by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: August 24, 2008   Last Updated: July 08, 2011

First think through your marketing skills, make a list and then, and only then, make note of them. Writing a professional marketing plan begins with an idea and then is thought through to completion. In the interim, between the idea and the finished plan, much must happen before this first spark of inspiration becomes a work sheet from whence to seek guidance. This kind of planning can be either entrepreneurial in origin or it can originate within a company seeking new and better ways of selling their product. Whichever, it had to be someone's idea and the basic structure is the same.

Understand from the beginning these plans must be flexible and will change with time. None of the ideas should be set in concrete but must be allowed to flow as one successful step leads into another; or overhauling,  changing, or rerouting an unsuccessful step. It is necessary to learn which steps need revising as you move along with your plan. Don't hesitate to begin step one even when you have no idea what two, three, and four will be.

Step one could be an idea that popped into your mind one day that won't go away. As an example, every time you see your overflowing book shelves taking up more and more space you know you must depart with some of them. Aha! you have it, you will sell books online. That was the definitive moment. But how? Who wants your old books? Most of them were treasures you had found in junk shops, and now you are attempting to sell them? Preposterous.

That negative idea did not stick around along; an answer was on its way. College students' needs text books and new ones are often too expensive. You will buy all the used text books you can find at a low price and sell them at a higher price to students who need them. That's it, and alongside selling these books for profit you can clear out shelf space for yourself.

Step two will be learning about online book selling, or learning about what other business you are revamping or starting from scratch. This is called research and you learn all you can about how to go about selling your product. You get some advice from both sellers and buyers. Part of this step will be creating your online store. Decide whether you want to become an eBay seller and use their expertise and guidance or whether or not you will want to strike out on your own.

Once you know how to go about the process you are entering into, start working on a mission statement. It will help keep you grounded and will remind you that even though you

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