It used to be that creating a marketing plan consisted of essentially knowing your product, your competition and your ideal client. You put an ad in the yellow pages, went to a rotary meeting, and made some phone calls.

Things are a great deal more complex now and it’s bigger than traditional versus Web 2.0. Who is your competition? Are they even in this country? Where is your ideal client? How do you reach them? Consumers are harder to reach than ever before. No one watches tv commercials, reads their direct or junk mail or uses the yellow pages anymore.

Other important questions we need to ask ourselves is where will our industry be in a year, or even six months? Will the economy improve? Will there be another dreaded wave of foreclosures, a credit crisis, severe inflation? What is happening in your industry?

On September 11, I will be hosting a workshop in downtown San Francisco, close to BART, entitled, “Gaining Marketing Momentum for Growth in 2010.” This is an opportunity to witness how Peridot’s evolutionary model can help your company, regardless of what is happening in your industry. Because what they say is true – businesses that keep pushing forward on building their brand and reaching their ideal client will be the ones that shoot ahead when the economy recovers.

Here are a few of the questions I will be covering at the workshop.

Who is your target client?

Answer this as detailed as you can.  How old are they? Where are they when they are looking for you?

What is your business name, and Why?

Does your name fit your niche? Is it memorable? Does it appeal to your target audience?

Who are your competitors?

Where are they? What are they called? What makes them different and the same as your business?

What is your market differentiator?

What separates you from the competition? Why buy from your business?

Are you a NAWBO or BNI member interested in attending the workshop? Contact me for a coupon code valued at $100!