Small Business Marketing Plan
10 Point Checklist

Developing your small business marketing plans is:

Essential and key to obtaining finance and investment for your affiliate marketing business.
And also a crucial key component in providing direction for your company’s future.

In order to write an effective small business marketing plan that gets results you have to know your purpose. What is your vision for your affiliate marketing business? Once you have a clear handle on that, you can work out a broad-based plan that can help you achieve your goals.

The best marketing business plan is not complex, rather it's one that is simple to understand and implement. It's also realistic in its interpretations, evaluations and expectations and specific in its goals and information.

A good marketing business plan will not only set the direction of your affiliate business activities and growth but also help to prepare your affiliate marketing business for setbacks as well as new opportunities.
It will also guide your business in effective allocation of resources.
When you are in the thick of day to day business activities it is easy to get thrown off track. Proper planning can help protect you against this by providing a clear set of priorities.

A standard business plan, irrespective of business type, will include the following components:

Executive Summary: This is written last but put at the beginning of your business plan. It is roughly one or two pages of the main points of your plan.

Company Description: This section details your company history including its legal establishment. Start-up plans should be included here.

Product or Service: This section focuses on your products and/or services. Do not just detail features; focus on the benefits offered to consumers.

Market Analysis: To be successful it is important to know your target market. Who are your customers and where are they? How can you reach them?

Pricing: How much do you need to charge to make a profit? Are people willing to pay this amount? This section is sometimes included under Products or Market Analysis, but it is so important that it can be helpful to have it on its own.

Competitors: Identify your current and possible future competitors. You are interested in businesses that approach your niche in a similar way and are therefore directly competing.

Marketing and Sales Plan: This is where you create specific plans for reaching your target market and making sales.

Operational Plan: This section of your plan needs to be very specific. It details the responsibilities of different departments or individuals, dates for achievement of goals and budgets allocated to implement different strategies.
It covers the processes you employ in your business such as product selection, recruitment, delivery, customer service, accounting, auditing and company infrastructure.

Management Personnel: Detail the qualifications, experience and backgrounds of key members of your management team. If relevant include a human resources strategy. This section is included for finance and investment purposes. If your plan is for internal use only, you can leave this out.

Financial Plan: This section should include profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet, break-even analysis, business ratios, etc. This aspect of your plan will cover the costs of establishing, running and expanding the business. It will also include revenue projections.

Because your affiliate marketing business is online, your small business marketing plan will need to be heavily based on internet marketing. You will need to use search engine optimization strategies and traffic generation strategies that includes online advertising.

Choosing the right domain name and having your website designed with your niche and target audience clearly in mind is also important. With affiliate marketing business, a subscribers’ list of current and potential customers is very important to not only survive but to thrive.

For people wishing to start an affiliate marketing business but haven’t yet decided on a product or service to market, you need to conduct more detailed research before actually initiating a plan (even a start-up plan). Decide on your niche first. Then look for products that meet the needs of your target audience.

The internet has opened up new possibilities for earning income. A good approach is to consider some of the best affiliate products that conform to your niche and receive commission on sales. You can also start an online store that uses a drop shipper to deliver directly to a customer.

There are countless possibilities online but you need to do your research first. Once you have decided on the type of business you wish to operate, you can begin to work on your small business marketing plan.

Writing a comprehensive small business marketing plan which includes the ten elements mentioned in this article will help you drive traffic to your affiliate marketing business and as you know, attracting targeted website traffic is the key to success with your internet business.