The Marketing Plan
This section contains the following:
A. Products/Services Differentiation
B. Industry Profile
C. Competitive Analysis
D. Market Demographics/Size
E. Target Market/Customer Profile
F. Marketing Strategy/Market Share
1. Black Rose Spiritual Center
2. DrNikki.com
A. Products/Services Differentiation
For simplicity sake, we will break down the differentiation for each of the “four lets” that support the
business plan. However, particular attention should be made to the New-Age and Pastoral counseling
services which are expected to be the backbone of our financial structure.
1. Clergical/Pastoral Services. Here we differ from other agencies offering the same services (i.e. local
churches, ordained evangelistic ministers, justices of the peace, etc.) in several ways.
a. The Clergy of Black Rose Spiritual Center are interfaith, non-denominational clergy. We do not
discriminate nor refuse clergical services to anyone who requests them.
b. Clients need not be members of the church to have one of our ordained ministers perform a
ceremony or other services for them, although we do require interviews and specific discussions prior to
performing ceremonies. We believe that ceremony is an important part of spiritual and religious belief
systems.
c. We are able to offer services in a wide variety of belief systems.
d. Reverend Eskew is ordained as an Interfaith Minister.
e. Doctor Delaney not only holds doctorate degrees in Divinity and Theology, she has received
ordinations as the following: Interfaith Minister, Psychic Minister, Esoteric Minister, and High
Priestess.
f. Black Rose Spiritual Center will provide services outside of the normal business hours on an
appointment only basis.
2. New Age/Spiritual Services: Dr. Delaney has over 40 years experience doing new age readings
through various methods. She has over eight years of experience working the “psychic lines” networks.
Reverend Eskew also brings considerable life experience to the Center along with his knowledge of
several self-actualization tools. Further, Dr. Delaney’s in-depth knowledge of numerous self-
actualization devices such as tarot, pendulum reading, palmistry, etc. allows for a “cross-referencing”
between the various devices/practices for a double-check that allows for deeper meaning and
understanding for the seeker.
3. Booth Sales: Black Rose Spiritual Center has developed and created an attractive booth which
focuses on the sale of our hand made art candles. Each candle is hand-crafted by our volunteer
personnel. The booth will offer informational and instructional literature on various practices and belief
systems in unobtrusive ways. For a more detailed outline of the booth plan, please see the attached
Booth Description.
4. E-Commerce: Essentially all of 1. and 2. above apply here. Additionally, we can create a unique
market niche through capitalization on the Cancer Vixen Predictions (see marketing plan below).
5. Medicinal Herbs: Our participation with people in the State run program began in the early stages.
In March of 2008 we will celebrate our second anniversary of providing safe, organic, fresh medicinal
herbs to our clients. We provide four different strains of herbs. We consider taking care of participants
is part of our sacred trust in that we are providing for their bodies as well as providing food for the soul
and the mind with our personal delivery procedures. We are willing to work with people outside of a
specific range.
B. Industry Profile
Black Rose Spiritual Center actually straddles several different and distinct industries. As above, to
maintain clarity, we will address each of the five legs separately.
1. The first, of course, is the religious or “church” side of the center – the clergical services. This is the
core of why we are here. Although we are primarily concerned with temporal matters, we must operate
in the secular world. The “religious industry” in this country is alive and thriving. The “religious
industry” is a wide reaching one of long standing which pans the globe and that can trace its beginnings
into antiquity. Although the “religious industry” waxes and wanes depending on the political, personal,
and spiritual climate of the times, the Millennium Watch Institute indicates that of the 6 billion
inhabitants of the planet, 5 billion have some type of religious or spiritual belief. Of that 5 billion
approximately 3/5ths or 3 billion profess to belong to an established religious belief system (i.e.
Buddhists, Islamic, Judo-Christian, etc.) The remaining 2 billion comprise those that don’t have any
religious beliefs at all (approximately 25%) and those that have chosen a solo-spiritual path (75%)
(Millennium Watch Institute Report, December, 1999.
