Almost every company on the planet sets out with the main objective of making money. This is generally done by manufacturing some form of product, or offering a service, and then charging people money for it.

Firstly, it is a very rare case that a company can offer a product or service that is genuinely unique and cannot be supplied by anybody else. This means that your business will be competing with other businesses that sell a similar item and you will both be trying to make money from the same shoppers, who only want to spend their money once.

Marketing is the primary tool used by modern organisations to draw prospective customers to do business with them and not with their rivals. It is a very broad topic that is affected by a great number of internal and external factors, but when done right it can be the one business practise that can make or break a company. Any time spent on marketing will reap benefits, although spending this time correctly can yield extraordinary results.

So where should you begin when constructing a marketing strategy for your own company? Well, every situation is different, and each industry will have its own set of advantages and flaws that must be taken into consideration, but there is a marketing rule that can be applied to almost any corporation to be used as a marketing framework. It is known as the “Marketing Mix”.

The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix was a term that was first coined during the 1950′s and is an expression that is used to express the fundamental building blocks of any marketing strategy. It reflects the fact that marketing is not a simple, blunt-edged business tool, but rather a delicate balance of different elements of business operations.

The term was later built upon to include the idea of “four P’s” that described the essential elements of the marketing mix. The formalisation of these P’s made it very clear for business managers and marketers to swiftly relate the elements of marketing to the strengths of their own organisations, and by doing so could very quickly create a tailored and efficient marketing strategy. The four P’s are Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Nearly every sector in the modern marketplace is competitive, particularly a chiropractor, where proper marketing decisions could mean the success or failure of the company.

Product

Although every aspect of the marketing mix is a requirement, the “product” element mentioned as one of the four P’s is possibly the most critical of all. It describes the physical product or intangible service that your business will be selling, and at the end of the day it is the reason that customers are going to spend money with you.

Several people do not think that marketing has any role to play when it comes to the actual product that your business is selling. In fact, the common train of thought very often bears the exact opposite sentiment. Surely it should be the opposite way around – your manufacturing department creates a product for sale and then it is the job of the marketing department to discover ways to sell it, right?

Take the computer software market as an example. There are many established brands of both operating system and software application products in the market already, and since the market is fairly well saturated it would be incredibly tough (and expensive) to “take on the big boys”. So how could the principles of the marketing mix assist in this circumstance?

Rather than creating an operating system and then attempting to craft a marketing strategy to rival the likes of Microsoft and Apple, it would be far more effective to look at what sorts of product are desired in the current marketplace, and how feasible it would be to produce and sell them.

Once your products have been designed and created it is still a critical skill to be able to objectively review your own products to identify the reasons that a customer would buy your product rather than a competitors’.

Another form of this part of the marketing mix is known as product variation and is typically used to either lengthen the lifecycle of a product currently in the market, or to make your new product attractive to as many customers as possible.

The car industry uses this technique very effectively by offering various engines, trim packages and interior options with the cars that they offer. They use the marketing mix to good effect to sell their own goods in an extremely competitive marketplace. Although these companies may have substantial marketing budgets, the same principles can be applied to all companies.

We do not have a distinct marketing division in our spiked running shoes operation although many of our administrators have been able to take up marketing as part of their job role.

Price

Another key factor in the marketing mix concerns the price of your products or services. This is not a simple case of carrying out market research to figure out the highest price that your customers would pay (although that can be a handy tool to use), but rather making use of the price of your products as a strategic tool designed to achieve any specific goals your company has.

Whilst it may seem obvious, it is still worth pointing out that price has always been, and probably always will be, one of the crucial factors that customers take into account when they are making a purchase. It is also worth noting that customers do not always consider the cheapest price to be the best value. Actually a price that is too low can often turn customers away.

There are many questions that you need to ask yourself when devising a good pricing plan, key among which are the price sensitivity of your customers, what your rivals are doing and how can pricing boost your own profits. From a strategy point of view though, pricing can be covered by two primary principals; price skimming and penetration pricing. These are outlined below.

Price skimming

The principal idea driving price skimming is to make as much money as possible from the sector of the market which is price-insensitive and are going to be willing to spend a large amount of money to get a product or service early on.

This pricing strategy is frequently used in the consumer electronics market where customers will often eagerly await the launch of a new mobile phone or computer games console. Manufacturers could set almost any price they wanted to and there would still be a loyal base of customers that would pay it.

Penetration pricing

Penetration pricing is at the other end of the pricing spectrum, and is geared towards gaining a large market share at a short-term cost so that monetary rewards can be made long into the future. It can be a risky strategy, but when employed correctly it can create revenue streams for many years to come. When setting a price for penetration it is still important to not give a poor impression of your product by aiming for too low a number.

Another thing to keep in mind is that “price” is the only part of the marketing mix that will generate revenue for a business. The other members of the four P’s will all cost money to create or undertake. So it is even more vital to get your pricing technique right.

