experience the most turnover? • What services do you offer your customers? • What is your online strategy? 11 What merchandise or product lines would you like to move quickly? • What do you consider to be fresh inventory? What do you consider to be old inventory? 13 What inventory (if any) is older than 6 months? continued…

13. Needs Analysis questions 19 How do you determine your advertising budget? • Do you have a rough idea of a monthly advertising budget that I can use in my recommendations to you? • (If they can't give you an answer, say: Is $________a comfortable monthly number to work with? Based on their response you may need to probe: How about $$________OR What are your gross annual sales? What percentage of total sales does each month represent? What percent of sales do you invest in advertising? 20 Is there any other information that I need to know so I am able to prepare a solid program for you and your company?

14. Setting an Advertising Budget Is there a magic formula?

15. Question 19 of the Needs Analysis • How do you determine your advertising budget? • Do you have a rough idea of a monthly advertising budget that I can use in my recommendations to you? (If they can’t give you an answer, say: Is $ _________ a comfortable monthly number to work with? Based on their response you may need to probe: How about $ __________ OR What are your gross annual sales? What percentage of total sales does each month represent? What percent of sales do you invest in advertising?

16. Methods ofsetting budgets • Percentage of Sales method Most common for small businesses. Samples to follow. • Objective and Task method Larger business approach, works for brand introduction, expansion into market areas • Competition Comparison method Beating the Jones’ approach – be more visible than your competition. • Unit Sales method Used for marketing specific items and cost is associated with the desired number of sales. • Affordable method How much should you budget for advertising. Sample to follow.

17. PersuasionPro.com

18. naa.org

19. Entrepreneur.com

20. Recommendation • The Affordable Approach would be my recommendation when starting your business. • A new business will have many other layers of responsibilities to consume your time, make this step easy.

21. Wishing you Success • A successful business is only as good as it’s customer • base. You may find that you are attracting a customer • base you did not expect. If it’s profitable, • go back to the needs analysis • and adapt your plan.