Eight Steps To A Great Marketing Plan
December 23, 2007
Step 1: Where Am I Now?
Before you decide where you want your marketing plan to take you,you need to find out where you are now. How have you positioned your business in the market? How do your customers see you? You may want to ask some of them for feedback. Write four or five paragraphs that summarize your business. Be sure to include philosophy, strengths and weaknesses.
Step 2: Setting the Goal(s)
Once you decide where you are, you can decide where you want to go. What you’re trying to accomplish? Do you want to increase sales? Change the perception of your business among target audiences? Generate more store traffic? Enter a new market where you may not have much experience?
After you have answered each of these questions or any others you come up with, you want to make an outline for each of your goals, and be specific. While you should be optimistic, you will also need to be realistic. You need to be realistic in what you expect your marketing plan to do. Also, while it’s fine to have multiple goals, be sure to prioritize them so you can create a realistic plan to achieve them.
Operating on Perpetual Overload?
December 22, 2007
Check Out Your E-Habits
Another week has ended. And, despite moving at the speed of light, you’ve once again barely made a dent in your more important goals or projects. Just about everyone wishes they had more time to focus on the really important things: Activities directly tied to job or key business objectives. Spending time with key people ? at work and at home. Exercise. Fun.(Remember "fun"?)
Intellectually anyway, we do understand the need to differentiate "forest from the trees" priority-wise. But with more "trees" to manage than ever, it can be tough even locating the forest, never mind spending any meaningful time there. By far, the biggest source of new trees contributing to the workload logjam is email. But to view the problem of email as a problem of volume only is to miss out on the real problem. If the practices of the thousands of executives and managers who’ve attended Time/Design’s? Power of Focus Management seminar are any indication, email itself is not the problem. The number one impediment to focusing on the big picture is how we respond to these "electronic trees." In other words, if you want more time for your high priorityactivities, look no further than yourself.
Financial Intelligence - Compounding (The Ninth Wonder of the World)
December 21, 2007
Compounding: The Ninth Wonder of the WorldBy Nicola Cairncross
Compounding is often described as the ninth wonder of the world. It is a concept that initially sounds quite dull, but when you understand how compounding just quietly works its magic - or conversely its naughtiness ? it’s a very exciting concept to grasp indeed!
Compounding is the difference between linear and exponential growth, or put more simply, about earning (or incurring) interest on the interest on the interest, generated by your savings (or your debt). On an energy level, it’s about making sure that every little bit of effort you expend, works on many different levels to bring a reward greater than the original effort required.
It’s a very powerful tool and can be likened to the wind under the wings of a jet. The plane creeps slowly, slowly along the approach runways, then moves into position, then starts down the runway slowly, but as it picks up speed, the power of the engines and the wind lifts its wings and it takes off, climbing very quickly and steeply into the sky.
Two of the Biggest Hurdles
December 21, 2007
As I was preparing for a presentation recently, I was trying to figure out why small businesses have trouble marketing themselves consistently. If we know we need to be marketing, why don’t we just do it? Is it for a lack of planning or that we’re just not sure what to do or where to start?
Yes, maybe. But in trying to figure out what those hurdles are that keep us from marketing consistently; I came up with two hurdles that I think might be as big as any other for most. Like a lot of things with regards to our business, if we’re aware of the hurdles that keep us from achieving effective marketing, then we can plan and act accordingly on how we can either go around or over them.
So what are these hurdles? Well, they certainly aren’t the only hurdles, but the two I keep running into time and again with many small businesses are Perfection and Fear of Failure. In fact, I’m sure they have played a part in delaying some of my own marketing including the launch of my web site and my monthly eZine. Let’s take a look at each hurdle and how we might overcome them.
Are Your References Ready?
December 20, 2007
One of the most common forms of background check performed by companies hiring new employees is the reference check. They typically request that candidates provide them with three names of previous bosses. If you don’t have three former bosses, then provide co-workers, teachers, college professors and/or professional colleagues as character references.
The first thing you should do is develop your list of potential references and then contact each one. Explain that you’re applying for a job, describe the type of work and the company, and ask if they would feel comfortable giving you a good recommendation. If they have any hesitation, do not include them as a reference. You goal is to have three strong references who can help you land the job.
Be sure to verify their contact information.
Don’t list these references on your resume, but have them handy during an interview. Put the names, titles, phone numbers, mailing addresses and email addresses of your references on a single sheet of paper and take it to your interview.
After the interview, if this seems like a job you’d enjoy, go ahead and hand them this list of references along with any other “leave-behind” materials that are appropriate, such as a portfolio with samples of your work (this depends on the type of job, of course).
