Biz fundamentals (Part 2 of 5) Marketing Message

After refining your offering: the next area of focus should be developing your:

* Marketing Message
* Your Value Proposition

The market place will ultimately dictate what you need to offer and how you need to frame your message, regardless of this fact you need a starting place. It's only when you continually expose your offering and message to the market place that it will get a chance to be refined.

On a side note: once everything is in place the need to work long hours is appropriate to arrive at this conclusion.

I put together a list of questions to help you to get clear about your offering. From your answers you should have a good sense about your message.

Marketing Message Questions:

1. What will your business look like in 10 years?

2. Is you target market B2B or B2C?

3. What demographic and psycho-graphic details should you be concerned with?

4. What problem, issue, pain, predicament or challenge is your prospects facing that would make them seek assistance?

5. What are the warning signs that should encourage them to call?

6. What results do you produce when working with clients?

7. What do you have that can prove you can in fact deliver the solution?

8. What makes you stand apart from your competitors?

9. What makes you unique, special and memorable?

10. What is it about your business or service that offers a true advantage to your potential clients?

11. What are you doing to brand yourself currently?

Please describe in detail:

12. How are you going to create traction in the targeted market?

Next, take all your information and create a marketing message or value proposition (write it down). Communicate with simplicity what you are offering and the relevance of it.

Third, Look at the marketing information (i.e. blogs, websites, printed material) of 50 plus competitors. Be thorough when going through this information. You will be able to see and measure your message against theirs. This process should give you a tremendous amount of insight. Take notes, and rewrite your Value Proposition. You may see that it is different then the one you first had written.

Next, I would recommend starting to design your own website on paper, word document or power point. You will be surprised of the gaps in your knowledge and message when you do this. Visit the competitors' websites, look at the structure the tabs and any options.

Now you should be ready to put your marketing message online. From all this information you should be able to create a short value proposition or an elevator pitch.

It's note worthy to keep in mind as you go through your competitors' information to be aware of your weaknesses as it relates to your offering, it will give you an advantage if you think about how you should frame your strengths in light of these newly discovered weaknesses.