The 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix

You’ll sometimes hear business people talk about the 4 Ps, or the marketing mix. These 4 Ps are: Promotion, Product, Place and Price. Let’s look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The Right Promotion

You could have the best product at a great price, and be in the right place, but promotion is still necessary to give that final edge over the competition and drive enough sales to make a product profitable. Promotion can take many forms and will usually have a multi-pronged approach.

The Right Product

The product has to have the right features and benefits to appeal to the customer and meet their needs. If there simply isn’t a desire for that product then the best marketing in the world isn’t going to sell it.

The Right Place

Products have to be in the right place at the right time. A good example of this is umbrellas when it’s raining and ice creams when it’s very hot. If the product isn’t there when the customer feels the need for it, it won’t get sold.

The Right Price

The price needs to be right from two points of view – the customer’s and the seller’s. From the customer’s point of view, the price has to be low enough to be affordable, but not so low it gives the impression of poor quality. The seller has to choose a price that will attain the optimum balance between sales volume and profit margin.

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Inspirational Quotes

“Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right.”

Aldous Huxley

“The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize.”

Richard Monckton Milnes

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

“Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it.”

Burmese Saying

“Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.”

John Dewey

“Your goal should be just out of reach, but not out of sight.”

Denis Waitley and Remi Witt

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

Napoleon Hill

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4 Basic Marketing Principles

1. Targeting

It’s better to have a single, well targeted bullet than to spray randomly all over the place. It’s more efficient and less wasteful – of both resources and time.

In practice this means getting to know your market and what they want and need (which may not always be the same thing). Then it means designing or adjusting your products appropriately.

2. Focus on benefits, not features

People don’t care that a car has a state of the art alarm system, they care that the car isn’t going to get stolen. They don’t care if they website is W3C compatible or future proof, they want to know that it’s going to improve their bottom line and not be a money sink.

In summary, don’t focus on the features of your products and services, focus on the tangible benefits they bring to your customers.

3. Be consistent and specific

Don’t try to be all things to all people, a constantly changing chameleon. By spreading yourself too thin, you’ll end up appealing to nobody instead. It’s better to decide what your brand represents, whether that’s based on your own intrinsic principles or what you’ve ascertained your market wants, and stick with it.

4. Be in it for the long haul

Marketing works over time, and if you keep building on it, can go from strength to strength. It’s not something you can just do a short burst of and then leave it forevermore. It should also have a many pillared approach, rather than relying too much on a single ‘prong’. Look at all the alternatives that are available to you, including: social media, website promotion, direct mailing, print advertising, networking etc.

If you want to give your business the best chance of success, then contact Chelsea Singh, via his personal website or check out CS Investments.

More Entrepreneurship Quotes

”A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
– Winston Churchill, British Politician

”Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”
– Richard Branson, British Industrialist

”Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them.”
– Anonymous

”The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect.”
– Adam Osborne, American Author

”Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”
– Henry Ford, American Industrialist

”The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
– Vince Lombardi, NFL Coach

”Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill, British Politician

”If I had eight hours to chop down a tree I would spend six hours sharpening my axe.”
– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

”The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities.”
– Michael Gerber, Author and Entrepreneur

”Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
– Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist

”Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
– Chinese Proverb

”The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning – to create a product or service to make the world a better place.”
– Guy Kawasaki, Entrepreneur, Investor, Author

”Choose a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
– Confucius , Thinker and Philosopher

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What makes a millionaire?

The Director’s Centre, which aims to help businesses become more profitable and fun to run, ran a survey called the ‘Magic Million Survey’ to try to get to the bottom of what makes one person able to become a millionaire and another not.

They identified attributes, traits and characteristics of successful business people and discovered that the biggest difference between achievers and wannabes was the approach to success.

High achievers had a strong sense of self belief and a tendency to take responsibility for themselves and the factors around them. Whereas, those who got stuck in a rut and failed to progress and grow their businesses tended to blame external factors and have self-limiting beliefs.

Fear is often the main factor in a lack of success, as people are afraid to risk losing what they have, are afraid of failure or are afraid to relinquish control of any aspects of their business (critical for a truly scalable business).

On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs are usually more self-aware, and know that they are often the bottle neck, holding the business back from even more success.

The successful business owners who took part in the survey all presented the following traits in one combination or another: charismatic leadership, a ‘can do’ attitude, a fast-moving, exciting business environment, motivational rewards systems for staff, a good body of staff… and luck.

You can read the original article here.

Find out more about Chelsea Singh the Investor, here.

