But advertising a business is pointless unless and until the owner has a plan and knows the company's customers and its goals.

"You can't market to everybody and everybody can't be your customer," said Shaundell Newsome, president and chief executive of Newsome Marketing Enterprises and a former gaming marketer for Station Casinos.

Newsome outlined strategies for small businesses to maximize their marketing and advertising investments during a workshop hosted by the American Marketing Association's Las Vegas Chapter.

He said a marketing plan is the first step to increasing business and maximizing spending.

"But a marketing plan is as good as the paper it's written on if it's not executable," Newsome said.

A good marketing plan should be flexible, but should also reflect company culture and be unique to the company it serves.

And owners should refer to their marketing plan as a guide to their company's goals, culture and business plan.

Newsome outlined the 12 steps to creating a top-notch marketing plan that will not only clarify a business's plans to spend on advertising but also for operation and vision.

1. Figure out the details of your company, from the vision and mission statements to company beliefs, and be honest with employees, customers and owners about that culture.

"How do you want people to identify you?" asked Newsome. "Don't lie to yourself and be something you can't be. If you want to be a small retail shop, be a small retail shop."

2. Know your customer and figure out how to communicate with them.

Lexus doesn't promote sales because the luxury car maker isn't trying to attract bargain shoppers, Newsome said.

While working with Station Casinos, Newsome said technology staff introduced Boarding Pass kiosks, but many customers were reluctant to use them because they wanted personal attention or feared the technology.

Also, make sure the customers you attract initially are really the customers you want. Once you attract bargain shoppers, you will likely always attract bargain shoppers.

3. Create a single product that is identified with your company.

To figure out what that product is, do some research and find out what your target customer needs. Do research on demographics, psychographics and buying habits. If you have to, ask your customers directly what they want.

"As a small business, you want to know your customer," Newsome said.

4. Identify your competitors, know what they're doing, and price accordingly.

5. Arrange your distribution chain to ensure you can deliver anything you promise your customers.

"When you have a promise out there for the customer, make sure you deliver, because you don't want a customer to have that negative experience," he said. "When you say seven to 10 days delivery, you're getting a phone call on the 11th day."

6. Decide what kind of advertising you will purchase to communicate with customers.

"You've done the diagnostics, now you have to decide what media to use to communicate to your prospective customers," Newsome said. "Make sure your message is clear and to the point, and make sure you have a message."

7. Figure out an online sales and marketing strategy.

Not only do you need a killer Web site, but you have to figure out a way to get people to the site once you've created it.

"And not every customer is an online customer," said Newsome. "Some people, you still have to hit them with a direct mailer."

8. Do a strength, weakness and opportunity (SWOT) analysis. Ask others what your business is doing right and wrong, and adjust accordingly.

9. Create a marketing book, which you can refer to whenever you're unclear about what to do when faced with a marketing or advertising decision.

And when you switch chief executives or someone leaves the company, the book will provide institutional knowledge.

10. Make an action plan, and don't put it off. Set a deadline by which you will roll out your advertising campaign, and stick with it.

"If you keep putting it off, don't be surprised if you don't have any revenue," Newsome said.

11. Then develop your brand, being clear to communicate your standards. Empower your employees to make decisions that are good for the brand.

12. And do periodic checkups, reevaluating your marketing book and your business strategies to account for changes in the market or growth of the company.

"If you don't measure, it all means nothing," Newsome said.