Marketing Aquaculture Products — 1 Table of Contents Reality Check: Why Businesses Fail ...... 3

Marketing Your Product ...... 6

Marketing Yourself ...... 20

Packages, Labeling & Point-of-Purchase Communications ...... 27

Dealing with Brokers & Distributors ...... 29

Dealing Directly with Grocery Stores ...... 33

Quality Product/Quality Service ...... 36

Let’s Use MarketMaker ...... 40

Creating a Marketing Plan ...... 48

Marketing Plan Outline ...... 53

Glossary of Terms ...... 56

References & Resources ...... 58

2 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Reality Check: Why Businesses Fail Jay Gotz who owns fi ve small, very successful a matter of denial or of not knowing what you businesses in Chicago and is the author of Th e don’t know. Street Smart Entrepreneur had this contribu- tion in the New York Times on Wednesday, 05 “In many cases, the customers — or, I should January 2011: say, ex-customers — have a better understand- ing than the owners of what wasn’t working. “One of the least understood aspects of entre- Th e usual suspects that the owners tend to preneurship is why small businesses fail, and blame are the bank, the government, or the there’s a simple reason for the confusion: Most idiot partner. Rarely does the owner’s fi nger of the evidence comes from the entrepreneurs point at the owner. Of course, there are cases themselves. where something out of the owner’s control has gone terribly wrong, but I have found those “I have had a close-up view of numerous busi- instances to be in the minority. What follows ness failures — including a few start-ups of my — based on my own experiences and observa- own. And from my observation, the reasons tions — are my top 10 reasons small businesses for failure cited by the owners are frequently fail. Th e list is not pretty, it is not simple, and off -point, which kind of makes sense when it does not contain any of those usual suspects you think about it. If the owners really knew (although they might come in at No. 11, 12 what they were doing wrong, they might have and 13). been able to fi x the problem. Oft en, it’s simply

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 3 “1. Th e math just doesn’t work. Th ere is not “6. Operational mediocrity. I have never enough demand for the product or service at a met a business owner who described his or price that will produce a profi t for the compa- her operation as mediocre. But we can’t all be ny. Th is, for example, would include a start-up above average. Repeat and referral business is trying to compete against Best Buy and its critical for most businesses, as is some degree economies of scale. of marketing (depending on the business).

“2. Owners who cannot get out of their own “7. Operational ineffi ciencies. Paying too way. Th ey may be stubborn, risk adverse, con- much for rent, labor, and materials. Now more fl ict adverse — meaning they need to be liked than ever, the lean companies are at an advan- by everyone (even employees and vendors who tage. Not having the tenacity or stomach to can’t do their jobs). Th ey may be perfectionist, negotiate terms that are refl ective of today’s greedy, self-righteous, paranoid, indignant, or economy may leave a company uncompetitive. insecure. You get the idea. Sometimes, you can even tell these owners the problem, and they “8. Dysfunctional management. Th is is lack will recognize that you are right — but contin- of focus, vision, planning, standards and ev- ue to make the same mistakes over and over. erything else that goes into good management. Th row fi ghting partners or unhappy relatives “3. Out-of-control growth. Th is one might into the mix, and you have a disaster. be the saddest of all reasons for failure — a successful business that is ruined by over- “9. Th e lack of a succession plan. We’re expansion. Th is would include moving into talking nepotism, power struggles, signifi cant markets that are not as profi table, experiencing players being replaced by people who are in growing pains that damage the business, or over their heads — all reasons many family borrowing too much money in an attempt to businesses do not make it to the next genera- keep growth at a particular rate. Sometimes tion. less is more. “10. A declining market. Book stores, music “4. Poor accounting. You cannot be in stores, printing businesses and many others are control of a business if you don’t know what is dealing with changes in technology, consumer going on. With bad numbers, or no numbers, demand, and competition from huge compa- a company is fl ying blind, and it happens all nies with more buying power and advertising of the time. Why? For one thing, it is a com- dollars. mon — and disastrous — misconception that an outside accounting fi rm hired primarily to “In life, you may have forgiving friends and do the taxes will keep watch over the business. relatives, but entrepreneurship is rarely forgiv- In reality, that is the job of the chief fi nancial ing. Eventually, everything shows up in the offi cer, one of the many hats an entrepreneur soup. If people don’t like the soup, employees has to wear until a real one is hired. stop working for you, and customers stop doing business with you. And that is why busi- “5. Lack of a cash cushion. If we have learned nesses fail.” anything from this recession it’s that business is cyclical and that bad things can and will hap- Probably some or most of the ten points you pen over time —the loss of an important cus- just read struck a chord with you. It is an im- tomer or critical employee, the arrival of a new perfect world, full of imperfect product, clients competitor, the fi ling of a lawsuit. Th ese things and companies. By working toward positive can all stress the fi nances of a company. If the business improvement, you are in the game. company is already out of cash (and borrowing Ben Stein, Economist, Actor, Author, Political potential), it may not be able to recover. Commentator and Satirist once said, “You can

4 — Marketing Aquaculture Products do what you think you can do and you cannot • Aim at market leadership. If an do what you think you cannot. Th e successful innovation does not aim at leadership people of this world take life as it comes. Th ey in the beginning, it is unlikely to be just go out and deal with the world as it is. You innovative enough to successfully cannot win if you’re not at the table. You have establish itself. Leadership here can to be where the action is.” mean dominating a small market niche.

Let’s start by considering a few practical If you noticed, Drucker sums it all up in the concepts that will help to guide us as we work words opportunity and innovation. Every through developing a marketing plan and mar- business venture fi nds its opportunity by iden- keting strategy for your aquaculture operation. tifying its market niche. Th e innovation comes Th en we will look at what marketing your in to play when the business fi ts its product product is really all about. to the needs of that market. Th e eff ectiveness of the eff ort results from clearly understand- Business-management guru Peter F. Drucker ing what that market opportunity is (market in his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, research), and then using your innovation to Practice and Principles (Harper & Row; 1985) enter and fi ll that market (product quality, targeted the innovative aspect of the concept as product presentation, implementing a market- the cornerstone of any entrepreneurial venture. ing plan, sales and sales support). Drucker’s Five Principles of Innovation encap- sulate his defi nition of the steps that should be Work at understanding your business. Know taken to formulate a new idea into a workable all of your costs. If you understand what is concept. Th is is a good starting point for de- going wrong, if you understand your mis- veloping a to-do checklist to keep you engaged takes, you can fi x it. Just adopt a mindset that and on course as your personal voyage of dis- you will do things diff erently. Th ere is an old covery unfolds. Although designed for writing saying, “Tools left in the tool box never built business plans, this also can become a checklist anything.” for creating a solid and workable marketing plan:

• Begin with an analysis of the opportunity.

• Analyze the opportunity to see if people will be interested in using the innovation.

• To be eff ective, the innovation must be simple and clearly focused on a specifi c need.

• Eff ective innovations start small. By appealing to a small, limited market, a product or service requires little money and few people to produce and sell it. As the market grows, the company has time to fi ne-tune its processes and stay ahead of the emerging competition.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 5 Marketing Your Product In a later section of this tutorial we will look at don’t know why your product is better than how MarketMaker can be used by producers to that found in the freezer case of the local food research markets for aquaculture products, as mart, then you need to work with a commu- well as how distributors and end-user clients nications professional to help articulate the can use MarketMaker to fi nd producers. In strengths of your product line, and critically this section, we will discuss some principles examine how it is presented to the public. of market research. Th is is not diffi cult or Let’s take a look at marketing. Marketing any complex. Most market research is a common- product deals with the 7P’s: product, pricing, sense approach to knowing where to look for place, promotion, packaging, positioning and information and asking the right questions of people. Th e most important unifying concept the right people. is “market relevance.” It doesn’t really matter how unique your product or service is, unless Th ere also is an aspect of asking oneself the its value is tied to a perceived benefi t, no one right questions and having the sense-of-self will care. Your customers simply want to know, to honestly evaluate your production capabili- “Is it going to solve my problems or make me ties and product attributes. If you can’t convey money?” If not, it is irrelevant. For this reason, the strengths of your product to others, then market relevance is a fundamental dimension that is something that needs to be developed. of your business through which you establish For example, if you have problems with public and demonstrate a position within a market. speaking, there are local business and com- Ideally, this in turn, can become a powerful munity organizations that can help. If you tool for building leadership for your product

6 — Marketing Aquaculture Products line within the market. Your vision for market around next week. Customers want to develop relevance creates your products’ value proposi- relationships with vendors whom they feel are tions. in command of their destinies, and thus able to standing up to competition. In an uncertain Your vision begins simply enough with a mis- world, people trust a feeling of order. sion statement. Develop a vision for your busi- ness and product; then create a mission state- Philip Kotler is well known for being the ment by encapsulating that idea in a sentence pioneer of thought leadership marketing. He or two. For example, an internet service may is CEO of Kotler Marketing Group, and the say, “Create a single place on the Internet that S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of connects all people with anything or anyone International Marketing, Northwestern Univer- they need.” A small-town dairy may say, “Cre- sity Kellogg Graduate School of Management. ate direct-to-consumer supreme quality cheese On his website (http://www.kotlermarketing. from locally pastured grass-fed cows.” Th e later com/phil_questions.shtml) Dr. Kotler dis- statement identifi es a locally-produced prod- cusses “What is Marketing” and where oft en uct that requires exceptional preparation and overlooked marketing opportunities exist. He quality control, produced from well-cared-for immediately makes two important points: animals. Many people discount mission state- ments as superfl uous. Most highly successful • “Marketing is the science and art of entrepreneurs and companies have them posted exploring, creating, and delivering value throughout their operations. Th e mission state- to satisfy the needs of a target market at ment is the compass that keeps you on track. a profi t. Marketing identifi es unfulfi lled By making your mission statement relevant, needs and desires. It defi nes then and refl ecting it in your practices, it makes your measures and quantifi es the size of the product relevant. You have articulated your identifi ed market and the profi t potential. business and product’s value propositions; you It pinpoints which segments the have defi ned its market relevance. company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate At the end of the day, market relevance needs to products and services. be tied directly to return on investment (ROI). Market relevance heads off the presumption • “Marketing is oft en performed by a that your company’s vision or product is ir- department within the organization. relevant. Th e challenge is to continue telling Th is is both good and bad. It’s good and adapting your story. You need to show that because it unites a group of trained your company is the leading force educating people who focus on the marketing task. and growing the market – solving real problems It’s bad because marketing activities for real customers. Th e secret to leveraging should not be carried out in a single vision is staying just far enough ahead that it department but they should be manifest looks like your company is leading the mar- in all the activities of the organization.” ket. If your vision is too broad you run the risk of creating a perception that the market is In Kotler’s 11th edition of Marketing Manage- not ready for your product. Once you have a ment (12 Edition, Prentice Hall, 2006) he de- mission statement, you can then leverage your scribes the most important concepts of market- company’s vision by using communication ing in the fi rst chapter. Th ey are: tools to get the relevance of your product in • Segmentation front of distributors and consumers. A positive • Targeting mission statement and communications mes- • Positioning sage also infl uences your suppliers and custom- • Needs & wants ers to believe that your company is going to be • Demand

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 7 of letting the market know about the product. Th us, marketing is a far more comprehensive process than selling.

“Marketing and selling are almost opposites. Hard sell marketing is a contradiction. Long ago I said: ‘Marketing is not the art of fi nding clever ways to dispose of what you make. Mar- keting is the art of creating genuine customer value. It is the art of helping your customers become better off .’ Th e marketer’s watchwords are quality, service, and value.

• Off erings “Selling starts only when you have a product. • Brands Marketing starts before there is a product. • Value & satisfaction Marketing is the homework the company does • Exchange to fi gure out what people need and what the • Transactions company should make. Marketing determines • Relationships & networks how to launch, price, distribute and promote • Marketing channels the product/service off ering in the marketplace. • Th e supply chain Marketing then monitors the results and im- • Competition proves the off ering over time. Marketing also • Th e marketing environment decides when to end the off ering. • Marketing programs “All said marketing is not a short-term selling Th ese terms make up the working vocabulary eff ort but a long-term investment eff ort. When of the marketing professional. Marketing’s key marketing is done well, it occurs before the processes are: company makes any product or enters any mar- ket; and it continues long aft er the sale. • Opportunity identifi cation “I published Lateral Marketing (with co-author • New product development Fernando Trias De Bes, Wiley, 2003) which • Customer attraction off ers a creativity approach that diff ers from • Customer retention & loyalty building using vertical marketing (i.e., segmentation) to • Order fulfi llment fi nding new ideas. Vertical marketing works within a given market; lateral marketing Kotler says, “A company that handles all of instead visualizes the product in a new context. these processes well will normally enjoy suc- Many examples can be cited. Today we can buy cess. But when a company fails at any one of food at gas stations; we can do our banking in these processes, it will not survive. a supermarket; we can get access to a computer at cybercafés; we can take pictures with our “Marketing is too oft en confused with selling. cell phone; we can chew medical gum to ingest Selling is only the tip of the marketing ice- certain medicines in our body; we can eat berg. What is unseen is the extensive market cereal in the form of a candy bar. I can’t believe investigation, the research and development of there aren’t opportunities. I can only believe appropriate products, the challenge of pricing that some marketers lack the ability to see them right, of opening up distribution, and

8 — Marketing Aquaculture Products opportunities. Marketing doesn’t have to fail that has their name on the product label. during a recession, only marketers fail who lack an imagination. Marketing’s role is to sense the Where do I fi t with respect to where the mar- unfulfi lled needs of people and create new and ket is headed? Essentially, why is my product attractive solutions.” relevant with respect to what today’s distribu- tor, food service or consumer wants?

Kotler’s ideas are perhaps best summed up in Once you’ve fi gured out where you “fi t” in the something he once said during one of his public market, ask yourself where you see yourself presentations, “Marketing is not the art of fi nd- within that segment. Are you a trend-setter, ing clever ways to dispose of what you make. It solid performer, or unique stand-out? Are is the art of creating genuine customer value.” you the biggest or the smallest producer in the By creating genuine customer value, you create market? Are you new on the block or have you your market. You have created an innovation been at this long enough to have been through (your unique product) that creates its own op- the school of hard knocks? No matter where portunity. you fall within these groups, you can use what you are to build a case that your operation and To get started in learning to market, your your product address a distinct niche in the marketing and communication ideas should market. You probably cannot be all things to all address what makes your product unique. people, but you can be someone and something Avoid the idea that yours is just better product- special to a distinct group of loyal clients. superiority trap. You will get nowhere with this kind of thinking or message. Instead, think of Get it down on paper. Th is means working what you are off ering and where the market is with a professional to articulate your message, or is heading. You may also gain some insight develop your image and label, and strategize into ways to improve your overall business or about your print advertising needs. Some product presentation by considering: aquaculture-ventures do this work themselves with their own staff or family talent and are ad- What is the fundamental business problem equately rewarded by the outcome. Usually this your company solves? As an aquaculture is not the case. Your visual image is critical to producer, this means raising fi sh and making the immediate perception of your product. Get that fi sh available to the public. So, how do you some help, or at least get some second opinions. do this in a way that is favorable to the public? Why is your product so favorable that the pub- lic should choose you over a competitor?

