What is Marketing?

I meet so many people each day and every single one has a different idea about what marketing is... Some think that its Public Relations and others think is promotional items, a billboard or TV advertising. The majority believe that their marketing is advertising or traditional media.

From Wikipedia: Marketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities discover that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others.

Now that you have heard that...here is a story that I read somewhere and it in my opinion truly defines MARKETING...

If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying "Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday," that's advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that's promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor's flower bed, that's publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that's public relations. If the town's citizens go the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they'll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus, that's Marketing!

I believe that true marketing involves the strategy of the business that I am serving. Strategy involves the product or service the client produces and the audience in which the client needs to reach. Once that is determined I work to connect the deliverable (public relations, advertising, online marketing and promotional products) that best reach that audience and deliver the clients message.

Tracking Web site traffic- How effective is your business

As a small-business owner, you're not likely to hire a new employee and then become totally clueless as to whether that person ever shows up for work.

You're also not likely to take on a new partner without some way of tracking the revenues, benefits or efficiencies gained from the relationship. So why do so many small businesses build Web sites, invest in online marketing campaigns and then devote little or no effort to analyzing the return on their investment?

Every day I meet with companies that either have a website, need one or need an update to what they built 5 years ago and it always baffles me when I ask how do you measure your results to something that is so essential to your business.

So now I have to ask- howe do you measure your website traffic and how is the effecting your business? Is your business growing because of your internet sales?

Is Your Website Social Media Friendly?

Usually my first interaction with a potential client is following a brief review of their web site. Unfortunately all to often the initial review identifies numerous issues which potentially have a detrimental affect on how well the web site achieves the goals and objectives of visitors and the business. So often the basics get overlooked. With Social Media becoming a big part of your business's activities, it is imperative the web site supports online activities. Have you evaluated your business's web site to determine if you have the information and processes in place to achieve user and business goals?