The Entrepreneur and Marketing

This handout can also be useful if you direct a profit center for your company.

Social Networking and Marketing
I have often heard people say that “Knowledge is Power!” I prefer to say it differently: “Power is the application of knowledge at the right time.” We have become an information society, and we have become more dependent upon information. One very important knowledge component is our personal knowledge and how we manage it. Psychology looks at relationships when considering the contacts in a personal knowledge matrix, for example those personal contacts you can use to solve problems. Again, the different matrices you have can be viewed as separate, according to use or function. However, there are points of contact between different matrices, say, between a “friends” matrix and a workplace matrix – perhaps you have a close friend at work. This person may appear on more than one of your personal matrices. When you accept a position at another company, your friend will still be in the friends matrix and in the professional contact matrix but will disappear from the workplace matrix.

Marketing and Sales
Successful marketing and sales personnel instinctively use their contacts to aid in improving job performance, and this helps both the individual and the organization. It is for this reason that proper management of marketing and sales PKM (personal knowledge matrix) contacts is important. Sales and marketing people employ tried and true methods for reaching buyers, but everyone enjoys innovative or outside-the-box advertisements on TV. Ideas are where you find them, mostly by being aware of those around you in every thing you do, by talking to others, and by getting ideas from dependable contacts who are always useful in idea formation. Sales and marketing efforts are not just about uncovering possible purchasers of a product, but are also about finding “qualified” buyers. While our most important buyer is a satisfied buyer, a qualified buyer (next in importance) has the money to use our service or buy our products, so a qualified buyer is our most valuable discovery. The next most valuable is any one who can advise a qualified buyer to purchase our product.

You will need a web site for your business, if only to establish your credibility. Most people do not know much about the web and the requirements of business web sites. You will need to develop your own contacts in this area if you do not already have some. Look at the web sites in your local area, especially those websites of your competition. If you like something, check out the web designers of those sites. In doing your research in this area you will develop many contacts which will prove useful in helping you make your decision. It is best to start off in a small, inexpensive way – but your decision must accommodate the growth you may quickly achieve.

Beware of social networking, however, because it fails regularly when applied by the organization as a company internal strategy.

Dr. Lou Gamble