| by John Maynard, Georgia SBDC For many small business owners, marketing is akin to flossing. They know its benefits. They know they need to do it regularly. Yet when I sit down with a business owner to go over his marketing activities, I feel like the dental hygienist performing the semi-annual interrogation: "Have you been marketing regularly?" I ask. "As often as humanly possible," the client laments. "In fact, I mailed out some postcards yesterday!" Unfortunately, like flossing, marketing gets done when we think about it or when we respond to an irritation, like a piece of corn stuck between our teeth. Even companies that go to the trouble to prepare annual budgets and agonize over details for salaries, wages, and utilities will haphazardly list the same amount for marketing each month. That practice tells me that the owners have thought about marketing, but not much. And when confronted with my suspicion, they'll 'fess up that they don't spend that much on marketing each month. "Then why are these amounts shown here?" I'll ask. "Because I know I'm supposed to show something for marketing," the owner will say. Having established the fact that a marketing plan was not used to generate the monthly marketing budget, I've learned never to suggest that business owners produce such a plan. Don't ask me why, but mouthing the words "marketing plan" is tantamount to a syringe full of Novocain: immediate numbness sets in. So what's the solution? It's simple. I recommend that business owners work on a marketing schedule. The first step is to find a year's worth of monthly calendars large enough to fill in lots of details. We start with the easy stuff. What, if any, trade shows does the business owner attend? We note the dates on the proper calendar. How much do they spend going to the trade show in travel, lodging, meals, printed material, etc.? These costs are included on the calendar as well. Next, we discuss advertising. Lots of companies miss out on what could be fruitful advertising because they aren't aware of (or ignore until it's too late) a magazine's lengthy production lead-time. Once the client picks a magazine and the edition he wants to advertise in, we backtrack to the ad submission date. Then we backtrack some more to allow time to design and prepare the ad. Finally, we calculate the cost of the ad (design and placement). We go through the same routine for direct mail. When does the mailing go out? How long will it take to prepare the mailing, including printing and securing the mailing list? What will the mailing cost? Calendars help us think. For instance, we don't want to schedule our fall sales on a weekend with a home football game! No one will want to take time to come to our store, and, if they did, there'd be nowhere to park! Holidays and other special events that we might not think about until it's too late jump out at us from a calendar. The calendar method works because it eventually leads to a marketing plan. It provides a marketing schedule and budget. What's more, as marketing expenses add up, the business owner begins to ask tough questions: Which marketing effort generates the best return? Are we directing our marketing to the right people? So, if you want to avoid receding market share, plan for and follow through with a detailed marketing regimen rather than waiting until the day before you're scheduled to meet with your business consultant! Market regularly to avoid decay!
To obtain small business assistance contact a consultant at a Small Business Development Center. > See also: Marketing, Advertising & Sales | 
