I decided to investigate an opportunity called It Works Marketing due to the number of scams running online, this is what I found out…

It Works Marketing offers people products for health and wellness, as well as business opportunities to earn more income through retail and sponsorship. It Works Marketing started in 2001 and has focused on giving beauty and wellness products.

The Marketing Approach

The company uses the network marketing approach to selling. Instead of giving money to advertisers, it puts the avarage joe in charge of advertising.

You should gather team members once you join It Works. You can become a “Perfect 10” by inviting the first 5 clients and first 5 distributors. You continue earning commission as you complete the “perfect ten” each time.  You can earn a maximum of 9% from the group volume that you enroll and a maximum of 4% from other members in the organization.

The Product Line

It Works offer individuals products that are formulated and developed by various researchers, herbalists and scientists . The products offered include body slimming treatments, nutritional supplements, skin care products and anti-aging products.

ITworks is also featured, which is the interactive online weight loss program developed by It Works. The program was created by Carla Burns, RN and incorporates a 20-minute workout, diet recipes and thermogenic foods that help burn fat and calories.

From the research I’ve done so far, this opportunity is legit.

However, the MAJOR PROBLEM I see is the marketing plan. This company teaches its reps to prospect family & friends, do home parties, buy leads and distribute brochures.. I don’t believe this to be a solid marketing plan. With the Internet, business can be leveraged to reach millions across the globe.

Final thoughts? Get your self a solid and proven marketing knowledge to make this business work with my FREE CD, which will help you recruit members a whole lot easier than the methods taught. Visit the link below…

Source by Hassan Ajmal

No matter where you are in the world or what type of a business is involved, if sales are involved, the need for a marketing director exists. Differences may exist in the way a marketing director performs his job in different types of businesses, but in the end, the job entails the same basic function: developing a marketing plan that will effectively sell the product or service of his company.

Any sales or merchandising operation may employ a marketing directing including a bank. Many credit card operations have an entire Marketing Department that is heading by a marketing director or manager to present current card offerings to the public. A clothing chain may have a marketing director to develop the marketing tactics that will be used to promote the new season off clothing. Even service organisations may use the services of a marketing director in order to make the public aware of their company and how they can do the job differently and more efficiently than the company that a person is currently using.

The marketing director must be able to work well with people of all ethnic origins and nationalities. He must work well under pressure and know what kinds of tactics to use in a given situation. That means know when to use strong tactics and when weaker ones will work better. It means knowing the target audience for the product you are trying to promote, which in turn means having the flexibility to change your marketing plan to accommodate a change in that audience. Your target audience may change for several reasons:

•#Income of the region

•#Weather and geographic location

•#Seasonal variations of each region

•#Ages of the general population of the region

For example, if your company is trying to promote a snow blower, you are not going to have much luck in a region that is now in the middle of their summer, thus your target audience is now those in colder regions. You might succeed in a warmer region if your promotion includes an inflated discount because of the weather conditions currently in existence. A marketing director must know when to target a given region and when to place his concentration on another region for various regions that may even include knowing the current employment of the region you wish to target to avoid pursing a region with a population that is struggling to simply provide daily necessities.

Source by Richard Taylor Edwards

FORCES IN THE RETAILERS MACRO ENVIRONMENT

Various elements such as demographic, legal, social, economic and technological variables affect an organisation and its marketing efforts. It is now recognized by all that even a well concerned marketing plan may fail if adversely influenced by uncontrollable factors (demographic, legal etc.). Therefore the external macro environment must be continually monitored and its effects incorporated into Retailer’s marketing plans.

The External Environment of Retail Marketing

Demographic Environment

Technological Environment

Social Environment

Political / Legal Environment

Economic Environment

DEMOGRAPHICENVIRONMENT

The first environmental fact of interest to retailers is population because people make up markets. Retailers are keenly interested in the size of the population, its geographical distribution, density, mobility trends, age distribution and social ethnic and religious structure.

Demographic structure is seldom static for long and changes in its composition often test the residency of a marketing firm. Further, these changes influence the behaviour of consumers which, in turn, will have a direct impact in the retailer’s business. The ripples of these changes will reach the organisation forcing it to alter or amend the existing marketing practices in vogue. In short, Retail firms, will have to continuously measure the changes – qualitative as well as quantitative – that are taking place in the population structure. To avoid negative consequences brought on by active consumer groups, a retailer must communicate with consumers, anticipate

problems, respond to complaints and make sure that the firm operates properly.

