Owning a small business isn't easy, especially if you are running it alone. Between moving products, taking orders, paying bills, and taking care of family, it is easy to lose track of everything you need to do. Using a calendar template to organize and manage your marketing strategy will ensure you don't drop ball with one of most important parts of your business.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

First, research and identify who your target clientele is, and what characteristics they share that make them valuable to you. If you have developed software that organizes and manages an online calendar, you probably will not want to target 14-year-old skateboarders. But it is not enough just to identify an age category or an activity your target market shares - you need to consider socio-economic status, buying habits, and potential for up-selling. I may be in Porsche's target age group, but I am definitely not in their target tax bracket!

Second, after identifying who you will be targeting, research and explore venues for your advertising message. The demographics of your desired customers will play a key role in deciding which venues to pursue, so don't forget about them. Examples of marketing venues available to you include newspaper ads, bus stop banners, sports team sponsorships, online marketing (including pay-per-click campaigns and search engine optimization), local television spots, and, if you're feeling extra ambitious, Super Bowl.

Finally, after identifying your desired customers and selecting which marketing venues you will pursue, create a marketing calendar. Calendar templates are available online for download and use. A calendar template typically divides time into weeks, providing a space each week to record what event or marketing method you are focusing on; how much money has been and will be spent on activity; deadlines, contacts, and important notes; and what results of marketing ploy were. Once you have these three facets in place, you are ready to invest some real money into promoting your company.

Implementing a Marketing Campaign

1) ‘Find a Market’ - Find a market before you decide on a product. If you pick a product first then find out later there isn’t a market for it, you will have wasted a lot of time and money. So be sure to look for market first. Also try to find an area that inspires or excites you. If you find your passion then it’ll be easier to stay motivated when building your business. Use Google to search different keywords. Try searching with Yahoo to see what else is selling. Check eBay for all their different categories. And use ClickBank to look for interesting markets. When you locate a market and find out what people want, all you’ll have to do is sell it to them. After your first internet project is up and running, and is profitable, then you may want to start looking for your next market. Remember it's very easy to jump from one project to next before first one is finished. So try to find a market or project that you really like and stay with it until its making money.

2) ‘Find a Product’ - After finding a market you’ll need to find a product to sell. You could search internet to see what other people are selling to get some ideas. Or buy resale rights to a product. Maybe you can sell an affiliate product. Remember you don’t have to reinvent wheel. Find a product someone else is selling and make it a little better, different, lower in price, or add a bonus whenever someone buy from you. If you choose to sell digital products you will find many extra benefits such as: no shipping or handling, low start up cost, your profit margin will be close to 100%, your customer will get their product right away. And a lot of it can be set up automatically so there’s less work for you. Make sure to take full advantage of automation possibilities of internet.

3) ‘Get a Domain Name’ – You’ll want to have your own domain name. Try to think of a few different names because your first choices may not be available. Choose a short name and it will be easier for people to remember. If possible get domain names ending with .com. You should also try to get a name to match your product. And maybe use keywords in your domain name to get a better listing on search engines.

4) ‘Hosting Companies’ - The purpose of hosting company is to keep your website running properly. They will make sure everything is working properly so your customers can navigate through it and buy your product or service. So this is a very important responsibility. If your website isn’t working properly or not at all then you are losing money. You may find some free hosting companies, but you really do get what you pay for. So it may be better to use a paid hosting company.