What is your “distinctive competency” as a company? Simply put, this is what sets you apart from the competition. For example, it could be your dedication to on-time every-time deliveries to your distributors, the ice-cold spring-fed water in which your trout are reared, or perhaps the multi-generational appeal of a family business where parents and children work together to sustainably grow the company

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 9 Evangelize. Once you know what you are and agency. It is key to considering the tone and where your product stands, get the word out direction of your communications. Consider in those terms. You are not a round peg in a that solutions enable incremental improve- square hole; you are the perfect fi t for delivery ments; breakthroughs create new markets and/ of a very-specifi c high-quality product. Con- or change current market forces. sider shameless self-promotion, if you don’t feel passionate enough about your business For an aquaculture operation, an example of a to strongly communicate its attributes, why solution could be regularly supplying product should anyone else? to select group of fi rst-class restaurants and working with their chefs to continually deliver Th is is where your mission statement can come the quality they require and develop new av- in handy. Use it to develop an elevator speech. enues to present the product to the consumer. Many entrepreneurial geniuses live by the ele- An example of a breakthrough could be cre- vator speech. Th e concept is simple, you need a atively introducing the product to a group of short little conversational spiel that tells every- consumers who have not had any exposure to thing about your product, that can make a sale it, or have only misconceptions about it; then or generate interest in your enterprise, that you convincing them to try the product. Th is could can deliver in the length of time it takes to ride be done through a booth at a farmer’s market up a couple of fl oors in an elevator. Start with or other venue where fresh product could be your mission statement and then expand it to expertly prepared and served, while fresh or talk about who you are, what you produce, why frozen product was available for sale, perhaps your product is the absolute best, and then why with a complimentary recipe, breading mix or the person to whom you are talking should try preparation how-to instruction sheet. Another it or support it. Politicians do this when they example could be taking unsold fi sh-fi llet prod- corner potential campaign donors at cocktail uct and adding a value-added processing step parties; entrepreneurs do this when the meet a to turn it into a smoked spreadable gourmet venture capitalist in an airport waiting room; snack food with various applications and many car salespeople do it to sell cars; door-to-door new marketing opportunities. In this scenario, salespeople do it when they get their foot in one could almost equally make the case that your front door. You fall into the entrepreneur resulting product was a solution and a break- category, so don’t feel bad for having a ready, through. smooth synopsis that you can deliver to state your case. If it is too long, the listener will lose Do you market a product or an “off ering”? interest. It should be informative and cover key It has been said that successful companies points, but leave the listener curiously hungry don’t market products, they market off erings. for more. Th is approach allows you to think beyond the tangible “product” entity and consider what the Does your company and product provide consumer is actually buying and their reason- a solution or a breakthrough? Oft entimes, ing behind that purchase. Th is is an extremely in the marketing of high-technology, this is valuable approach for judging where you fi t the key question asked by a client’s marketing against consumers’ other alternatives, to better identify unmet needs in the overall market- place, specifi c wants of your target markets, and to direct the development of your venture’s new products and services.

An off ering encompasses the benefi ts or satisfaction provided to your target markets,

10 — Marketing Aquaculture Products tangible and intangible. To successfully market your product, you must understand its ben- efi ts from the buyer’s perspective. Th e off ering includes a tangible product or service, plus related services, such as delivery guarantees, warranties, and packaging. It also includes intangible benefi ts resulting from uniqueness of product or outstanding customer service. sector; not to exploit the market for the sole purpose of garnering profi t. Your business and marketing plans should ad- dress what type of customers you seek, what the As you work with your product and your buyers need, and how your off erings meet their clients, either buyers for retail stores or the con- needs. It should also describe how your off er- sumer, remember that you are communicating ing is communicated and what value it holds why your product is good for them. If it is not for the consumer. suited to them it will be a hard, or impossible sale. Woody Norris, Chairman American Tech- Most organizations sell more than one prod- nology Corporation, said in Popular Science, uct. A multi-product off ering-mix approach June 2007, “Ask (yourself): Is it commercially oft en adds value in that it leverages economies plausible? If you invent a novel ballpoint pen of scale and expertise, and increases revenue that’s going to cost $100,000; nobody’s going to generation potential. Big companies off er all care.” sorts of products and services, retail stores off er hundreds of products to meet the breadth of Now let’s consider a brief primer on the general needs of their customers. principles of business development. Business development involves evaluating your busi- Th is off ering mix should be viewed as a fl uid ness and related businesses so that you can use entity when developing the company’s mar- the information to reach your goals and full keting strategy. Some off erings may have potential. Th e primary activity “tool set” falls surprising popularity, others less so. Th is will into the broad areas of marketing, information dictate decisions on which product lines to management, and customer service. In larger grow, maintain, harvest, or sold or discontin- companies, there are usually two functional ued. Consumer demand, the cost of produc- areas. One is sales-oriented (client-facing); the tion, gross margin, and total sales volume are second is an operational function to support the four basic critical factors in the decision to sales and develop public-relations outreach for manage individual product lines. Th e key here the business. is proper invested of resources in response to changes in the (consumer/client) market. Th ese primary tool sets for business develop- ment can be broken down into a number of When communicating the relevance of your techniques and tactics oriented toward gaining products. Consider the gift of knowledge ap- new customers, penetrating existing markets proach to help reach your market. Feel free to and developing new ones. As you can see, it is talk about what sets your product apart from necessary to develop a skill set that is a mix- the pack in ways that reassure your clients. A ture of the marketing, legal, strategic plan- leading consumer-products manufacturer was ning, fi nance, proposal management and sales recently evangelizing hygiene, instead of just expertise. trying to sell bottles of soap. As a result, one builds the perception that you are in the market • Self assessment of your marketing to provide a needed service and improve your experience, communication strengths

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 11 and weaknesses. service their needs and develop sales. Progress • Assessment of target markets and less is routinely recorded and analyzed with respect obvious opportunities. to the underlying reasons for wins and losses, • Intelligence gathering of potential progress of opportunities in relation to the sales customers and competitors. process, note the most successful staff working • Lead generation for sales calls. with the potential client and adjust the team • Set sales policies and accounting accordingly, and if sales are underway, look practices. at the sales customer service situation. Th ey • Write, review and revise feasibility may even set up and manage alliances with studies, business plans, proposals, third-party companies to leverage one another’s product hand-outs, and presentations. contacts and expertise. • Design and rehearse a concise “elevator speech,” and a more involved sales Th e procedures and process of the big play- presentation. ers may seem out of the ballpark to the small • Network for internal business- aquaculture producer, but this could not be enhancement and sales leads. further from the truth. Successful businesses of • Create a marketing strategy “action plan” all sizes have universal procedures for ensur- of fi rst steps and longer-term goals. ing success, even in tough economic times. By • Encapsulate all of the above into a researching sound business-development prac- written marketing strategy that becomes tices, developing a business and sales plan, and part of your ongoing business plan and networking, any size operation will benefi t. active business model. So, where does one start? To get an order for your aquaculture product, you need to do a Most small- to medium-size companies do few things. First, identify companies (restau- not take the time to think about or establish rants, distributors, institutional food services) sound business plans that include procedures and other potential outlets (farmer’s markets, for business development. Th ey rely on exist- direct-to-consumer sales). MarketMaker will ing contacts and perhaps the charisma of the help a great deal making this an easy exercise entrepreneur behind the venture. Th is can be (more on using MarketMaker in a later sec- a fatal fl aw in running the business. Successful tion). Once you have your businesses and small- to medium-size companies create busi- outlets targeted, you need to identify the name ness plans and stick with them. Big businesses of the key person in that organization to whom even go a step further by developing formal you hope to sell the product. Th is person is a pipelines within their short-term business plans decision-maker. Don’t settle for anyone else. where potential clients are assigned staff to If it is a restaurant, it may be the chef and not

12 — Marketing Aquaculture Products the owner, both may be important in your sales Now that you have a quality contact it is ex- call. tremely important that you go into the meet- ing knowing everything that you possibly can A major challenge for any seller today is iden- about your prospective customer (their busi- tifying the decision-maker in another organi- ness) and the person who is the contact. Hope- zation. In many cases, you may need to make fully, when you had them on the phone you got your fi rst pitch to a designated buyer who is a few kernels of information about why they are only really authorized to say no. Sometimes at least slightly interested in your product. If it this can be an overly self-important secretary is a retailer or distributor, you need to visit their or receptionist. Th e person who says yes is store or the stores to which they distribute. another level up in the organization. Th is is Are they a big distributor who handles grocery the person you are trying to locate and with stores, local ethnic food stores and restaurants, whom you want to get on a fi rst-name basis. or just a small grocery chain with three local You need to do this by not aggravating the stores? Each represents diff erent customer person initially screening your product. Get demographics and that is knowledge that you this person on your team, while think about need for positioning your product. If possible, legitimate reasons why you need to introduce study the company’s advertising and product yourself to the decision maker. Remember, you literature. Distributor or retailer, they probably are there to introduce them to a great product have a corporate web site. If so, what is their that will make them a happy customer or their mission statement? If you have questions, call customers happy. Never belly-crawl or simper; them again and talk to a receptionist. Most are communicate from a position of honesty and under-challenged in their jobs, but know a lot equality. Always make it clear to your initial about the company and who’s who. You may be contact that you really appreciate their time and able to get some information on when to time attention, and that you would really appreciate your sales pitch. If Mondays through Wednes- their taking time to introduced you to others in day are really hectic days at the company, get in that organization. there Th ursday or Friday so they have time to listen to you and your message does not get lost If this fails, it is time to fi nd a way to get the in the shuffl e. number of the person higher up. With food distributors, it may work to call and say, “Hi Visit a retail outlet (competing outlets can be there… I was at a meeting a couple of weeks valuable too) and ask questions of the counter back and met your main buyer for your insti- staff , see how much they know about the prod- tutional food service line. I’m sorry, but I lost ucts they currently sell, ask them if customers his card. Could you give me his name?” Th en ever complain about or return them for any ask for his phone number and E-mail address. reason. Take a good hard look at the way the Th en wait a day or so, call the person. Intro- product is presented in the display case. Th en duce yourself and in a peer-to-peer tone, po- get an idea of the complete product range. If litely ask for twenty minutes or so to informally you are interested in moving fresh tilapia fi llets introduce your product. If you are asked how into this venue, where do they fi t within the en- you got the number, simply state that you called tire product line and price range? Th is includes a while back and got it from the person with the imported bulk product in the freezer case. whom you talked on the phone. Continuing If you need to compete with imported bulk fi l- in a peer-to-peer tone, reiterate that you would lets from China or Chile, then you need to have only like a couple of minutes, know that your a strategy for convincing the buyer that your contact is busy, if it works out a little better, do product is superior and will sell. In marketing it over lunch, you’ll be happy to pick up the bill. terms, you are now looking at your position in relation to industry stakeholders, including

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 13 large standard drivers. ucts and services and how they fi t into your prospective client’s products and services. You Take a good look at the clerks work the area, are now defi ning your functional-product especially if they are dedicated seafood-counter ecosystem. Marketing people call this the help. Do they have a preference for a compet- value-chain. Meeting and sharing information ing product, if salmon fi llets, why? If they like between links in it is benefi cial to everyone the salmon fi llets because they are great for from producer to the end user. Using informa- summer grilling, then you need to have one or tion and proactively educating and growing an several great grilled-tilapia recipes that you can emerging market is not diffi cult, it just takes take in to your sales meeting. You now have a attention (observation) and patience. It is not strategy where you intend to build on the store’s as easy, but far more productive than simply strong product line with complementary prod- jumping on an established trend. Study your uct that can appeal to people: 1.) Who grills competitors and look at where you fi t against salmon, but may want to try something diff er- them. ent; 2.) Who wants to grill more, but salmon is a higher priced product, so may want a cost- You are a unique operation with relevance that volume alternative; or 3.) Who is concerned can be leveraged to build brand identity. Go about imported or ocean-farmed salmon. into your sales meeting armed with a wide Consider presenting a sales strategy, like free range of approaches to build relevance (aware- informational recipes cards that discuss the ness) for your product line and how it fi ts with benefi ts of fresh-local over frozen-imported your potential client’s product line and mission product. If you have an informational recipe statement. Always positioning your operation card on the counter that touts your product as as dedicate to the highest product quality and a locally-produced fresh product of the highest quality of service, you are newcomer, but the quality, and information about a market your one to watch. distributor has underserved, you are probably going to have the total package to take into Sales guru Jeff rey Gitomer in his 2003 business your meeting with the buyer. bestseller Th e Sales Bible: Th e Ultimate Sales Re- source does a great job articulating today’s sales Th e goal of the eff ort is to enable you to in- challenges and how you meet them by honestly dividualize your sales meeting and be able to communicating and knowing your product. specifi cally address your potential client’s spe- We will cover many of these concepts in depth cifi c needs. You are not selling a fi sh product; elsewhere in this tutorial, but Gitomer concisely you are selling a solution to a particular prod- lays them out in his 7.5 steps: uct need. Restaurants don’t sell fi sh for food; they sell complete meal experiences that are a “1. Say it (sell it) in terms of what the high-value-added product that includes fi sh. If customer wants, needs and understands. your fi sh has a story of interest to the restau- Not in terms of what you’ve got to off er. rant’s customer, “Locally produced by a family operation a few miles from here; came in fresh “2. Gather personal information. And this morning,” and is of suffi cient quality to be learn how to use it. a novel centerpiece of a fi ne presentation, then you just got the restaurant to try your product “3. Build friendships. People want to buy over the frozen bulk product from the distribu- from friends, not salesmen. tor. “4. Build a relationship shield that no You are now using what you’ve learned about competitor can pierce. My competitors call your prospects to think about your own prod- on my clients from time to time. My clients

14 — Marketing Aquaculture Products have actually given them my number and technique of asking and answering questions. told the competitor to call me and get my He says this is the heart of any sales presenta- opinion of their services. Th ey say, “Call tion that establishes buyer confi dence. He Jeff ery Gitomer and explain it to him. If he prefaces it by saying, “Without questions you’ll thinks it’s OK, he’ll tell us.” Will your have no answers; without answers’ you’ll have clients do that if your competitor calls no sales; without sales, you’ll have no money… them? What are you doing to ensure it? Any questions?” He goes on to say, “Questions are to sales as breath is to life. If you fail to ask “5. Establish common ground. If both like them, you will die. If you ask them incorrectly, golf or have kids, issues and things in your death won’t be immediate, but inevitable. common that will draw us closer. If you ask them correctly, the answer is a sale.” He says the overall approach sounds simple, but “6. Gain confi dence. Once you motivate it is not. You need to do an eff ective job asking them to act, you’d better have built enough the right questions and an equally eff ective job confi dence to buy, or they’ll buy from listening to the client’s answers and following someone else. up with another question that dovetails into the critical needs of the client. And of course, “7. Have fun and be funny. Have a great “Never get caught selling,” but that is not a time. If you can make prospects laugh, you problem if you understand how to structure can make them buy. Laughter is tacit your questions. approval. Tacit approval leads to contractual approval. Gitomer built upon and credits a technique from Ray Leone’s Success Secrets of the Sales “7.5 Never, get caught selling. It makes me Funnel. Th ere are three stages to the process. mad when a salesperson sounds like a First stage: Make a factual statement than can’t salesperson. Learn the science and convert be refuted. Second stage: Make a personal it into an art.” observation that refl ects you experience and creates credibility. Th e third stage is to ask an open-ended question that incorporates the fi rst Gitomer is staunch advocate of asking ques- two stages. With this technique, you will be tions of others as well as yourself in all phases awkward at fi rst, but with a little practice, per- of market research, sales planning and sales. haps in simple conversation with your friends Th e chapter in his book is called “Th e Book of and family, you can easily master it. Questions” and centers around an informed

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 15 For example, let’s say I’m selling fresh trout fi l- with an emphasis on the highest quality; super lets at a farmer’s market; here is a very elemen- fresh, they were not trucked in from the west tary example of an interaction with a customer: coast. Also, we will provide a neat little point- of-purchase counter card that shows the ponds First stage: “Fresh fi sh is really good for you.” at the farm and recipe cards to help the sale. Respondent comments and you continue; We really like to work closely with you to give your customers a unique high quality product. Second stage: “I always feel great, but never You know, I like to lightly sauté fi llets in a pan over stuff ed aft er a meal of these guys. Th ey are in some olive oil and a little pure butter with so delicate. I like to lightly sauté them in a pan some fresh herbs, or perhaps with a mushroom in some olive oil and a little pure butter with sauce and a little fresh asparagus on the side.” some fresh herbs, or perhaps with a mushroom Respondent again comments and you continue; sauce and a little fresh asparagus on the side.” Respondent again comments and you continue; Th ird stage (dropping Th e Question): What do you think? How about we set up and staff a Th ird stage (dropping Th e Question): “I bet nice little in-store event here in the next couple you have someone you would like to wow with of weeks? a great meal?” (Why would anyone say no to that?) In the Second stage you can see where having a point-of-purchase (aka. point-of sale) device, Th e idea behind this technique is to build cred- counter card with recipes, would help the sale. ibility and identify the needs of the client at the same time. It works for any business, service It seems simple, but it is not, unless you work at or interpersonal communication situation. Th e it and keep the stages (steps) of the progression idea here is not to take the above examples as in your mind. Now let’s try a more complicated stand-alone templates, but to study the concept scenario. In this one let’s consider meeting with and adapt it to your particular product and the a small independent grocery operator: uniquely positive things you wish to convey that sells your operation. Gitomer stresses that First stage: “You know, Mr. Smith, these days the object to the lesson is to compel the pros- buy-local or regionally produced produce and pect to think and respond to you. Th is creates other products are really getting attention; and a unique relationship. It also is what compels besides, everyone knows that fresh fi sh is really the prospect to become vested in the relation- good for you.” Respondent comments and you ship with you as a trusted supplier that sets you continue; aside from the competition. Th e key is why listening to the other person; you can see why Second stage: It seems that consumers are that would be far more important to this pro- willing to pay a little extra for a that special cess than having some kind of phony canned meal now and then, and these guys are about as response that you are throwing in someone’s special as you can get; especially if we promote face. them by stressing that they are locally produced Gitomer suggest that if you are going to suc- cessfully use this technique, write out the three stages, compose diff erent scenarios, and then practice to work out the rough spots. He says that aft er about twenty-fi ve attempts, “you’ll own the technique.”