2. New Age/Spiritual Center: Black Rose spiritual Center feels it can provide a wider range of services
within a much broader range of belief-system frameworks than currently offered by practitioners in this
area. Unlike many of the solo-practitioner “readers”, the Clergy of Black Rose Spiritual Center hold
certifications in numerous belief practices, have received training in counseling of those in their care, and
are dedicated full time to the Center.
The “New Age” industry has its beginnings in the religious expansionism of the isolation of religious
groups during the westward movement in the latter part of the 19th Century. During that time there
was an explosion of new belief systems or variations of existing systems. However, the new age industry
has evolved with the primary changes coming in the social upheaval of the mid-decades of the prior
Century. Many consider the “Age of Aquarius” the advent of the “New Age” industry. This is incorrect.
Again, this is an industry of long standing. Unfortunately, a lot of the history is negative. The industry
is still fighting this negativity through certification processes, professional associations and various
other self-regulating practices and improvements. Black Rose Spiritual Center considers itself on the
forefront of this movement.
Nationally recognized publications such as Time, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and others have
published articles on the increasing “Psychic/New Age” industry. In 2001, according to the Psychic
Magazine, the “Psychic/New Age” industry in the United States alone had sales volume in excess of $3
billion per year.
3. Booth Sales: According to the State of Montana Department of Commerce the craft and artist fair
volume sales is difficult to track, but for the last year that statistics are available, it was believed that
the craft and artist fair/booth type sales volume for 1999 was in excess of $750,000 state wide.
(Source: Montana Department of Commerce.)
4. E-Commerce: The internet has a long history of religious and New Age web sites. The sites offer a
wide range of services at prices ranging from $0.20 per minute for telephonic advice; to Mr. John
Edward of “Crossing Over” fame who commands $300.00 per reading with an additional $100 for
another family member added – the average reading being thirty minutes; to $750.00 per hour charged by
Dr. Sylvia Browne and any price in between. We plan to use what we consider an appropriate mid-
range between these two extremes. Our pricing is detailed later in this proposal. Essentially we will be
offering all the services listed in 1-3 above on our web site. E-commerce is still a viable and growing
“industry” in and of itself.
Following the September 11, 2001 bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon there has
been a marked increase in religious and spiritual activity on the part of the individual both in America
and around the globe. Some are just praying more, more are going to church, others are seeking for deeper
meaning, etc. We consider the religious/clergical services and New Age Services to belong to industries
that not only have millennium-long track records, but are experiencing a resurgence of interest,
participation and experimentation.
5. Medicinal Herbs. This is a new industry that is just starting out. We were fortunate to begin
participating in the early stages. As it is a regulated system by the State, there are limited participants.
In the summer of 2006 there were over 275 people participating in the State Program. Although a
limited market, we are lucky enough to already command a large share of this market.
C. Competitive Analysis
Religious/Clergical Services: Currently there are over 100 active churches within the Flathead Valley;
these. These are primarily Christian with a few other faiths represented.
It should be noted that Black Rose Spiritual Center has looked into potential “competition” from the
professional counseling sector. Although not considered a direct competition (Black Rose Spiritual
Center does not provide professional counseling services, we provide pastoral or spiritual counseling
which, by law, is separate and distinct from professional counseling.) It is obvious there is a need for
additional professional counselors (individuals who have the required certifications to perform
professional mental health care as defined by Montana State Code) in the Valley. A random phone
survey of five counselors/mental health professionals in the area indicated a substantial waiting period
before one could be seen unless there was a “crisis intervention” needed. So minimal competition is
expected from this sector – in fact, we will be referring those clients whom we feel should seek the
attention of a certified mental health professional to the professional counseling sector.
