Go into any store and you will see lanes jam packed with thousands of different products. If you take a closer look at each of the products on the shelves, you will notice that for example there are ten or more different versions of tomato ketchup, each with a different brand name each have a different price, and each have a different label, depending on the type of customers that they are trying to attract.

Open each of the ten bottles and take a taste and more than likely there would be very little difference in the taste of each.

For this page I will use tomato ketchup as an example of how to market your product and get it flying off the shelves quicker than any other brand.

You have been working on your tomato ketchup recipe for quite a while and at last you feel that you have come up with a product that you think could take the market by storm, there is only one problem though, no one knows about your product but yours truly, and you being a chef don't have a clue how to get your product noticed and get it out there in the market place for everyone else to enjoy.

Research

Research is vitally important, if you want your product to be a best seller, finding as much information that you can about all of your competitors in the market place is a must.

Finding out who would be most likely to buy your product over a competitors product is also important to know that way you can market your ketchup to suit your targeted customers.

How much does your product cost you to make?

How much would your product cost to buy?

How much profit margin is there in your product?

You will also have to consider premises, machinery, wages and utilities in your final costing,

Lets face it selling your product at a loss would be foolish, but remember also that the more ingredients you buy for your product the cheaper it will become, because buying the items in bulk get cheaper, instead of one dollar a bottle for the ingredients, you may pay as little as fifty cents just because you are buying bulk.

Targeting your Marketplace

Once you have done your research it is time to decide which section of the population your product will be aimed at. Children, teenagers, people over thirty, people over 60, vegetarians, healthy eaters, or everyone who lives and breathes. Marketing your product for a selected group of people is a little easier than marketing your product for the entire population.

Once you have chosen your target market, you need to have a label and packaging designed, make it look appealing to them, a professional designer knows the market place and although it might prove to be quite expensive to hire a designer it can prove to be a wise move in the long term. If people don't like the look of your product on the shelves then they will walk on by and go for a different brand.

Testing your product in the market place

With your product ready for the marketplace all labelled up and packaged for your target market, it's time for the trials to begin, visiting the shops in your local area and asking store owners and managers to put your product on the shelves offering sale or return (this means that if they don't sell the product in a set time you will offer them cash back for the items that don't sell.)

In conjunction with going around your local stores, you should also place an advertisement of your product in the local newspapers and if money allows on your local radio station.

You will know soon if your product is a lame duck or if people love it, if you start receiving orders from the stores then you know that you are on to a winner, if not it is time to either cut your losses and run or rethink your strategy.

Advertising your Product

Advertising your product can be as cheap or expensive as you have the means, from producing flyers, to advertising on TV, getting your product noticed in the market place is vital to your success.

Why would anyone want your product over your competitor?

Why pay your price when your competitor's is five cents less?

What makes your product better than your competitors?

What is unique about your product?

Tell the world about your product, all natural ingredients, gm free, no added sugar or flavourings, made locally, secret ingredient, money back guarantee, healthy option, low in calories, etc.

What makes your product a better option than your competitors, sell your product to the masses show them that you have the best product for them, lead them by the hand to your product, make them want to buy your product. A golden rule of advertising is to tell the truth, even if it is slightly exaggerated.

When your product starts flying off the shelves locally, it is time to think about nationally, you will soon need a bigger premises if you plan to approach the supermarket chains, like Wall mart or another big national store.

The first thing to remember is to learn to walk before you start running, if you go to a superstore with your ketchup straight away then you could be in for a massive shock, if the superstore likes it they could order one hundred thousand bottles of your tomato ketchup, sounds good doesn't it? But think about it how are you going to produce 100,000 bottles in your kitchen by the deadline which could be a few days away, also remember that the first 100,000 bottles could just be a trial for the superstore and a week later your next order could be for a million bottles.

Marketing if done correctly and with patience can prove to be the making of your business, get it wrong though and you could be sleeping under a bridge with a cardboard box as a bed.