Keep Going When Business is Tough

Businesses experience seasonal challenges. Some industries like retail and shipping follow annual cycles each year. Others experience seasonal cycles that may last years. Even economies experience seasonal cycles ranging from boom to bust. We currently suffer from a major recession. Yet, even recessions follow 7 year cycles. Though the last few recessions come quicker and go deeper, this is a big one.

In addition to seasonal cycles and economies, individual businesses also experience down times. You may anticipate certain downturns depending on the age of the business.

• Startup: It takes time for a business to start generating revenue. Then, the owner needs to plow the revenues back into the business. The startup phase can generate feelings of rejection and despair. It takes time to get the first purchase. It takes even more time to build a strong, sustainable clientele. The continued lack of income breeds uncertainty in the business owner. Their dreams of throngs of clients begging to buy the product or service fade. Absence of sales tempts the owner to close the business. Some businesses should close. Others deserve to succeed.
• Expansion: Periods of growth and expansion also decrease the revenues that go to profit. You have to invest revenues into new facilities, staff, and equipment. Expansion also entails risk. Risk increases feelings of anxiety. Paradoxically, many business owners worry the most about their business during times of expansion.
• Decline: All products, services, and businesses experience periods of growth, sustainability, and decline. Decline results from expired patents, copies or improvement by competitors , market saturation, or loss of interest. The term “new and improved”  represents business owners trying to delay decline. During a business decline business owners may lose confidence. Once again, the temptation to close the doors looms. The decline phase of a business provide opportunities to reassess, explore new options, rejuvenate the brand, or close the business.

Discerning whether to close a business or try to resuscitate it requires objective assessment. Too many business owners blindly make changes without a plan or analysis. If your analysis indicates a change is needed, then make it. If nobody wants your product, either fix it or quit. If your marketing plan contains flaws improve it. If, however, no matter what you do you will not make money. Give up. Do not continue drilling a dry well.

You should not change a strong product, operations, or marketing plan unless you find a flaw in it. Good plans for good products will generate success in time. Reevaluate your plan. Test your product. Refine what you need to. Stick with your business when times get tough.

Modify or Enhance Your Product

The end of one year and the beginning of another provide an excellent opportunity to reevaluate your product or service. People expect change during these seasons. You also have a brief time to contemplate and ponder possible enhancements.

I am not suggesting that you implement all the changes at once. You may begin the process now and complete it later in the year.

Research What Changes You Want to Make

You want to ensure the changes you make will enhance the desirability of your product or service. You want people to buy it. The following actions can help you make the best decisions possible.

• Take time to think through what you want to do
• Make a list of enhancements as ideas come to you (I hope you started the list earlier)
• Research on the Internet, especially in users groups or client comments, for ideas
• Contact your best clients and ask them what changes they suggest for you to make
• Review your competitor’s product or service to see what changes they are making

You may also want to introduce a new product or service In addition to enhancing your current product or service. You can use the same steps that you used to consider changes to introduce new products.

You may need to create a prototype of the product you want to change or introduce. Consider where you want to manufacture or outsource the production. Work with local, state, or national economic development organizations to find production and fulfillment organizations.

Modify Your Marketing Plan to Account for Changes

Once you determine the changes or enhancements you will make, you modify your marketing plan. I suggest that you use the structure of the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing to guide your marketing enhancements:

1. Conduct the market research on the product (which we already discussed above)
2. Determine the right message for your new or improved product or service
3. Develop a new strategy or incorporate the product into your existing strategy
4. Design new-product or product-enhancement campaigns to introduce your changes
5. Identify both the methods and vehicles you will use to implement the campaigns
6. Create new sales systems if you have to, but incorporate existing ones if possible
7. Capture appropriate client information and survey them for satisfactions & suggestions

The end of the year and the beginning of the next provides excellent opportunities to review, enhance, and introduce new products or services. Make sure you take the time to research the enhancements, verify that your clients will appreciate them, and modify your marketing plan to include them. Remember, you don’t do this all at once, but begin now for the end of next year.

Last Week for Year-End Checklists

I know that I’ve encouraged you in previous posts to take care of your business now to prepare it for a more prosperous 2012.

Let me take this last opportunity to remind you:

• Take care of your clients so they can prepare their businesses for next year
• Send a year-end remembrance to your best clients and an email to the others
• Meet with your tax accountant and review what you can do now
• Meet with your financial planner to review what you can pay down on investments to help with next year
• Pay all outstanding invoices to reduce your tax burden next year
• Ensure that your books are completely up-to-date and in QuickBooks
• Defer income until next year appropriately. Consult your tax expert
• Make business related purchases that will position you well for next year
• Write off obsolete inventory by giving it away or scrapping it. Track the disposal
• Update your business plan, including product enhancement and marketing campaigns
• Update your promotional materials, marketing vehicles, and sales systems
• Update or start a blog to enhance your position in the market and your expertise
• Calendar personal, family, and business activities, meetings, and activities for 2012
• Create a list of new clients or others you would like to add to your business
• Reduce or eliminate the clutter in your office, production and other facilities
• Create a mastermind group, marketing team, business coach, and other supporters

This list may seem intimidating for you during the last six days of the year. That’s why I discussed it earlier in the month.

