The Budget (Finals)

A marketing budget is an estimate of projected costs to market your products or services. A typical marketing budget will take into account all marketing costs e.g. marketing communications, salaries for marketing managers, cost of office space etc. However much of the budget is concerned with marketing communications e.g. public relations, website, advertising, etc

Types of Budgets 

There are many types of budgets that are utilised for financial resource management. In youth work, annual, program and operational budgets are used most frequently.

Annual Budgets 

An annual budget is a budget that is developed for a year long period of time. An annual budget is often the organisation's yearly budget that they would publish in summary form in their annual report or business statements. Depending on the organisation, an annual budget could operate according to the financial year (eg 1 July 2000 - 30 June 2001) or the calendar year (eg 15 January 2000 - 31 December 2001).

Program Budget 

A program budget highlights the income and expenditure that is incurred for the development and implementation of a specific program. 

Operational Budget 

An operational budget can also be called an organisational budget. This type of budget highlights the income earned and expenditure that is incurred by an organisation. Operational budgets may be broken into areas/ departments so that these areas/departments have their own budget allocation to operate within. This budget allocation will be used to determine the commitment to each area or department can make and the level of resources available.

Helpful Pre-budgeting Research

• 1. Industry and Market Research
• 2. Competitor Analysis/SWOT
• 3. Internal marketing performance records e.g. marketing metrics, marketing controls.
• 4. Marketing Audit.

Keys to Creating a Marketing Budget

Start With A Marketing Strategy

Before you calculate your marketing budget, align your marketing goals with your company's strategic goals and vision for growth. If you plan to grow by 20%, but only want to invest enough in marketing to get new business cards for everyone in your company, you're probably going to be disappointed with the results of your investment!

It's important to develop a written marketing strategy that your executive team, sales team, and marketing team are onboard with. You need everyone to be driving their activities in the same direction.

Set Your Marketing Budget

Once you've aligned your company goals with your marketing goals, you'll need to identify your marketing budget so you can develop a detailed marketing plan that supports your strategy. Basically, you’ll choose from three options:

Lean Plan: 1 - 2% of your top-line revenue. In essence, you’re committing to engaging and retaining current customers with simple tools and strategies. This is ideal for companies that are looking to maintain their market position and don't have ambitious growth goals.

Target Plan: 3 - 4% of your top-line revenue. The goal here is to attract new prospects and retain current customers with advanced tools and strategies. This is ideal for companies that are looking to increase their market share and have moderate growth goals (10 - 15% annual growth).

Stretch Plan: 5% or more of your top-line revenue. Your target is to accelerate your results by applying more resources that are focused on driving leads, conversion, and sales. To do this, you’ll use complex marketing strategies and cutting-edge tools. This option is ideal for companies who have ambitious plans to grow and increase their market share (20% or more annual growth).

Allocate Your Marketing Budge

Armed with your goals and a budget, you can now get into the nitty-gritty of developing a tactical plan to transform your marketing dreams into reality! The complexity of your plan will depend on the marketing budget you’ve identified, but you should also consider including tactical plans related to:

• SEO and paid advertising
• Social media
• Content offers, blogging, and email marketing
• Lead conversion and nurturing
• Traditional advertising

Determine how much of your marketing budget should be allocated to each aspect of your plan. The chart below is based on a recent survey by Forrester Research. It displays the percentage of B2B companies' marketing budgets that was allocated to each area of their marketing plans. You may decide to spend more or less based on what your direct competitors are spending, your industry, and your specific goals.

 Implement A Marketing Budget Plan

Once you've developed a plan that supports your company's goals, you need to implement it. And to guarantee a successful implementation, you need a team of qualified marketers, designers, and technical experts. You’ve got a few options for creating such a team:

In-House Marketing Team

To execute a complex marketing plan, you need a team of people who possess skills in copywriting, coding, design, social media, paid search, and SEO. Unfortunately, there’s no single person who can effectively do all those activities.

Large corporations will often hire an in-house team, but specialists can be expensive. Benefits, training, and equipment alone could easily cost up to $500K per year. For most smaller businesses, this isn't an option.

Freelance Team

Freelance employees can be a good choice for individual projects. Skilled marketing freelancers can help fill in the gaps that your marketing director can’t supply, and they can be a lifesaver in a pinch.