16 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Marketing and product development. Mar- keting and product development go hand-in- hand. As you work with your clients and sup- pliers, if you don’t have your head completely buried in the sand, you will notice things your customers like and dislike or fi nd awkward about your product. Most producers whether they are making aspirin, growing corn or pro- ducing shrimp continually work to perfect their the customer; requirements and specifi cations product off ering. Th e best producers take this management; product launch; product cost a step further by aggressively seeking the best management; support technology; and knowl- product and practices to produce it. Here are a edge management. few thoughts on that subject. So what can a small aquaculture producer take Best Practices. No organization can improve away from this? If you look at the previous list, all aspects of product development at once, but it will probably become apparent that many big companies devote a lot of time and money of these points are important aspects of the to do just that. You as a small producer can marketing plan we developed. Th ere is overall learn from their eff orts. For this reason, the business and product strategy, an understand- Internet and the business section of your local ing of our customer’s wants and needs, and book store have volumes of information on best then product management. Th is is another way practices. For the small aquaculture producer, of saying, “quality control and best practices there are a few key things that one can learn. related to it.” Th is is extremely important in First and foremost, it is important to under- any food-production operation. stand that the implementation of any product- development or best-practices strategy is best Th e organization must start by understanding viewed as a journey. It is about continuing what practices should be adopted. Th is is es- process improvement rather than an immedi- sentially what is possible. Next it must consider ate destination that is right around the corner. its strategic direction. Th is means what best Any exception to this is the operation that is practices can help us achieve the best time-to- really messed up or in need of an immediate market, lowest production costs, and make us fi x or you are just starting out. Perhaps, for the most innovative producer with the highest example, you spent most of your life in another quality product. Our reliability as a producer profession, retired and just purchased a trout and fl exibility to respond with new product farm as a later-in-life second career. It is time off erings for new markets, is icing on the cake. to develop a quality-control and product-devel- Best practices almost ensure that you will have opment plan. Th e best way to do that is have it agility to respond to new market opportunities. revolve around the best operational practices Any best practices strategy means that the orga- for your business. nization has assessed its strengths and weak- nesses. Th e weak areas constitute the most Most large manufacturers look at a number of immediately recognizable “gap” between where priorities when implementing best practices a company is and where it needs to be. Th is is for product development. For example, these what is frequently called a GAP analysis, and may include: business and product strategy; it does not have to be involved or extensive to product and pipeline management; technol- point toward priorities that can be determined ogy management; management and leadership; for immediate improvement and positive early involvement; product development teams; change. organizational environment, process manage- ment, process improvement; understanding Best practices are easily organized into a frame-

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 17 work with fi ve major dimensions: strategy, money or ensure vital feedstock, transporta- organization, process, design optimization and tion or labor when they are needed. Th e idea of technology. Most big businesses, if following Strategic Alignment is to look at your product established protocols, recognize twenty-eight or product-development eff ort in terms of your or more best-practice categories (for example, suppliers and other factors that go into produc- Process Areas in CMM Terminology). ing that product, then evaluating your product Most of the formally recognized twenty-six best planning and production eff ort by bringing practices are universal and apply to the devel- in what you can from everyone involved in opment of any kind of product in any type and the eff ort. Essentially, Strategic Alignment is size of company. At the most elementary, there working with critical links of your value-chain are fi ve areas you should evaluate: to deliver the best product and service and deal with market-impacting change. • Strategy • Organization For example, and aircraft manufacturer will • Process work closely with a sub-system builder on the • Design/product optimization design of that subsystem. A beer brewer will • Strategy work with a hop-grower’s cooperative to make sure they get adequate supply of a specifi c grade Remember, in this is not your marketing plan, of pelletized or extracted material for their although you could add this evaluation to your process. If the brewer produces only for a chain notebook. We are not looking at what we have, of high-end micro-brew restaurants, the brewer but what we have with respect to quality of may conduct focus groups with select clientele product and delivery of service. Th e focus is on to test diff erent hopped beers to get the precise ensuring and improving effi ciency, food safety, information to take to the hop-grower coop- quality of the product, and service to custom- erative. Th e point is to vest the subcontrac- ers. Your fi nal evaluation is your description of tors, retailers and perhaps the end-users in the the characteristics of your ideal organization, its product development cycle. Usually, Strategic product and how you will ensure a world-class Alignment can improve any or all of the follow- approach to producing it. One way to achieve ing product-related competitive dimensions: direction in your ideals is to consider strategic alignment. • Add actual or perceived product value. • Reduce production costs. Strategic Alignment. No organization can • Innovative approaches to product be all things to all people. Th is is as true for branding, packaging or product an accounting business with 100 employees placement. as it is for one producer farming tilapia with • Better quality, reliability, ease of use, a part-time helper. Successful organizations serviceability, etc. know this and focus on what they can do best • Time-to market. and who can help them do that. Any organiza- • Reduce development costs. tion needs to strive for quality and outstanding • Agility to react to market changes or service to be competitive. Th ere is however, new opportunities. another dimension to getting your product out the door and in the hands of your customers. Strategic Alignment is a “best practices” strat- Th is is what big multi-national corporations egy. If the practice is strongly related to one of call Strategic Alignment. Th is is completely these strategies, it is usually described as a stra- overlooked as an important business concept tegic lever. For example, some strategic levers by small aquaculture producers. In reality all related to time-to-market include: minimiz- producers and anyone involved in agriculture ing cost and schedule ineffi ciencies; minimize or small business use it to some extent to save changes to orders that would require redesign

18 — Marketing Aquaculture Products or re-tooling; early supplier involvement to improve these strategic levers. You may want to ensure compatibility with process capabilities try to incorporate this concept into a Strategic and timely fl ow of needed components; and Alignment section of your business or market- data management systems to control product, ing plan. Big companies nail this down with workfl ow and similar information. what is called implementation planning. Th is usually takes the form of an implementation Ideally the product development process is plan that spells out the direction of the activi- improved by applying a best practices outlook ties followed by a project deployment plan that to those strategic levers that can be improved is the who-what, when-where action plan. Th is for the best impact. Big companies use GAP more formal approach may be applicable for analysis to focus attention on the improve- medium- to large-scale aquaculture producers, ment opportunities that will yield the highest especially if they are considering a new-product payoff . Categories with low importance ratings development initiative or introducing product and relatively high performance ratings indi- into an entirely new market. cate low priority areas not deserving as much attention. Th at is probably beyond the scope of our discussion here, but there is ample material on GAP analysis in your public library or on the Internet. Your local extension agricultural business-development professional may be available to help with this too.

In a nutshell, you talk with as many people as possible involved in your supplier-production- consumer supply chain, get their ideas and incorporate that input into key considerations to keep in mind when producing or marketing your product, or a list of to do items to im- mediately implement some of the ideas. Th e overall idea is to pick a manageable number of things to improve and on which to focus your attention and use individual best practices to

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 19 Marketing Yourself

Know thy self is important in where and how not. Know the rules, but you don’t have to play you want to market your product and opera- the same game everyone else is playing to be tion. Let’s be practical, you will not be able to successful. You are the brand and the value in sell to every customer, not every potential cus- your brand is your operation and your prod- tomer is going to want your product, so don’t uct. Most alternative farmers have no idea get bogged down trying to market to everyone what is their true cost of production. Set a in every way. Focus on your best customer de- price that covers all of your cost in the prod- mographic; be well prepared to state your case uct, then market accordingly. Th is includes all about what uniquely sets your product apart of your transportation, handling and billing from the competition. When it comes time to costs. Knowing the true cost of your product market, concentrate on the type of marketing is always extremely important to the success of that is good for you and your skill set. Th en try your business. It is critical if you decide to es- to broaden your market from there or consider tablish a relationship with aggregators, brokers, delegating to someone who really knows that distributors or grocery-store chains and price area. For example, you may experience face- your product accordingly. to-face customer sales at a farmer’s market, or going into distribution chains, you may be Give yourself a good reality check once in better off working through an aggregator or awhile. For example, most people don’t want distributor with large retail experience and to give a distributor a 30% margin. However, long-standing personal connections. you have to know what it costs you to do what the distributor will do for you. What does it Know your capabilities; you are what you are. cost you to do your own sales, transportation, Be yourself and don’t try to be what you are bookkeeping, etc.? For example if it is costing

20 — Marketing Aquaculture Products you 25% and the distributor’s margin is 20%, person). Th at will work for most meetings with then you are missing the boat. Conversely, the public or your local extension professional. new business and rapid expansions of existing For more formal meetings with seafood distrib- business are not necessarily good business. If utors, bankers, etc, don’t hesitate about putting it costs you too much or your organization on an oxford shirt, tie and chinos. If you look cannot smoothly transition into it, it may not like you are comfortable around the business be the right opportunity at this time. You need world you will be a lot more comfortable doing to maintain product quality and customer business. If you regularly have people visit- service. If you lose these attributes through an ing your operation, it may not be a bad idea to expansion, how are you going to positively go consider a decent quality “uniform shirt,” polo forward? Sometimes, saying “no” is the right or fi eld shirt, embroidered with your logo or course of action. Bad business costs you mon- at the least, the name of your operation. Th is ey. Focus on the point where your business is can be a relatively economical option since making money for you at a comfortable level most local embroidery and silk-screen opera- that gives you some room for growth and time tions have fi sh images in their computers, it is to enjoy your labors away from the operation. only a matter of adding the text you want to Th e key is to increased effi ciency and profi t- include and picking out the shirts. If you have ability and reduce risk: diversifying your client a fee-fi shing option in your operation, consider base, keeps your work interesting and reduces nice shirts to sell as souvenirs to clients; if you risk, as well as opens up new marketing venues. have great clients who purchase a lot of product from you throughout the year, consider a nice Evaluate your communication skills. Ask your- shirt as a thank you at the end of the season. self some questions and have the sense-of-self Also, everywhere the shirt goes it is advertising to honestly evaluate your capabilities and at- your operation. tributes as a communicator. You must not only convey the strengths of your product, but also Some producers, especially from rural areas, are of you as a manager. You may not want to be hesitant to talk about themselves. Th is is some- the front person interfacing with clients, if so it thing, for example, that really separates some may be time to hire someone at least part time, entrepreneurs from others. Successful entre- to help you get the product out into the world. preneurs are extremely outgoing and freely exchange ideas and actively engage people on If you decide to meet the public, then consider almost every aspect of their business models, your personal presentation: Are you articu- successes and failures. Other entrepreneurs late? Do you tend to publically swear in mixed tend to be careful not to off end, bore, or look company? If cornered, do you have an “elevator foolish in front of others. As an entrepreneur, speech” (as discussed in the previous section) it is necessary to realize that who you are as the that sells your business? private person sometimes has to take a backseat to the business or sales person. Ideally, your Of course, your personal appearance goes a best personal traits can be used to create the long way toward establishing some personal perfect package. credibility. If you walked into the bank and the manager was there in old torn jeans with his In general, when dealing with clients or con- stain-covered shirt unbuttoned and his belly tacts there are a few good rules of thumb. First hanging out, how secure would that make you and foremost, always be polite. Freely discuss feel out doing business with the bank? As an your product or service but be sure to intently aquaculture professional there is a given per- listen when the other person talks. Be sure to ception that since you work with fi sh you are an have a business card to give to the other person, “outdoorsy” person; that is fi ne. Play on it by most of us have a lot of things going on in our wearing cargo pants or chinos and a nice polo lives and have trouble remembering names. It or fi eld-type outdoor shirt (like your local DNR is even better to ask the other person for a card

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 21 haven’t heard from them.” A burned or frus- trated customer will talk about their unhappi- ness, this is human nature; it is also not good for the reputation of you, your product or your business.

No one likes to talk about salesmanship; it has bad connotations that conjure up images of twisted arms and unsavory deals. Th e best salesmanship is honesty. Whether you are focusing on an emerging or established market, establishing your product requires some fl ag waving. You need to sell a problem (their lack and if they don’t have one, ask them to write of your product and need for it), and your great down their contact information on the back of solution (your product). Establish the percep- one of your cards. tion that you are an emerging market leader by driving conversations with respect to industry Be honest in your communications. For exam- standards and where your product occupies a ple, if you have been having recent trouble with unique position. If you believe in your product a production system, work that into the conver- and are enthusiastic about your enterprise, the sation, but stress the positive that you have your energy will transfer to your client. supply covered. Th is shows your client that you are sincere and open and also that you are If you have a problem meeting or presenta- on-top of potential problems and can handle tion, relax and to the best of your ability, put whatever may come up. Your clients will want your contact at ease. Be persistent, but never to work with someone who they feel can handle be pushy. If rejected, never take rejection the regular ups and downs of the real world. personally. Buyers simply cannot buy every- If you have problems, always predicate them thing. Th eir rejection can stem from a number with what you are doing to solve the problem, of internal issues. Probe to fi nd out the right preferable within a time frame. “Sometimes approach to this buyer and why they perceive we have a shipping delay, due to our process that your product does not fi t their needs (their having labor problems, if that happens, it is no system). Never get angry. Now that you have a more than a day or so and the product is on its solid contact with the company it is not the end way,” goes a long way to assure a client that they of the road, even in a worse-case scenario, you will have product when they need it. can regroup and come back with a new pitch or revised approach to the product your are Never allow communication issues, contact marketing. Be patient, it takes time to cultivate correspondence, or misunderstandings to a relationship. You may not want to push a continue to go unresolved. Immediately take sale on your fi rst meeting. It may be better to care of any issue. It shows that you care about introduce yourself and your product, discuss your customer and your business. If you think the client’s needs and then ask for a follow-up there is the slightest misunderstanding over meeting over lunch to discuss some possibili- any detail, delay in fi lling an order, or a billing ties. problem. Call or E-mail your client, discuss the issue and let them know that you are doing A great deal can be done to improve your your absolute best to resolve it to their satisfac- reception by simply being appreciative of the tion and that it has your immediate attention. client’s situation. “Sell before you arrive” by Never think that it’s “probably OK since you sending a note or E-mail to confi rm the meet-

22 — Marketing Aquaculture Products ing and thanking them for making time in their schedule to see you. If you have product literature, or there have been news articles or press releases about your products or operation, attach these so the client has a personal insight into your operation. For this reason, every time you have a chance to get your product profi led in a regional magazine, newspaper, or internet article, be sure to do so.

