The Entrepreneurial Report: Stimulus Talk Event: Marketing & The Entrepreneurial Enterprise(21-11-11)

Hello, my name is Donna-Ray Campbell and I write the 'Event Update' column on behalf of Stimulus for the Entrepreneurial Report.

The Stimulus 'Talk Event' is a new event we have added to our calenders where we aim to have corporate businesses and consultant professionals from around the world to share with us on specific subject areas of business and then allow the audience to ask questions. The main objective of this type of event is for those present to gian knowledge, understanding or direction from those 'in-the-know'. These events are aimed to catalyze the growth of our member businesses by providing services for them that would otherwise be unattainable or just beyond their financial or capability reach.

In our inaugural\event we had three speakers; Mr Basil Makoni, Mike Tashaya and Paradzai Jawona.

Mr Basil Makoni is an seasoned marketer for over a decade, based in Zimbabwe.

Mr Mike Tashaya owns a marketing consultancy based in Manchester in the United Kingdom.

Mr Paradzayi Jawona an experienced marketer who specialises in Micro- Enterprise Development in New Jersey / New York, United States of America and he gave his presentation via videolink.

Mr Makoni started the discussion with a comprehensive introduction to marketing. He aso spoke about the need for innovative marketing and the need for a one on one approach with all stakeholders. He spoke of how marketing is a means of communication with your stakeholders and needs to be effectively and efficiently used to present an accurate picture or message to your audience. Marketing ensures sustainability of a product, thus you need to ensure it is well communicated to the consumers. He also spoke on the importance of having a Marketing plan which will enable you to break down your goals into practical and acheivable actions.

Mr Tashaya a marketing consultant talked on how he assisted companies to develop their marketing stategies and touched on personal branding as being an important part of mrketing your business. He said, "standing out in the global market place begins with personal branding" and how "You need always be the best that you can be, what stands out when it comes to marketing is your confidence, apperance and body language."

Mr Jawona, a micro enterprise specialist addressed the group via a weblink for New Jersey. He discussed the issues pertaining to the changing global world and its impact on micro enterprise development. He said that traditional marketing from textbooks is no longer a practical approach particularly for SME's and he talked about the value of online marketing in out context. When asked, "How do we come up with marketing strategies when the global economy is crumbling?" Mr Jawona responded stating that, 'your marketing strategies need to be adaptable to the various set-ups in the economy in your local environment and on the gloable stage.

The key to marketing for entruprenurial SME's therefore is to be personnble, to be adabtable and to engage your stakeholders at all times.

Photogrpahy provided by The Zimbo Jam and taken by FungaiFoto