To optimise our website for Google search visibility we selected cameras disposable as a targeted phrase since it relates to our business and what we do.

Place

Place is the component of the marketing mix that’s often overlooked by companies, but it’s still a significant part of selling your product effectively. In short, it describes the method in which you provide your product to your consumer, and subsequently how you receive money from them. It can be a great marketing technique when applied correctly.

The most typical ramifications of place-based marketing are the physical locations in which your goods are sold. For the majority of consumer products, this includes the distribution infrastructure between your manufacturing plants and retailers and other outlets around the country. Since distribution of a physical product costs money it is crucial to determine your own priorities and alter your distribution network appropriately.

With the increasing use of the Internet by your prospective customers, marketing techniques have had to consider how they use the Internet to help deliver their products. By using the Internet as a place of contact (or even as a complete distribution channel in download-based markets such as MP3s) companies are now able to reach out to a large pool of potential customers. Effective positioning of your product or service can therefore deliver impressive financial results.

Promotion

When you say the word “marketing”, most people immediately think of the promotional side of the marketing mix, although as we have seen, this is merely one branch of a more complete system. Promotion can be employed on a very individual basis or as a mass communication instrument, and whilst it might be an expensive undertaking it is often an important one.

Advertising is one of the most common forms of promotion. Typically it would be done by posting on billboards, creating short clips for TV and radio or by physically handing out flyers or leaflets to potential buyers. With the arrival of the information age we have witnessed a great increase in promotion via e-mail and the Internet, or just as targeted advertising materials posted through your door.

Another significant part of promotion involves branding, which may not necessarily yield more product sales directly, but relates back to one of the initial purposes of marketing; getting customers to pick your product over those of your competitors.

Putting it into Practise

As previously mentioned each company is unique and will have different marketing requirements. By using a balance of the four P’s reviewed above you can take a good view of your own marketing plan.

There are many models to choose from when in the market for raw water pumps. One such pump is the Davey Residential BF1445 Booster Pump. This pump has a flow control perfect for shower only or irrigation only water pressure boosting. It is intended for large homes. It runs at 14 GPM at 45 psi boost. This medium to high pressure boost is quiet and efficient. It is made in the United States and requires no additional parts to install.

The All-In-One Whole House Water Pressure Boosting Pump is manufactured by Grundfos. It weighs twenty-nine pounds and measures 12.6″H x 22.4″W x 8.7″ W. It also boasts fifty-one psi maximum pressure. This irrigation water pump has a multi-stage centrifugal pump that can, in a maximum time of five minutes, self-prime from a well depth of down to twenty-five feet.

Another model, the Pedrollo JCR Series Stainless Steel Hallow Well Self Priming Jet Pump, is recommended for residential use because of its reliability and low maintenance. It is manufactured by Aqua Science and needs additional accessories before installation can be complete. It does need to be installed in an enclosed area to protect against harsh weather conditions, but can be positioned above the water source.

The EF33E Effluent Pump has 1/3 HP, a twenty foot cord, and 230 volts. It is manufactured by Grundfos. This dirty water pump is a cost effective alternative for pumping residential effluent, as well as for water transfer and pumping gray water. It is one of the lightest weigh sewage pumps available. The motor is filled with oil for lubrication and has enhanced heat dissipation.

Finally, the Sunpentown WA-1205E Portable Air Conditioner contains a built in water pump along with a digital thermometer, a fan with three speeds and an independent dehumidifier and washable air filter. It cools any room up to four hundred square feet with no permanent installation. The built in water tank pumps out the condensed water with no need to manually empty the tank. It is very energy efficient and improves the air circulation in dense rooms. It can be programmed using a built-in timer or will operate continuously.

If you choose to make energy conscience purchases for your home you may be able to receive a tax credit for these items. You can feel confident in these purchases as long as they meet certain energy efficient requirements. You can receive up to a 10 percent credit for energy efficient home improvements.

President Bush signed the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” on October 3rd, 2008. This bill is actually an extension to a residential tax credit that has already been put into effect. This bill will cover certain home improvements made between January 1, 2009- December 31, 2009.

Some of the new items that are included are:

Exterior Windows and Skylights – 10% of cost up to $200.00

Metal Roofing – 10% of cost up to $500.00

Central Air Conditioning – $300.00

You must be sure when purchasing any of these items that they meet the qualifying requirements to be considered energy efficient. They must meet certain energy factors. It may also be helpful to look for the Energy Star approval. The Energy Star approval is not always a guarantee but will give you somewhere to start.

Another big tax credit is the solar energy systems credit which will give you a credit of 30% of your cost up to $2,000.00 You may qualify for this tax credit if you have installed a solar energy system between December 31, 2005 – January 1, 2008.

When making energy efficient improvements to your home you are not only receiving a tax credit you are also making purchase that will save you monthly utility expenses as well.

If you have recently made an energy efficient purchase or improvement you may find the tools at TurboTax online helpful in determining the credit you may be eligible for.