There are several “readers” in the area, but all seem to focus either on a particular spiritual path method
(i.e. we have several Shamans, Water Witches, Medicine Women, Crystal Healers, etc. in the Flathead
Valley) or are exclusive in their belief system (i.e. if you come to learn from us you can only believe what
we tell you). Most of these potential competitors appear to be operating mainly on an exclusatory
“believe in my way”
Booth Sales: Primarily, our competition in the booth sales area would be competition from the other
vendors at the particular venue we are participating at the time. To date, we have not had any direct
competitors offering the same type of goods at any of our booth sale opportunities and many of the
venues only allow one or two booths who sell the same type of items at the activity. It is expected that
booth sales will be inflated over the next two year period due to the increase in travel in the area for
celebration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition anniversary.
E-Commerce: Honestly, in this venue the competitors of one type or another are myriad, literally in the
hundreds of thousands; web sites for “psychic readings”, churches, spiritual guidance and things of that
nature abound on the web. It is believed that Black Rose Spiritual Center will be able to garner a small
share of the available market through appropriate listings, advertisings, joining of “web rings” and other
advertising and/or linking opportunities on the web. Black Rose Spiritual Center is a “step above” many
of the sites because we are or have several things many of our web competitors do not: a) the level of
competence, training, experience and certifications of our staff personnel; b) the wide range of services we
will be able to offer; and c) our one of a kind art candles and items that will be offered on the net as
well. This wide range of interests covered should allow us more hits than just the websites with a
narrower focus such as those featuring just astrology or palmistry, etc.
Dr. Nikki: Dr Nikki’s accuracy in her predictions is one of our competitive edges. We have
intentionally waited to launch our e-commerce to be able to tie our launch with marketing and
advertising to capitalize on her accurate predictions.
Medicinal Herbs: There are several other competitors in the local area. One is located in Big Fork and is
no longer taking clients. Another, located in Missoula is getting to ill to remain in business, and we
know of two others who are only capable of growing on a smaller scale of having six participants or less
(one in Kalispell and one in Thompson Falls). Like these other caring individuals, we operate entirely
within the conscripts of the State Program. However, there are always those “rape and scrape”
operations who work diligently to sign participants and then after promising much they disappear in a
matter of a few months.
D. Market Demographics/Size
a. Booth Sales: The market here is the number of people attending the festival. We expect a market
size of 750-1250 in the activities we plan to participate in.
b. Black Rose Spiritual Center (brick and mortar): We essentially will travel anywhere within the
State of Montana to provide services. The following statistics apply and help to define our target
market.
Population in 2006 – 944,632 people
The population has grown an approximate 4.7% From April 2000 to July 2006
The female population of the state is 50% of the total State population (which is just a little under the
50.7% National figure)
Over 24% of the State’s population has a Bachelor’s Degree or higher
c. E-Commerce: We will be open to all English speaking people on the World Wide Web. The Psychic
Industry is internationally and in excess of $30 billion per year. Literally billions of people use the
internet. However, realistically, we expect to be targeting a focused market of women, professional, high
five to low six figure income, considers themselves tough and a survivor, aged 35-60, normally going
through a very difficult time, English speaking, and internet savvy (most of the readings will be done
via internet chat, telephone, or e-mail.)
d. Medicinal Herbs: As discussed above, this is a very limited market. With less than 500 participants
in the program for the entire state, it is interesting to note that we already have thirty participants.
Unlike many of the other medicinal herb growers, we have the ability to expand our operation in order to
take on new clients. Further, we have several signature authorities for participation offices that are
forwarding participants to us.
E. Target Market/Customer Profile
Although Black Rose Spiritual Center is a non-denominational religious non-profit organization
dedicated to serving all of mankind, the management realizes that one must start somewhere with it’s
marketing and advertising campaign. In that vein, we will again indicate the appropriate target
audience for the “four sectors” of services that we provide:
1. Clergical Services: The average “solo-practitioner” or one who has chosen to follow a personal path
is typically well-educated, independent in thinking, working in a professional or quasi-professional
position. Normally the solo-practitioner is male, although a growing number of females are moving from
either agnosticism or organized religion to a solo path. Further, looking at the “whole family”, the
average family that avails itself is middle-aged with adult or near adult children. Finally, a growing
number of seniors experience a desire to reconnect with their spiritual side upon retirement or when facing
life-threatening illnesses.
