GETTING STARTED WITH MARKETING PLAN PRO
Marketing Plan Pro is a step-by-step guide to writing a Marketing Plan. Its main features are that
it is:
Easy -- Wizards walk you through the entire process
Helpful -- The CD-ROM includes examples to help you prepare your own
Attractive -- Automatically assembles text, tables and charts into an easy-to-read report
Complete -- A detailed User's Manual is included on the CD
To use Marketing Plan Pro, your computer will need to meet the minimum requirements of the
software:
Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98
Pentium or comparable processor
50-70MB free disk space
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher
Any printer compatible with Windows
To get started, remove the CD from its protective package and insert face up into your CD drive
tray. Your computer should start the program automatically. If it doesn't, follow the steps
described on the bottom of the round package flap that you opened to remove the CD. A display
will come up offering an Install button choice. Please press that and follow the instructions.
When requested to enter the serial number of your software, the three letter and ten-digit software
serial number is printed on the inside of the round flap you opened to remove the CD.
After you've installed it on your computer, when you "open" Marketing Plan Pro you'll be asked
to Start A Plan. You have three choices -- create a new plan, open a sample plan, or open an
existing plan. To start, click on "create a new plan." This opens up the Wizard, and offers you
the opportunity to view the Intro Movie. I recommend that you review this a few times to
familiarize yourself with the software.
At this point, the Wizard will take over and begin asking you questions. The first will be what
you want the start date of your plan to be. I'd recommend January of next year. It will then ask
you what you want to title your plan. Of course, you may not have selected your product or
service yet, but you can always change things later.
During your work with Marketing Plan Pro, you'll have access to a help menu on the CD, an
extensive user's manual, and also Palo Alto's Technical Support, available by calling 541-683-
6162.
You'll find the Wizard to be much like a tax advisor, asking inconvenient questions that force you
to engage the challenging information requirements, rationale, and decisions demanded by a
thoughtful planning process. But over the next several weeks, you'll be pleased at how your plan
begins to take shape, requiring you to "synchronize" assumptions between sections. And who
knows? Maybe your team will go forward to present your plan to some Venture Capitalists who
will find your vision, research, rationale, planning, conclusions and forecast compelling enough
to fund!. Enjoy!