Choose the things you can do and do those. Good luck.

Merry Christmas & On Earth Peace

For unto us a child is born,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

He was wounded for our transgression

“He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before here shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5-9)

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here

“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2: 18)

 

For He is risen, as he said.

I thank God for the gift of His only begotten Son. I rejoice in His birth in Bethlehem.

I praise Him for his grace that saves and redeems me. I know that He lives and sits on the right hand of His Father. I pray that His peace may be upon you this season and all time.

Merry Christmas

On Earth Peace, Goodwill to all

Take Care of Your Employees

During this season people share gifts with one another. We already discussed the benefits of business owners sharing something with their clients. The good feelings engendered by a thoughtful remembrance translates into good word-of-mouth and possible sales. However, that should not be our purpose. It should always remain a side benefit.

We share gifts, thoughts, and connections to express our appreciation and caring for our fellow being. The holiday season highlights peace and good will. Sincere expressions of gratitude kindle similar feelings in others. They in turn, share better feelings with others. We could change the feelings of the community with sufficient sharing of good for others.

Sincere and Perfunctory Expressions Of Appreciation

The same applies to our employees. We should express appreciation for their work on our behalf. While it is true that we compensate them for the work they do, additional expressions of gratitude and concern enhance the warm feelings we want among out staff.

Let me share two examples:

1. One of my daughters works for a pediatric clinic. She had surgery in October. Her office arranged for me to text one of them how the surgery went. That person notified the entire office. Flowers appeared at the hospital from the staff. Two of her co-workers visited her at home during her recovery. The company provided a small potluck Christmas part party for the staff. At the party, management expressed appreciation for all the work the team did. They recognized the sacrifice the staff made to take care of the clients. They gave a small gift to each worker. Their expressions lifted the whole staff. Morale increased. Good feelings prevail, even when some of the staff will have to work through the holidays. They asked who would be willing to keep the doors open. The spirit of volunteerism increased because of the sincere expressions of appreciation.
2. Another daughter works for a school district. Management called all of them into a meeting—not a party—the last day of school this year. They did not express any recognition for the work done by these teachers. They did not acknowledge the sacrifice the teachers make. No sincere efforts were made to bring seasonal cheer to the teachers. Instead, they were informed that they would be working on January 2nd, the national holiday for new year’s eve. They were told that they would not be paid the time and a half normally given for working a holiday. They were told that absences on that day would be strictly reviewed. Then, without a word of appreciation they distributed the teacher’s Christmas bonus—a $1.00 roll of holiday wrapping paper.

Can you guess which of my daughters felt better about her employers. Interestingly, the cost of the gift was not the issue. Both gifts were very inexpensive. The difference came from the expressions, sincere expressions, of gratitude and respect. The gratitude led to staff voluntarily working on holidays.

In the other situation the demands to work on holidays with explicit denial of overtime engendered resentment. The lack of appreciation and gratitude enhanced the feelings. In addition, the lack of sincerity caused the $1.00 gift to feel like slap in the face. The negativity would not have happened with a few sincere expressions of gratitude.

So, this season take care of your employees. Try to be more like “old Fezziwig” rather than Ebenezer Scrooge. You do not need to spend a lot of money. You do need to sincerely thank them for what they do. A small potluck party wouldn’t hurt.

I would like to share a Merry Christmas message to all of you this Saturday

Reserve Time for You & Your Family

I had a great mentor named Keo Chai. He passed on too soon and left a void when he did. I think of him every year at this time because of some great advice he gave me when I was younger.

Keo served as president of a community program I joined. I had just been made president of the local chapter in the district he governed. He knew the time constraints the assignment entailed because he had also served in the same position.

Many Demands for Time and Attention

He correctly warned me that the assignment would take a lot of time. He also cautioned that people in the organization would assume that I served exclusively at their beck and call. Many of them would call for appointments or meetings at their convenience. Most would expect me to drop everything I had planned to cater to their demands. What he told me then, applies to most small- or home-based business owners today.

Then, he gave me the great advice: at the beginning of the year, and at the beginning of each month, schedule personal time in your calendar. In addition, he counseled, schedule time for your family. Set apart time for your children’s recitals, sports, and school activities. Schedule time to court your wife and for family activities. Put that time into your calendar first. (Remember Stephen Covey’s video from last week on First Things First)

“I’m sorry I already have an appointment at that time.”

