Penetrating the Market

The Houston Chronicle published a great list of tips on how to penetrate the market: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/develop-market-penetration-31423.html
A lot of the information seems redundant from previous ideas on branding and general marketing, like researching competitors and partnering with distributors to increase customer awareness of your product. One of the best ideas is coupling your product with a more popular item to increase customer awareness. For example, when you buy a bottle of shampoo at the store which has a small sample of a conditioner attached. Competitive pricing or offering bonus value with purchase is a common way to convince consumers to try your product or service.

A clear, recent example of companies competing in the same market is the variety of streaming services. The three main names are Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. For a long time, Netflix was the only service that seemed to have a very strong customer base. You could either stream tv shows and movies or rent more titles through DVD in the mail. With different pricing options, customers had the freedom to choose what they wanted. Hulu has grown significantly in recent years, and for many people is a better choice than Netflix. Hulu shows new releases of tv shows within days and has recently partnered with Showtime, whereas Netflix users often have to wait several months for a full season to be added. Amazon Prime has streaming options, too, but there benefit is more with the ability to rent new releases of movies online rather than waiting for the mail. All three companies have branched out in making their own series and movies to increase their value with customers. All three companies also offer customers a free trial to "hook" them on their services.

In summation, finding your niche with customers or highlighting what makes your product unique or superior will help boost your chances of market penetration.

Channel Development

The difference between a successful business venture and an unsuccessful venture comes down to one thing: customers. You can have a great product, clear, intelligent marketing and all the other components of a successful business, but without customers, there is no way a business can survive. Deciding on your channel strategy is key to making sure that you bring in as many customers as possible.

http://grasshopper.com/blog/19-ways-entrepreneurs-can-acquire-customers/

The above link gives great notes on how to increase your marketing through traditional methods and non-traditional methods, such as viral marketing through social media.

Branding

Branding is one of the most important aspects of building a successful business. I tend to think of branding as logo, colors and matching shirts, but it is actually a much more complex concept. It is actually the whole package of a company. Companies with a good brand have recognizable colors and imagery, but they also have a positive reputation with their customer base for providing excellent products or services and customer service skills. To me, how adept a business is at handling complaints or mistakes is one of the top indicators of a successful business, and it definitely determines whether I will make future transactions with their company. It takes all areas working together properly to build a reliable client population: employees, imagery, product/service quality, customer service, price.

 The following link has a clear and succinct explanation of the broader definition of branding along with a few examples to clarify.
http://www.carolroth.com/blog/branding-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/

Finding your customers

As our book notes, the most successful entrepreneurs know their market and their costs, and choose to market and target an audience that will provide them the most profit. In recent years, the most meteoric example of this type of success is Facebook. By now, everyone and their grandparents have at least one account. It provides a simple, free service that all ages enjoy. What is interesting about Facebook, is that it originally began as a service for college students only. You actually had to register with a student account to be eligible. As the popularity of the site increased, the resources available to Zuckerberg and his fellow founders also increased enabling him to expand his audience. Advertising and sponsorships are how most websites make money, but the folks at Facebook were able to incorporate premium apps for purchase that make more money above what their advertisers alone provide. This includes in-app purchases, music, and the ability to send virtual birthday gifts among others. Now, Facebook offers opportunities for businesses to advertise to their local demographic through their software. This is an asset for businesses to reach a larger market for a lower cost that ultimately benefits Facebook by driving page views, advertisement and sponsorships.

https://www.facebook.com/business/overview

In summation, if you can find a steady customer base for your venture (like college students), your likelihood of growing your business and increasing your audience and profits greatly improves.

Skills

Today's market is unique for artists in that one can reach a much larger market than would have previously been available. Websites such as Fiverr and Etsy allow people to sell a wide variety of materials at varying costs. Having the ability to reel potential customers and clients in with such a low price point is an excellent way to get your foot in the door, and your work can be shared across the globe.

The following article is an account from 2009 of how hobbyist have been able to quit their full time jobs to pursue their artistic passions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html

Introduction

I look forward to understanding the idea of entrepreneurship more clearly and what happens in the background to make one successful. Working for oneself or running a company seems like as much a part of the American dream as the 2.4 kids and white picket fence.

I have worked in advertising for the past 7 years at a newspaper then billboard company. Seeing what type of ads work for what types of businesses is interesting, because it's not always what you expect. I think that advertising is the most obvious part of marketing, but I also think things like efficiency, customer service and overall appearance of materials/employees/store can have just as integral an impact on the success.

Looking forward to delving more into the topic and learning more!