Creating a road map for your online store
October 10, 2011 No CommentsCreating a marketing plan is at once one of the easiest and yet one of the hardest things to do. It’s easy because the basic formula doesn’t change, yet difficult because implementing the plan is subject to sometimes unpredictable market forces.
To create a short-term plan, the question that needs to be answered is this: Where will this online store be two to three years from now?
For the medium term, it’s the same question with one exception — the time frame is extended to five years. A long-term plan goes to up to 10 years.
Depending on the nature of the product or service offered by the online store, a long-term plan can either be an exercise in futility of a solid blueprint based for growth. It can be the former if evolving technologies are involved.
Remember the Walkman and the Discman? One of the world’s top corporations popularized those winners, and medium and long-term plans would have been called for under normal circumstances. But the iPod changed how consumers stored and played their music, rendering the Sony products obsolete in a flash.
But if an online store were to specialize in products or services that never go away – pet care products, handmade shoes, or personalized tutorials on languages, martial arts, cooking, etc. – then it makes sense to have a realistic plan, and follow it to the letter.
Think of yourself as a millionaire who can dream of building a mansion with everything his heart desires, but who needs the help of an architect to turn that dream into a plan for a construction company to follow.
For dreams to be achieved, a foundation on reality is necessary. This is true whether one is building a house or an online business.
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