Step 1: Asking Important Questions: Let’s Take A Look at Tukaluk
I’m starting a new series called, “Let’s Take A Look at Tukaluk”. I invite you to join me on this journey of numbers, model building, and analytics related to marketing. The overall intent is for us to learn and apply the principles of the Intentional Marketing System.
10 Things That I Learned from Joanne
The previous series of articles that I wrote was entitled “10 Things That I Learned from Joanne”. I welcome you to have a look at these articles when you have time. The articles describe things that I learned from Joanne as we were writing our book together.
Joanne O'Connell is the co-author of the book, “Intentional Marketing: A Systematic Approach to Optimizing Performance”.
There is also a FREE download of Part 1: The Big Picture.
Tukaluk Campground
This series of articles will apply the concepts described in our book to a business owned by David Cooper. David is an investor and entrepreneur located in the Greater Calgary area. David and I got to know each other at a networking event in the early 2000s. We both graduated from the Haskane School of Business with master's degrees in business administration.
David has given permission to apply and demonstrate the concepts of Intentional Marketing using information from his campground business called Tukaluk Campground and Cabins.
The campground is located near the ferry landing to cross Arrow Lake in the interior of British Columbia. It is a 7-hour drive from the centre of Calgary.
From Google Maps
Part II: The Details
In our book, there are 5 phases as per the diagram below. However, we will only work on phases 1 to 3 for this project.
Phase 1 — Get Prepared
This is a quote from our book about the purpose of Phase 1:
The purpose of Phase 1 is to prepare yourself as the project leader
for designing, setting up, and managing the Intentional Marketing
System. See Figure 7. (page 20 and 21)
Illustration by Tanya White (I added the Xs. Don’t blame Tanya for those.)
Below is a copy of part of the table of contents from our book. This section comes after Part 1: The Big Picture. Click this link to download a FREE copy of The Big Picture.
Formatting by Jim Bisakowski
Step 1 – Ask Yourself These Important Questions
In this article, I will apply the concepts of Intentional Marketing as listed in the first step:
Step 1 — Ask Yourself These Important Questions
In this first step, there are 6 questions to ask and answer before starting the project. I’ll list the questions and then answer the questions from David. In our book, Joanne and I outline additional questions under each of these key questions. These additional questions can be used to help answer the 6 key questions (page 22).
1. Where are you now in the marketing journey?
David: Right at the beginning. I recently uploaded the redesigned website using the WordPress platform. The URL is https://www.tukaluk.ca/. We have started doing a little bit of marketing, but at this time investments and effort are low. We haven’t even developed a marketing strategy. I’m hoping to work on that with Jeff sometime in the next few months.
2. What pieces of the Intentional Marketing System already exist in your company?
David: I recently acquired the campground as part of rearranging family assets. At this point, nothing has been started with respect to Intentional Marketing. I did buy and read Jeff and Joanne’s book. There are a few pieces in place like a website, Google Analytics, and an Airbnb registration system but we are not using the principles of Intentional Marketing. That is the next step.
3. Are you math-oriented, both in using the numbers and in knowing how to find them?
David: Yes. I have a good understanding of financial statements and numbers related to marketing and sales. Actually, I'm a data and numbers geek so I’m looking forward to this project.
4. Are you comfortable with flexibility and learning as you go?
David: Absolutely. This is the story of my life. One of my early business mentors taught me that in school, the rule is to learn and then act. However, in business, I have found it is often more about acting first and learning later – or at least learning on the fly.
5. Have you formed habits to keep you ahead of the curve in developments in digital marketing?
David: I’m working on these. This is the reason I have asked Jeff to be involved. Tukaluk is just one business that I own. I have had a variety of businesses over the last 20 years and I’m actively evaluating other business opportunities as an investor. The application of the principles of Intentional Marketing is a critical step as I evaluate companies to purchase. My intention, as I acquire companies is to consciously apply these principles.
6. Are you able to adapt theory to your company’s situation?
David: Yes. In my experience, all theories related to managing a business require adaptation to unique situations. I have always been a big fan of following and applying the appropriate business theories to different aspects of all of the business processes. Digital marketing has become such an important element of almost any business that I'm looking forward to applying and adapting to the Intentional Marketing System.
Thanks
Thanks, David. I’m looking forward to working with you on this project.