THE RULE OF 3

I come across a lot of information – from people to books to the internet; it’s all about getting the information and learning from it to be a success in the business world today. The following article I found in some of my “Business Stuff” while contemplating my next blog post. It brought about some really great questions about marketing and advertising in the world of Internet and Email. Just something to think about this Holiday Season as we are all running “Sales” on Etsy, Ebay and Websites.

Those of you familiar with advertising may be familiar with the Rule of 3. This rule states that in order for a consumer to actively think about purchasing your product or service you have to hit them with the advertisement 3 different times. For example if a company wants to sell you something they should send you an email, a direct mail letter and give you a phone call. This is just an example, but you get the point. This “rule” has been around quite some time and I think we need to re-examine its effectiveness.

The Rule of 3 has been in existence pre-internet but I question its modern day utility. Let’s think about this for a moment. The overall attention span of humans is decreasing, meaning we are all getting a more and more ADD with how we perceive and interact with information. We don’t have the time to sit and watch ads anymore, we want things instantly and we want it our way, and we don’t get it, we hit the “back” or the “delete” button. So knowing this, do you think that marketers should spend their time trying to show you MORE ads? There has been a large backlash against telemarketers, spammers, blog pitchers, etc. for precisely this reason, people do not want to be spammed and people do not want to see more ads.

There are a couple of things that can happen. Either the Rule of 3 will turn into the rule of 33, meaning that marketers are really going to have to bombard and spam the hell out of people in order to get their attention (and really irritate them). OR instead, the Rule of 3 will switch from a metric of quantity to a metric of quality and relevancy. Instead of concentrating on how many times marketers need to advertise to someone to get their attention, marketers need to focus on the relevancy and the quality of those ads.

We can all see that our attention is diminishing we don’t want to be bombarded with ads and we don’t want to be spammed, so what is the solution? Focus on relevancy, it is far more effective to show someone a relevant ad than it is to show non-relevant ads in larger quantity. Of course we could combine the concepts and show more relevant ads, but remember over time marketers will reach a point of diminishing return, meaning that just because you show more relevant ads doesn’t mean you are going to get more purchases. There is a balance between relevancy and respecting your consumers. Show consumers relevant ads, but don’t bombard them. If you are tired of seeing ads, so are your consumers.

The above article is from various business marketing books and internet materials.

Business Series - Marketing

Disclaimer: Please note that I am not an expert in owning a Business. This series is meant to solely provide information to the reader.

Business’s today face major challenges and opportunities in marketing, such as globalization and advances in technology. These both play major parts in the marketing strategy of a business. Marketing is not only a social process of how to get your products and services to the consumer, but it is also the process of planning and executing the concepts, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.

To look at marketing strategies for your business, ask yourself the following questions, keeping in mind the 4 major pieces of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

1) How can you spot and chose the right target markets?
2) How can you differentiate your products and services from the competition?
3) How far do you go to customize your products and services for each customer?
4) What are the major ways you can grow your business or company?
5) How can you build stronger brands in order to continue to grow your business or company?
6) How do you keep your customers loyal to you, just beyond the first few purchases?
7) How do you measure the payback from advertising, sales promotions, and public relations?

Just thinking about these questions gets the ball rolling about your businesses marketing strategy. It is one of the main reasons a company will ‘make or brake’ it in their industry. Most businesses, unless they are very large, don’t usually consider marketing. But it is one of the most important ‘hats’ a business person will wear. Marketing your products or services just right will bring back customers and keep your business in front of the consumer. Keep in mind though; too much exposure could ruin your business or product, so try to keep an even marketing plan. Learn about your competition, their target markets and pricing strategies and capitalize on feeding what works into your business.
Develop a marketing plan that works for you; set marketing objectives, determine what avenues and how you are going to market your product or service, set marketing budgets, check the competition and then develop and deliver your marketing message to your target market.

Marketing is a challenging concept in any business…from print ads, to internet, to direct-mailings. Just keep in mind the 4 major pieces of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Business Series: A Business Plan

Disclaimer: Please note that I am not an expert in owning a Business. This series is meant to solely provide information to the reader.

