Text Box: By Gina Burgess Executive Director, CEO     According to my online Dictionary.com, the exact meaning of marketing is the title of this article. We have gotten so caught up in media and technology frenzy that we’ve taken our eyes off the real meaning of marketing. Marketing is not sales strategy or shopping for deals, but is the actual act of buying or selling. In days of long ago, going to market meant shopping for supper since they usually only had one or two meals a day. It is an antiquated term today, but it is literally what people do when they shop through the internet or go downtown or Wal-Mart, or travel to Dallas or Atlanta to purchase products for their stores.     How do we make sure that the customer buys from us when the customer is ready to go to market and buy? Experts all over say that we should “Know Our Customer”. Another expert says that we must understand the “Customer is King”. But, we’ve known that since 1902. I wanted to know the How To rather than the What is. This is what I found out:     Persona.     One company even has a birthday party for Gerta—their customer persona. It isn’t a real person or a real customer, but the Persona is a customer profile, or the embodiment of that company’s ideal target customer. That company designs software so they are not on the front line of selling, but they do need to know the wants and needs of each customer who will buy each product. The Persona help keep their customers real and vibrant as they design each product.

Text Box: Marketing: the act of buying or selling in a market

Text Box: To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here.  Questions or Comments?  Have a story? Email us or call 601-798-3122

Text Box: August 19 7:30 am   Bank Plus hosts   Morning Call Breakfast Paul’s Pastry RSVP today

Text Box: Newsletter Spotlight Text Box: Welcome to our new members… Systek Solutions Jeff.williams@systeksoutions.com Network and computer consulting. 601-329-3702   Coastal Blue Wireless 2415 hwy 43 South # D 601-251-0007 Cellular Services   USA Proformance & Automotive 306 Hwy 11 North 601-798-9000 Patrick Davis Humana, Inc. 985-507-9988 Text Box:        

Text Box: Investing in the Future

Text Box: Vol. 1  Issue 19   ◊   8/05/08

Text Box: E-ZINE

Text Box: Community happenings and more information are posted on the Community Calendar Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.

Text Box: FRIENDS OF THE NRA Dinner and Auction September 25, 6 pm Knights of Columbus 408 Carroll Street Picayune Tickets at the door or Call Buddy McDonald 601-749-7488 Text Box:                 By Gina Burgess                 Executive Director                                                     We met with Gene Taylor                               last night at the Criminal                               Justice Bldg. I was properly    impressed since this was the first time I had ever met him. He talked a lot about the things he has done for Mississippi and for the Gulf Coast as well as the things he has earmarked in the budget to protect our soldiers—you know those young men and women who stand between us and the bad guys.     One thing that disappointed me was that a lot of what he said drew a line between the Republicans and the Democrats. It was a “we” vs. “they” conversation. Some of the things he pointed out were true and he said the system is not perfect. He’s right about that. But, it saddens me that we are so polarized these days.     What should concern us more is what is good for

Text Box: our City, County, State, and Country. If I were in charge of the world, I’d have everyone pulling in the same direction. But, I’m not. And we don’t. Why is that? Pull in the same direction, that is.     It is rather a puzzle with pieces scattered across the state and nation. No one knows where all the pieces are. If we did, then we’d be able to put the jig together and see the big picture. Although, sometimes it is more interesting to just see where all the pieces fall and who picks them up.     I am glad to report that it is a myth that our US Congressmen do not pay Social Security and such. They do. They also pay taxes. I did not know so many people thought our lawmakers were skating around on taxpayers money. One thing he did not say is after 20-25 years of service they can retire on nearly 80% of they pay. And another thing is they can retire earlier than most government employees, as early as age 50; and their salary is just more than $169,000 plus travel expenses and a second home tax credit. Not bad, until you consider how much it costs to live in Washington.

Text Box:     How is that important to the average small business owner? Good question, I’m glad you asked, because I asked it, too.     How often have you looked at something and thought, “Mom would really love this!” That is understanding the customer. The most efficient way to understand your customer is to talk to them. Surveys are great but you only get about a 1-2% return.     Number crunching will give you a broad spectrum of who is buying from you, but it won’t tell you why they are buying.     I learned years ago that the decision to buy is an emotional decision, but the actual act of buying is performed after the justification of the purchase. “The dress makes me feel beautiful and classy.” The emotional response to the dress. “The dress is on sale and I’ll save $50 dollars.” The justification that it is okay to purchase this feeling of beauty and classiness. That is an internal process which is rarely seen, recognized or acknowledge by the average sales person or marketer.     Emotion that causes buying is generated by several things such as fear (something bad may happen if I don’t buy this insurance); pride (this suit makes me look slim and powerful), you get the idea. Emotions stimulate the motivations for buying a product or service.     Next week we’ll take a closer look at those emotions and how to stimulate them into motivations to buy. The process works well.