Nate Stockard offers free consulting at Stockard & Associates, Inc., a marketing and design firm in Houston, TX specializing in small business solutions.
His 13 years of marketing experience is also put on display at The Market Seedling, an informative source of information, articles, tips, and advice for small business owners and marketers.
Everyone's idea of marketing is different. Each textbook defines it differently, and each marketing professional will include different aspects of marketing. Marketing is a lot of things.
Merriam-Webster defines marketing as:
1 a: the act or process of selling or purchasing in a market b: the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service 2: an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer
This definition couldn't be any more general, but that in itself is the point: marketing is anything used to promote, sell, or distribute a product or service. Marketing can be passing out flyers to promote. Marketing can be the way you complete a sell. Marketing can also be who will sell your products. Marketing must be an integrated process that combines a wide variety of activities to promote, sell and distribute your products or services.
Marketing starts with determining a want or need. You must identify a reason for your product or service in order to have something to sell. Once you determine the want or need, you must create or establish the product or service that will satisfy that need or desire. Although this sounds like the beginnings of a business plan, it is also the basis for your entire marketing plan.
There are many steps to marketing once you have established a product or service that satisfies and want or need. You must make decisions about your marketing mix (product, price, place (distribution), and promotion), and you must incorporate your marketing collateral with every step. You also must combine your sales strategies with your marketing strategies to design a successful business model.
Marketing is a lot of things, but ultimately, it is any technique or process of promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Would You Use Meat Loaf in Your Targeted Small Business Marketing
- Explode Your Small Business Marketing With 6 Simple Keyword Research Steps
- Small Business Marketing Ideas: 4 Incredibly Inexpensive but Super Effective Ways to Grow Your Offline Business Online
- The internet as a good Tool for Small Business Marketing
- Camarillo Small Business Marketing!
- 5 Tips To Using Circulars In Your Small Business Marketing
- Will Internet Marketing Work for Your Business--Small Business Marketing Ideas
- Does Small Business Marketing Need Much Planning?
Ways to Build Email Lists
By: Fabian Mercado | 07/01/2010order to fructify this market strategy of list building optimally in order to gain considerable profits. It is necessary to keep on trying and putting effort as the results will not be on the boar overnight. Hard work and sincere endeavors will help you to attain success in this sphere.|Online marketers have been using e-mail lists to widen the scope of the market for their products and also services to a wide and huge customer base. This is why online entrepreneurs are quite enamored by this co
Does the Headline on Your Door Hanger Pass the Glance Test?
By: Jim Negron | 07/01/2010The person who removes your door hanger from their door will glance at it for just a few seconds before deciding to keep it or discard it. So make sure your door hanger passes "The Glance Test". One method used successfully on many door hangers to pass "The Glance Test" is a powerful, comical or interesting headline.
7 Deadly Marketing Sins to Avoid in 2010
By: Hamilton Wallace | 07/01/2010Make 2010 a better year by improving your marketing. This article presents 7 things to avoid to improve your marketing.
Make Better Marketing Choices in 2010
By: Hamilton Wallace | 07/01/2010Many small business owners make bad marketing choices in a tough economy. This article talks about how to make better marketing choices.
How to Gain Insight from Market Research
By: Sparxoo | 07/01/2010Since my first research project as a member of the X Games team at ESPN, I have found research to be an outstanding way to learn about and stay a step ahead of your audiences. To compete today, we must understand our customers and new customer targets as though they are our friends (check out Seth Godin’s...
Tips To Increase Sales In 2010
By: Kris Ann | 07/01/2010Every business wants the same thing, more business. They want sales for 2010 to exceed sales of 2009, and depending on what type of year you have just had, this may not only be a goal, but a necessity to keep your business afloat. There are some things that you can do to ensure increased sales and business in the coming year. The following tips can help you increase sales for the coming year with ease.
A Layman Catalog Design and Printing Tutorial
By: Katie Marcus | 07/01/2010If you have been thrust into the world of catalog printing without any knowledge about it, do not worry this article has been created to help you through it. We cannot all be experts in catalog printing.
To Study of Consumer Perception regarding different Water Purifier Brands
By: SkylineCollege | 06/01/2010Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), are products that have a quick turnover, and relatively low cost. Consumers generally put less thought into the purchase of FMCG than they do for other products. Though the absolute profit made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large numbers and so the cumulative profit on such products can be large.
3 Most Used Techniques For Auto Responder Marketing
By: Nate Stockard | 23/03/2009 | MarketingHow should you use your auto responder service? Need ideas on how to market automatically? Here are 3 of the most used.
5 Steps You Must Take To Be Successful With Search Engine Optimization
By: Nate Stockard | 18/02/2009 | MarketingYou have heard of SEO, but don't know where to start? Do you need help getting started? Here are 5 steps you must take in order to be successful with SEO.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Web Designer
By: Nate Stockard | 19/01/2009 | Marketing5 things everyone should avoid when looking for someone to design their website in order to have a successful web presence.
3 Elements of Successful Marketing Planning
By: Nate Stockard | 25/09/2008 | Marketing TipsSmall businesses must utilize marketing planning in order to be successful. Three key elements are are included here to foster successful marketing planning.
5 Factors of Consistent Marketing
By: Nate Stockard | 23/09/2008 | Marketing TipsMarketing must be consistent to be successful. Learn about the 5 major factors of consistent marketing.
How Much Does Marketing Cost?
By: Nate Stockard | 11/09/2008 | Marketing TipsFind out general ranges for various marketing activities and then learn the five basic pieces that are REQUIRED for every business to be successful.
3 Major Reasons Why Marketing is Important
By: Nate Stockard | 05/09/2008 | Marketing TipsKotler and Armstrong define marketing as "the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customer in return." This definition alone can explain why marketing is important, but let's outline several reasons why marketing should be one of the small business owner's main priorities.
What is Marketing?
By: Nate Stockard | 25/08/2008 | Marketing TipsWhat is Marketing? Start with the dictionary definition and expand to what is required for marketing success.