UNTeagle

Topic: Marketing question

Hi, I am a marketing student finishing my final project before graduation and was wondering if any companies/people could share some insight with me on their marketing plan. How does your firm go about marketing your business and what seems to work best for this industry? I am trying to create a marketing plan/strategy for a pretend company but I want it to be as real as possible. The target market for my company is small to midsize businesses within a 50 mile radius of Lewisville, TX.

Thank you so much and I am excited to hear some plans.

Paul Fisher

Re: Marketing question

What a great question!  I hate say it, but what I've found (as one of the few marketing professionals in the Metal Finishing world) that the Surface Finishing Industry is - as a rule way behind in most other businesses in this respect.  I know of very few job shops that actually run their businesses from a well thought out business plan.

With that said – I was involved in creating a business plan for the Save the AESF group a few years ago.  That document is still available for download on the following archived website.   It was based around a standard outline structure and Bert Sherwood of Sherwood Management helped with a great deal of the financial aspects of it.

Because of this need in the Metal Finishing industry, I’ve been working on a new presentation called “Sales Marketing for the Job Shop” that will be presented for the first time this September at the Southern Metal Finishing Conference in Charleston, SC.  I’d be happy to share it with you when it is ready, but it could be a month or two.

I will be looking forward to reading any other replies to your post, and once again – good luck with your research!

Paul Fisher's Website

UNTeagle

Re: Marketing question

Mr. fisher,

Thank you so much for your help. The link you directed us to was awesome! It is proving to be a huge asset to my group and I. We really appreciate it. Also, if you wish, we would love to send you a copy of our final report once we finish it (due this Thursday). Who knows, maybe we could spark some ideas for your future endeavors.