2. New Age Services: We expect to be targeting a focused market of women, professional, high five to
low six figure income, considers themselves tough and a survivor, aged 35-60, normally going through a
very difficult time, English speaking, and internet savvy (most of the readings will be done via internet
chat, telephone, or e-mail.)
3. Booth Sales: Our market for the booth sales are primarily the “impulse buyers” attending the event.
Each event has its own flavor or market, but normally they can be broken down into two types of
venues: local buyers and tourist buyers. Black Rose Spiritual Center will be focusing on the local
buyers. Please see the above statistics on the population of the State for the appropriate figures on
population base.
4. E-Commerce: The above stated we expect to be targeting a focused market of women, professional,
high five to low six figure income, considers themselves tough and a survivor, aged 35-60, normally going
through a very difficult time, English speaking, and internet savvy (most of the readings will be done
via internet chat, telephone, or e-mail.)
5. Medicinal Herbs: This market is very specific. Our target market are individuals eligible for
registration (and willing to undergo the process of registration in the program) in the medicinal herb
program. These people are residents of the State of Montana who suffer from one or more of a specific
list of ailments that process through the system so that we are registered as their caregiver.
F. Marketing Strategy/Market Share:
Black Rose Spiritual Center marketing plan relies on the following outline which is, essentially a
marketing plan for the Center, as soon as feasibly possible:
1. Advertising/Word of Mouth Campaign: This is our primary form of getting our message out to the
general public. In order to do that the clergy of Black Rose Spiritual Center will reach out to our target
market by the following:
a. Outreach Booth. Through our outreach booth we are continually out in the community talking
to people about who we are what we do and getting our message out to the public at large. The outreach
booth has a prominent banner sign announcing who we are.
b. We plan on joining local non-profit business organizations to help promote the Black Rose
Spiritual Center such as the Chamber of Commerce. We are members of the Libby Chamber of Commerce
and find them very helpful in providing outlets of information for potential customers.
c. The Cancer Vixen Predictions. One of Dr. Nikki’s long term clients, Ms. Marisa Marchetto, is
an author. Her book Cancer Vixen has been signed to become a movie with Cate Blanchett’s production
house doing the movie. (The movie can be verified by visiting www.imdb.com, an independent website
that focuses on the movie entertainment industry.) Dr. Nikki not only appears as a character in the
“Cancer Vixen” book (page 100), she predicted the movie deal and more about the movie. We are currently
working with Ms. Marchetto to develop separate and distinct marketing materials to be released on or
before the publicity release for the movie Cancer Vixen. Dr. Nikki not only accurately predicted the
movie, right down to the production company and the actress that will play Ms. Marchetto, she also
accurately predicted that the book would become international (it has now been released in Britain,
France, Canada, and the US with other releases expected); and many more accurate predictions. Ms.
Marchetto has authorized the use of her name and the substance of the predictions for marketing and
advertising purposes. Otherwise we would not be able to do so as all readings and/or sessions are
conducted in “sacred silence”.
We will be using a vibrant Press Release campaign within the State of Montana and on
appropriate websites and newsletters announcing the launch of the sites and tying in the Cancer Vixen
Predictions materials as well.
We have an initial internet launch budget of $2000, with an additional $500 per month for
advertising for the first six months of 2008. This should allow for appropriate market saturation. E-
Marketing tools in all their guises will be used including Link Associations, external and internal
linking, search engine registration, key words, real time visit statistics, blogs, and submissions of articles
and requests for link trades on other appropriate sites.
d. In a two-fold effort to serve the community and let the community know who we are and what
we are about, along with continuing our efforts of serving our fellow man, members of the Black Rose
Spiritual Center are encouraged to volunteer in the name of the Center at appropriate venues such as local
hospitals, churches, nursing homes, hospitals, hospice centers, etc. Further, the Clergy will be reaching
out to nursing homes, funeral homes, hospice, the police department and volunteer fire and rescue services
to volunteer clergical or pastoral services for individuals in need, at times of crisis, as volunteer ministers.
e. Further we plant to purchase advertising newsletters and magazines that reach out to the
Montana audience.
f. Black Rose Spiritual Center will also do the following to attract new members and customers:
(1) Its own newsletter;
(2) Through advertisement in the local newspaper and newsletters.
