In Response to Nicole’s Post: "Why a Course in Marketing?"

At the end of Nicole’s blog post, she asked the question “What do you think is the most important reason why one may take a class that does not have to specifically do with their career path?”

I think it is very important for students to take courses outside of their major, like ISP courses at Keene State. By taking courses outside of your interest, you broaden your horizon of knowledge. If anyone has ever said that they learned absolutely nothing after completing a semester in a course, I don’t believe them. Whether you enjoy the subject or not, the professor or the reading materials in the class are going to teach you something you don’t know and it will most likely be something you can take with you for the rest of your life. For example, last semester I took an environmental studies course on food and health. I didn’t think I would learn much in the class and besides, what did that have to do with management and accounting? Absolutely nothing, but I learned so much on healthy food intake and the importance of choosing the right foods.

I think the same goes for a marketing course. I think students who are not management majors or minors could benefit from taking a marketing course. No matter what your career path may be, you will always need to sell yourself to a prospective employer. You will always need to prove that you are worth having as an employee.

What are some courses you have taken outside of your major? And did you learn anything worth while?

5 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know about Marketing

Whether you’re planning on pursuing a career in the marketing field or if you want to become an entrepreneur, the knowledge of marketing is very useful to have. There are five things you need to know in order to be successful in your company.

1. Understand Your Market:
By understanding what market your product lies in, you can better solve a problem in that marketplace. Ask questions like “How does my product solve a problem?” and “Are people willing to pay for my product?” in order to test your knowledge of the market. 

2. Define Your Goals:
Along with your goals, you need to define yourself. You need to know who you are, what you are, and what you are not. You must figure out what you want to accomplish before stepping into your career or creating a product. At this point you already know that there is a need for your product in the marketplace. It’s up to you to also figure out how you can fulfill that need.

3. Understand Your Customers:
You also need to understand who, individually, is in need of problem-solving. Know who you want to market to and who can benefit from your product.

4. Create Your Brand:
Your brand is how people (customers) relate to your company. This is how you are perceived in the marketplace. Plan your marketing strategy in advance and make sure that every marketing activity you do works towards the same goal. A good goal to have is to persuade your customers to buy your product. This usually happens through advertising. Advertising is best when you figure out what your brand is!

5. Your Marketing Should Lead To Sales:
You must track your success and your failures. If your marketing plan fails, you need to know why! If marketing activities do not drive sales then you need to figure out where you are lacking and build up that part of your plan.

Can you think of a company that didn't follow these guidelines, and failed because of it?


SOURCE

Marketing Mix: The Four P's

Within the marketing mix, there are four P’s: product, place, promotion, and price. If I were to consider myself to be the product in order to try to market myself to a future employer, I would use these four P’s into consideration.

The first topic is product. I am the product. Here I would describe my strengths in the workplace such as my patience, organization, and drive to succeed in any challenge I face. I work well with a team as well as individually. I would also tell the employer about my past work experience and talk about some of the qualities I gained from working within those environments.

Place: In this section I would talk about where I live and how close I am to the job.

Promotion: Here I would use personal selling to market my skills I have for the company in order to get the promotion. I would show how I have progressed in previous jobs through examples and also mention references from employers.

Price: Here I wouldn’t name a desired salary from the potential employer. I would let them know that I was open to any salary in order to get the job. Because even if I received a low wage, I could always work harder to achieve a higher pay.

This sounds like it is similar to a resume, which it is. Within a resume, you market yourself as a product to try to 'sell' yourself to an employer. Have you ever thought about the marketing mix when looking through your resume?