Oil prices set record highs this week and many analysts see this trend continuing, with gas prices breaking $4 a gallon and higher — and permanently staying there. This type of impact on the cost of energy could mean a permanent change in spending patterns for your customers and consumers. All but the most wealthy [...]

A lot of small business people balk at writing a marketing plan, thinking it is too time consuming. Think about it in terms of shopping, and you may see things differently. If you go Christmas or grocery shopping without making out a list, it can get expensive pretty quickly. Why? Because you don’t have a [...]

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/NewsletArch/newsletter05_22_08.htm
Hello Folks -
While the US economy is not officially in a recession, most customers are becoming more cost-conscious as prices in key areas increase. Their needs are changing, but as a marketer how do you know what, exactly, has changed? My “Marketing Strategy for a Tough Economy” explains a method for projecting and integrating [...]

by Bobette Kyle
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/marketing_management/market_research.htm
If you need a refresher on the difference between qualitative and quantitative research — or primary versus secondary — take a look at this article from a few years back. There are more ways for small businesses to get customer input today (so the examples are no longer comprehensive), but the basic [...]

by Mark Goodin
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/techniques/qualitative-research.htm
Similar to the classic marketing mix for products and services, getting quality respondents for your qualitative market research has a mix of ingredients, too. They are who, why, what and where. WHO is being targeted, WHY should respondents care, WHAT’S in it for respondents and WHERE will the respondents come from? Here’s [...]

by Geoff Livingston
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/mplan/social-media-content.htm
Many folks ask how to go about creating social media for their company. As a service to the industry, Geoff has made available an open source version of a draft social media content development process. (You can find the final version in his book “Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for [...]

by Andy Sernovitz
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/pr/word-of-mouth.htm
Okay. Here’s the quick version. Everything you wanted to know about word of mouth marketing but were afraid to ask. It all comes down to this: Happy customers are your best advertisers. If people like you and like what you do, they will tell their friends. Here’s how to make that happen.

By Matthew Parente
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/bplan/down-economy.htm
One of the biggest areas of concern for companies is the effect of external forces on their business. While each individual company has no control over such things as the economy, the weather, and what the competition does, these things have a huge effect on individual businesses. There’s a fairly simple course [...]

by Bobette Kyle
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/marketing_management/down-strategy.htm
The business of marketing ― meeting needs profitably ― means recognizing and responding to customer priorities while controlling your own expenses. More so than ever, it is about giving people what they want when and how they want it. Today’s empowered consumer wants to be in charge ― asked, not told. Give them [...]