Statistically between 55 to 60 percent of all new businesses fail within the first five years and about 95 percent of these failures are due to poor management of the business. If you think about it, you wouldn’t want to purchase a home from a contractor who didn’t have a blueprint and skill as a builder. And yet thousands of people with little or no business sense try to build a business without any kind of plan. Typically, home-based businesses will start out as a dream, a way to make quick extra cash, believing that the home-based business is a good idea and with hard work it will become a big profiting business. Don’t let the statistics scare you, but the statistics stand as a reminder that there is a certain amount of business and management skill, knowledge and experience and hard work needed to be successful enough to profit and grow into a business.

That is where a business plan comes in for the new business owner. This is like a road map of knowing what you need to do, how much it’s all going to cost, and where you can go wrong. It forces the business owner to think specifically about their goals and the path they would like to take to reach those goals. But don’t just write your business plan and walk away from it; review it regularly to make sure you are on the right track, answer questions you may have, and to spark new ideas that you never thought of or forgot about. And by no means does your business plan have to be written in stone, it is recommend that you change it as your business grows and develops. This helps planning for the future of your business a little easier as you can see how past experiences have affected your business.

There is no set type of business plan; it can be as short as one page or as long as several hundred pages. Ultimately, it is up to you to determine how long your road map needs to be to grow your business.

Here are a few elements of a typical business plan to get you started……

1)Business History: How, why, and when the business was started.
2)Business Summary/Mission Statement: A definition of your business. Include a description of your business goals, products, and services and include unique features or customer benefits.
3)Management Information: List who is behind the business; their experience, education, background, qualifications and discuss the legal form of the business.
4)Manufacturing Plan: Here you will describe the required equipment and facilities needed for your business. Make a list of raw materials needed to start the business; how and where to obtain them, their estimated costs, how/where to store/inventory the materials, and include labor and overhead costs involved in the manufacturing process.
5)Production Plan: Define and list how the work will get done; by whom and at what labor cost, if you are using labor other than your own.
6)Financial Plan: List your expected sales projections and expense figures, cash flow figures, and a balance sheet showing the business assets and any owner investments all for one year; with projections for the next two to five years. This section of your business plan should be visited on a regular basis, as it will change quickly and is often dependant upon all these figures within the balance sheet to begin showing your road map of successful or failure within your business.
7)Market Research: Make a list of your target market, your customers, and your competition. When listing your competition, include their pricing structure (if known) and method of distribution as these will also affect how you market to your customers.
8)Marketing Plan: List how you are going to reach your customers, the distribution method, and the anticipated costs of your marketing efforts. You will also include any advertising campaigns, such as web sites, online selling venues, business cards, brochures, and any craft shows or festivals you will participate in.

It is not hard to get started with a business plan, just remember to visit it often to see your business evolve and grown into something big. Use your business plan to mark your successes and learn from your failures. Start with a small business plan and let it grow with your business; this is one way to watch and see how your business and goals are achieved.

Starting & Managing a Business

“How do you manage your business?” “What do I need to start my business?” “Where do you get all the show information?” “Do I really need to be licensed?” “Should I be doing inventory control and how do I do it?” “Where do I find vendors, wholesale or retail?”

These are just a few of the questions that people ask me about my jewelry business. This prompted me to open many of my college books, dig through business information and websites, and rummage around in boxes for vendors, shows, and inventory, marketing and business strategies. I’m no expert by any means, but I’ve always been one to share information with whoever asked. This gave me the idea to share my experiences and knowledge with those of you out there that have been asking these and many other questions. So watch, book mark, or subscribe to posts, because over the course of the next several months I’m going to do posting about my business knowledge and experiences. These articles will be based on the experiences I gained from my first business, which I owned almost 10 years, my current jewelry business, knowledge learned while getting my BS in Business Management and research to find out answers to questions I encountered. If you have certain topics you would like to see, please email me and I’ll do my best research!