When you get into the meeting, hold your head up and remember that this is a peer-to- peer meeting. Be proud of your product and proud of the fact that this client is interested in isting relationships that serve their needs. Th ey considering it. Always keep in mind that you also probably have existing personal relation- are in the act of selling, selling is a vital task to ships with other suppliers. Your objective is to generate orders for your business. It is serious positively position yourself and explain why business. You cannot be arrogant or embar- your product favorably compares or exceeds the rassed to be there, you are there to do the buyer existing product. Position yourself as confi - a favor by bringing a great product to their dent, informed positive and pleasant. A good attention. By considering it, both organizations rule of thumb is to never say anything negative benefi t. about the other products carried or used by your client. Just explain why you think your When in a meeting and communicating about solution (product) can get the job done. your product, stress the proprietary strength of your operation. Th is can be your attention to You are interested in your message being heard, detail that carries over into quality product and relayed and acted upon. Don’t relentlessly reliable deliveries. Have some examples that smile and don’t bother joking; if a natural op- help you to stress the market potential of your portunity should arise for humor, fi ne; if you product as well as any potential window of op- have an opportunity to bring up something portunity for introducing it. interesting or amusing, fi ne. Remember to you want to keep this meeting professional; focus Arrive at your meeting prepared. (Th is is ex- and refocus on your presentation. Before you tremely important when dealing with distribu- leave the meeting, try to reach an understand- tors, brokers and large retailers; there is more ing with the client about what the next step will on this in later sections of this tutorial.) Have be. Set a concrete date for the next phone call an attractive and comprehensive off er and solid or face-to-face meeting. supporting information about your product line, but don’t present it until you are ready Ask questions and listen to answers. Most of to close the sale. Th e right time to do so will your time in the sales meeting should be spent present itself. If you are there to present your actively listening and not talking. Take notes. product and your contact is strapped for time, Let the buyer tell you their problems with this leave the off er to a follow up meeting. type of product. Th ey will always do this. All of us as humans want to solve our problems. As you communicate with your prospective We do this by gathering snippets of information buyer, consider his position. Don’t denigrate by communicating with others. Your client’s their existing product line, your competition questions and statements also present overt who may currently supply them. Th ey have ex- facts regarding their problems and needs. Th eir

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 23 questions, statements, and body language also present subtle clues that can invaluably guide you in your dealings with this client. Remem- ber, you are not selling a product, but a solution to your client’s problem.

Follow up the meeting by comprehensively writing your note set. Th en prepare a simple and professional memo that can be sent af- ter your meeting. Your goals here are to: 1) Hi-light the major points of your proposal covered during your presentation. 2) Avoid any misconstrued implications (pricing, quantity, regularity of delivery). 3) Put an off er on paper As a good networker, you should be sincere, and in the hands of your client who can share supportive and a good listener, ask questions the document with other decision makers. 4) and don’t be put off by frank responses. Most Generate an order. of the people you meet will be interested in helping you to succeed. Th is is more than just People prefer to buy from people they like, and meeting people. Before you attend the event, fi nd reasons not to buy from those who make plan to meet people and talk with people about them uncomfortable. Personalize the relation- specifi c areas on which you need to obtain con- ship if possible. Learn about the buyer’s family tacts or specifi c information. Th ink about your (this should be in your note set). If it is a small business’s image and have adequate business customer, treat them like a large one; great cards and handouts to give to good contacts. businesses see every customer as an important customer. Respecting their business generates You may want to consider which business or- respect for yours. Stay positive, even in bad ganizations could benefi t from knowing about economic times. Your enthusiasm, if genuine, you and your operation. Some authorities say will translate into goodwill and into orders. that you should always attend the networking Your enthusiasm for your area of business, events where your best potential contacts or delivering quality product and your buyer’s customers may go to network and include those situation in the value-supply-chain will be com- meetings in a formal plan. Th is plan is a list municated to your buyer or customer through of meetings, the intended type of contacts you your attention to their needs and delivery of the would like to make and a consideration of your highest-quality product. Th is goes a long way potential involvement with the organization toward making you a valued supplier. (and time commitment) as a volunteer or of- fi cer. Of course, consider sponsoring the event Besides sales calls, it also is important to and providing product for the luncheon. You network to grow your business. Some people may even want to host one of the meetings at are put off by the idea of networking, because your facility or include a tour as a fi eld-trip for they think it means insincerely running about larger event. In either case, have product litera- tooting your own horn. Th is is far from what ture on hand, product available for sampling, good networking implies. Networking means direct purchase, and for orders. For example, going to events where you can interact with in our area where there is a regional commu- other entrepreneurs and business professionals. nity college with an internationally renowned It can be within the world of aquaculture, the chefs program. An invaluable networking local business community, or perhaps a state or opportunity would be to talk with the head of regional business-development event. the program, and become affi liated with them, either through supporting their program with some product, or presenting about aquaculture

24 — Marketing Aquaculture Products When conversing, don’t spend too much time with any one person or you defeat the purpose of attending the event. Get their contact infor- mation and shoot them a follow-up E-mail aft er the event and continue the conversation at that point. Be sure to have plenty of business cards and your product or business literature close at hand so that they can reach you or learn more about your operation if you become engaged in another conversation. Be sure to give others the chance to talk to you. Be attentive, recep- tive and helpful, but beware of getting bogged and the benefi ts of the product to the students. down in a long meaningless conversation. As a A fi eld trip to your facility would indelibly etch business person, you are part of diverse com- into the minds of every graduate placed in a munity that needs to collectively work together local or regional business where they had a per- to help one another. sonal contact that they could go to for quality product. Networking is a two-way street. Be friendly and approachable and remember the old adage, To eff ectively network at an event, do not yield “What goes around comes around.” Concen- to the temptation to hang out with friends and trate on your expertise and use it to creatively familiar faces, this is fi ne, but you are there to help solve other people’s problems, this goes a build your business contacts and enhance the lot farther than repeatedly regurgitating facts reputation of your business. Be sure to set a and fi gures about your business. Remember goal for each meeting of meeting some number your manners and avoid being negative or of new faces. Th is plan can be quite straight complaining about competitors, the govern- forward. For example, a given number of new ment or suppliers. Everyone has contacts and contacts, learning three key points from the affi liations and you never know who is going to speaker’s topic that really can impact your oper- be in the room. ation or how you communicate, or identifying key industry trends. If you spend a lot of time Sharing information and insights that help oth- in the home offi ce or working at diff erent tasks ers will eventually lead to referrals and leads. dictated by the daily needs of your aquaculture Be sure to follow up each meeting with an operation, your main purpose may be to get out E-mail note to your best contacts; if you were and talk with people and fi nd out what is hap- discussing a topic and you have extra infor- pening. Again, focus on your goal or goals be- mation, be sure to pass it on. If you make the fore attending the meeting and how you intend eff ort to reach out and help others, you’ll soon to handle your personal presentation. fi nd people are reaching out to help you.

Don’t make a beeline for your seat; once the What constitutes a sale? So you had a good meeting begins, you will not be able to network, meeting and walked out with some kind of consider strategic places to mingle near coff ee commitment from the buyer. How solid is that and snack areas, hallways and of course, in the commitment? Here are a few things to con- evening at the bar. You don’t have to be a bar- sider. Some of the commitments you receive in fl y, it is better if you refrain from imbibing (or a meeting are more along the lines of tentative overly doing so) and use the social gathering to supply queries than solid sales. Some of these meet people, discuss issues important to your should be avoided by anyone in the perishable- business goals then and collect their business product aquaculture business. cards.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 25 Estimate. Perhaps a good result for an intro- aquaculture products when sold in commu- ductory meeting, but you will need something nity cooperatives, farmer’s markets and similar far more concrete to constitute a sale. venues. Th is is where you, the vendor, retain ownership of the product within the store until Projection. Th ese are essentially a buyer’s it is sold. Th is may be helpful to you should the prediction of the amount of product they could store go bankrupt, have limited staff or pur- purchase over time. It helps them and you chasing power, or similar issues. It may mean determine whether you can hang in there for that you are responsible for the full service of the long term as a supplier. A projection is not the product inventory, but may result in better a sales commitment, but a planning tool from display and product-placement options. which the two of you can work and negoti- ate. Be sure to quiz your buyer on how they Guaranteed Sale, Not necessarily applicable came up the projection (existing sales history, to marketing aquaculture products and more estimate from some other source) and how common to other retail arrangements, this is solid they feel it is. If you are demoing a new where the buyer holds the right to return all product with them, you may want to develop a unsold goods and demand partial or full credit stepped projection that is a tiered approach that on the return. In the most extreme types of considers test marketing or the initial in-store contract, the buyer will not pay for any of the introduction of the product, and then longer- product until the entire sales period has passed, term stock movement. Any agreement based returns determined and the diff erence calcu- on projections should include your conditional lated. agreement. For example, a conditional agree- ment may include a statement that releases you from the commitment if they don’t move a given amount of product. Th ese are diffi cult to get in writing, usually the best you can do is reiterate it to them in an aft er-meeting confi r- mation memo.

HFC (Hold for Confi rmation). Th is can potentially be very problematic if you are new to the game. Any purchase order with “HFC” stamped on it or written into it should imme- diately be considered a projection and not an order. Buyers will expect you to have product to ship; but the HFC does not necessarily mean that they are ready to receive your product. Your next move is to immediately get back to them and fi nd out what the conditions are of the hold and how to get it lift ed, i.e., get a con- crete purchase order you can act upon. With a good reputable buyer, the HFC is not neces- sarily a negative impediment; it can mean that they already have set aside funds within their budget for purchasing your product.

Consignment Sale. Applicable to marketing

26 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Packages, Labeling & Point-of-Purchase Communications Most physical products require packaging. the product, but it also is a very powerful Your aquaculture product may not require selling tool. In a previous section we discussed packaging, but some do. Additionally, these visiting a grocery store to do some invaluable guidelines also apply to your signage at market research. Once again, the next time farmer’s markets, point-of-purchase materials, you are in a large grocery store, take a minute fl iers, etc. Product packaging must be appeal- to look at the packaging and labeling systems, ing in order to attract and hold the consum- especially those that don’t appeal (sell) to you ers’ eye and attention, and serve as an effi cient and those that you deem exceptional. Take and functional shipping container. How you special care to notice how point-of-purchase approach your packaging or point-of-purchase devices (coupons, recipe cards, etc.) are used communications (recipe cards, information to encourage consumers to try a product. You on your products and aquaculture operation) will probably come away with some good ideas can greatly increase consumer confi dence and on product presentation and packaging. sales. Products can have multiple packages. Th is Packaging design usually involves the box or includes the container itself, such as a bottle, wrapper that contains the product. Th e pri- can, or case. Th is is oft en enclosed in a box for mary function is of course to hold and protect protection purposes. Th e product may also

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 27 have a case or larger container to ship multiple convenience value to the user. As we discussed products within one box. Each of these pack- above, this results in product diff erentiation ages, particularly those that the consumers see from the competition. In the developed world, before their purchase, off ers the opportunity to most retail products are purchased on an im- communicate information to buyers, retailers pulsive basis that heavily depends on packaging or consumers at critical points in their decision to communicate information and encourage making processes. the decision to buy.

Packaging off ers the opportunity to promote the product in that the packaging can easily be designed to compliment other promotional activities. It also can be used to communicate information: your core benefi ts, “why to buy” testimonials, Internet addresses and toll-free telephone numbers, for product information, sales support or additional direct-to-consumer sales.

Packaging can also serve as a display to high- light the product and make it stand out from the competition. In this way, professional marketers and advertisers use packaging and point-of-purchase related materials to provide additional value and diff erentiation. Th is has been proven to provide increased purchase justifi cation and is what encourages many consumers to try new products. For example, for some value-added (processed) perishable aquaculture products, a consumer-convenient seal-and-reseal package may constitute a strong decision maker between two product off erings. Th is especially holds true for products that may work well from a decorative jar or tube-type dispenser (anchovy paste for cooks, smoked- shrimp or smoked-trout spread, highly fl avored or spiced condiments best dispensed in small metered portions).

Of course, for some products, the package also should contain consumer safety information and warn of any potential allergens or hazards due to improper storage or improper prepa- ration. Well-designed packages off er a pro- motional and communication tool, as well as

28 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Dealing with Brokers and Distributors Brokers and distributors get your product into Brokers and distributers make their money on channels. A channel in the established food- volume, so they tend to think in terms of vol- retail system is a business segment or group- ume of product in the most effi ciently handled ing. Th ere are fi ve to seven established retail units; the entire distribution value-chain exists market channels. Th ere are four well-estab- on very thin margins. Th ey like 100% fi ll rates lished food channels serviced by brokers: retail in units that are effi cient for them to handle stores, club stores, food services, and C-stores. (no partial orders, or partial orders packed Direct-to consumer and Internet direct-mar- for immediate delivery bundled with other keting also can be considered channels. Some partial orders in effi cient units). Big brokers see these as alternative channels, but these are and distributers talk in a complex terminol- producer channels not covered by brokers. ogy. For example, when entering into con- Brokers and distributors usually take 1% to 5% versations with brokers, distributors or retail of what they get paid by their clients. Th is may (grocery store) buyers, it is good to have some not seem so onerous when one considers that understanding of table stakes, terms, shelter brokers are highly professional extensions of or program money, procurement money, and your sales staff that have solid connections to bill-backs. immediately market your product. For smaller producers, there is an emerging Th is is a complicated marketing area. Th ere segment of aggregators. Th ese are specialty are contractual demands for your product, brokers, mostly in the ever broadening organic and there may be convoluted pricing systems. and buy-local sectors. In the city of

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 29 Milwaukee, for example there is a noted chef may end with you making a deal. Here is short who has developed a business and an aggre- list; we will then go into greater detail on some gator for a select group of high end, what are of the more esoteric, but crucial points: known in the trade as “white table-cloth” res- taurants wanting to buy local. Th is business is • Price list termed an RSA (Restaurant-Supported Agricul- • FOB price (price delivered to their ture) group similar to a CSA (Community-Sup- warehouse or distribution center) ported Agriculture). Aggregators do not play • Spec sheets the same game as the big brokers and distribu- • Quality guarantees or statements tors; they develop very diff erent relationships • UPC Product codes (that accurately with their suppliers and clients. Th e aggrega- refl ect the size, volume etc.) tor/RSA usually takes 5% of the wholesale cost • Point-of-purchase / Point-of-sale to cover their marketing, transportation and devices other overhead expenses. If you are dealing • 100% fi ll rates (for pallets, containers, with a great aggregator and consider the old ad- totes or similar shipping and storage age, “time is money,” you may see that using an units) aggregator is well worth the 5% additional cost • Terms (net-30, net-7, net-10 days) since it saves you time and money well beyond • Order confi rmations (acknowledge the aggregator’s fee. receipt initiate production, this will generate a cut order) Of course, it is important to understand their • Cut notifi cations (perishable product world and the rest of the distribution system in (e.g., fi sh, livestock) is being processed) their business terms, so let’s consider an over- • Accurate invoicing (how you handle view of the terminology and realities of large- bill-back and auto-deduct marketing scale food distribution. fees; these systems allow for promotions and incentives by Table stakes: Th is is your price list and prod- distributors, but are kept off of regular uct-specifi cation sheets (spec sheets). Also, be invoices so as to not muddle client sure to enter into any meeting prepared with audits where their customers are a good promotional sample kit for sales per- looking at mark-up margins over sonnel. If you go into a meeting armed with a producer price) quality sample kit, you communicate that you are well prepared. Spec sheets accompany your price list with UPC product codes and are your product If you have your ducks in a row with respect to descriptions that include all of the information table stakes, you will look professional, you will needed by the distributor to pick-up, deliver, be taken seriously, and you will have a lot of store, market, bill and pay for your product. points from which to develop a discussion that Th ese contain the quality guarantees or state- ments that can be used for marketing; perish ability information; FOB price; terms (net-30, net-7, net-10 days); invoicing for bill-backs and auto-deducts; order confi rmations and cut notifi cations.