8 Ways To Develop Confidence In New Situations
December 19, 2007
Do you enjoy one-on-one networking, however, the thought of walking into room full of people you don’t know horrifies you? You’re not alone. Yes, even a social butterfly, President of the Social Committee in High School and avid networker knows how you feel. Here are some of my tricks. And they have all worked!
~A great way to network at a conference is to volunteer at the registration desk. Why? You get to say hello to everyone who registers in your line and everyone who registers gets to see you behind the registration table. At the event, you’ll feel more comfortable talking with people because you’ve “met” them already. And if those aren’t enough benefits, people will “recognize you” from the registration desk, and be more likely to come talk with you.
~If you teach a class or speak, go into the room early. Get a feel for it, change it around if need be, and greet everyone who walks in with a big “hello my name is …”. Bring name tags or recycle the tops of old manila folders, have each person put their name on it, and put it on the table in front of them.
Making Money Online with Google AdSense
December 18, 2007
Making Money Online with Google AdSense
by: Michael Fleischner
Many marketing professionals are using Google to place targeted ads in front of prospective customers. This is increasingly effective due to the highly targeted nature of Google AdWords. Google AdSense, the other side of the online advertising equation, allows website owners to make money by provided contextually targeted ads to their website traffic.
Providing targeted ads to your online visitors creates a better user experience and communicates your knowledge of the audience you serve. Google AdSense automatically delivers text and image ads that are precisely targeted to your site and your site content through the Google AdSense advertising system.
If you’re involved with an affiliate program such as commission junction, you know that signing up with, and maintaining relationships with advertisers is a full-time job. With Google AdSense, Google manages the relationships with advertisers for you, making the process simple and easy to manage. Once you place the appropriate code on your website, the AdSense program requires basically no maintenance.
How You Make Money
Achieving Your Goals
December 17, 2007
– The One Pager Shortcut Series –
Much has been written about achieving your goals. For the Solo Entrepreneur, pursuing goals can be an even bigger challenge than most. The very independence that appeals to Solo-E’s often leads to an extremely full plate. The weekly 168 hours is not enough to do everything on the list, to say nothing of pursuing goals. Stop for a minute and consider what could be different.
1. What Are My Goals? This sounds simple, but the answer can hinder your progress if not related to values and stated very specifically and written down.
VALUES Goals reflect your values and what’s important to you. For each goal, make a clear link to one of your values. Some common values are achievement, balance, commitment, honesty, self-respect, and risk-taking (there are many more). Therefore, you must know your core vales FIRST, and then see how your goals relate to them.
SPECIFIC The more specific you are about your goals the more likely they will be achieved. A goal of "more money" is not specific enough. How much money? Name an amount, for example "$10,000 each month". A goal of "more clients" can be more specific. For example, "20 new clients within 3 months" is clearer.
Quick Postcard Design Tips
December 16, 2007
TIP #1: Avoid the “Too Much Information” Syndrome
I’ve seen many a marketing postcard that just has too much information on it. Too many words set in tiny type is an all too common problem.
And the poor recipient, who only has limited time in his/her day, feels overwhelmed and gives up. Into the trashcan your card goes.
Ouch.
The solution? Let that postcard sit for a day or so. Then, when you’re feeling grumpy and argumentative, go back and edit that card copy.
When you’re in a bad mood, you’ll be merciless with all of those “fluff” words that seemed so indispensable before. And those sentences that just ramble on and on? They’ll be trimmed down — way down.
TIP #2: Back Before FrontChances are good that your recipients will look at the back of the card first. Think of how your mail gets delivered to you each day. It probably goes into your mailbox address side up.
This means that the back of the postcard shouldn’t be an afterthought.
Yes, you do have to squeeze the sender’s and recipient’s addresses and the stamp or indicia in there, but you do have a lot of extra room for creativity.
Marketing Your Small Business with Success Stories
December 16, 2007
– The One Pager Shortcut Series –
An effective and compelling way to market your business is through the use of success stories. What exactly is a success story? How does it market my business? How can I get started with my own success stories?
Consider the following:
What exactly is a success story? A success story briefly describes how your business served a client/customer and what results the client/customer achieved. Think of this as a real life example of how your product or service helps customers achieve their goals or solve a problem.
How does it market my business? A compelling success story will include the original client problem or goal, the specific product or service used with the client, and some tangible results that occurred. Prospective customers can better understand what your product or service does and most importantly, see some actual results. This will make it even easier for them to make the "buy" decision.
How can I get started with my own success stories? 3 simple steps will get you started:
1. Write a brief description of your best success story. Include a. Problem or goal b. Solution implemented c. Client testimonial. This can be a few paragraphs at the most.
