2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 4 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 70 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 81 posts. There were 102 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 7mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was November 29th with 226 views. The most popular post that day was marketing-mix.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wordpress.com, delicious.com, google.com, booksneeze.com, and connect.in.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for marketing mix, marketingmix, mix marketing, swot analysis diagram, and mix de marketing.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Problem Statement and Research Questions March 2010
2 comments

2

Marketing and E-Marketing Fundamentals July 2010
5 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

3

Cooperative Marketing December 2009
2 comments

4

The Right to Lead by John C. Maxwell May 2010
4 comments

Happy New Year

Changes will not come in 2011 without hard work and devotion. Resolutions only serve as rough draft of where we want to be.

Anti-social? 5 things to consider before you start your social media marketing (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – July 16, 2010)

Social media and social networking, for all their activity, are still a mystery to many businesses. Maybe you’re concerned it’s all just hype. Or that there’s no business opportunity in them. Sure. That’s possible. But, before you write them off completely, here are a few ideas you should consider:

via Anti-social? 5 things to consider before you start your social media marketing (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – July 16, 2010).

Marketing and E-Marketing Fundamentals

Image by Jaap Steinvoorte via Flickr

There is much debate as to whether traditional marketing fundamentals can be applied to e-marketing. The answer varies from marketer to marketer. I, however, believe that traditional marketing fundamentals can and should be applied to e-marketing as outlined in this report. Marketing contains products and services that are offered for a fee. Said products and services must be conveyed to the buyers by a method of delivery. Promotion and advertising retain a significant share of the procedure these days. (Internet marketing strategy, 2005)

The micro-environment directly influences an organization. In a live chat Joe Melle states that the micro-environs consist of dealers either directly or indirectly, purchasers and end users, and additional interested parties. The micro-environment designates the association between organizations along with the forces influencing marketing.

The macro-environment consists of uncontrollable elements that affect the business. These external factors include laws, culture, politics, economies, technology, competition, and demographics. This broader environ is continually transforming causing the business to adapt and offset the transformations. (The marketing environment, 2010)

A SWOT analysis is used to assess the environs of the business as the principal phase in preparation, which allows marketers to concentrate on vital concerns. SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. An interior analysis identifies strengths and weaknesses. The exterior analysis also known as the environmental analysis identifies opportunities and threats.

The marketing strategy process begins with the marketing mix. The marketing mix is a set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the organization blends to produce the result it wants in the target market. The four P’s of marketing are product, price, promotion, and place. Product refers to the goods or services offered to the target market to satisfy its needs. This consists of what is done to create an appealing product to the end user. Product resolutions include branding, warranty, quality, safety, packaging, support, and functionality. Price consists of the amount of money the customer has to pay to obtain the product or service, along with any non-financial costs such as time, hassle, and convenience, among others.

Promotion refers to those activities that communicate the merits of the product or service and persuade the consumer to purchase it. Such activities include mass selling (advertising and publicity), sales promotion (contests, coupons, freebies), and personal selling (direct contact with potential customer). The key is to ensure that the forms of promotion are properly integrated so that they all communicate the same image and message.

Place includes everything the organization does to make its services available to the target consumer. This involves deciding where the target customers are to sell them the product and how to attract them. “Place also includes the channels of distribution or the middlemen used to get the product to the customer, market coverage, logistics, inventory management, warehousing, distribution centers, order processing, transportation, and reverse logistics” (The marketing mix, nd.).

Target market, customer characteristics, and consumption behaviors are influenced by the value proposition, product dimensions, positioning, targeting, and brand value. Value proposition is a statement of why a consumer should buy your product. Product dimensions are basic operating characteristics of products and services such as features and benefits. Positioning is the creation of an image for the brand, product, and company in the mind of the consumer. Positioning is the consumers’ perception. Targeting determines who to market to. Brand value is the core values and qualities that sum up a brand or product. (CTUOnline, 2010)

An example of a “traditional” marketing agency is The Phelps Group in Santa Monica, California. They are leaders in integrated marketing services for healthcare, financial, retail, home & garden, travel & tourism, telecommunications, and technology industries. Their services include print advertising, billboards, television, direct, promotions, collateral, consumer ads, trade ads, public relations, and brochures. In the health industry Phelps specifically utilizes print, billboards, and television.

TopRank Online Marketing based in Spring Park, Minnesota is a good example of an online marketing agency. TopRank services include search engine optimization, online public relations, social media marketing, and email marketing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Three elements every marketing mix should have | New England Business Bulletin (cynthiacutright.wordpress.com)
• SWOT analysis (slideshare.net)
• It’s all in the (marketing) mix (moo.com)

31DBBB Day 31: Plan the Next Steps for Your Blog « Christian Web Trends Blog

31DBBB Day 31: Plan the Next Steps for Your Blog « Christian Web Trends Blog

This is Day 31 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60 of us bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers.

A little over six weeks ago we started a journey together in the pursuit of becoming better bloggers.  Congratulations to everyone who has made it to this finish line.  This has been a worthwhile project for me, not just for the practical advice and wisdom I have received in the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog material, but because of the friendships that I have made along the way.  So many of you have spoken truth into my life through your respective blogs and I am grateful to you for your willingness to share your lives with me through blogging.

Today’s lesson deals with developing your “next steps” in blogging.  Darren recommends mapping out what you intend to accomplish in your next month of blogging.  Basically we are being encouraged to put into practice the different concepts we have learned over the 31 days.  Putting together a game plan that includes developing potential blog topics, developing a variety of different types of posts we want to write, and allotting time to participate in forums and commenting on other blogs will definitely help us all become better bloggers.

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