Terms are critical to dealing with brokers. You cannot aff ord to go into market without terms. Th e most commonly used “terms” in the

30 — Marketing Aquaculture Products business are net-30, net-7, and net-10 days. Just because you moved product to a distribu- tor or retailer and they sold it out of a store to a consumer (who gave them money) does not mean any income entered your bank account. You have an open invoice. Th at invoice will be paid by their accounting department whenever they feel like it is a priority to do so. Th e longer they hang on to their money the better it is for clearly beats the competition, the broker may them. Th is is why you need to concentrate on not be interested. Th is is because the broker short-terms. A net-10 day is certainly what may opt for the more expensive product since you want to try to negotiate. Net-30 may mean that producer has factored in program money you get your money 60-days or much further that can go back to the distributer as program out. You may put some frosting on the cake by or procurement funds. off ering discounted terms. Th is is where you discount you invoice by 1 percent, 2 percent If you are playing the game of going through a or more to get yourself paid. By off ering this distributer, going big or bigger with your busi- concession, you invoice goes to the top of the ness, hidden expenses like Program Money are stack to get paid; if you let some buyers talk important to consider. If you get the feeling you into a net-30, you may get paid in 100 days program money is extortion, well, just wait and only aft er you made fi ft een phone calls and until you consider procurement money. threatened legal action. Procurement money is 1 percent to 10 percent Of course top-of-the-stack is a descriptive term. of a shipment that is set aside by Tier-1 and Today, everything is done by computer invoic- Tier-2 distributors (the largest distributors) for ing. Th e computer makes decision on who gets special promotional consideration. Transla- paid fi rst, and who subsequently gets paid and tion: extortion money paid to knock out the when the checks are issued based on the terms competitor and get your product top billing and of the contracts and some wiggle room that al- more importantly, gets your product a spot in ways seems to make it into the equation. Make the warehouse. Frequently this is referred to as sure you know what kind of payment schedule a slotting fee. Th is also may be used to give the to expect and have it in the contract with no distributor’s sales people fi nancial incentive to exceptions. move your product.

Program Money (aka Shelter Money) is money Distributors also may look for a regular 3% to usually paid to brokers that is used to promote be used for marketing at food shows, printing the product through the food-distribution holiday-special fl iers, etc. Th ey may deduct this chain. It is essentially a monetary commit- expense from what they owe on your invoice in ment between a distributor and the producer the form of a bill-back or auto-deduct. If you for money that is budgeted for marketing and/ are introducing a new product, this could be as or sales and procurement activities under- high as 5 percent. Auto-deduct is a term used taken by the distributor. Consider this money to identify a transaction in which a distributor for preparing to get the product in stores and deducts from a producer’s outstanding invoice properly presented. It also may be used to give to cover procurement or marketing activities. the distributor’s salespeople a fi nancial reward Bill-back is a term used to identify a transac- incentive to move your product. If you come tion in which a distributor invoices (bills-back) to a broker with a less expensive product that

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 31 the producer for the costs of a procurement or there; you are probably going to have to get marketing activity. If you are considering func- your product there also. tioning at this level of distribution, be certain you and the distributor are on the same wave- Th e world of inventory control and electronic length when it comes to distributor marketing billing runs on UPC product codes. If you costs, what they need and how they charge for will be using UPC Product codes, designate the services. your codes to mean more than just the obvi- ous product attribute. Your product codes Fill rates, packaging, shipping and inventory should refl ect not only what the product is, but control are critical considerations when deal- the quantity, size, package count or item count ing with volume sales and distribution of any within the unit. kind. Aquaculture producers dealing in large quantities, product fi ll rates may be of impor- tance. 100% fi ll rates are Distributor friendly and what they want to see. Th is refers to pallets of product. Every time a distributor deals with a partial pallet or mixed pallet, it costs them money and labor time unless you are packing them a mixed pallet that is ready for delivery to the retailer. Th e material on the pallets needs to be in easily broken down into sub units. Th ere is a saying in the grocery-store distribution world, “30 pounds at $30.” What this means, is that for ease of handling, your unit cannot be over 30 pounds or it is inconvenient to easily move by hand when the pallet is broken down. Too heavy or odd sized units contribute or cre- ate handling gridlock. Th is creates unnecessary expense for the distributor or retailer. Th e $30 is in reference to a convenient sum attached to that volume of product.

Packaging and bulk packaging for shipping and how that bulk packaging breaks down, perhaps at the distribution center, but ideally only at the retailer are key considerations. You want to bulk package within your category, e.g., bags of frozen fi sh fi llet packages, to be the most effi cient for handling during production and also within the store. Th is is called category expertise. Know your category and how to most effi ciently package and ship within it. Shipping across categories creates handling problems and additional costs. Know this when going into any negotiation. If you are looking at multi- store chain, determine where their distribution centers are located. Th eir trucks are going

32 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Dealing Directly with Grocery Stores Brokers get your product into channels. One ed in small operations or “buy local” products. channel is the established grocery-store retail Retailers are very diff erent in their focus and business. Th e average grocery store has 50,000 accurate or inaccurate perception of what their products. Th is means that you have to dif- client base is interested in purchasing and why. ferentiate your product. It also means that to Some store managers understand that your do so, you must present a sales pitch. You may product represents a unique marketing op- have to visit the store a few times to get your portunity and others could never comprehend foot-in-the-door, identify the key person to that in ten lifetimes. Your best tact is to target talk with, and establish yourself as viable sup- independent grocers and those grocery store plier. chains that are actually cooperatives. Most states have a grocery store association and the If you want to directly deal with grocery stores, association will be happy to provide you this you can do well by targeting smaller stores and and perhaps other very helpful information. independents interested in showcasing local Most states have emerging or established buy- foods to their customers. Th ese tend to be in local endorsement programs that closely work more upscale neighborhoods. Grocery stores with retailers. Contact your state organization in economically and socially depressed neigh- for advice on how to market your product borhoods will always focus on lowest cost and with their assistance and contacts though their lowest price products. program.

Don’t get frustrated if a retailer is not interest- Many of the points of dealing with grocery

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 33 stores are the same or similar to those of is less of an issue if you have a high-quality dealing with distributors and brokers: When specialty product that you are niche market- presenting yourself and your product, tell your ing. Tell your story with good point-of-contact story. Come prepared with a good promotional and point-of-purchase communications, and sample kit for sales personnel. If you go into a consider in-store demonstrations to work with meeting armed with a quality sample kit, you the grocer to educate the consumer about your communicate that you are in the game. product.

Th ere are some documents that are important Your Big-4 ideas on determining your price, as to bring with you to a meeting with a store with distributors and brokers, include: pricing, manager. Grocers also like to see forecast quality, margins, and risk. Th e price the grocer sheets. Th ese are especially important for has to take the product to the consumer is very produce and other perishable-good buyers. important. It is equally important that you or Th ey give the store manager an idea when and the grocer cover margins for advertising and how you will have product: the timing of your marketing, and the risk of a product introduc- harvest, time for you to process from order to tion. One great solution for fi guring out your delivery, order and processing confi rmations, costs and how to budget for them is to design a and similar details. Along with the forecast spreadsheet that shows all costs as your prod- sheet, a background paper on your operation uct moves through the value-chain to the end is important for the grocer to have on fi le to user. Be transparent and absolutely honest with substantiate COOL labeling. COOL stands for yourself for yourself. Th is is how you learn and Country of Origin Label and is a compliance see how profi table you are, or need to be, to labeling requirement. sustainably grow your business.

Do not expect farmers’ market retail prices All grocers, but particularly the niche and when going through a grocery store. Th e stores independent grocers love it when you put on a have razor-thin margins and they must do ev- product demonstration in their store. It shows erything in their power to be cost-competitive to the customer (and to them) that you believe with their competition and as aff ordable as in your product and are willing to stand by possible to the customers in that store’s demo- it, and that you have a relationship with the graphic. Th e price for your quality product grocer. Consider holding a demonstration with some other local producers on the same day and publicizing the in-store event. Work with the grocer, they will either want you there dur- ing peak shopping activity time or may suggest a time better suited for an event where you can spend more face-to-face time with custom- ers. Work this out with the store manager. Th e manager can help you determine your level of preparedness with respect to staff , product, and promotional materials. Be sure to collect contact information from customers for e-mail or direct-mail notifi cations and similar follow- up communications. You may want to collect contact information in the form of a product or grocery raffl e.

34 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Sending a press release to the local news paper, or better yet, invite the press by getting on the phone and speaking with a local-scene reporter. Try to get the reporter interested in doing a personal-interest piece on your operation and product. A great strategy to directly promote an event (or directly market your product) reach customers and enter into new markets is off ered by social networking. For example, you can promote your product and the event at the grocer’s by creating a free post in the Farm & Garden section of the on-line resource Craig’slist. Th is is an ever-growing and well re- spected free resource, and is a very simple tool to use and update.

Another way to approach grocery stores is through their state grocery association. Th ese groups have yearly or bi-annual meetings and trade shows. At the very least, get a member- ship to receive their trade publication and other mailings. If you have the money in your marketing budget, consider a booth or table at the meeting or convention. Th is is a way to get your product and operation in front of those grocers not necessarily vested in always working through buyers and distributors, and especially to identify the independents, small chains and co-ops interested in local and high- quality specialty products. Also, if you want to market to grocery stores, go out of your way to talk with the managers, get their trade news and otherwise understand their business and business trends.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 35 Quality Product/ Quality Service Th ese days providing solid customer service potential for poor service increases. Every also is paying attention to your customers. It time you add people to an organization, you is easy to forget to do this when concentrating increase the links in your customer’s service on making new sales and bigger accounts to value chain. sustain or grow your business. However, atten- tion to your existing customers, no matter how A simple solution is to establish a customer small their purchase volume, is essential to service policy. Th is should be in writing right keeping your business on track. Landing cus- there alongside your mission statement. Like tomers is only the smaller part of the equation, the mission statement, it does not have to be the most important aspect of growing a busi- lengthy, but does need to articulate your cus- ness is keeping customers. Repeat customers tomer service policy. Every employee should are the backbone of every successful business. be aware of it, and if possible, have some say Loyal repeat customers are the backbone of an in its formulation. Th ey should also be aware outstanding business. of what the guidelines are and how to follow them. Th ere are plenty of things that you as an en- trepreneur can do to ensue excellent customer Most management professionals will tell you service. If you are in a one-person business it that there are a few general rules of thumb to is easy to stay on top of your customer’s needs. delivering superior client service, most are Th is gets a bit more complicated as you add simply solid common sense approaches to increasing numbers of employees into the mix; communicating with people: Be genuinely

36 — Marketing Aquaculture Products committed; remember that client’s value at- customer service person, sales staff or owner tention, use this to develop an active hands- of a business says, “I do not know, but I’ll fi nd on approach to customer service. Be certain out,” then follows up with immediate action that your passion for customer service runs that includes a follow-up call back to the client; rampant, establish support systems so that the it demonstrates professionalism and attention customer can always reach an understand- to client need. Always, be sure that you state ing person with knowledge of your operation, a positive action that will be undertaken and share information on customer service across state a time-frame for resolving the issue, “I your organization. Finally, develop a system have to see Mr. Smith about that, and he is away to measure customer service, and then reward from the offi ce until next Monday, but I’ll call employees who consistently practice it. and leave him a message then immediately get back to you. It should only be a day or so, if When interacting with customers, keep in for whatever reason you do not hear from me, mind that customers like to hear certain reas- please call again. One way or another, we’ll get suring phrases. Make sure that you employees this sorted out ASAP.” Th at is what clients want are familiar with three of them and use them to hear! to genuinely address the client; and absolutely make it a point that they never use the fourth! “No problem. Not a problem.” Perhaps the most overused phrase in the American lan- “How can I help?” Clients want the opportuni- guage and one of the worst possible things to ty to explain in detail what they want, need, or say when dealing with customers. Never in have a problem understanding. Too oft en busi- any circumstance use it during business meet- ness owners simply guess at the customer need ings. In studies of consumer focus groups by or the client’s mindset. It is far more eff ective to professional consultants, it came out that, “Not listen and ask follow-up questions. Th is is how a problem” is a two-edged sword that most you learn things that can be invaluable to giving people consciously dismiss, but subconsciously you an edge over your competition. Also, by triggers subtle distrust and resentment. entering into a dialog initiated by the customer, you are listening and not selling. By listening Why? It is simple. For example, if you ask for and creating a positive dialog, one can oft en water in a restaurant and the server says “Not turn a complaint call into a future sale. a problem,” part of the subconscious processes the response as “Of course it’s not a problem “I can solve that problem.” Many clients have you lazy jerk, you work here and your job is to other options, if you remain unfl ustered and serve me.” Not a problem, insinuates that you off er to help them through their problem you asking for water is a problem. Humans don’t demonstrate your commitment to work with like to create problems for other people and them. If you become confrontational, the end when someone, particularly a stranger, even result can easily be a lost client. remotely suggests that we have inadvertently done so through an innocuous request, resent- “I do not know, but I’ll fi nd out.” Th is is the ment may develop. secret of almost every successful communicator within any business structure. Th ere is noth- Th e server may be unaware, of the implications ing more frustrating than going to a company of the saying but oft entimes, one can sense a and not getting a straight answer to a question. hint of sarcasm in the phrase. It is better if it However, we all acknowledge that not everyone is never uttered. Wouldn’t it be much better has every answer on any given day. When a if you asked for water in the restaurant and

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 37 the server said “Sure, I’ll be right back with it, in one. If you come across information that would you like some lemon with that?” In this you feel your client could value, for example, an scenario, instead of a negative subconscious award winning recipe for a chef, a bulk-packag- emotional cue, the server has positively af- ing idea or restaurant-purchase demographics fi rmed that the action will be willingly under- for a distributor, then copy it and forward it to taken, as well as entered into a dialog with the them. It shows that you care about the success client that demonstrates an extension of service. of their business. Th ey will care about the suc- cess of yours. Today, providing adequate customer service may not be suffi cient. You need to let custom- For any number of reasons a customer may ers know what you are doing for them. A decide to go to a competitor or simply quit pa- quarterly electronic newsletter, E-mail message tronizing your operation. Calling the ex-client or occasional phone call can mean the diff er- is an extremely important business-develop- ence between a repeat customer and someone ment call. Get them on the phone and politely going over to the competition. For the small- say that you miss them as a customer, under- scale aquaculture producer, the competition stand that customers move on for any number may be a less expensive imported product from of reasons; then proceed to just ask them for overseas. Your communications with your cus- a minute or two of their time to discuss their tomer and assurance of quality local production needs and how you could change aspects of goes a long way to overcome a price diff erential. your product or procedures to meet them. Just because you lost this customer does not mean All follow-up calls are in some way a business- that they may not come back. development call. Make time to contact customers that seem to becoming distant. So what happens when you really have a bad E-mail and Twitter are fi ne for updates on your situation with a customer? Begin by thinking business and product line, but is still far more about a similar situation you had at some time impersonal than a phone call. If you have not in your life. Consider how you felt, and what it heard from a valued customer in a while, take took to correct the situation if it was corrected. a minute, make a phone call and let them know Gather as much information on the problem as you are thinking about them and their needs. possible and take a minute to objectively con- Th is is not a sales call and should never be ap- sider what happened and why. Now prepare proached as such, but it could eff ortlessly result some phone notes for reference when you call the client to discuss the problem. Your phone notes should list the problem, what may have happened to cause the problem and several courses of action to correct the problem or compensate the customer for any hardship.

