Reviewing the 1-Page Marketing Plan
In May, I received an email offering me a free copy of the 1-Page Marketing Plan by Alan Dib in exchange for an honest review. I’m not a business expert, and I’ve got minimal experience reviewing books. However, I’m a man of my word, and I’ve finally had the opportunity to read it. So here is my honest review of The 1-Page Marketing Plan.
What I liked about the 1-Page Marketing Plan
It simplifies a critical aspect of business that can seem overwhelming. We are currently experiencing an entrepreneurial revolution, and the only thing holding back the success of any business is information. The 1-Page Marketing Plan focuses on showing readers successful methods in a sequence that works. I wish I would have found this book when I began building my business as it would have saved me a few years of study.
What I didn’t like about the 1-page Marketing Plan
The three most significant issues I have with the 1-Page Marketing plan are rehashing old ideas; the authors used car salesman tone and the customer avatar. Despite these minor grievances, I still found the book helpful.
Rehashing old ideas: This book is mostly a remixed greatest hits tape of entrepreneurial and marketing legends. To the Authors credit, he addresses the fact that the ideas he shares are mainly those of others and gives credit to the idea’s originators whenever possible.
The author’s tone: At times, reading this book was like seeing the script of a late-night infomercial.
Customer Avatar: Understanding your customer is critical, and having an outline can be helpful. That said, compressing large swaths of your customer base into caricatures isn’t the way. Maybe it’s my idealism, but customer profiles have always felt tacky at best.
What I found most helpful about the 1-Page Marketing Plan
Despite not liking that the book relies mostly on others’ work, I paradoxically found it useful. Additionally, the explanation of marketing on page 15 was incredibly helpful.
Sharing other’s ideas: Cherry-picking the greatest hits of highly successful entrepreneurs has its advantages. Despite having been familiar with much of the content already, seeing it arranged differently gave me new insights. Also, objectively looking at this, not everyone has heard these ideas!
Explanation of marketing: Despite having read many books on the topic over the past several years, my understanding was still somewhat vague and undefined. Dib does a great job of outlining how different aspects come together to form marketing.
Did the 1-Page Marketing plan help my business?
I would suggest this book to any medium or small business owners, especially if they are new to studying marketing. Additionally, this book is useful as an overview of marketing and can help you spot-check your plans. So I’d generally say more people than not would benefit from reading this book.
Who can benefit from the 1-page marketing plan?
I would suggest this book to any medium or small business owners, especially if they are new to studying marketing. Additionally, this book is useful as an overview of marketing and can help you spot-check your plans. So I’d generally say more people than not would benefit from reading this book.
My final thoughts on the 1-page marketing plan.
This book doesn’t contribute any revolutionary ideas to the world of marketing, but that wasn’t it’s intent. Instead, it offers a well thought out overview of the marketing process and a clear plan of action that will improve a business’s chance for success. The information shared can be an invaluable asset for small business owners, and the implementation can be the difference between success and failure.