But when you're trying to bring a long-term, complex marketing plan to completion, you're likely to experience a series of stops and starts on the project. Because they work on-demand for several clients at a time, they may not be as available as you need them to be. You may need to hire extra people to cover all the roles to execute your plan. In addition, there’s the coordination and communication time you’ll need to manage all the freelancers. And when a freelancer moves on, they take all the knowledge of your project with them, forcing you to start over from scratch.

Virtual Marketing Team

Contracting a marketing agency has several benefits:

• Services of top-notch marketing experts without incurring the costs of hiring, training, and managing several in-house employees
• Accountability from a team that wants to succeed and prove the value of its marketing services
• Predictable costs because your marketing expenses are based on a monthly retainer fee

Hiring a virtual marketing team typically involves an investment of $60K - $150K per year, which is significantly less than the cost of an in-house marketing department. However, your team is off-site, which means communication can be a little slower at times and you may need to work via teleconferencing. Also, because marketing teams have several clients, you won’t have a claim on their time every minute of the business day.

Hybrid Team

The best solution might be a hybrid of a small in-house marketing team that's dedicated to one or two key tasks, supplemented by an agency team that rounds out your marketing efforts. And the agency can usually provide training and best practices guidance to your staff, freeing you from this responsibility. Be sure that everyone is clear on their roles and responsibilities, agrees on metrics, and is committed to a shared vision for success. This can be a very effective approach to implementing a solid marketing plan!

How to properly use budget?

You can use your budget every month:

• At the beginning of the month, make a plan for how you will spend your money that month. Write what you think you will earn and spend.
• Write down what you spend. Try to do this every day.
• At the end of the month, see if you spent what you planned.
• Use the information to help you plan the next month’s budget.

Now with all of that let us end it with a quote fitting for the topic

Marketing’s Four P’s (Finals)

Marketing your business is about how you position it to satisfy your market’s needs. There are four critical elements in marketing your products and business. They are the four P’s of marketing.

Each of the four P’s is a variable you control in creating the marketing mix that will attract customers to your business. Your marketing mix should be something you pay careful attention to because the success of your business depends on it.

Let us have a brief intro about each P

1. Product. The right product to satisfy the needs of your target customer.
sophistication, expertise, technological abilities to perform large number of tests or carry out complex procedure

2. Price. The right product offered at the right price.
has become a major competitive factor in which laboratories that have been able to control expenses and offer attractive prices to discretionary buyers now enjoy a distinct advantage in this crucial service component

 3. Place. The right product at the right price available in the right place to be bought by customers.
 factors in designing how convenient the lab service is to clients are the three decisions which are
 a. Physical access
 b. Time access
c. Information and Promotional access

4. Promotion. Informing potential customers of the availability of the product, its price and its place
 productions and services are constantly promoted through commercials and advertisement in newspapers, on car windshields, TVs, radios, in our mailboxes, and even on computer networks

Now let us discus each one more deeply...

PRODUCT

Product “Product” refers to the goods and services you offer to your customers. Apart from the physical product itself, there are elements associated with your product that customers may be attracted to, such as the way it is packaged.

 Other product attributes include quality, features, options, services, warranties, and brand name. Thus, you might think of what you offer as a bundle of goods and services. Your product’s appearance, function, and support make up what the customer is actually buying. Successful managers pay close attention to the needs their product bundles address for customers. Your product bundle should meet the needs of a particular target market.

 For example, a luxury product should create just the right image for “customers who have everything,” while many basic products must be positioned for priceconscious consumers. Other important aspects of product may include an appropriate product range, design, warranties, or a brand name.

Customer research is a key element in building an effective marketing mix. Your knowledge of your target market and your competitors will allow you to offer a product that will appeal to customers and avoid costly mistakes.

A different type of growth would be a diversification of products, with your business offering related products. Offering a whole range of products is most successful if the raw materials, production processes, and distribution methods are similar, which means you do not have to acquire new suppliers, skills and equipment, and distribution methods.

PRICE

“Price” refers to how much you charge for your product or service. Determining your product’s price can be tricky and even frightening. Many small business owners feel they must absolutely have the lowest price around.

 So they begin their business by creating an impression of bargain pricing. However, this may be a signal of low quality and not part of the image you want to portray. Your pricing approach should reflect the appropriate positioning of your product in the market and result in a price that covers your cost per item and includes a profit margin. The result should neither be greedy nor timid. The former will price you out of the market; pricing too low will make it impossible to grow. As a manager, you can follow a number of alternative pricing strategies. 