Call the customer. E-mail and text messag- ing are the communication media of the day; however, for a customer-relations contact of any importance, you need person-to-person immediate voice communication. If it is a non- confrontational, yet extremely serious problem, get over to see the client to discuss it face-to- face as soon as possible.

When you get the client on the phone, be sure

38 — Marketing Aquaculture Products to be a non-confrontational and stress that you sincerely wish to resolve the situation to the client’s satisfaction. Be sure to stress that you appreciate the client’s business and that you will keep the client updated as needed as you remedy the situation. If you have employees, and this problem resulted from an employee’s mistake, consider hand delivering the prod- uct to ensure the client that you personally resolved this issue. If the problem was clearly your company’s fault, then reduce the price of the product or include additional product or a voucher for future savings. As we leave this section, please consider the Going above-and-beyond the call of duty, does following encapsulation as a personal mantra: not mean big give-ways or groveling before your customers. Be accessible; make your “Customer loyalty is hard to win and easy to lose. company accessible. Consider reinforcing that Repeat customers are the backbone of a your customer is important to you by holding successful business. Loyal customers are the an annual customer appreciation event where backbone of an outstanding business.” they can view your facilities, try product and meet your staff . Th ink about opening direct lines of communication between specifi c staff and certain clients. Stress to your employee that, “Th ese are your clients, they create your paycheck. If they have problems you work with them and bring me into the loop if necessary.” Th is builds your organizational capabilities and increases the person-to-person relationships between your company and the client. If you have a few select clients to whom you would like to deliver a holiday gift , have your staff take time away from the facility to do so. If you are unsure of their communications skills, accompany them. Again, this builds organiza- tional capability in that you have a chance to mentor your employees on what is essentially a public-relations sales call. When you meet with the client, be sure to direct the conversation to customer-service issues. What has been good the past year; what needs to be improvement. With the employee by your side, there is a good chance customer service will become a personal issue and subsequently improve.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 39 Let’s Use MarketMaker MarketMaker can be found on the Internet consumers and other food-supply-chain at http://www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu. Th e participants. It is currently one of the most idea behind the MarketMaker project was extensive collections of searchable food- to make create a resource where all busi- industry-related data in the country and nesses across the food supply chain can contains over 350,000 profi les of farmers see one another. Th is includes potential and other food related enterprises in Illi- suppliers, end-user markets, distributors nois, Iowa, Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, and cooperators. For example, the site can Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and assist a bed & breakfast operator to fi nd New York. Each of these states now has its locally produced fi sh; it is equally valuable own state-specifi c entry portal for Market- in helping an aquaculture producer fi nd Maker. the bed & breakfast operation, restaurant or a specialty ethnic grocery store that may Taking the single state concept and ex- want to showcase the producer’s products. panding it into a regional and national model has the potential to signifi cantly MarketMaker was developed as an online grow the economic impact of this market- marketing resource to give Illinois farm- ing resource. A multi-state partnership of ers greater access to regional markets by land grant institutions and state agricultur- linking them with processors, retailers, al agencies has formed and are committing

40 — Marketing Aquaculture Products local resources to build this national net- Census data is a critical feature of the site. work of interconnected sites of searchable For example, a producer wanting to sell localized consumer and food industry data. tilapia to Asian consumers can request a Active cooperating and fi nancial supporters map showing the greatest concentration of the project include the national Agricul- of upper-income Asian households; then tural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) request a complete demographic profi le headquartered at at Iowa State University, of those locations, including seafood sales United States Department of Agriculture data from area fi sh markets. To use this (USDA) National Institute of Food and marketing tool, there is a function called Agriculture, the University of Arkansas Ap- Find a Market. By simply clicking the icon, plied Sustainability Center, Illinois Council one can accesses the census data in the on Food and Agricultural Research (C- following areas: Education, Foreign Born, FAR), University of Illinois Cooperative Ex- Household Type, Income, Income by Race, tension Service, and ACE the University of and Race. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Consumer and Agricultural Economics. MarketMaker is a powerful tool for increas- ing your visibility and fi nding outlets for A policy advisory committee governs and your product. MarketMaker is a great tool, guides the MarketMaker network. Com- but it is not a silver bullet that will ensure posed of experts from partner states, these your business success. Th ere are many individuals bring unique expertise and things that go into marketing a success- insight to the direction of the site, as well as ful business, and the road to success, and guide the evolution of the national network. continued success, is a constant process. Develop a marketing plan to augment your MarketMaker is rich with searchable business plan. Review and revise both on a demographic and business data. Detailed regular basis. information can be summarized on maps, in lists or profi les, and in varying levels of Let’s Use Market Maker: complexity or specifi city. One can do this by focusing on producers or retailers; as MarketMaker is an invaluable resource for well as demographic markets that refl ect the creation of a marketing strategy and wages, food-related expenditures or eth- marketing plan. Additionally, AgMRC nicity. One of the great strengths of the (Th e Agricultural Marketing Resource Cen- MarketMaker site is that concentrations of ter) website www.agmrc.org is a portal to consumer markets and strategic business MarketMaker and has many great business- partners can easily and quickly be identi- development resources including market- fi ed; potentially saving producers transpor- ing strategies and thoughts on developing tation and other costs, as well as promoting business and marketing plans. Both the other cost-saving increases in effi ciency. MarketMaker and AgMRC web pages make Presenting this kind of information in a extensive use of key-word searching. Th is graphic-interface map-based format is far tool allows you to fi nd supporting tools and more eff ective than simple lists or statistical documents that can strengthen your busi- tables. ness. Now, let’s consider MarketMaker’s capabilities and what it has to off er.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 41 If we select Factsheets and take a look at the pdf fi les listed there you will see that there is additional information on fundamental marketing, selling specifi c products, creat- ing business plans, doing market research, and working with your buyers or selling directly to the public.

We can return to the home page by using the back arrow on our browser, or selecting Home from the menu at the top or bottom of the page.

Th e main central horizontal menu bar con- tains various resources and fact sheets, note First, we need to go online and access that the fi rst item is Learn MarketMaker. University of Illinois MarketMaker http:// Th is is a page of concise instructions for www.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/ or one of the new users getting started with the program. other state-specifi c portals. Please note the Th e next horizontal menu bar contains the sponsors, cooperators and funding agencies Buy & Sell Forum. Th is feature provides noted on the bottom of the homepage. vendors with a quick forum to present their products to the public and for potential We will use the Illinois and Iowa pages for clients to ask for specifi c products. Th e Buy our examples. Th e next time you log-in & Sell Forum is national in scope across to MarketMaker, you may wish to enter participating states. Services & Equipment through your state’s portal. Th is is easy is a forum for buying and selling new and enough to fi nd by typing in into a search engine or by and Transportation lists those fi rms off er- selecting a state on the National Market- ing those services, as well as individuals Maker map you see in the left -hand tool bar interested in developing cooperative trans- on the Illinois site. portation arrangements.

Before heading to our own state, let’s Other items on the page contain portals to browse around the MarketMaker homep- updates about the MarketMaker site and age. In the green and orange horizontal overall program, a calendar of upcoming tool bar you will see two main headers: For events and a blog devoted to value-added Producers and For Consumers. As produc- agriculture and related news items. Th e ers, the For Producers will be our control Taste of Illinois feature spotlights profi les button for directing our market research. of Illinois businesses participating in the Also, in the lower part of that tool bar there MarketMaker program. Keep this in mind is a tutorial and many other resources, for your business. Th e state business profi le including Resource Search which can help is oft en seen on the national MarketMaker you fi nd human assistance in your area, and page, as well as on the national Agricultural a great section titled Factsheets. Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC.org) page. Th ese profi les create a great deal of 42 — Marketing Aquaculture Products visibility for participating producers or We can see that Jackson Ranch produces businesses and are “swept” monitored by whole, dressed and de-headed certifi ed and local media outlets. source-verifi ed, yellow perch and tilapia; and we can also see how they market to the Now, let’s fi nd a producer. We begin by public: direct, farmers market, festivals, in- simply searching to view the other aqua- ternet sales, on-farm sales, roadside stand, culture businesses in our state. Aft er all, and wholesale. It is noted that they market these are our potential competitors, so why across the Midwest. not take a look to see who is out there. We select the for BUSINESSES tab, then we Th is menu has a tab that is open to Fishery. move to the Find a box where the word If we select the preceding tab Farmer, we Farmer is present. If we select the arrow at see that this business also has an organic the side of the box we will see that within it dairy. For some businesses there will be is the choice Fishery. For now we will leave another tab, Agritoursim, for those aqua- the distance and zip-code boxes blank and culture business that are open to the public simply select SEARCH to see what comes for fee fi shing or educational outings for up for the state of Illinois. school children and similar events.

We see that a map appears, but it is grayed If you as a producer decide to be repre- out. Th ere is a superposed window that sented on MarketMaker this is the type of presents fi shery choices. We select Fish/ profi le that you will have. Note that your Shellfi sh/Seafood and note that the map is profi le can be far more complete than the now active and populated with red mark- one we are viewing for our example. To the ers. To the left of the map is a Select by right of the window there is a place where menu that allows us to narrow our search you can talk about your business and places by type of producer. To the right of the were affi liations and social networking op- map is a Results window that allows us tions can be listed. Social networking links to see an alphabetical listing of all of the to Face Book®, Twitter®, and similar sites producers within the state registered with can be a way to further get news of your MarketMaker. In about the center of the product and business developments to your state, near the word ‘Illinois,’ you will see a marker near Bloomington. If we select it we see that a balloon appears with the name of a business called Jackson Ranch. If we select Jackson Ranch, MarketMaker opens a new window in the browser that displays a street map for Jackson Ranch, as well as full contact information and various business details including the name of a primary contact person. All maps in MarketMaker are printable and scalable (one can increase or decrease the resolution) using either a vertical slider bar or + or - boxes on the upper-left -hand side of the map.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 43 customers. If for example, we are a buyer interested only in purchasing source-verifi ed fi sh, and If we close the window for Jackson Ranch prefer to have state environmental certifi ca- and return to the main map of Illinois, we tion as well, we click on the boxes before can further investigate other search func- those attributes in the Select a Category tions for profi ling producers. In the Select list. Immediately, MarketMaker generates by menu there are various options. Note a window for those businesses with those that the two menus Select a Category and attributes and lists them in the left -hand Select a Subcategory next to Select by are business listing menu. To our surprise blank for now. Th is will change if we select we see that the only business fi tting these a topic with additional information threads. search criteria is Jackson Ranch of Bloom- For example, let’s scroll down to Product ington, Illinois. If this was a buyer inter- Attributes -3rd Party Certifi ed/Verifi ed. ested in purchasing source-verifi ed envi- Selecting this topic immediately populates ronmentally-certifi ed fi sh, they probably the Select a Category menu with several just completed their search in record time, grayed-out topics (which do not pertain at minimal cost, and found a key producer to our search) and few selectable certifi ed for follow-up discussions. and inspected options. Th e ones in blue are selectable links. Th ese may or may not pro- What if we want to identify a buyer for an duce more information in the Select a Sub- aquaculture product in MarketMaker? If category menu, depending upon whether we type in “Find a Buyer” in the search that information is available or applicable window, a map appears. We then select for that state. Begin a New Business Search, this then populates the Organization, Preferences or Product Type windows with contacts that also are shown on the map. Under each of these headings and other specifi c selections that go along with it. You also can search by County, State or Multistate. When your selections are complete, click on Map It. To zoom in closer, hold down the left mouse button and draw a box around the area you wish to enlarge.

Beyond just generating the names of businesses or suppliers, it cannot be emphasized enough that MarketMaker is an impor-

44 — Marketing Aquaculture Products tant market-research tool. One that you can use to gather valuable information from which to develop top-quality MarketMaker website. value-chain relationships. Th is “target-market research” now gives you For example, let’s say we are a fi sh-producer the ability to walk into a retailer, for ex- using the Iowa portal. We are looking to ample a high-end organic food retail store market a fi sh product in the greater Des you identifi ed from the business data in Moines, Iowa, area. We can look at Food MarketMaker, a business right in the heart Preferences under Market Research and of your target consumer demographic, and then look at the average at-home seafood then have a very intelligent and informed expenditures. Th is demographic informa- talk with the store’s buyer. You know who tion comes up on a color-coded map. We can purchase your product and the con- can see which parts of the metro area and sumer’s buying preferences; from this you which surrounding communities have the can suggest price points, discuss point-of- highest incomes and expenditures on sea- sale informational communications for the food products. targeted consumer, and of course, highlight why your product is an outstanding prod- At a glance we can see which areas have uct about which they can communicate and the highest potential for high-value outlets sell to their customers. that can move our product. Th e area-wide scope of this view can be hi-lighted from Now let’s say you want to approach “white- state-wide to multi-county to within-coun- table-cloth” (high end) restaurants. As with ty and city views. Th e demographic scope the grocery-store example, MarketMaker’s of the view can then be adjusted by focus- business data will help us to identify the ing in on age and spending demographics. top contact candidates. As for the listed As we begin to develop more and more businesses, most are profi led to their wants, narrow and specifi c “best-opportunity” needs and marketing preferences. Each leads, we get further down the path of what business has full contact information and professionals call, “target-market research.” in some cases the name of a specifi c contact We are targeting a particular demographic individual, as well as web and social-media most likely to want our product. presences. In the course of this research, it is always You can see where any particular business productive to keep your mind open to com- is located and how to fi nd it by using the munication strategies for reaching consum- Map-It function. You can use the Map-It ers in the target area and demographic. function to see all of the places that sell sea- Some thoughts are likely to occur to you food, and then diff erentiate those that are as you work through the research process. convenience outlets, those that primarily do In many instances problems and questions business in alcohol, chain restaurants and that you had at the beginning of the process those that are the high-end “white-table- will answer themselves or strongly suggest cloth” eateries. an answer before you have logged off the

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 45 Of course, one neat advantage of the Map- dish based on the unique attributes of your It function is that you can see a particular product. Th is is what their demographic business’s closest adjacent competitors. expects and, in regard to a unique dining Th is should give you some additional experience, is quite willing to purchase. thoughts or talking points when you go in to meet with them. For example, chain MarketMaker can help us zero in on this restaurants will be interested in lowest-cost and other outstanding product placement high-volume product that they get frozen opportunities. Continuing with the above like clockwork from a large national ven- example, within Des Moines, Iowa, area dor. Th is material then goes into an well- and within a given demographic age group established moderate-to-low price-point (older working people), our initial search dish that they sell to and established pre- identifi es 1059 restaurants that serve sea- dictable customer demographic. food and cater to them. By further refi ning the list and eliminating chain restaurants Th e “white-table-cloth” (high end) restau- and similar establishments, we are now rant down the street will most-likely strive down to 180 or so businesses that would be to diff erentiate themselves from the chain interested in our product. We can now zero retailer through quality and uniqueness in on that particular part of the metro area of product and dining experience. Th ese where we would have the highest likeli- days, this is oft en done by presenting the hood of encountering customers interested highest-quality locally-produced identity- in top-quality product and service where preserved location-of-origin-ensured price-point is not an issue, and we can eas- product in the form of a specially-prepared ily identify ten or so “cream-of-the-crop” restaurants.

