The 4 Ps and Low-Cost Marketing

What You Will Learn

• Apply the 4 Ps to a business idea
• Design an effective flyer and business card
• Explain how a free listing such as Google Business Profile works
• Use social media safely and within conditions of release

Lesson Notes

The 4 Ps

• Product: what you offer, including quality and extras.
• Price: what you charge, set to cover costs fairly (use your CBE 212–213 work).
• Place: how customers get it: their home, a booth, delivery, pickup.
• Promotion: how people hear about it.

If one P is wrong, the others suffer.

Flyers and Business Cards

A good flyer has one headline, your value proposition, three benefits, contact information, and a call to action (Call to book your first cleaning), with white space. A business card holds your name, business, tagline, and contact. Ask permission before posting on any board.

Free Online Listings

Google Business Profile is a free listing that can show your business on Google Search and Maps with hours, phone, photos, and reviews. Google asks you to verify the business. A business that travels to customers can show a service area instead of a home address.

Social Media, Safely

Social media can share your work at little cost; keep a separate business page and honest posts.

Important: some conditions of release or supervision limit social media, internet use, or contact with certain people. Check with your supervising officer before creating any account or posting. Never post customers without permission. If it is not allowed, the other tools can build a business without it.

Key Terms

In-Class Activities

4 Ps Worksheet

Write one or two sentences for each P for your business. Trade with a partner: do all four Ps fit the same ideal customer?

Flyer Makeover

List what is missing or confusing on the crowded sample flyer. Redesign it on paper (or in approved software) using the lesson's checklist.

Assignment: Flyer and Business Card

Using your brand guide, create:

• A one-page flyer with headline, value proposition, three benefits, contact, and a call to action.
• A business card design.
• Five places you would ask permission to post flyers or leave cards.
• One sentence on whether you plan to use social media, noting you will check your conditions first.

Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.

Reflection Journal

In Matthew 5:15, Jesus says no one hides a candle under a bushel. Some of us have learned to hide. What gifts has God given you that are meant to be seen? How can your business let your light shine, honestly and humbly?

Prayer focus: Ask God for courage to let your gifts be seen and wisdom in how you share them.

A Candle on the Candlestick

Jesus said no one lights a candle and hides it under a bushel. Many of us have learned to hide, to keep our heads down and avoid attention. There may have been good reasons for that. But in this new season, God may be asking you to let your light be seen.

The 4 Ps help you plan: a good Product, a fair Price that covers your costs, the right Place where customers can get it, and Promotion that lets people know. If one is off, the others struggle. A wonderful cake at a price that loses money will not last.

You do not need a big budget. A clear flyer, a simple business card, a free online listing, and permission to post on a church bulletin board can go a long way. Sharon started her pet-sitting business with twenty business cards and a flyer at her laundromat. (Sharon is a composite example.)

Be wise about social media. Some conditions of release or supervision limit it, and anything posted can be hard to take back. Check your conditions before creating any account. If social media is not allowed, the other tools in this course are more than enough to begin.

Think About It

1. Which of the 4 Ps is hardest for your business? ______________________
2. Where could you post a flyer or leave cards, with permission? ______________________
3. What questions will you ask about your conditions before going online? ______________________

Daily Devotions for Week 5

Let Your Light Shine

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.— Matthew 5:16 (KJV)

Your good work is meant to be seen, not for your glory, but for God's.

Reflect: How can your business point people to God?

Pray: Lord, let my light shine for Your glory.

Do: Show your flyer design to someone and ask for honest feedback.

Count the Cost

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?— Luke 14:28 (KJV)

Wise pricing counts the cost first. A fair price that covers your costs keeps your business alive to serve.

Reflect: Have you counted the full cost of what you offer?

Pray: Lord, give me wisdom with numbers.

Do: Check one price against your CBE 212 cost work.

A Just Weight

A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.— Proverbs 11:1 (KJV)

Fair prices and honest measures delight God. Your customers deserve the full value they pay for.

Reflect: Are your prices fair to both you and your customer?

Pray: Lord, make my dealings just.

Do: Write down exactly what a customer gets for your price.

Small Beginnings

For who hath despised the day of small things?— Zechariah 4:10 (KJV)

Twenty business cards and one flyer are a small beginning. God does not despise them, and neither should you.

Reflect: What small step can you take now?

Pray: Lord, bless my small beginnings.

Do: Sketch one more version of your business card.

Wise and Harmless

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.— Matthew 10:16 (KJV)

Wisdom online means protecting yourself and others, following your conditions, and keeping your words pure.

Reflect: What boundaries will keep you wise online?

Pray: Lord, make me wise and harmless.

Do: Write the questions you will ask your supervising officer about online use.