Place 

“Place” refers to the distribution channels used to get your product to your customers. What your product is will greatly influence how you distribute it. If, for example, you own a small retail store or offer a service to your local community, then you are at the end of the distribution chain, and so you will be supplying directly to the customer. Businesses that create or assemble a product will have two options: selling directly to consumers or selling to a vendor.

As a producer, you must decide if supplying direct is appropriate for your product, whether it be sales through retail, doorto-door, mail order, e-commerce, on-site, or some other method. An advantage of direct sales would be the contact you gain by meeting customers face to face. With this contact you can easily detect market changes that occur and adapt to them. You also have complete control over your product range, how it is sold, and at what price.

Instead of selling directly to the consumer, you may decide to sell through an intermediary such as a wholesaler or retailer who will resell your product. Doing this may provide you with a wider distribution than selling direct while decreasing the pressure of managing your own distribution system. Additionally, you may also reduce the storage space necessary for inventory. One of the most important reasons for selling through an intermediary is access to customers. In many situations, wholesalers and retailers have customer connections that would not be possible to obtain on your own

Promotion 

“Promotion” refers to the advertising and selling part of marketing. It is how you let people know what you’ve got for sale. The purpose of promotion is to get people to understand what your product is, what they can use it for, and why they should want it. You want the customers who are looking for a product to know that your product satisfies their needs. 

To be effective, your promotional efforts should contain a clear message targeted to a specific audience reached via an appropriate channel. Your target audience will be the people who use or influence the purchase of your product. You should focus your market research efforts on identifying these individuals. Your message must be consistent with your overall marketing image, get your target audience’s attention, and elicit the response you desire, whether it is to purchase your product or to form an opinion. 

The channel you select for your message will likely involve use of a few key marketing channels. Promotion may involve advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotions.

The four P’s—product, price, place, and promotion—should work together in your marketing mix. Often, decisions on one element will influence the choices available in others. Selecting an effective mix for your market will take time and effort, but these will pay off as you satisfy customers and create a profitable business. The worksheets that follow will help you construct your marketing plans. Once you have a good marketing mix—the right product at the right price, offered in the right place and promoted in the right way—you will need to continue to stay on top of market changes and adopt your marketing mix as necessary. Marketing is a part of your venture that will never end.

Now to end the blog with a quote

Fire Safety In the Laboratory (Finals)

Fire Prevention is a vital aspect of laboratory safety.It Requires knowledge and constant vigilance of lab workers and the people in it.

In this blog we will be discussing a few things that might help in fire safety and prevention in order  to avoid something such as the image below 

Let us first discuss and enumerate somethings to keep in mind for fire safety 

Keep the following in mind at all times:

-You should be able to recognize hazards 

-You should evaluate the space before lab tests or chemical reactions have begun. This includes housekeeping and storage practices. 

-You must protect yourself through the proper use of PPE (personal protective equipment) and emergency equipment.

Take into note that housekeeping is an essential component of fire safety in labs.Do the following in order to lessen tragedies from happening.

-Lab area must be kept clean as work allows.

-Unused combustible items, such as unused boxes and paper should be cleared from the lab workspace.

-Stored items should not block access to the fire extinguishers or other safety equipment (eyewashes, safety showers), or block access to exits.

A vital part of a laboratory is having the proper emergency equipment take note of the following and always keep them on mind.

-Know where the emergency safety equipment in located in the lab space.

-There should be access to a fire extinguisher.

-Know where the closest fire alarm pull station is located.

-There should be a safety shower and eyewash located within 10 seconds of the area you are working, so keep that in mind when planning work,.

You should prepare emergency exits and always ensure that they are available you should always do the following:

-Aisles need to remain clear so that there is a clear path of egress to emergency exits.

-Do not wedge or block doors in the event of a fire. 

-Make sure you are familiar with your building’s evacuation plan and know where exits are located and learn all of the escape routes from your lab area. 

Now let us take into consideration the Classes of Fire 

Types of Fires

Not all fires are the same. Different fuels create different fires and require different types of fire extinguishing agents.

Class A

Class A fires are fires in ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, trash, and plastics.

Class B

Class B fires are fires in flammable liquids such as gasoline, petroleum oil and paint. Class B fires also include flammable gases such as propane and butane. Class B fires do not include fires involving cooking oils and grease.

Class C

Class C fires are fires involving energized electical equipment such as motors, transformers, and appliances. Remove the power and the Class C fire becomes one of the other classes of fire.

Class D

Class D fires are fires in combustible metals such as potassium, sodium, aluminum, and magnesium

Class K

Class K fires are fires in cooking oils and greases such as animals fats and vegetable fats.