Once we identify them, we put together a simple contact list using the contact data and develop a plan to con- tact and work with them. As you consider potential retail- ers and the selling points for your product; you’ll real- ize that there is a very high likelihood that this retailer will be very receptive to your product due to its attributes. Th is is the easiest of all sales calls. You have your talk- ing points, you know a lot about your target restaurant, their competition, and what makes them unique. It is now relatively easy to make

46 — Marketing Aquaculture Products the initial contact and then cultivate a rela- tionship. Th ese days, everyone is interested in enhanced value-chains and tools like MarketMaker. You can even break the ice by telling the restaurant’s contact person that you found them by way of MarketMak- er’s business data!

Later, consider working with your cooper- ating retailers to generate some buzz about your product by developing an outreach presence via their Facebook®, Twitter®, or other social-media presence. A lot of young professionals today communicate via social-media applications, and more and more consumers outside that demographic are introducing themselves to social media. If your retailers are planning to launch or showcase your product, be sure to get the word out through social media. Have a great short background story, quality in- formation and some photos ready for their use. Putting together a media packet is a very small time investment that can result in considerable returns. Many retailers have e-mail client lists and websites and are always looking for ways to showcase new and unique products.

An additional new feature of MarketMaker is an employment opportunities section. If you are a producer or a business looking for an employee, registered users can post on the site. Within 24-hours the site is “swept” by national search engines including U.S. Jobs Bank. Within 48-hours, U. S. Jobs Bank is linked to all state and most private job-search agencies and listings. In Iowa, for example, it is linked to Iowa Workforce Development and Iowa National Guard Veteran Employment Offi ce.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 47 Creating a Marketing Plan In the Marketing Your Product section we products and audience. touched on what would go into our marketing plan. So now we have to take each of those Your vision begins simply enough with a points and get them down on paper. It does mission statement. Create the statement by not have to be fi nished in the fi rst draft , just get encapsulating that idea in a sentence or two. ideas on paper and get them organized. You For example, an internet service may say, “Cre- can mull them over and perfect the plan as it ate a single place on the Internet that connects evolves. all people with anything or anyone they need.” A small-town dairy may say, “Create direct-to- We introduced the Marketing Your Product consumer supreme quality cheese from locally section with the “7P”’s of marketing: prod- pastured grass-fed cows.” Th e later statement uct, pricing, place, promotion, packaging, identifi es a locally-produced product that positioning and people; and stated that the requires exceptional preparation and quality most important unifying concept is market control, produced from well-cared-for ani- relevance. It doesn’t really matter how unique mals. Defi ne your business and product’s value your product or service is, unless its value is propositions and you have defi ned its market tied to a perceived benefi t. Your customers relevance. need to know if it will solve their problem or make them money. For this reason, market At the end of the day, market relevance needs relevance is a fundamental dimension of your to be tied directly to return on investment business and defi nes your vision for your (ROI). Start by developing a projection of

48 — Marketing Aquaculture Products where you think of the market is or is head- several actionable items. Leave plenty of space ing; and what you are off ering, to whom and between them, because you are going to be add- where you can fi nd them. Th is is where you ing more information in the Assumptions and plug in your MarketMaker data, or can return Tasks columns. to MarketMaker to broaden your search. As an aquaculture producer, this is the quantity Th en look at these events and assign probable of fi sh, how and where that fi sh can enter the completion dates to them. Next create a list of market to reach the public. Always keep in Assumptions as to what needs to happen to hit mind and state in your marketing plan, why the the task deadline. Finally, Tasks are assigned public should choose you over a competitor. to your team. Th is is the who-will-do-what- and-when assignment. When using MAT for When it comes to turning your plan into ac- developing a marketing plan, this is where you tion, two simple logic-building tools can help are making a concrete action plan for reaching with organizing your ideas and the writing out to buyers or customers, and getting your process are MAT (Milestones, Assumptions and product into the market. You can incorporate Tasks) Analysis and SWOT (Strengths, Weak- the entire MAT timeline directly into your mar- nesses, Opportunities and Th reats) Analysis. keting plan, or pull out the most relevant parts. MAT and SWOT are commonly used to create Either way, at the end of this exercise, you are business plans, but they can have almost equal close to being done with your marketing plan. application to developing marketing plans. Some examples for one horizontal line for a One defi nition of a mat is “a heavy woven net of single milestone might look like: rope or wire cable placed over a blasting site to keep debris from scattering.” Preventing scat- Milestone: Fresh-product introduction at tering is exactly what you need to do as a criti- large urban food fair. Targeted sale of 400 fresh cal step of launching your enterprise. Th e most fi llets, distribution of new product literature, important part of the plan is where you specifi - and development of a potential-customer cally say what is going to happen. Th e core of contact list (E-mail mailing list) with over 500 a business or marketing plan is the collection names over 2.5 days. of detailed dates, deadlines, responsibilities, and commitments. Th ese are the milestones. Assumptions: Will have fresh product pack- Ironically, this kind of detail is frequently left aged in bulk bags and shipping coolers; trans- out of business or marketing plans that are full portation; approval of venue, display booth for of big ideas and strategy. What you want from vending product, packaging for sold product; any plan is results, and the way to get results is product literature, computer slideshow. to build-in specifi cs items that you can track and act upon. Tasks: Mary will get necessary contracts and approval from the fair organizers/venue by MAT is simply the building of three compre- ; Bob will handle fi sh processing and hensive lists that will become a timeline of ac- wrapping on ; Dan will work with the tionable events. You or your team brain storms printer and have promotional material by and assembles three vertical lists of ideas under ; Mary will order more bags and clear each of three headings: Milestones, Assump- poly wrap for the customer-sales ; Mary, tions and Tasks. Bob and Dan transport to farmer’s market (big pickup with cargo trailer), set-up and vending At fi rst, just try to get your ideas down, then ; Bob, borrow Sam’s cargo trailer, lined prioritized them based on importance. Start up by ; Dan: construction of new display with Milestones, and critical items should be booth, signage from printer and getting new underlined, starred or otherwise tagged as such. (better looking) coolers for product . Your milestones should be weeded down to Bob will bring his lap-top with slideshow of the

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 49 operation, check over and revise by , and day of delivery, day of delivery transportation will have a clipboard with attached pen for the to meet fresh non-frozen product delivery E-mail list with the computer. deadlines, limited labor if anyone is sick or there is an emergency, breakdown of delivery Similar Milestone lines could include ones for vehicle. calling potential buyers, developing a contact list, making sales calls, developing print adver- Th reats (External): Main high-value customer tising or on-site promotional events, or peri- restaurant-X decides not to carry our product odic reviews of MarketMaker data. anymore, fuel cost impact on product, and cheaper product steals our market, bad public SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportuni- relations about our operation or our product. ties and Th reats) Analysis Opportunities (External): Regional food fair SWOT is another comprehensive list-making can be a place to meet many new contacts over exercise. Where the MAT is your actionable to- several days, new technology to connect with do list; SWOT is to help your strategic thinking customers (Twitter/Facebook), and local direct- and a reality-check for your assumptions and to consumer marketing at three nearby farmer’s planning. markets, large potential local customer base, and huge potential regional customer base. Have your team begin by brain storming on the four headings Strengths, Weaknesses, Oppor- As mentioned above, SWOTs should be ‘one- tunities and Th reats mentioned above. Later, as handed’ - something is either a Strength or in the Assumptions part of the MAT, consider Weakness, but not both. Family owned and all critical items with your proposed project operated for example, could be something that timeline in mind; don’t get bogged down with could easily have strengths and weaknesses. It too much detail when creating the lists. When is you value judgment as to which category in the team is rested and fresh, rank them from which it should be placed. Th ere is a simple most important to least important, then criti- solution to when you encounter something cally analyze each of the points with the mind- you are unsure about, think about what are the set of independent outside reviewers. Develop strengths and weaknesses of that point. In the contingency plans to preserve your strengths preceding example, we see that the weaknesses and address your weaknesses as needed. of Family owned and operated appear under Strengths and Weaknesses are internal to the other headers in terms of limited labor and your business; Opportunities and Th reats are the pressure on the same folks doing the work external. All SWOTs should be ‘one-handed’ as well as getting the product to the clients. - something is either a Strength or a Weak- Now if we rank our examples by their impor- ness, but cannot be both. Enter items under tance, we begin to see the tough things we need each heading and then rank them in order of to address regarding the operation, things that importance. Aft er a brainstorming session, an we thought were important as not being that example of the lists might look like: important, as well as where there may be some great opportunities: Strengths (Internal): Family owned and oper- ated, cold artesian water, good looking opera- Strengths (Internal): tion, quality product, great local reputation, 1. Quality product choice of top chefs in X, Y, and Z high-end local 2. Choice of top chefs in X, Y, and Z high- restaurants. end local restaurants 3. Great local reputation Weaknesses (Internal): Limited production 4. Cold artesian water capacity, labor-intensive hand processing on 5. Good looking operation

50 — Marketing Aquaculture Products 6. Family owned and operated effi ciency, or fi nding some good part-time help who would work for minimum wage. Weaknesses (Internal): 1. Breakdown of delivery vehicle In Th reats, we again see the need for a new 2. Day-of-delivery transportation to meet vehicle or contracted delivery. We also see the fresh non-frozen product delivery need to have good open communications and deadlines propagate a strong supplier-buyer relationship 3. Labor-intensive hand processing on day with restaurant-X. Th ere is not much you can of delivery do about cheaper product, but your clients are 4. Limited labor if anyone is sick or there is not going to go that route if they are getting an emergency quality product from you and have a personal 5. Limited production capacity relationship with you and your staff . Bad PR happens, but not that oft en. Still, you should Th reats (External): have a risk-management plan that hinges on 1. Fuel cost impact on product openness and quality-control practices that 2. Main high-value customer restaurant-X allow you to defend your product or identify decides to discontinue product what happened and where. 3. Cheaper product steals our market 4. Bad public relations about our operation Opportunities are a bright spot for this busi- or our product ness. Th ey now see that they have a nice fat nut to crack to move more product (--and to move Opportunities (External): more product they need a little labor help and 1. Large potential local customer base new truck, etc.). Th ese market revelations are 2. Huge potential regional customer base not immediately actionable items, but the food 3. Regional food fair to meet many new fair is, and should be targeted. Th ey may want contacts over several days to investigate the farmer’s markets (perhaps 4. Local direct-to consumer marketing at their new part-time employee would like to three nearby farmer’s markets staff a table) and talk to their local extension 5. New technology to connect with professional or savvy teenager about social customers (Twitter®/Facebook®) networking sites.

In Strengths we see that the product’s reputa- As you construct your written marketing plan, tion and attributes are what is driving this be sure to specify major goals achievable over company and its product, not the fact that it the next year or production season, and quanti- is family owned or a good-looking operation. fy this in terms of sales, market shares, fi nances, Although important marketing points; these operations etc. And fi nally, do your best to considerations tied for last place in the list. defi ne strategic action programs: indicate who, Weaknesses illustrated that our friends need a what, where, when, how etc., and set milestones new fuel-effi cient way to get their product to and prioritize performance targets. Example market. Th is is probably something they have outlines and worksheets on how to organize recognized, but chosen to ignore for some time. this is presented in the next section. Th ey should start shopping for a new or better used vehicle or consider contracting for their Develop or improve your identity and product delivery needs (sometimes a very cost-eff ective communications as needed. Th is probably solution; this also would free-up some of the la- means working with a professional to articu- bor pressures). Small-operation labor issues are late your message, develop your image and always problematic, but these labor issues could label, and strategize about your print advertis- be solved by looking at the processing practices ing needs. Some aquaculture-ventures do this and streamlining them to increase operational work themselves with their own staff or family

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 51 talent and are adequately rewarded by the out- come. Usually this is not the case. Your visual image is critical to the immediate perception of your product. Get some help, or at least get second opinions.

As you work with your product and your clients, either buyers for retail stores or the con- sumer, remember that you are communicating why your product is good for them. If it is not suited for them it will be a hard or impossible sale.

Take time to review your MAT and SWOT analyses, and consider developing a best prac- tices guide or ISO-9000 for agriculture plan (AGMRC.org reference) for your operation. All are proven marketing tools that help plan your business course, improve your product, and fostering the image of your operation.

52 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Marketing Plan Outline A simple outline for your marketing plan direction and values. should include: II. Current situation analysis I. Mission statement o SWOT analysis by category II. Current situation analysis o Honest self-assessment of your III. Target audience description current marketing experience, IV. Marketing goals communication strengths and V. Marketing communication: strategies weaknesses and tactics o Adequate product packaging for the VI. Marketing budget target market VII. Set periodic updates for situation o Adequate product information for analysis, and revision of goals, point-of-purchase or meetings strategies and tactics. o Liability insurance o Distribution situation A checklist for things to consider for each of the above sections of your marketing plan III. Target audience (market) description should include: o What is the ideal consumer demographic for your product? I. Mission statement o MarketMaker Assessment of local o Short and to the point. Th is is what and regional target markets you are about and defi nes your o MarketMaker Assessment of

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 53 less-obvious opportunities o Shipping product for demos or test marketing IV. Marketing goals: o Part-time labor for public events, etc. o Volume of product to move by target market IX. Set periodic updates: o Set sales policies and accounting o Situation analysis, revision of goals, practices strategies and tactics (every six months) V. Marketing communication - strategies o Write, review, revise and update and tactics: unsuccessful proposals, current o Intelligence gathering on potential product hand-outs, and presentations customers and competitors (as needed) o Lead generation for sales calls o Effi ciency review of the marketing o Outside the box ideas for reaching out plan, look for cost-savings that to buyers or the consumer increase effi ciency but do not detract o Design and rehearse a concise elevator from eff ectiveness (each year) speech o Design and rehearse sales presentation You can organize your material according to the above outline, or take that material and VI. Marketing action plan: immediate (next build a more easily revisable packet. Th e fi nal six months): format of your plan is your business, what o Use your MAT analysis notes works best for you is the best solution. o Set milestones to accomplish o Who, what (phone calls, E-mail, face- One way to organize it all and make the writ- to-face), when, where, how ing easier is to visit your local offi ce supply o Networking plan for internal business- store to purchase a three-ring binder, section enhancement and sales leads dividers, and vinyl pages for fi ling contact busi- o Labor considerations ness cards. If you are a team and not a single producer, obtain enough supplies to outfi t your VII. Marketing action plan: long term (six- team. Th en develop your Marketing Plan based months to two-years): on a series of worksheets that you will write and o Use your MAT analysis notes fi le within the diff erent sections of the binder. o Set milestones to accomplish o Who, what (phone calls, E-mail, face- Do not approach this in a beginning-to-end to-face), when, where, how linear manner. Feel free to rough it out as it o Long-term networking strategy for comes to you or your team; then fi ne tune breaking into stubborn markets the entire package to get your fi nal product. o Labor considerations Everyone revises it as they go, so don’t get hung up on trying for some unattainable perfect VIII. Marketing budget: fi rst draft . Also don’t make this harder than it o Telecommunications needs to be. Th e most important aspect of the o Travel exercise is to get the fi rst draft down on paper. o Publications (handouts, product Th is is a working set of worksheets and sup- literature) porting documents as needed. From this point o Display materials on it will evolve and continue to develop. In o Display or other shipping the back of your binder keep interview notes

