Excuses are only justification for giving up. You have let yourself get whupped. You have failed. Failed to give that little extra effort that separates winners and losers. You have failed to learn from tools available to you. You have failed to ask for help. You have failed to plan. Instead, you have planned to fail. Remember, failure is a state of mind. You have created an atmosphere of tunnel vision and lost site of vision. You lost battle but failed to fight war.

Reasons are real, not excuses. Your health has failed. You have exhausted all of your available resources. You just don't have necessary conviction to be in business. You have tried change, asking and searching for help and are convinced that business just isn't for you.

It isn't for everybody. 10% of marketing people make 90% of money. Why? Read back over previous paragraphs. The most important tool you have to succeed is You! It isn't easy cause if it was, everybody would be doing it. We are all blessed with 20/20 hind site. I should have, I could have, if I had only, why didn't I. These words create negativity and that in turn creates failure.

Objectives, strategies, and tactics - these are parts of a solid strategic marketing plan. Your site objective defines big picture, strategies provide framework, and tactics fill in details. Tactics are where action takes place - these are things you will do to bring your plans to life.

There is no shortage of Internet-related marketing tactics. Many have great potential. The challenge is to sift through and choose ones that are right for your situation - ones that have *greatest* potential to support your strategies. Randomly ricocheting from one "proven technique" to another will frazzle and disjoint both you and your business.

Examples of promotional tactics are numerous, as are sources of advice. Public relations, search engine optimization, affiliate programs, reciprocal linking, advertising, direct email, newsletters, and customer incentives are all promotional tactics that may be appropriate for your plan. To learn more about each, explore expert resources linked from Promotional Tactics Resources page at http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/promotions.htm.

A key to knowing which tactics to choose involves thoroughly understanding your target audience(s) and your positioning relative to each. Other elements in your marketing mix (price, product, and place/distribution) come into play as well. Once you have addressed these strategic issues, you will be better able to choose tactics with most potential to increase your business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Target Audience ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A target audience is an identifiable group of people that could benefit from purchasing your product, visiting your site, and/or responding to some other call to action. You can define your target audience(s) according to some combination of behavior, demographics, psychology, and/or social influences. You are likely to have several potential target audiences; focus on those you can most profitably help.

Marketing to a target audience involves understanding how you can help them, developing effective messages, then reaching them via appropriate tactics. By using this approach you can focus your resources on tactics that are most likely to increase sales for your business. Hence, earning greatest return from your marketing activities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Positioning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~