Now let us study the types of Fire extinguishers which can fight the classes of fire incase of an outbreak

Types of Fire Extinguishers

-Water and Foam

Water and Foam fire extinguishers extinguish the fire by taking away the heat element of the fire triangle. Foam agents also separate the oxygen element from the other elements.

Water extinguishers are for Class A fires only - they should not be used on Class B or C fires. The discharge stream could spread the flammable liquid in a Class B fire or could create a shock hazard on a Class C fire

-Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide fire extinguishers extinguish fire by taking away the oxygen element of the fire triangle and also be removing the heat with a very cold discharge.

Carbon dioxide can be used on Class B & C fires. They are usually ineffective on Class A fires.

-Dry Chemical

Dry Chemical fire extinguishers extinguish the fire primarily by interrupting the chemical reaction of the fire triangle.

Today's most widely used type of fire extinguisher is the multipurpose dry chemical that is effective on Class A, B, and C fires. This agent also works by creating a barrier between the oxygen element and the fuel element on Class A fires.

Ordinary dry chemical is for Class B & C fires only. It is important to use the correct extinguisher for the type of fuel! Using the incorrect agent can allow the fire to re-ignite after apparently being extinguished succesfully.

-Wet Chemical

Wet Chemical is a new agent that extinguishes the fire by removing the heat of the fire triangle and prevents re-ignition by creating a barrier between the oxygen and fuel elements.

Wet chemical of Class K extinguishers were developed for modern, high efficiency deep fat fryers in commercial cooking operations. Some may also be used on Class A fires in commercial kitchens.

-Clean Agent

Halogenated or Clean Agent extinguishers include the halon agents as well as the newer and less ozone depleting halocarbon agents. They extinguish the fire by interrupting the chemical reaction of the fire triangle.

Clean agent extinguishers are primarily for Class B & C fires. Some larger clean agent extinguishers can be used on Class A, B, and C fires.

-Dry Powder

Dry Powder extinguishers are similar to dry chemical except that they extinguish the fire by separating the fuel from the oxygen element or by removing the heat element of the fire triangle.

However, dry powder extinguishers are for Class D or combustible metal fires, only. They are ineffective on all other classes of fires.

-Water Mist

Water Mist extinguishers are a recent development that extinguish the fire by taking away the heat element of the fire triangle. They are an alternative to the clean agent extinguishers where contamination is a concern.

Water mist extinguishers are primarily for Class A fires, although they are safe for use on Class C fires as well.

-Cartridge Operated Dry Chemical

Cartridge Operated Dry Chemical fire extinguishers extinguish the fire primarily by interrupting the chemical reaction of the fire triangle.

Like the stored pressure dry chemical extinguishers, the multipurpose dry chemical is effective on Class A, B, and C fires. This agent also works by creating a barrier between the oxygen element and the fuel element on Class A fires.

Ordinary dry chemical is for Class B & C fires only. It is important to use the correct extinguisher for the type of fuel! Using the incorrect agent can allow the fire to re-ignite after apparently being extinguished successfully.

In case of a fire outbreak remember to do the following:
Remember (AAA)

ACTIVATE the building alarm system or notify the fire department by calling 911. Or, have someone else do this for you.

ASSIST any persons in immediate danger, or those incapable on their own, to exit the building, without risk to yourself.

ATTEMPT to extinguish the fire only after these two are completed. 

BUT TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING!

Only fight a fire if:

• The fire is small and contained
• You are safe from toxic smoke
• You have a means of escape
• Your instincts tell you it's OK

In using a Fire extinguisher it is important to know the locations and the types of extinguishers in your workplace prior to actually using one.

Fire extinguishers can be heavy, so it's a good idea to practice picking up and holding an extinguisher to get an idea of the weight and feel.

Take time to read the operating instructions and warnings found on the fire extinguisher label. Not all fire extinguishers look alike.

Practice releasing the discharge hose or horn and aiming it at the base of an imagined fire. Do not pull the pin or squeeze the lever. This will break the extinguisher seal and cause it to lose pressure.

When it is time to use the extinguisher on a fire, just remember PASS!

Pull the pin.

Aim the nozzle or hose at the base of the fire from the recommended safe distance.

Squeeze the operating lever to discharge the fire extinguishing agent.

Starting at the recommended distance, Sweep the nozzle or hose from side to side until the fire is out. Move forward or around the fire area as the fire diminishes. Watch the area in case of re-ignition.

With that let us now close the topic and end it with a quote