Business Planning and Marketing

I was recently at a meeting with a bunch of nonprofit people; I was talking about my prior work experience in business planning and marketing. I proudly said I used to be in marketing. I was shocked to see the disappointed looks on their faces, accompanied by little imaginary bubbles that said “Who let her in here?” How did marketing become the occupation that people look upon with such disdain? I could only imagine what my life would be like if I was marketing and selling used cars. Well, if marketing is an evil, then I say it’s a necessary evil.

So what is marketing anyway, and why do people dread and fear it such much? Perhaps you’ll remember as a child that your parents strategically marketed your green peas as an airplane as they spun that spoon and made sputtering noises in hopes that you’d suck down those dreaded peas followed by their slogan “yummy for my tummy”.

This is marketing at its finest. What your parents did first and what most businesses neglect to do is to have a clear vision and mission. Your parents visualized you at age 40, a paragon of health and vigor en route to running the marathon. Their mission was to get you to develop and sustain healthy eating habits.

Next, they came up with a strategy based on their quick analysis. How could they get the maximum return for their effort? What did they knew about their audience (you)? How could they get your attention to focus on those alien-looking green balls? Armed with this knowledge, what would be the best strategy? Instead of green peas and health, you were consuming adventure. Finally, they knew how to position it with a catchy phrase. In the end, you ate it with delight and desire for more.

Marketing for your business is not much different and boils down to the same high level steps: Identifying your vision and mission, research and analysis, and executing your plan.

Here’s yet one more way of thinking about the marketing process. Did you ever attempt to go for a trip some place and just wing it? To just take a path and then hope it would take you someplace? You had no clear sense of your ultimate destination; you really had no map of the territory, no compass, and no plan. If you had unlimited resources and time, it could be fun. But most of us don’t have that luxury, so a vision of our destination, a clear sense of what we want to accomplish, and some tools make it easier to get their more efficiently, and with less resources. This is what marketing and business planning is all about.

There are many ways to undertake a marketing plan. A well written marketing plan can be like our personal business bible. It will provide us inspiration, focus, and faith.

To find out more, check out our lawyer marketing coaches now.

Articles by CJ Liu on Hot Blue:

Marketing Coaching for Lawyers: Wooing Legal Counsel

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