How to Market Your Business: A Practical Guide to Advertising, PR,..

273 Pages·2008·4.47 MB·English

by  Dave Patten

Market_your_business_aw.qxd:Layout 1 15/2/08 12:54 Page 1
B U S I N E S S E N T E R P R I S E S E R I E S
H
O
How to
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Big firms have marketing departments, but small companies must learn to cope on
their own. How to Market Your Businesswill help firms grow and adapt to the
T
accelerating pace of change. With dozens of practical hints based on the author’s
O
many years’ experience working with small businesses, it reveals how you can
revitalise your products and services with some basic marketing know-how. The
M Market Your
topics covered include:
A
• market research; R
• fixing a price; K
• designing adverts that work;
E
• writing sales letters; T Business
• selling off the page;
Y
• how to build a good website;
O
• buying print;
U
• inventions;
R
• running an exhibition stand.

B
Offering tried and tested advice and cost-effective marketing solutions to a range
U
of commercial questions, How to Market Your Businessis the essential guide for A practical guide to
S
anyone with a new company or an established small firm ready for expansion.
I
N advertising, PR,
Dave Pattenruns his own marketing advisory agency. He has over thirty years’
E
practical experience in marketing and finance. Visit his website at
S selling, and direct
www.marketing-taunton.co.uk
S
and online marketing
6
T
H
E
D
IT
IO 6TH EDITION
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D
a
£12.99 v
e
US $24.95
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a
Kogan Page Kogan Page US ISBN: 978-0-7494-5145-5 tte
120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241 n
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
Dave Patten
www.kogan-page.co.uk
www.timesonline.co.uk Business and marketing
How to
Market Your
Business

