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Marketing is not rocket science. Anyone can do it and within any budget, even zero dollars. Marketing successfully, however, and maximizing your efforts, does require a certain amount of knowledge, research, planning and preparation. Marketing in the dark (without doing your homework) is both foolish and costly. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners have a minimal, if any, marketing budget. Choosing the right marketing strategies, form and placement is essential for both short- and long-term success.

Knowing how and where to market is only part of the equation. It must be combined with a clear understanding of why you are marketing and why a specific strategy is being used.

Each of the steps below can be performed individually, and should be used often. The knowledge you will gain about your self, business and market is invaluable. When these steps are combined, you have a recipe for successful marketing that will stand the test of time, even in changing markets. Use the 5 Easy Steps to Successful Marketing to develop marketing plans, campaigns, product promotions, marketing strategies and more to meet your specific business goals.

1. Start with a goal. Before embarking on any marketing endeavor define what you're selling and the desired end result or goal.

2. Identify your market, or target audience. Who needs or uses your product or service?

3. Flush out where your market is hiding. Combine research and creativity to discover the whereabouts of your market, or target audience.

4. Strategize how to reach your market. Be careful not to let your circumstances drive this step so you can discover many ways to reach your market.

5. Choose one or more strategies and begin marketing. Considerations may be timing, inventory, seasonal uses, cost, and so on.

' 2006 Gabrielle Melisende. Easy">All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author credit and follow all of the Isnare.com publisher guidelines.