Planning is Key - Quick Tips for New Mompreneurs

At momstown Edmonton South's first Mompreneur Networking night, Communications Specialist Natasha McKenzie shared with us some critical tips on having a plan - and not just a business plan.  She taught us how to make both Communications Plans and Marketing Plans to ensure that we've considered everything about the industry we're in before taking the plunge! As suggested in the recent, and very polarizing, blog post by momstown.ca about the rise of the Disposable Mompreneur, having a good plan that considers every aspect of your business is so crucial to your success as a Mompreneur.  It takes a look at the business from different angles and can help you figure out if your business is viable and if you have the time and resources to make it successful.

So what is a Communications Plan and a Marketing Plan (and aren't they the same thing?) Natasha explained that the Marketing Plan is a precursor to the Communications plan.  The Marketing Plan tells us the Who, What, Where, When, while the Communications Plan is the How & Why.

Marketing Plan - Top 5 Tips

1. Find out who your customer is - include age, sex, marital status, location, family size, income level etc.  You need to know who you're selling to.

2. Once you find out who you're selling to find out how they make their purchasing decisions - what are they willing to pay for your product, where do they shop, what motivates their purchases and what problem does your product or service solve for them?

3. Know Your Competitors a.k.a SWOT Analysis - Identify your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

4. Marketing Activities - How will my message reach potential customers? Print ads, facebook, twitter, sponsoring, promotions. Figure out what the best fit is for your business in your industry.

5. Project where you will be in 1, 3, 5 and 10 years - What are your long term goals?

Don't forget to set a date to review your plan!

Communications Plan - Top 5 Tips

1. Overall Outcomes/Objectives - Similar to your mission statement from your business plan, this should be 2 or 3 sentences about how your product or service will assist your target audience.

2. Critical Path - Timeline for how you'll use the tools and tactics to achieve your goals and relay your messages, charts are a fantastic way to budget your time and stay organized  (ie. How often and  how long will it take you update facebook, your website or engage on twitter daily?)

3. Key Messages - What is the message you are trying to relay about your business, these should be one liners to describe what you're business is about, your 'elevator speech'.

4. Evaluation - This is necessary to measure your success.  Example - how many hits generated, number of new clients or number or mentions/media clippings.

5. Public Relations - How will you interact with the public? Advertising, Socia Media and Media Kits - Which will you use in what way? Remember that social media is not free, you are always investing time and energy.

Thanks again to momstown mama and Communications Specialist Natasha McKenzie for teaching us so much!