The Rosewood Blog

The President of the United States is sometimes called the most powerful man in the world. Suppose that the President sends a bill that contains many popular provisions to Congress, and Congress passes it. A signing ceremony is scheduled, the TV cameras are set up, and the President signs the bill with much pomp and ceremony. He makes a short speech about making the United States a better place. 

“How much should we budget for marketing?” That’s a question that dozens of business owners have asked me.

Setting the right goals and then tracking your progress is important behind-the-scenes work of any project, whether or not it relates to your marketing. You may have heard this quote one hundred times before, but as Zig Ziglar said, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

When Mr. John Deere sold his first plows in 1838, he didn’t have a famous brand. No leaping deer emblem adorned those early plows. Nor were the implements green and yellow. Mr. Deere didn’t have a famous brand, but I think he did have a brand of sorts. That’s because, in simple terms, a brand is a reputation.

“Hi, my name is Roy. How are you today?” “My name is Craig. I’m pleased to meet you.” When we meet people for the first time, we quickly learn a lot about them by how they are dressed and what they say to us. We soon learn their names or where they are from.

Roy and Ryan Seider were Texas brothers, outdoorsmen who loved fishing and hunting. Roy had a business selling customized boats designed for fishing in the shallow waters of the Gulf Coast. The customized boats were outfitted with three coolers, including one that doubled as a casting platform.

How do these products compare to others in the market? Should the sell sheets be printed individually or be combined into a single catalog? What is important to the farmers who buy these products? Whatever your industry, I’m sure you can identify with questions like these. For example, you may sometimes wonder what is the real reason that people buy your product. Is it the price? The quality? A certain feature? Your location?

The previous three articles in this series covered three of the four elements of defining a market niche: 1. Your industry 2. Your company 3. Your product/service This article covers the final element: your customers.

Does your business offer the right product to the right people at the right price? If so, you’ve found the sweet spot that we call a market niche. Multiple factors come into play in determining your market niche. In the previous two articles, we looked at how to profile your industry and company. In this article, we’ll take a close look at your products and services.

Researching the profile of your industry is a little like an island castaway scouting out the lay of the land, mapping out his surroundings, and planning for survival. How large is the pool of potential customers? What competition is present? Are there untapped opportunities or resources?

How do you get sales revenue? How do you get milk from a cow? You need to buy the cow, feed and water the cow, get a bucket, and milk the cow. You can’t just go into the barn and push a button and get milk. Milk in the pail is an outcome of many inputs. Marketing is the same way. Sales revenue is not an input; it's an outcome of other actions that result in sales revenue.