Now came the genius of the advice. “When anyone asks to meet during the time you already reserved, just say ‘I am sorry. I already have an appointment at that time.” You don’t need to tell them what the appointment is, or who it is with. Just tell them that you cannot meet at that time. He also reminded me that I would not cancel an appointment with someone else just because another person asked. So, why should I cancel an appointment with my family just because someone else asked.

I followed that advice during my tenure in the leadership of that local chapter. I continued to apply it throughout my career. I shared it with every person I mentored since Keo shared it with me. Now, I share it with you as business owners. Too many business owners find their dedication to their business costs them their family. Long hours, skimping to make ends meet, and giving attention to everyone except loved ones; damage relationships at home.

Follow good advice given to me decades ago—take time this week to reserve time for you and your family for all of 2012.

Make sure to read the blog on Thursday when I share another idea to improve your business

You Are Not Alone if You Get Involved

Many small- and home-based business owners work alone. They do not have employees. Perhaps they out source all their labor to offshore production facilities or call centers. They usually work out of their homes, a small storefront, or shared office suites. Most business owners interact with clients face-to-face, but many do not. As a result, a large number of business owners experience feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Business owners working alone lack the camaraderie they experienced working in large companies. They lose the sense of accountability to someone else. They miss the banter and small-talk with other workers. They must stimulate creativity and ingenuity on their own without stimulus from co-workers or project teams. They must draw motivation and discipline from within themselves every hour, every day.

Over time, they wind down and may lose their way. I offer a few simple methods for avoiding this mind-numbing isolation:

1. Join a professional or business association related to your work—and participate in their activities. Most communities maintain a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or other service organization. Thousands of associations exist to allow manufacturers, CPAs, retailers, home builders, and even clowns to mingle and share ideas. You can find them by searching for a word that describes your work and the word association or using the Encyclopedia of Associations. You need to attend at least 2 activities a month to feel connected.
2. Form a mastermind group with 3-4 other business owners or friends. Mastermind group consist of 4-5 people who want to move forward and improve their lives or careers. They meet at least once a month for 60-90 minutes. Mastermind groups energize participants to greater success. Groups create synergistic ideas that lift each member. The agenda is simple. Each person in the group
1. Shares what they goal they are working on
2. Lists what they did in the last month to achieve that goal and the results of their efforts
3. Outlines what they plan to do in the next month to achieve the goal
4. Asks the group to brainstorm possible solutions to barriers or challenges
3. Eat lunch with others at least twice a month. Bryan Walden Pope spawned an idea called The Abundance Group (TAG). People register on the web site. They invite one of the other members to a lunch or breakfast. Each of the two bring 2-3 other people to the event. Attendees may not solicit business from the others. The purpose remains connecting with interesting people and learning about them. Sharing ideas and opinions. You may also want to read the book  Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.
4. Maintain a top 25 list. I learned this technique from Mark LeBlanc the author of Growing Your Business. Review your address book and identify the 25 most important people for you to contact. Add reminders to your calendar to contact each of the 25 at least once a month. You many connect in-person, by phone, email, sending them a gift, sharing an article or good book. But connect with them each month.

You may use any of these methods—or hundreds of others—to connect with people in a non-stressful invigorating way. Connecting with others reduces isolation and loneliness. It stimulates your intellect and social skills. It improves your business. So, as the year ends build a system into your life to connect with others. I know, from personal experience, it really helps.

Avoid Getting Sidetracked

Business owners must maintain multiple priorities. The smaller the business the more fractured the business owner’s attention may become. Trying to balance accounting, marketing, operations, production, management, and supervision demands constant effort. Frequently, business owners lose sight of their priorities. “Putting out fires” distract them from what they wanted to do.

Stephen Covey gave sound advice with his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I suggest you study it again and recommit to make his habits yours. Two of his seven habits help you avoid getting sidetracked.

1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Put first things first

Beginning with the end in mind means that you know before you begin what you want to accomplish. Our last three posts outlined how to establish the end you wish to accomplish:

• Evaluating progress at the end of the year
• Setting goals for the next year
• Creating a plan to achieve those goals

Putting first things first requires great discipline. Covey presents the graphic that illustrates this post. You place each of your tasks, responsibilities, and duties in the appropriate sector. As challenges arise you assign them to the appropriate sector. You try to reduce the number that reside in sector 1 through effective planning.

You focus on the tasks in the 2nd sector. Dealing with important things before they become urgent allows for the best growth. Delegating those activities in the 3rd sector and ignoring those in the 4th sector assigns your personal efforts to the most important activities that will grow your business.