POLITICAL / LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Retail marketing decisions are substantially impacted by developments in the political / legal environment. This environment is composed of laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and constrain various organisations and individuals in society. Legislation affecting retail business has steadily increased over the years. The legislation has a number of purposes. The first is to protect from each others. So laws are passed to prevent unfair competition. The second purpose of Government regulation is to protect consumers from unfair retail practices. Some firms, if left alone, would adulterate their products, tell lies in their advertising, deceive through their packages and bait through their prices

SOCIAL/ CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

In recent years, the concept of social responsibility has entered into the marketing literature as an alternative to the marketing concept. The implication of socially responsible marketing is that retail firms should take the lead in eliminating socially harmful products such as cigarettes and other harmful drugs etc. There are innumerable pressure groups such as consumer activists, social workers, mass media, professional groups and others who impose restrictions on marketing process and its impact may be felt by retailers in doing their business. The society that people grow up in shapes their basic beliefs, values and norms.

ECONOMICENVIRONMENT

Retail markets consist of purchasing power as well as people. Total purchasing power is a function of current income, prices, savings and credit availability. Marketers should be cognizant of major trends in the economic environment. The changes in economic conditions can have destructive impacts on business plans of a firm. Economic forecasters looking ahead through the next decade are likely to find their predictions clouded by the recurrent themes of shortages, rising costs and up and down business cycles. These changes in economic conditions provide marketers with new challenges and threats. How effectively these challenges could be converted into opportunities depend on well-thought-out marketing programmes and strategies. Further, no economy is free from the tendency of variation between boom and depression, whether it is a free economy or controlled economy. In any event, economic swings affect marketing activity, because they affect purchasing power.

TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

The most dramatic force shaping people’s lives is technology. Advances in technology are an important factor which affect detail marketers in two ways. First, they are totally unpredictable and secondly, adoption of new technology often is prevented by constraints imposed by internal and external resources. At the same time, it should be remembered that technological progress creates new avenues of opportunity and also poses threat for individual firms. Technology has helped retailers to measure the products with modern weighing machines. Earlier, they have used balances which could not measure the merchandise correctly.With the help of weighing machine, products can be measured with the result customer satisfaction can be enhanced. In the following areas where technology have been extensively used.

1. Packing of the products

2. Printing the name of the shop on the product visibly

3. Modern refrigerators where merchandise can be used for a long time and

4. Billing.

.R.YUVARANI
M.Phil Scholar
Department of Commerce
Periyar University
Salem-11

Source by R.Yuvarani

The 5 P’s of Marketing

Product One of the big elements to consider is product, what the actual “thing” is. Whether it appeals to people and if the idea has a place in the industry. The product itself has to sell itself, customers should be attracted to it right away. In other words, it has to be packaged the right way as well. Not only that, the product has to work. Customers using the product will talk about it to potential prospects. The right product also needs approval from the target market, the object for the business is to satisfy a need. Place The location is essential when marketing any good or service. It has to be convenient and customers should be able to remember the spot. A strategically located business requires heavy research and analysis. The target group should be questioned through surveys. They will tell you what the right location is. Price The price is also important. High enough to cover the costs but low as well to attract customers. The price can be charged in accordance to the demand. With high demand, the business can afford to charge a high price. However, the business has to understand that by raising price, the loyalty of customers is compromised. In some cases, the price can be irrelevant. An example of this would be a monopoly, where the firm controls an industry with its rare product. Promotion The right promotion needs to be done at the right time. Intensive campaigns to the right target group. Finding this target group is important to ensure a promising health for the business. Strategically, seasonal sales should be planned along with attractive events. With enough research, businesses would know when and where to throw these events. The company should also have samples and giveaways to entice customers. People The newest P is to do with finding as much about people as possible. Giving them the best service deliverable and understanding legitimate concerns. By serving the desires of the customer, the business is earning respect and word of mouth referrals. The customer is the boss. Without people, businesses would not be able to survive. Without questioning people, the businesses would not know what to sell. Sources http://homebusiness.about.com/od/homebusinessglossar1/g/marketing-mix.htm

Source by Basim