Developing an Internet Marketing Plan
Part 2: Situation Analysis
Issue 74, March 13, 2000

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I consult with dozens of companies, and correspond with owners and marketing managers of many more. One of the most serious weaknesses I see in marketing plans is a blindness to what is going on around them. To succeed we must take time to understand the rapidly-changing situation in which we find the Internet market at a given point in time. Here are some tools to help you lay the knowledge groundwork that underlies your Internet Marketing Plan. Other parts to the series "Developing an Internet Marketing Plan"

• Part 1: Strategic Planning
• Part 2: Situation Analysis
• Part 3: Customer Analysis
• Part 4: Market and Product Focus
• Part 5: Positioning, 4Ps, Product
• Part 6: Pricing Strategy
• Part 7: Product Distribution
• Part 8: Internet Promotion

Here are three important ways to get a handle on the situation. (I'll be covering customer analysis later.)

Doing a SWOT Analysis for Your Internet Marketing Plan

This is a handy tool to quickly get the big picture of your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Read the Article.

Conducting an Industry Analysis for Your Internet Marketing Plan

In the planning phase it's wise to analyze industry trends so you can position your company ahead of the curve rather than behind it. Read the Article.

Analyzing the Competition in Your Internet Marketing Plan

While you don't want to obsess over your competition, you'd better know how you are positioned vis-à-vis other businesses in your space. Here are some tips. Read the Article.

Ways to Increase Your E-Mail Newsletter Subscribership

Here are some simple tips to help you increase the number of subscribers to your website's ezine. Read the Article.

Odds 'n' Ends

Syndicate My Content for Your Own Website

If your website caters to small business people, then I've got something to offer you. One of your biggest struggles is having an up-to-date, changing website offering. My weekly Doctor Ebiz column can be syndicated FREE on your site with your site's own look and feel, each week with new tips to help your customers learn how to do business on the Web. If you hurry you may qualify for a FREE copy of 36-page "Guide to E-Mail Newsletters" that contains the secrets I use to market via newsletters myself. A $12 value FREE until March 31 for qualified syndicatees. http://www.doctorebiz.com/syndicate/

Even if you're not in the B2B space, you ARE trying to learn about doing business on the Web. Doctor Ebiz answers two to three questions each week that relate to Web marketing and e-commerce, and I answer them succinctly and briefly -- you can read the whole newsletter in two or three minutes max. But you know me. I believe in offering value to my readers, so you'll learn a lot you can apply right away. An e-mail subscription to Doctor Ebiz is FREE. You can subscribe at http://www.doctorebiz.com

To summarize. I am offering you the ability to syndicate Doctor Ebiz on your own website at http://www.doctorebiz.com/syndicate/ But even if you don't need that, why don't you subscribe today. ... You've been meaning to, I know. :-) http://www.doctorebiz.com

Mention in Business 2.0

I learned today that one of my articles was listed as a resource in the March 2000 issue of Business 2.0, in their series on "The Smart Way to Start an Internet Company" in the "When to Outsource" section. I'm honored! Incidentally, I don't always see the quotes that appear. If you see me quoted, please drop me an e-mail. I really appreciate it.

Tenagra Awards Committee

This year Cliff Kurtzman, CEO of Tenagra, asked me to serve on the selection committee for the Sixth Annual Tenagra Awards for Internet Marketing Excellence http://awards.tenagra.com/ Awards will be presented in New York, April 9th. It was an honor to serve.

Spring Conferences

I'll be speaking at four conferences this Spring:

• University of Nebraska at Omaha, Executive MBA Program Alumni, April 17. http://cba.unomaha.edu/xmba/
• E-Commerce Success Super Conference, http://www.atiwa.com/ecommerce.htm, May 10-11, at Houston's Raddison Hotel Astrodome, sponsored by Atiwa Computing, Inc. I'll be joined by Cory Rudl, Cliff Kurtzman, and several others. Still space available.

• Web Commerce 2000 Las Vegas sponsored by Thunder Lizard, will be held May 15-16, 2000 at the Grand Hyatt Lake Las Vegas Resort. I hope you'll plan to come. http://www.thunderlizard.com/wc.html?wilsonweb
• eMarketing 2000, "How to Drive High Volume Traffic To Your Website", June 5-7, Meridian Picadilly, London, sponsored by the Academy of Internet Commerce. I'll be speaking via Video Conference. http://www.aic.uk.com/netventures2000/confhome.htm

Web Commerce Today -- an E-Commerce winner

What's the difference between Web Marketing Today that you're reading now (FREE), and Web Commerce Today which costs $49.95 annually? This is it:

• Web Marketing Today (free) focuses on marketing, site promotion, and building traffic
• Web Commerce Today (49.95) concentrates on e-commerce, making the online sale transaction, increasing the conversion rate. A subscription also includes access to our entire 6,300 article E-Commerce Research Room database to speed researching your business plan, determining what shopping cart is right for you, etc. http://www.wilsonweb.com/wct/

In January Web Commerce Today was praised in Business Week as "bar none the best e-commerce resource out there."

If you're serious about selling products online, weigh a $49.95 investment against the thousands and thousands of dollars you're hoping to make. If you fail to invest $49.95 to learn now, a wonderful opportunity may pass you by. Subscribe now! http://www.wilsonweb.com/wct/ You owe it to YOUR FUTURE to check this out -- now!