54 — Marketing Aquaculture Products with distributors, letters from satisfi ed clients, conversely, would have peak production of etc. Th e level of organization is up to you. your product. Th is should note the consumer However, there should be several key sections segment, potential number of customers, that include the following: estimated volume per customer and potential sales volumes by season/event/peak demand, Mission Statement & Objectives Worksheet or similar time-sensitive element. Finish this Construct a dedicated worksheet with subdivi- page with an assumptions section where you sions for each section starting with your mis- state upon what thoughts you have basing your sion statement. Also include your long-term estimates. and short-term objectives. Try to get this to fi t on one sheet of paper. Distribution & Delivery Worksheet Construct a worksheet that focuses the packag- Unique Product & Operation Worksheet ing and delivery for each product-customer Construct a page or more of notes or bullet type segment. As you work with your end-user points that cover the unique aspects about your customers or distributors, revisit these pages product(s) and operation. Th en develop (at and look for ways to improve effi ciencies, pack- most) a couple of paragraphs that summarize aging or overall product quality. this. Finally, on a single worksheet state what is unique about: 1) your product, 2) your opera- Competition Worksheet tion; then 3) in a single bullet-point list, list the Construct a worksheet(s) that focuses on: 1) most important considerations. If you have not Competing products similar to yours; 2) dis- yet realized it, this summary is essentially your similar competing products that may be new important elevator speech discussed earlier in market opportunities; and 3) noteworthy com- the tutorial. (Note: if you have several prod- petitors. (Examples: If you are a trout producer, ucts, you may want to subdivide the product similar products would be out-of-state aquacul- section by each individual product, don’t worry ture trout sold as fresh fi llets in the local food if it runs on to more than one page.) retailer; a dissimilar product could be Canadian walleye fi llets sold as specials at a local gourmet Product & Customer-Division Worksheet restaurant, a noteworthy competitor could be Construct a dedicated worksheet or subdivide any entity providing substantial quantities of the worksheet for each product you produce product in your markets.) and each customer type to which you intend to market. (Examples: frozen trout fi llets for farmer’s markets; frozen trout fi llets for lo- cal food service; fresh trout fi llets for farmer’s markets; and fresh trout fi llets for restaurant delivery.)

Estimated Product Sales Worksheet Construct a dedicated worksheet that is a part- ner document for each of the product-customer type worksheets. Use information that you have gathered from your research to create best and worst-case scenarios that are elementary seasonal sales projections that consider when you anticipate the most demand or perhaps

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 55 Glossary of Terms Auto-deduct: Term used to identify a trans- Brokerage (“Brokerage Fee”): Term used to action in which a distributor deducts from identify fi nancial payment from a manufac- a producer’s outstanding invoice to cover turer to a broker for sales commission. procurement or marketing activities. Also see: Bill-back. Buyers: Trade term for those individuals in the department of a distributor who buy Best Practices: Th e formal and informal products and fi nd new products. Also may be attention to detail to constantly improve the referred to as the “merchandising” or “pro- product, how the product is handled through curement” department. the value chain, and improve all aspects of product development including the organiza- C-Store: A food channel for gas-station-type tion itself. convenience stores.

Bill-back: Term used to identify a transaction Channel: A term used in the established food- in which a distributor invoices (bills-back) retail system to describe a business segment or a producer for a procurement or marketing grouping. Th ere are four well-established food activity. Also see: Auto-deduct. channels: retail stores, club stores, food ser- vices, and C-stores. Direct-to consumer and Broker: A sales person or agency that receives Internet direct-marketing also can be consid- commission on sales from the manufacturer/ ered channels; some see these as alternative producer to the distributor. A broker is an channels for producers. extension of the manufacturer/producer’s sales force. Club Stores: A food channel made up of large-box retail stores.

56 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Consumer: Th e end user who consumes a Marketing: Th e communications process of manufactured/produced product. promoting products or brands using various inter-personal and technological avenues. Deduction: Term used for reducing an in- voice’s full amount due. May be authorized or Operator: Entity that sells products to con- unauthorized. sumers. Many various segment types.

Discounted Terms: Usually refers to a reduc- Point-of-purchase (aka. point-of sale) device: tion in the amount of money owed on the Examples: a recipe booklet, a brochure holder invoice if promptly paid within a given time with product information, in-store coupons, period. For example, 1% or 2% off on a net-10 large colorful counter card, or small informa- term. Net refers to net funds issued to pay the tion placard. Some POP/POS devices are outstanding invoice at a given number of days. affi xed to store shelves next to the item’s price Th e most commonly used terms in the business card. are net-30, net-7, and net-10 days. Also see: Terms. Procurement: A distributor department des- ignated to buy products. Also may be referred Distributor: An entity that buys from a manu- to as the merchandising department or simply facturer and sells to operators in one of the 4 known within the trade as buyers. food channels. Program (Program Money): A monetary FOB price: Term used to identify a pricing commitment between a distributor and the level where no freight is built into the cost - producer or manufacturer for which money is Free On Board (aka. collect freight, freight budgeted for marketing and/or procurement collect, and freight forward). It is usually a activities undertaken by the distributor. term-of-sale under which the price invoiced or quoted by a seller includes all charges up to Retail: A food channel primarily made up of placing the goods on board a ship or truck at retail grocery stores. the port or warehouse of departure specifi ed by the buyer. Th e term also is used in shipping to Supplier: Entity who wishes to sell a product indicate that there is no charge to the buyer for and perhaps a brand to consumers; also re- goods placed on board a carrier at the point of ferred to as a manufacturer or producer. shipment. Typically followed by the name of a port or city; e.g., F.O.B. Minneapolis. Terms: Usually refers to the number of days for paying an outstanding invoice. Th e most com- Food service: A food channel primarily made monly used terms in the business are net-30, up of K-12 schools, colleges and universities, net-7, and net-10 days. Also see: Discounted independents (white-table cloth and family Terms. restaurants, recreation-related food services, catering companies), health-care-related food White Table Cloth (White Table): Term used services, and regional-chain and national-chain within the food-distribution industry for the restaurants. higher-end restaurant marketing channel.

Invoice: Document used to bill another for services or products.

Manufacturer/producer: Entity who wishes to sell a product and perhaps a brand to consum- ers, also referred to as a supplier.

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 57 References Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. AOL Small Business. (Ideas, articles, resourc- An electronic, national resource for producers es, links, planning guides and online tools interested in value-added agriculture. Browse for all stages of running and growing a small, commodities and products, investigate market home-based or larger business.) http://small- and industry trends, study business creation business.aol.com and operation, read research results and locate value-added resources. www.agmrc.org Boone, L. E. and D. L. Kurtz. Contemporary Marketing. Southwestern College Publications American Advertising Federation. (202) (earlier editions by Dryden Press, Chicago, IL). 898-0089; www.aaf.org. ISBN: 13: 978-1111221782. 2011.

American Home Business Association. (800) BPlans.com. (Sample business plans, articles 664-2422; www.homebusines.com and online tools.) (541) 683-6162; www.bplans. com American Marketing Association. (800) AMA-1150, (312) 542-9000; www.ama.org. Bull, N.H. and G. R. Passewitz. Finding Cus- tomers: Market Segmentation. Ohio State Uni- Anonymous. Marketing Strategies for versity Extension. Publication: CDFS-1253-94. Farmers and Ranchers. USDA Sustainable 1994. Ohio State University Extension, 700 Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), Ackerman Road, Suite 235, Columbus, OH. 1122 Patapsco Building, College Park, MD. Available online: www.ohioline.osu.edu/cd- 2001. Available online: www.sare.org/publica- fact/1253html tions

58 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Business Know-How. (Ideas, resources, links, Engle, C. R. and K. K. Quagrainie. Th e Aqua- planning guides and online tools for running a culture Marketing Handbook. Wiley-Blackwell home-based or small business.) www.busi- Scientifi c Publishing, Ames, IA. 2009. ISBN: nessknowhow.com 13:978-0813816043

Business Owners Idea Café. (Ideas, resources, Entrepreneur.com. (Myriad of resources, links, planning guides and online tools for sample business plans, planning guides articles running a small business.) www.businessown- and online tools for new business and improv- erscafe.com ing established companies.) www.entrepreneur. Business Plan Center. (Sample business plans, com planning guides and online tools.) (800) 423- 1228; http://businessplans.org (Th e) Entrepreneur Institute. (Resources and networking for business owners.) www.tei.net Business Town. (Ideas, resources, links, plan- ning guides and online tools for running a Gitomer, J. Th e Sales Bible: Th e Ultimate Sales small business.) www.businesstown.com Resource. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey. 2003. ISBN: 0-471-45629-2. (Th is Cline, D. J. Marketing Options for Small inexpensive and more or less timeless large Aquaculture Producers. Alabama Cooperative trade paperback can be used as a resource Extension. Publication: ANR-962. Alabama handbook, to lead a meeting, motivate staff and Cooperative Extension, Auburn University, solve many business problems. It is organized Auburn, AL. 1996. in many compact sections that deal with any number of specifi c issues, e.g.: presentations, Dasgupta, S., F. Wynne, A. Caporell and L. follow-up calls, customer service, novel com- Meyer. Processing and Marketing Aquaculture munication strategies, networking, leadership, Products on a Small Scale. USDA Risk Manage- cold calling, representing your product and ment Agency Report, Kentucky State Universi- many others.) ty, Frankfort, KY. Available online: http://www. ksuaquaculture.org/PDFs/Process%20%26%20 Gladwell, M. Blink: Th e Power of Th inking Market.pdf Without Th inking. Back Bay Books, Little Brown & Company; New York, Boston, Lon- DiGiacomo, G., R. E. King, and D. Nordquist. don. 2005 (2007 trade paperback). ISBN: Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to 978-0-316-01066-5. A great primer on inter- Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural personal communication and packaging for Businesses. Handbook Series: Book 6. Devel- the self-marketer the author of the bestsellers oped by the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Tipping Point and What the Dog Saw, New Agriculture (MISA); Published by Sustainable Yorker writer and former Washington Post Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). business and science reporter Gladwell exam- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Educa- ines how we “read people” through conscious tion (SARE), College Park, MD. 2003 (2006, and unconscious observations and decisions, 2010). ISBN: 1-888626-07-0 and how we correctly or incorrectly form im- mediate opinions of people and products based (Th e) Direct Marketing Association. (212) on subtle clues. 768-7277; www.the-dma.org Gladwell, M. What the Dog Saw (and Other Edwards, S. Direct Marketing to Restaurants. Adventures) Back Bay Books, Little Brown & Ag Opportunities, Vol.16:No.4. October 2005. Company; New York, Boston, London. 2009 Available online: http://agebb.missouri.edu/ (2010 trade paperback). ISBN: 978-0-316- mac/agopp/arc/agopp065.txt 07584-8. A collection of the author’s New

Marketing Aquaculture Products — 59 Yorker articles. Most are on some aspect of MarketMaker. A comprehensive interactive da- entrepreneurship or marketing, and are very tabase of food industry marketing and business enjoyable and readable “in the head of the data. It is one of the most extensive collections participant” insights into why some people and of searchable food industry data in the country. organizations fail and others prosper. www.national.marketmaker.uiuc.edu

Karberg, S. Developing and Implementing a Marketing Research Association. (860) 682- Successful Marketing Plan. Department of Agri- 1000; www.mra-net.org. cultural Economics, Purdue University. Publi- cation: EC674. Purdue University Cooperative More Business. (Sample marketing plans, Extension Service, 612 West State Street, West business plans, agreements, planning guides Lafayette, IN. 1993. Available online: www.ces. articles and online tools.) http://morebusiness. purdue.edu or http://www.ces.purdue.edu/ext- com media/EC/EC-674html Morris, J. E. Niche Marketing Your Aquacul- Kawasaki, G. Th e Art of the Start: Th e Time- ture Products. Publication: TB-107. Iowa State Tested, Battle Hardened Guide for Anyone Start- University, Ames, IA. 1994. ing Anything. Portfolio, Penguin Group, New York, London. 2004. ISBN: 1-59184-056-2 O’Donnel, M. Th e Marketing Plan: Step by Step. Center for Innovation, Ina Mae Rude En- Kawasaki, G. Selling the Dream: How to trepreneur Center, Univrsity of North Dakota, Promote Your Product, Company, Ideas-- and 4200 James Ray Drive, Grand Forks, ND. 1991. Make a Diff erence Using Everyday Evangelism. Available online: www.innovators.net Harper Collins, New York. 1992. ISBN: 13: 978-0887306006 Pope, J. L. Practical Marketing Research. American Management Association (AMA- Leone, R. Success Secrets of the Sales Fun- COM). 1993. ISBN: 13: 978-0814450864. nel: How to Go from Hello to Contract. Leone Available on-line at www.amanet.org. Resource Group. 1992. ISBN: 978-181196259. Th e simplicity of the process is readily com- Quagrainie, K. A Guide to Marketing for municated; you don’t have to try to be someone Small-Scale Aquaculture Producers. Purdue else, be yourself and use what works for you. Extension and the Illinois-Indian Sea Grant Th is book is a must read for any salesperson Program. Publication EC-738-W: IISG-06- that wants to accelerate their income potential. 14. Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, West Lafayette, IN. 2007. Available Lsonsky, R. and the staff of Entreprener maga- online: http://www.ces.purdue.edu/new zine. Start Your Own Business. Entepreneur Press. 2007. ISBN: 13:978-1-599180-81-6 Rath, T. and B. Conchie. Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why Peo- Lusk, C., and M. Marshall. How to Use Goals ple Follow. Gallup Press, New York, NY. 2008. to Achieve Business Success: First Steps for New ISBN: 978-1-59562-025-5. (Th e book includes Entrepreneurs. Purdue University Cooperative an electronic access code to take a complimen- Extension Service, 612 West State Street, West tary Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0 analysis.) Lafayette, IN. 2005. Available online: www.ces. purdue.edu or http://www.ces.purdue.edu/ext- Reiss, R. (with J. L. Cruikshank). Low Risk media/EC/EC-762.pdf High Reward: Starting and Growing Your Busi- ness with Minimal Risk. Th e Free Press, New York. 2000. ISBN: 0-684-84962-3

60 — Marketing Aquaculture Products Schragis, S. and R. Fishman. 10 Clowns Don’t Yahoo! Small Business Resources. (News, Make a Circus: And 249 Other Critical Manage- good marketing and planning resources for ment Success Strategies. Adams Media Corpo- small businesses and tips on creating web ration. 2006. ISBN: 13-978-1593375553 sites, accounting and similar online tools and resources.) http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com (Th e) Small Business Advisor. (Articles and advice for startups and other resources.) www. isquare.com

Smart Biz. (Many good marketing resources for small businesses and tips on creating web sites and other online tools and resources.) www.smartbiz.com Trump, D. J. (with M. McIver). Trump 101: Th e Way to Success. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 2007. ISBN: 13:978-0-470-04710-1

Website Marketing Plan. (Articles and sample business and marketing plans.) www.website- marketingplan.com.

Marketing Aquaculture Products written by Daniel J. Burden, ISU Extension and Outreach, Value Added Agriculture Program, September 2012

Funding for this project was provided by the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC).

… and justice for all Th e U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communica- tion of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To fi le a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Offi ce of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Wash- ington, DC 20250-9410, or call 800-795-3272 (voice) or 202-720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Cathann A. Kress, director, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.

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