(3) Through the posting of advertisements at local community bulletin boards such as those at
local community centers, senior centers, hospitals, clinics, and grocery stores.
(5) Posting of advertising materials at local hotels, resorts, and campgrounds.
(6) Advertising in Wedding magazines and websites
(7) Internet marketing through the www.BlackRoseSpiritualCenter.org site for new members.
Our marketing plan is wide ranging including web rings, links, blogs, search engine optimization (SEO
and pay per click campaigns, and more. Further we will be submitting articles to other websites to
promote traffic.
The “new age” industry has been used by 23% of Americans who, through survey, have stated they will
use “psychic or new age” services at some time in their lives, whether seriously or for entertainment
purposes. Please note that this market utilization does not account for a limited use by the tourist sector
during the prime summer months.
g. Black Rose Spiritual Center will initially use the following as the hard guidance outline for our
initial six month marketing and advertising launch for fundraising efforts. This hard guidance is
developed from correspondence between Dr. Nikki J. Delaney, Executive Director, and Mr. Dennis R.
Ruffing, Website Designer and E-Commerce Marketing and Advertising contractor. (Most of this is
direct quote from Mr. Ruffing’s input.)
The emphasis of the marketing plan is put into search marketing. 90% of all users use search engines to
find what they are looking for. Given Mr. Ruffing’s considerable research into Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) this is what will draw the most traffic and get our name out to the majority of the
internet community in the quickest way possible.
We will be using directories, communities and the like as well, specifics will be outlined below.
Funds have not been allocated on a monthly basis. Further, this plan does not utilize the full $2,000
initial launch budget. This is due to Mr. Ruffing’s utilization of a SEO. As we are planning on using
the SEO option, it makes sense to hold funds aside in order to be able to react to real world realizations
with how our keywords and SEO are doing in regard to actually bringing people to the site.
E-Zines and Newspapers have not been considered in this listing. All communities considered have a
minimum of 50,000 members. Mr. Ruffing has culled high price websites and communities from the plan
in order to maximize dollar return on investment in the marketing and advertising.
Mr. Ruffing brought forth a good point in his correspondence. According to Dr. Ralph Wilson of Web
Marketing Today, any web marketing campaign “NEEDS to have flexibility.” As we are focusing on a
click through purchase advertising (keywords) and SEP, we believe that a total $6000 (Six Thousand
Dollars) budget over the next six to seven months (June or July) would be sufficient to create the
stabilized donation income we are search for.
Mr. Ruffing will be setting up search marketing accounts and passwords for each of the accounts as well
are the URLs for any directories, communities and web rings. Mr. Ruffing and Dr. Delaney will have
total transparency throughout the advertising and marketing process.
In order to help track the endeavor, Mr. Ruffing is going to be sending a bi-weekly report for the first 2
to 3 months so that we can track things. Once we have established a good pattern and understanding
Mr. Ruffing will drop back to a monthly reporting regarding marketing and advertising expenses and
feedback. (It should be noted that Mr. Ruffing plans to include an addendum to the report giving
information on the amount and type of astrology reports that he has produced.
The Marketing/Advertising Plan is split in two ways between Black Rose Spiritual Center in general
(focusing on the Black Rose Spiritual Center’s website) and then a separate plan for Dr. Nikki’s
fundraising activities. The purpose of the two fold plan is to allow exact market targeting during the
campaign. Black Rose Spiritual Center‘s advertising is more subtle and less pressed. Following is a
sketch outline of both the marketing plans.
