How-to Guides - Marketing & promotion

Resources for setting up and running community organisations and projects.

Internet resources

A selection of useful marketing planning guides on the web.

The web search engines http://www.altavista.com and http://www.google.com bring up a wealth of information, much of which is very commercial.

However, try the following:

SmartBiz
Enter 'Marketing Plan' in the search area and you get a number of files of varying sizes you can look at.
http://www.smartbiz.com
Cause related marketing
This is a good way to both promote your organisation through a sponsoring business and get funding at the same time. The UK Business in the Community website has much information - from business' perspective - in its reputation and marketing section.
http://www.bitc.org.uk
The Internet
The Internet can be used for very effectively - and cheaply - for marketing and communication. Techsoup have useful articles in their How To section including this one on Virtual Community-Building for NonProfit Organizations.
http://www.techsoup.org
Biz info
Search on 'Marketing' which gives you a series of titles to choose from. 'A simple marketing plan' is a good starting point.
http://www.biz.org.nz
American Marketing Association
The Marketing Service Guide is a resource for anyone involved in marketing. The Publications section lists some American Marketing journals. Search for "Marketing Plan" give useful results including 'Creating a Marketing Plan'
http://www.marketingpower.com
Better Business Bureau
This web page gives some tips on protecting your business from marketing scams and errors.
http://www.bbb.org