Marketing and Planning for an Online Business

1. Marketing and Planning for an Online Business

2. Learning Objectives • What is a business & marketing plan? • How to start a plan? • How to describe the business • How to analyze the market

3. Major Information • Product or Service • Market • Sales & Marketing • Staff Needed • Financial Considerations

4. Potential Readers • Bankers • conventional money lenders • Angels • wealthy individuals providing seed money • Venture capitalists • firms willing to assume higher risk for equity in stock

5. Potential Readers • Strategic Partners • Businesses you might want for alliances • Potential Employees • Talented people you wish to attract and hire • Current Employees • People working with you who will find motivation in plan

6. Business Plan Structure • Executive summary • Business description • Marketplace • Sales and marketing • Management • Financial information

7. Cover Page • Name of business • Report’s Name • Owners Name • When the plan is prepared

8. Table of Contents • Tool – automated table of contents • Update often as complete plan

9. Executive Summary

10. Executive Summary • Summary of all important concepts from each section • Should be written last

11. Business Description

12. Business Description • Mission statement • Product or service definition • Emphasize why product/service is different • Describe niche in market • Research competition thoroughly for strengths and weaknesses Be enthusiastic, positive and REALISTIC!

13. Market Place

14. Potential Customers • Location of potential customer • Give information • Sales • Getting product or service to customers • Marketing • Educating consumer about product or service

15. Target Customers • Determine demographics of customers • age, income, ethnicity, education • Customer location • Marketing psychology • humor, hard-sell, jokes • Describe buying habits of customers • Know what customers want

16. Competitors • List and describe competitors • identify the company’s strength and weakness in comparison to them

17. Sales & Marketing

18. Sales and Marketing • Describe how to find potential customers and convert to actual customers • Outline advertising and promotion campaign • Estimate budget for each

19. Banner Ads • A banner ad is a small rectangular object on a Web page that displays a stationary or moving graphic and includes a hyperlink to the advertiser’s Web site. • The most common sizes of banner ads are: • Full banner • Half banner • Square button

20. Banner Ad Placement • A banner exchange network coordinates ad-sharing so that other sites run your ad while your site runs other exchange members’ ads. • The second way is to find Web sites that appeal to one of the company’s market segments and then pay them to carry the ads. • A third way is to use a banner advertising network.

21. Pop-up Ad • A pop-up ad is an ad that appears in its own window when the user opens or closes a Web page. • Another type of pop-up ad is called the pop-behind ad. • The window is parked behind the user browser waiting to appear when the browser is closed.

22. E-Mail Marketing • send e-mail messages to their customers and potential customers about new or existing products. • Unsolicited e-mail is often considered to be Spam - some companies have faced legal action after sending out mass e-mailings. • Sending e-mail messages to Web site visitors who have expressly requested the e-mail messages

23. Marketing Mix Goods and services available to customers What customers are charged Messages sent to customers How products and services are distributed

24. Product Life Cycle • Can product sustain growth and mature? • Long enough to recoup investments?

25. Product Life Cycle • Other products/services in pipeline to augment or replace current line? • Pipeline • metaphor for process to bring product from idea to reality

26. Pricing the Product/Service • Consider all costs (marketing mix) • Price guideline • Low enough to entice • Reasonable for quality • Enable coverage of expenses • Provide profit

27. Promoting the Business • Direct effect on sales • Levels of communication • advertising, public relations, sales efforts and customer outreach • Three basic objectives • inform: what and why necessary • persuade: entice and show what to gain • remind: reinforce existence

28. Create a Business Website • Enabling Software/Enabler • Company that builds infrastructure for e-commerce • Five primary types of enabling software • Content management • Product configuration • Transaction platforms • Supply-chain management • Data mining tracks

29. Management

30. Management • Outline who owns and controls company • Detailed with names, responsibilities, and experience • List personnel experiences in reverse chronological order • Stress strengths and expertise • Determine support services • Professional advisors • Include short description of expertise and benefits

31. Financial Information

32. Financial Information • Assess potential risks • Outline areas of risk and minimization methods • Provide/analyze cash flow statement • Provide/analyze balance sheet • Provide/analyze income statement • Estimate funding needs

33. Cash Flow Statement • Details where money comes from and how used • Spreadsheet form • Realistic look at expenditures and revenues • Take into account seasonal shifts • Show monthly figures

34. Balance Sheet • Calculates net worth of business • Generally created annually • Summarizes assets and liabilities • Offers analysis of important events

35. Income Statement • Details revenue, expenses, capital, and costs of goods • Reflects amount of money business makes or loses • Summarizes revenues and expenses • Does NOT indicate when transactions occurred

36. Bottom Line: How much money? • The estimate cost with a summary of potential profit • Outline • How much money business needs • Type of funding you want and when • Exit strategy • Indicates how investors can recoup if business fails

43. Activities • Decide on a type of business (product or service). • Develop a working business & marketing plan (working plan means you will work on it and revise it throughout the course). • Use Word and its functions to create and keep track of your business plan and any changes or additions you make during the course. This plan will become part of your project