Plan Your Product Like You Plant Your Garden

When I was a youngster, my father introduced me to vegetable gardening, and every summer we worked the garden together. I didn't realize back then, that he was "sowing the seeds" for my future career. And while it's April 8 and spring is "officially" here, it's snowing in NJ. But next week, me and my kids will plant the vegetable seeds in the greenhouse so they will be ready to move outdoors in mid May. While marketing is my profession, gardening is one of my top favorite pasttimes; and the truth is that the processes are very similar. Maybe that's why I like them both so much.

In gardening, we plan, plant, thin, prune, fertilize, water and harvest.

In book or product marketing we spend months planning for our planting which we call a "launch", we thin out/prune back the least productive initiatives, fertilize and water the winners with increased effort and focus, and watch our clients harvest/reap the rewards.

So for all the avid gardeners out there, teach your kids to garden too. It may prepare them for a future career in marketing.

Marketing plan essentials

Recently I've been reading lots of comments on social networking sites from self published authors and business start-ups. Many read something like this "Help, I have a new book/new product and I don't know where/how to sell it. What do I do?"

Back in Marketing 101 in graduate school, I learned the 4 "P's" of marketing, and have been applying them through my businesses at www.nextdecade.com and www.barbarakimmel.com ever since.

1. Product-what is my product? If you can't clearly describe it in 3 sentences or less, go back to the drawing board.
2. Place-where is the best place to market my product? Start with your immediate circle of influence and work your way out. Think "concentric circles".
3. Price-what is the best price for my product? Don't be arbitrary. Look at your competition and set your price accordingly.
4. Promotion-how am I going to publicize my product? This is where you need to either become a publicity expert or hire one. Without publicity, the world will not know your book/product exists. Don't be fooled into believing that you need to spend thousands of dollars to get exposure.