This newsletter contains the following sections:

- A few basic rules of marketing
- Tips
- Tools
- Techniques

A few basic rules of marketing

There's a very handy little book called "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Al Ries and Jack Trout, which is designed to correct some of the misconceptions in marketing. Here are a few basic rules to keep your business on the straight and narrow:

• It's better to be first than it is to be better. No one remembers the name of the second person to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo, yet you're likely to remember the first - Charles Lindbergh.
• If you aren't first in a category then you need to create a category in which you can be first. When you develop a new product, instead of asking "how is it better than the competition?" you need to ask "first what?"
• It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace. Marketing is a battle of perception, not product. It is also very difficult to change people's perceptions because they will very rarely admit they're wrong.
• The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind, for example Volvo owns "safety" and Domino's owns "home delivery". The word you own can be a benefit (for healthy bones and teeth), service related (overnight delivery), audience related (mothers) or sales related (preferred brand)
• Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind
• The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder. While being first is always better, there are strategies for number 2 and 3 brands. If you think of a category as a ladder with different brands at different rungs of preference, your marketing strategy should depend on how soon you get into your prospect's mind. Avis is perceived to be number 2 and instead of trying to change perceptions, they used it to their advantaged by saying because we're no.2 "we try harder"
• If you're trying for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader. You need to determine their strength and offer your prospect the opposite. For example if the leader is a large corporate with an enormous product range, you could position yourself as boutique and specialist and cater to those people who do not like mass-produced products
• Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time. If you constantly offer sales, your clients will learn over time to hold off purchasing until the next sale

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Tools, tips and techniques

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Tool: Creating a media kit

A press kit or media kit is like a resume for your business or product. It's called a media kit because journalists and media outlets often require additional information about a business or product as part of a story or advertising piece. It's not just large corporations that require a media kit, small businesses, franchisees and entrepreneurs should include a media kit as part of their publicity material.

Although your media kit forms part of your marketing collateral, it is written in a very different style. Media kits should be straightforward, promotion-free and objective.

There are 3 different formats for media kits. Often a combination of formats is most effective.

• The traditional media kit is a collection of articles and information packaged in a presentation folder and sent via snail mail or hand-delivered.
• An online media kit allows you to include audio and video clips. To get journalists to visit your site, email a press release with a link to your online press room
• Media kit on a disk - With the increase in popularity of eBooks, another way of submitting your media kit is as a PDF file on a disk that you can then post

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So what should you include in your media kit? Keep in mind "less is more". Although you may be tempted to include everything you've ever written, editors don't have time to wade through oceans of paperwork. Here are some suggestions:

• Letter of introduction or pitch letter: This creates a first impression and needs to grab your reader's attention. Tell them why they should care about what you're sending them. Provide them with a list of the material included and let them know where to contact you for interviews or further information
• Two business cards: One for the recipient and one to pass on to a colleague
• Information on your business: This could include the history of your business, a company profile, your biography as it relates to you starting your business and any other bios if relevant.
• Product or service information: Include fact sheets or company brochures that are specific to your product or service
• Reviews and testimonials: This shows the reader what other people think of your business. They may even pull some quotes out of there
• Media releases and sample articles: These are often used verbatim as space-fillers, so don't miss the chance to get across your key messages the way you want to
• Frequently asked questions: This gives the editor an idea for story angles or questions to ask you in an interview
• Other items to include: Any recent awards, photos where appropriate, specific information on upcoming promotions or events, statistics about your industry, samples or examples, company newsletter and relevant white papers

Make sure when you deliver your media kit that you target the right person, you don't want all your hard work to land in the bin because the journalist who used to write the business section is now working on education.

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Tip: 10 tips for marketing to mums

Recent statistics show that mothers control 80% of all household spending. This doesn't even account for the numerous ways that a mum influences spending, whether it's pocket money or a husband's brand of aftershave. Mum's at work also make decisions about office purchases, contractor appointments and insurance coverage. Businesses cannot afford to ignore the mum market. Here are a few tips for marketing to mums:

1. For entrepreneurial mums, don't be afraid of your instincts. Implement those ideas that appeal to you as a mother
2. Mums put in a lot of effort into selecting a product or service, so give them sufficient information to make an informed decision
3. Like many women, mums enjoy the shopping experience, so make sure you offer great customer service and ensure shopping with your business is a hassle-free pleasure
4. A mum has many demands on her time. You need to respect that and make shopping as painless and efficient as possible. That means paying attention to things like ease of finding information about your products, online ordering, customer service support and purchase tracking systems
5. Mothers have always supported community and social projects. A mum is more likely to support a business that demonstrates a good social conscience in terms of employing the disabled, supporting pink ribbon day etc.
6. Personal presentation, authenticity and a good story will attract mums. Telling the story behind why you started your business and how you can relate to her helps to build credibility. For example, a mum starting an allergy products business could relate her experience of being a mother to kids with allergies.
7. Mums like solutions. They are big on problem-solving, so make your key messages solution-focussed
8. To reach the mum market you need to go where she goes, she needs to see you on forums, in the newspaper and magazine she reads and on the radio on her way to work
9. Product bundling can make your service very attractive to mothers. If you sell toys that require batteries, make sure you sell the batteries as well. A mum would much rather shop somewhere where she can get everything at once
10. Make packaging one of the reasons why mums choose your product. Think about how she uses it, for example juice boxes are frozen and put in lunchboxes. This packaging provides an additional benefit over a can of fruit juice

For more information about marketing to mums read Trillion Dollar Moms by Maria T. Bailey and Bonnie W. Ulman and The Mom Factor by Nora Lee.

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Technique: Creativity techniques for brainstorming new product ideas

Listing is a creativity technique used as part of brainstorming new product development. The technique works as follows:

Step 1: Identify the sort of product you would like to produce (e.g. children's furniture)

Step 2: Identify an area in which these exist (e.g. nursery), catalogue, as many objects, products, etc. as you can that exist in that area (e.g. cot, change table, baby bath, bouncer, mobile, chest of drawers, toy box etc.) Reduce your list to about 10-12 items to stop step 4 becoming unwieldy.

Step 3: Draw up a table where each item in step one can be linked to each other item eg 'baby bath/toy box' and 'chest of drawers/change table'.

Step 4: For each new unit, brainstorm possible ideas: For example, what sort of new nursery product does "cot/change table" suggest to you? Could you develop a nursery product that allows part of a cot to also function as a change table?

Choose the most promising ideas to develop further.