How to
Market Your
Business
6TH EDITION
A practical guide to advertising,
PR, selling, and direct and
online marketing
Dave Patten
London and Philadelphia
To Malcolm Allan of LS Angus Modelmakers, Glasgow, who gave me my first
chance in marketing.
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the
time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions,
however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from
action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.
First published in 1985 as Successful Marketing for the Small Business
Second edition 1989
Third edition 1995
Fourth edition 1998
Fifth edition 2001, reprinted 2003
Sixth edition 2008
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or trans-
mitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
www.kogan-page.co.uk
© Dave Patten 1985, 1989, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2008
The right of Dave Patten to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The views expressed in this book are those of the author and are not necessarily the same as those of Times
Newspapers Ltd.
ISBN 978 0 7494 5145 5
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Patten, Dave.
How to market your business : a practical guide to advertising, PR, selling, and direct
and online marketing / Dave Patten. -- 6th ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Successful marketing for the small business. 5th ed.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7494-5145-5 (alk. paper)
1. Marketing--Management. 2. Small business--Marketing. 3. Marketing--Great Britain. 4. Small business--
Great Britain. I. Patten, Dave. Successful marketing for the small business. II. Title.
HF5415.13.P347 2007
658.8--dc22
2007044499
Typeset by Jean Cussons Typesetting, Diss, Norfolk
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
Contents
Preface ix
1 What is marketing? 1
Service or product? 2; Who is the customer? 3; Parting people
from their money 5; Price is king? 6; Features and benefits 7;
Isolate the segment 8; Heavy users 10; Growth segments in
the consumer market 11; Growth segments in the business
market 12; Make your product different 12; Avoid lone
products 14; Positioning 14; Hunt for gaps 16; The distribution
chain 17; Margins and mark-ups 18; Brand identity 19; Pricing
for profit 20; Pricing policy 21; The special problems of
marketing services 24; The product life cycle 29; The marketing
mix 31; Location 32; Marketing plans 33; Summary 39
2 Market research 40
Using the internet 44; The reference library 46; Marketing
information 48; Where to find specialist libraries 49; The trade
press 52; Trade fairs and exhibitions 53; Trademarks, patents
and registered designs 54; Assessing the competition 54;
Testing the idea 57; Spotting new markets 58; Market research
checklist 60
vi Contents
3 The Internet 63
Objectives 64; The costs of setting up a website 65; Domain
names 66; What your website should include 67; Help the
search engine 69; Ad-words 71; Test the site 72; Help (and hook)
the visitor 72; Keeping customers coming back 73;
Branding 74; Monitoring visitors 74; Newsgroups, blogs and
mailing lists 74; Trading on-line: e-commerce 75; Setting up
an e-commerce site 77; Summary 78; Further reading 78
4. Advertising 79
Some figures 81; Think of a customer 81; Setting objectives 82;
Positioning 84; Where to advertise 85; Which media to
choose? 90; And the costs 90; Some advertising jargon 92;
Using an advertising agency 93; Designing your own ads 95;
Some common mistakes 97; Text 101; Some advertisement
techniques 102; Inserts can be most effective 108; Freephone 110;
What to say 111; Cooperative advertising 112; The Yellow Pages
problem 113; Project a corporate image 114; Buying print 119;
Desktop publishing 122; Some printing terms 123; Photography 125;
Product liability 126; Packaging and point of sale 128;
Franchising 130; Further sources 131; Summary 132
5. Direct response marketing 133
Where the profit lies 136; Off-the-page advertising 137; Why
direct mail can be so cost-effective 143; Lifestyle lists 148;
What do you send? 149; How to write effective sales letters 150;
Testing, testing 157; It all costs money 161; Growth areas 163;
Catalogue design 164; Door to door 164; Form a club 166;
Party plan 167; The Post Office 167; Useful addresses 167;
Telephone marketing 168; Network marketing 168; Summary 169
6. Public relations 170
PR objectives 171; Understanding the media industry 172;
Keeping up the momentum 177; Other PR techniques 181;
Charity work 183; Open days 184; Summary 190
Contents vii
7. Selling and sales promotion 191
People who buy people 193; Setting objectives 194; Know
your product 195; Planning saves time 195; Get organized 196;
How to get past the personal assistant 196; The presentation 197;
What the buyer worries about 199; Learn to listen 200; Difficult
buyers 200; Buying indicators 200; Concessions 201; Handling
objections 201; Second sourcing 202; Closing the sale 203;
Other products and other customers 208; The dangers of sale
or return 208; The art of demonstrating 209; Quotations, invoices
and terms of trading 210; Using agents 212; Telephone
sales 214; Customer care 218; Sales promotion 218; Price
manipulation 219; Loyaltyschemes 220; Competitions 222;
Promotional gifts 222; Summary 224
8. Exhibitions and shows 225
How to choose the right show 227; Objectives 227; Cost 228;
Stand design 229; Pre-show publicity 235; Staff training and
selling 236; Showing the welcome mat 237; Sales literature 238;
Stay smart 238; After the show 238; Summary 239; Sources 239
9. Starting in exports 240
Staying in the United Kingdom 242; Freight forwarders 244;
Where to export 244; Getting paid 245; Some export
terminology 246; Reference sources 247
10. New products: innovation, patents, licensing and design 248
So what’s the big idea? 249; Be realistic 249; Keep it
confidential 249; Intellectual property 250; Licensing 252;
What are the rewards? 253; Other help 253; Reference
sources 254; A moral tale 254; And finally – my 12 golden
rules 255
Index 257

Preface
A while ago I saved a cabinet maker £10,000. His bank manager was eager to
lend that sum to take a whole page advert in a Sunday supplement. Fortunately
we met before the cheque was signed. The bank manager knew nothing about
marketing: I did. And by the time you finish this book I hope you will as well.
This is the sixth edition, the first written way back in 1985. While the internet
has arrived, blossomed and overturned some people’s conceptions of marketing,
the principles, to my mind, remain largely the same. While in some cases the
web will greatly assist small firms to grow, develop and compete against the big
players, it will become increasingly difficult for searchers to winkle out what
they want. As ever, niche players will achieve greater success if they learn to
isolate their target audience and sell the benefits of their product, not try to
compete with the big boys on price.
While some basic theories of marketing are covered in the first chapter, this
is not a book for the academic, or the quoted company. It is a practical book
based on my thirty years of working both with small firms and on my own
account. You will see how important it is to isolate the potential heavy users,
think about segments of the global audience and preach the benefits of buying
what you have to offer.
Don’t worry if I talk about products as distinct from services: the terms are
interchangeable. As the United Kingdom has neglected its manufacturers and
we have changed to a service-based economy, it still seems a convenient short-
hand to write about products. Suppliers have realised that how customers are
treated is a vital concern, whatever they are buying. Firms that place customer
service and innovation ahead of history and complacency will be those who
succeed and survive. As troubleshooter Harvey-Jones once said, ‘not to change
is a sure sign of extinction’.