What is the best way to write a marketing plan ? I have researched
this myself many times and am always confused by the many different
approaches. It seems difficult to  understand the real application of
a  plan to increase sales. How do you know if a plan has  been
successful ?

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 18 Apr 2003 00:25 PDT

I noticed that you have another question on your plan to open an art
dealership. So in this question, would you like an explanation on
making a marketing plan in general, or a specific plan about your art
dealership? This is for the benefit of other researchers aside from
myself. Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 18 Apr 2003 07:21 PDT

Dear Clarette:

The first thing to do when creating a marketing plan is to define your
target audience.  Market research goes hand in hand with marketing a
product so you first need to define the consumers that will purchase
your work and then court that market through product placement. 
Successful marketing is an also an art and networking is a key
component to establishing yourself with gallery owners and art houses.

If you would like to share more details of your work and your
expectations, I'll be happy to create a basic marketing plan to serve
as a guide for you.  You will also find superb information on
marketing art from ericynot-ga who answered a question titled "make a
living" located at http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=162793
- he did an excellent job providing a wealth of information because of
his lengthy experience in the art world.  I suggest peruse his answer
as it may give you a more focused criteria for to clarify for research
on this question.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

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Clarification of Question by clarette-ga on 19 Apr 2003 07:47 PDT

Thank you. An answer in  relation to art dealership would be great - I
hadn't thought of that originally, I must confess. However, I was
asking in general really. I would also like to know about marketing
with reference to marketing a service, such as a professional service
(eg. solicitor, management consultant).

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 19 Apr 2003 08:29 PDT

I'd need to know a bit more about your "product" to suggest anything
focused.  There is also a great book a friend told me about titled
"How to get hung" - you might check that out, too.

If you want to share more about your art and your expectations, I'll
be happy to assist you with a plan as I have extensive experience in
public relations and marketing.  And do check out ericynot's fine
answer I cited above.  It may assist you in honing your criteria.

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Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 19 Apr 2003 08:31 PDT

PS Here's a link to "How to get hung"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/188520308X/qid%3D1050766241/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-2338222-6685551

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Clarification of Question by clarette-ga on 19 Apr 2003 14:52 PDT

Thanks very much. I read the answer for ericynot - it was great. There
are really a few parts now to this question. First, the product would
be contemporary art, but from the dealer side. There isn't much about
becoming a dealer out there, it seems to be more focused on ericynot's
situation - how to sell art from the artist's perspective. Most of the
dealers are portrayed as sharks - there's probably some truth in that
- but I would do it for the love of selling beautiful and visually
exciting products. Although, I need to make a living and this worries
me a bit. I have thought of selling art to companies (art consultant)
but this seems a bit cut-throat too. I'm actually studying further in
art history at the moment (modern art). I may need to make this a
hobby because I'm not tough enough, although I have good people skills
and organisational skills etc.

THe other part of the marketing question, is understanding how to
market professional services. This is the day job at the moment. It's
very boring, marketing solicitors and management consultants etc. I
may need to make this a separate question, so let me know. But the
main difference is that one (the art) is a product,and this is a
service.

Many thanks. I'll check out your links too !
Kind regards

PS  I meant to include this link above in my clarification request. 
http://www.bplans.com offers sample business plans and one free online
sample concerns a pottery supplier.  You may view the basic marketing
plan for that at http://www.bplans.com/c/sp/d/index.cfm?s=1240&topic=17#17.
 It is brief but it is a good example of a basic plan. In the left
column, you'll see additional live links:

3.0 Marketing Strategy 
    3.1 Mission 
    3.2 Marketing Objectives 
    3.3 Financial Objectives 
    3.4 Target Markets 
    3.5 Positioning 
    3.6 Strategies 
    3.7 Marketing Mix 

Visit those links to see the more complete marketing picture.

On the question of marketing professional services firms this is
complex but put most simply they need to establish a real brand. Most
don't seem to know or even understand this. While their logos might
look different they don't really operate as brands, the distinguishing
features between most service brands even within their category or
against other categories and segments is usually very minimal.

I work in brand strategy as a day job and have worked with a number of
professional service firms and most don't really get it when you first
start out with them.

If you need a more fuller answer to this question you might like to
post it.