ts are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your p

When I first meet them, many of the business owners and Entrepreneurs that I work with would prefer to avoid the whole issue of marketing altogether. They want to leave marketing up to the "creative" people on their team and focus on the more tangible aspects of business. Or they don't see the need for marketing and prefer to rely solely on a strong sales team. The exact opposite approach is needed for businesses that want to dominate their market and achieve stellar results.

If you own a business, you must accept the fact that you won't be able to create sustainable, profitable growth without continually expanding your marketing knowledge. Knowledge equals power, and, when it comes to marketing, clear and understandable knowledge is a bit hard to come by.

As an entrepreneur, it is your job to know what is possible, what strategies make sense for your business, and what results you should demand from your marketing system. This requires a fundamental understanding of the role of marketing. Marketing is one of the only activities in business that can help you make money. And marketing done right can have astounding results.

Marketing Definition

The first step toward understanding marketing's role in your business it to get a handle on exactly what marketing is. When most small business owners think of marketing, they are generally thinking about promotion-either advertising or sales. These are two elements of marketing, but there is more to it than just promotion.

The simplest definition of marketing for the small business is "everything you do in your business that puts money in your pocket."

That's a pretty broad definition. But true, nonetheless. Yet this definition, while it makes a good point, doesn't help us really understand what marketing is.

I prefer to define marketing this way:

Marketing is the business activity of creating value, communicating value, and exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals.

This definition covers the entire scope of the marketing function. In your business you create value through products or services, and then you tell people about the value you have created, and then you deliver that value in exchange for something you value: that green energy that fuels your dreams.

Let's take it apart to make sure we understand the definition...

Satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals

Any effective definition of marketing must be built around satisfying the needs of businesses and individuals. Without the need, there can be no value created or exchanged.

You will notice that the definition includes "businesses AND individuals." To be truly successful, you can not take an 'either or' approach to the market. Markets are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your pr

ng, clear and understandable knowledge is a bit hard to come by.

As an entrepreneur, it is your job to know what is possible, what strategies make sense for your business, and what results you should demand from your marketing system. This requires a fundamental understanding of the role of marketing. Marketing is one of the only activities in business that can help you make money. And marketing done right can have astounding results.

Marketing Definition

The first step toward understanding marketing's role in your business it to get a handle on exactly what marketing is. When most small business owners think of marketing, they are generally thinking about promotion-either advertising or sales. These are two elements of marketing, but there is more to it than just promotion.

The simplest definition of marketing for the small business is "everything you do in your business that puts money in your pocket."

That's a pretty broad definition. But true, nonetheless. Yet this definition, while it makes a good point, doesn't help us really understand what marketing is.

I prefer to define marketing this way:

Marketing is the business activity of creating value, communicating value, and exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals.

This definition covers the entire scope of the marketing function. In your business you create value through products or services, and then you tell people about the value you have created, and then you deliver that value in exchange for something you value: that green energy that fuels your dreams.

Let's take it apart to make sure we understand the definition...

Satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals

Any effective definition of marketing must be built around satisfying the needs of businesses and individuals. Without the need, there can be no value created or exchanged.

You will notice that the definition includes "businesses AND individuals." To be truly successful, you can not take an 'either or' approach to the market. Markets are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your p

vertising or sales. These are two elements of marketing, but there is more to it than just promotion.

The simplest definition of marketing for the small business is "everything you do in your business that puts money in your pocket."

That's a pretty broad definition. But true, nonetheless. Yet this definition, while it makes a good point, doesn't help us really understand what marketing is.

I prefer to define marketing this way:

Marketing is the business activity of creating value, communicating value, and exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals.

This definition covers the entire scope of the marketing function. In your business you create value through products or services, and then you tell people about the value you have created, and then you deliver that value in exchange for something you value: that green energy that fuels your dreams.

Let's take it apart to make sure we understand the definition...

Satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals

Any effective definition of marketing must be built around satisfying the needs of businesses and individuals. Without the need, there can be no value created or exchanged.

You will notice that the definition includes "businesses AND individuals." To be truly successful, you can not take an 'either or' approach to the market. Markets are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your p

your business you create value through products or services, and then you tell people about the value you have created, and then you deliver that value in exchange for something you value: that green energy that fuels your dreams.

Let's take it apart to make sure we understand the definition...

Satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals

Any effective definition of marketing must be built around satisfying the needs of businesses and individuals. Without the need, there can be no value created or exchanged.

You will notice that the definition includes "businesses AND individuals." To be truly successful, you can not take an 'either or' approach to the market. Markets are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your p

ts are made up of both businesses AND individuals, no matter what business you are in.

Create Value

Marketing is about creating value to answer the needs of your market through products or services. The need comes first, and then you create value (products or services) to meet that need.

Communicate Value

Now we get into familiar territory: advertising and sales. Certainly a large part of marketing is about effective communication. This is where you inform those businesses and individuals about the great value you have created.

Exchange Value

Finally, we come to the part where money changes hands. You exchange the value you have created (your products) for something that you value (money).

But Isn't That Everything My Business Does?

Aha! Now you have taken the first step to a major shift in thinking that will change the way you look at your business and will significantly improve your profitability. In order to really be successful in a small business, you need to start thinking of your business as a marketing machine. You might bake bread, but your business is the marketing of bread. You might be a software engineer, but your business is the marketing of software. You might be a personal development coach, but your business is the marketing of coaching services.

Don't take my word for it. This is what Peter Drucker, who in 1997, Business Week called "the most enduring management thinker of our time." says about it:

"Because of the nature of business, it has just two functions, and only two; marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation make money. Everything else is a cost."

Now that you have a workable definition that doesn't leave any critical element out of the mix, you can start to make sense of what this means to your business.

If you are in business today, you are a marketer. Your job is to facilitate the exchange of value between your company and an eager market. To really succeed in the marketplace, your entire business must be focused on the business activity of creating value, communicating value, and exchanging value to satisfy the needs of businesses and individuals. When you truly get focused on these three elements of the marketing definition that is when you will see your sales and profit expand dramatically.