It should be noted that Black Rose Spiritual Center does not use open advertising and marketing for its
medicinal herb fund raising efforts. This is a limited controlled market to which we have excellent access
through word of mouth and referrals. Hence, there is no budget set aside for marketing this aspect of the
Center.
Black Rose Spiritual Center Marketing and Advertising Plan:
Google Adwords Account: Google is the largest, most widely used search engine. It is a pay per click
service in which a price is based on keyword bids, the more spent per keyword the more often the ad
appears. Any number of keywords can be used and can range in price from $0.01 to $1.25. Keywords
can be changed, deleted or added. A maximum monthly budget can be set to a specific amount and raised
or lowered accordingly. Accounts automatically track which keywords general the most traffic.
Recommended Keywords to start: spiritual, religion, tolerance, understanding (words can be deleted,
added, changed depending on traffic generated)
Marketing Launch (for first month): $100 (more can be added if needed)
Subsequent Monthly Budget: $50 (it is believed that the predominant amount of traffic to Black Rose
Spiritual Center will be garnered through traffic from DrNikki.com)
Local Listings:
Yellowbook.com – free internet listing
RetailMontana.com – $20/yr
Yahoo Local – basic listing – free
Miscellaneous Listings:
MySpace.com – free
Facebook.com – free
Christian online community (colc.com) – free
Webring.com – free
Allspirit.com – free
Sacredgroundsonline – free
Sapphyr.net (Pearls of wisdom holistic directory) – free
It should be noted that these are the initially planned listings for the marketing launch. However, both
Dr. Delaney and Mr. Ruffing, along with other staff and volunteers, will continue to search for
appropriate places to list Black Rose Spiritual Center and link with their website.
DrNikki.com Marketing and Advertising Plan:
Yahoo, Google and MSN Accounts: Although Google is the largest, most widely used search engine, it
would be missing a large market share to not work on search engine optimization for MSN and Yahoo as
well. Each are pay per click services in which a price is based on keyword bids, the more spent per
keyword the more often the ad appears. Any number of keywords can be used and can range in price from
$0.01 to $1.25. Keywords can be changed, deleted or added. A maximum monthly budget can be set to a
specific amount and raised or lowered accordingly. Accounts automatically track which keywords
general the most traffic.
Recommended Keywords to start: psychic, tarot, astrology, horoscope and at least three other keywords
as yet to be determined. (Words can be deleted, added, changed depending on traffic generated)
Marketing Launch (for first month):
Google – $300 (more can be added if needed)
MSN – $300 (more can be added if needed)
Yahoo – $300 (more can be added if needed)
Subsequent Monthly Budget: As this represents the lion’s share of the marketing and advertising
budget, it should be noted that any subsequent budget will be dependant upon keywords and traffic
generated by each account individually. (i.e. If Google is generating more traffic than Yahoo or MSN
then more funds would be allocated to Google while less being spent at the other, less producing, search
engines.
Review: Keywords will be reviewed weekly for traffic generated; emphasis will be placed on those
words which are generating the most traffic. Keywords that aren’t generating traffic will be replaced or
deleted. Based on all the search engine optimization research conducted by Mr. Ruffing, we’ll know
within the first two months what words are bringing us the most traffic.
Local Listings:
Yellowbook.com – free internet listing
RetailMontana.com – $20/yr
Yahoo Local – $9.95/month (There is a 30% discount the first three months, then it can be down
graded to basic fee listing or maintained at regular price depending on traffic generated.)
Miscellaneous Listings:
MySpace.com – free
Facebook.com – free
Webring.com – free
Psychicwaves.com – free
Harusami.com (soul2soul network) – $34/yr Multi-category
Sacredgroundsonline – free
Psychicsights.com – free
It should be noted that these are the initially planned listings for the marketing launch. However, both
Dr. Delaney and Mr. Ruffing, along with other staff and volunteers, will continue to search for
appropriate places to list Black Rose Spiritual Center and link with their website.
| Revised Business Plan | The Business Description | The Marketing Plan | Operating and Control Systems | The Financial Plan | Goals for 2008 |
