Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Marketing?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just get on with designing great clothes and let somebody else worry about trying to sell them? Unfortunately, when you're running a small business, that's rarely the way it works.

But marketing doesn't have to be all hard work - in fact, many people find it fun. This quick quiz will help you to assess your marketing skills and find out if there are things you could be doing better.

1. You're planning to launch a new range of clothing aimed at businesswomen. How do you research your advertising campaign?

• A. Talk to businesswomen from as many different companies as possible and find out what's important to them.
• B. Look through fashion magazines to see how other advertisers are targeting this group.
• C. Ask friends who fall into this group what they think would work for them.
• D. Trust your instincts and go with what would appeal to you personally.

2. A fashion magazine offers to run a feature on your work, but wants you to contribute exclusive pictures which you don't have. What do you do?

• A. Contact an agency to arrange a professional photoshoot and aim to get several high concept pictures of different designs so the magazine's picture editor can choose what works best.
• B. Hire a local photographer and models and ask for their advice on creating effective images.
• C. Find an inexperienced photographer who's willing to work for free and get your friends to model for you.
• D. Send in some pictures you've already used somewhere else - they'll never know!

3. You're writing descriptions of different garments in your range for your new catalogue, aimed at the general shopper. How do you word them?

• A. You hire a professional copywriter with fashion experience to write them for you.
• B. You base them on descriptions you've seen in other people's catalogues and try to drop in plenty of fashion buzzwords.
• C. You aim to let your enthusiasm come across in your writing so readers will understand your own passion for fashion.
• D. You provide only cursory descriptions - the pictures will do the talking.

4. You've managed to get yourself a place at an important trade show. How do you make your stall stand out to fashion buyers?

• A. You install high quality lighting and hire models to pose in your products.
• B. You bring only your best work, set it out so it's easily accessible, and make sure to hand out plenty of business cards.
• C. You aim to be as friendly as possible, and give out free sweets.
• D. You try to corner passers-by and edge them towards your stall.

5. You're promoting a range of clothes for boys aged around ten years old. How should your promotional material be targeted?

• A. You run parallel advertising campaigns aimed at the boys and at their parents.
• B. You target the parents - they're the ones with the money.
• C. You target the boys - there's nothing like pester power.
• D. You create a general campaign simply stressing how great the clothes are.

6. You've worked really hard on a new internet advert to promote your work, but a customer tells you they think the advert is stupid. How do you respond?

• A. You take it into account but don't let it sway you too much - your wider market research means you can keep it in proportion.
• B. You take it very seriously - the customer is always right, and maybe you're not communicating effectively.
• C. You don't worry about it. There's no reason to start being negative.
• D. You tell the customer that they're clearly too stupid to understand what you're doing.

How Did You Score?

Mostly A's:- You have a very good understanding of how marketing works and you're clearly not afraid of hard work, but you may be going overboard a bit for a small business owner. Before you invest more time, money and energy than you can afford, make sure you're getting results - you may need to build up your brand a bit before you're ready for all this.

Mostly B's:- You're taking a sensible approach for a beginner and making sure you learn as you go, but there's a risk that your promotions will look too much like everybody else's. Don't be afraid to develop your own ideas.

Mostly C's:- Your friendly approach will take you a long way, and it's good to be pragmatic, but you may need to push a bit harder if you really want to get your designs noticed.

Mostly D's:- Your casual attitude will get you into trouble one day, but it's good that you're bringing some personality to your work. Just try to make it a bit more positive!