Chelsea Singh on Leadership

Leadership is a key factor in business, but there are many different types of leader and ways of leading people. We all need leadership at various times in our lives, and we will turn to different people for guidance in different areas. Sometimes we need to be motivated to get up and go and make important changes in behaviour, and other times we might need a role model for some more personal reflection.

Some leaders are very charismatic and inspirational, and draw people to them like a magnet. People feel stronger when spending time with them and more motivated to make changes in their lives. These types of leaders usually have strong visions, they know exactly where they want to go, and they have no time for naysayers – they’re too busy getting on with it! They can be radical, and will usually have enemies as well, as some people prefer things to always stay the same and fear change, so these people will find them unsettling, and will react negatively.

These types of leaders tend to be politicians and high-profile entrepreneurs.

But there are also modest leaders. Those who shy away from the limelight and keep a low profile. There are plenty of powerful people who have created huge, influential organisations, but of whom you will have heard. These people prefer a slow and steady approach, and they tend to be committed to the success of an organisation of movement, rather than personal achievement.

These people tend to be spiritual leaders, authors and teachers.

Click here to visit the Chelsea Singh Investment website.

Principles for Strategy

To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail.

But having a strategy is no guarantee of success. External factors are always changing and new information becomes available and the environment changes.

So what makes a successful strategy? Below are three principles that underlie a good strategy.

Keep it Simple

A good strategy will have a very simple objective at its core, that can be described in a single sentence and instantly understood, such as Steve Jobs’s ‘1000 songs in your pocket’ for the iPad. By having a clear centre, the strategy will be solidly grounded and anchored to this concept.

Avoid assumptions

The biggest pitfall of strategies is making incorrect assumptions. When developing a strategy, you should question everything you think you know and make sure you get solid facts. Even better, make sure your strategy relies on as few assumptions as possible – that way it will be as strong as it can be. For more on this, look up ‘Occam’s Razor’.

Be flexible

It’s a tricky balance to know when to stick to your guns and when to change tactics. But this is one of the most important skills you can have as a strategist, as no plans survive first contact intact. The strategy should have flexibility built into it, with some of the most likely changes in scenario accounted for.

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Inspirational Quotes

“I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.” – Unknown

“I want to be all used up when I die.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine

“Good things come to those who wait… greater things come to those who get off their ass and do anything to make it happen.” – Unknown

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” — Mary Anne Radmacher

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” — George Eliot

Dont be afraid to stand for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone.. – Unknown

“The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

“Life is like photography. You need the negatives to develop.” – Unknown

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

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Do you need to have a degree in business studies to become an entrepreneur?

With worldwide University attendance rates at their highest ever (though watch this space to see how the increased fees will affect UK students), it’s commonly believed that you can’t get anywhere in life without that little piece of paper that says you spent four years or more attending lectures, and sitting exams at the end.

But research shows that most students remember almost nothing of what they learned at school or university. So is it worth going to university if you want to make it big in business?

The answer is that while university will be very helpful as a character building experience and to make friends that will last a lifetime, there are many examples of people who dropped out of college, had terrible reviews from their teachers and lecturers and turned out to be some of the most successful business people and entrepreneurs of our time – these include Richard Branson and Bill Gates.

So, there’s nothing wrong with qualifications, and getting an education is no bad thing, but a degree in business studies does not a good business person make, and it’s very possible to strike it rich without a university degree.

Click here to visit the Chelsea Singh Investment website.

Doctor Xpress Launches!

CS Investments is pleased to announce the launch of Chelsea Singh’s latest business: Doctor Xpress, providing medical services to your home, hotel or place of work.

Doctor Xpress is a new concept in medical care, aimed at providing convenience and efficiency that matches the needs of today’s demanding modern society.

When you’re feeling poorly, the last thing you want to be doing is traipsing over to your GP, and it’s probably one of the worst things you could be doing. Not only are you putting yourself at risk of the elements and exertion, but if you’re contagious, you’re putting others at risk as well. And once you get to the surgery, you’re exposing yourself to all kinds of other illnesses – whilst in your weakened state!

Doctor Xpress addresses these problems and offers a unique new service, where medical services and experts are mobile, travelling to where they’re needed most.

Services include flu vaccinations, travel clinics, sexual health consultations and private GPs. All our staff are professionally trained and registered with the General Medical Council.

The service is available 24/7, every day of the year, so emergency medical help can be with you as soon as possible, when you need it most.

Check out our new website to find out more about the service and what it can offer you.