I recommend you set apart time in your monthly, weekly, and daily calendar to work on the activities assigned to sector 2. Dedicating 1-2 hours a day or week will accelerate your progress. Secure both the time and a place that will reduce interruptions and distractions. I go to a college campus, library, or other tranquil place to work on the most important items.

Roger and Rebecca Merrill, under Dr. Covey’s oversight, expanded on the original presentation of the 3rd habit with their book First Things First. I recommend the book to you. I also found Dr. Covey’s video about adding rocks to your jar on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it. I found it still illustrates this vital habit with humor and visual flair. Watch the video clip and then ask yourself:

1. Do I find myself trying to pound my big rocks into a calendar full of small pebbles?
2. Do I push the unimportant activities around thinking that I can create more time?
3. Do I let all the unimportant things fill my calendar before I act on the important ones?
4. What do I need to do to change my paradigm to see a different way to act?

On Saturday we will explore how a mastermind team can accelerate your business growth

Year-End Updates to Business Plans

This continues our series on actions you can take at years end to grow your business next year

Hopefully you have started cleaning up and protecting any tax, legal, and other loose ends before December 31. In addition, you may have implemented your plan to remember and strengthen client relationships. Once you set your goals for next year, you need to update your business plan to achieve the goals you set. I want to help you identify the sections of your plant that need updating.

To achieve the goals you set for next year will require both a plan and action. In a previous post we evaluated the benefits of following your business plan rather than preparing the plan for others. I urged you to ensure that your business plan changes and evolves as your business grows.

Update Sections of Your Business Plan

Year-end provides a perfect opportunity for major updates to your business plan. The changes should lead to achieving the goals you set. You will need to update the following sections of your business plan If you set the goals we discussed last Saturday. You will:

1. Include  new products or services in the summary and operations plan
2. Add any new competitors or changes they made to the market analysis section
3. Refine the human resource portion to accommodate labor transformation
4. Alter the operation plan to include changes to operation flow & production efficiencies
5. Adjust costs, discounts, prices, or vendors in the purchasing section of the financial plan
6. Incorporate market research findings into all appropriate sections of the business plan
7. Add or modify campaigns in the campaigns pillar of the marketing plan
8. Change monthly, quarterly, & yearly forecasts in the sales section of the marketing plan
9. Adapt the pricing section with all of it’s overhead and cost accounting to reflect change
10. Redo the finance sections to reflect new funding and accounting practices

I remind you that these may not represent all the sections of your business plan that will require alteration. I will also remind you that the more you use your plan, the better you will recognize the sections requiring edits based on your year-end goals.

Outline Specific and Clear Action You Will Take

Your changes to the business plan should outline specific actions and tasks that you will either modify or begin performing. You will enhance your success if you include deadlines or milestones in your action plan. Transfer your action steps to your calendar system and incorporate it into your time management system.

We will explore some simple steps of time management in Thursday’s post. Join us!!

Set Goals for Next Year’s Growth

This concludes our 3-part series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

The end of the year provides you an opportunity to position your business for growth for the next year. We already discussed what you can do financially to prepare your business for the coming year. We also reviewed actions that show appreciation to your clients. Finally, you set business goals and establish an action plan to enhance your business for the next year.

Set Goals for What You Want to Accomplish

Businesses set multiple goals. You set specific goals for each aspect of the business:

• Increase profits your business will generate next year with quarterly milestones
• Lift revenues based on specific number of sales with quarterly/monthly forecasts
• Improve production for number of units manufactured or services rendered
• Reduce costs and overhead through bulk buying, discounts & finding new vendors
• Introduce new products or product enhancements to increase client satisfaction
• Expand a market niche or open a new market niche based on market research
• Increase traffic to your store, web site, or phone bank
• Shorten time needed to process accounts payables & receivables

These represent  merely a sample of the goals you may set for your business.

Create a Business Dashboard with Benchmarks

In addition to setting goals, you may wish to establish a dashboard for your business. Just as the dashboard of a car allows you to monitor the vehicle’s speed, oil, battery, and temperature. Business dashboards allow you to quickly see the vital statistics for your business. Each business monitors different elements. For example, restaurants monitor how frequently they turnover clients per table per day. Clothing stores monitor the number of times a rack of clothes turns over.

Businesses also use a system called benchmarking. Benchmarks establish the base standard for industries. Benchmarks may include table turns for restaurants, clothing turns, times for auto repairs, and more. Benchmarks allow you to compare your production to the norm in your industry. They also provide the standard you work to improve.

Set SMART Goals

The word SMART in SMART Goals is an acronym for

• Specific: Your goal is so clear, specific, and detailed anyone can understand it
• Measurable: You can measure when you achieve the goal, usually with a number
• Achievable:  You can realistically enjoy success because you can achieve the goal
• Relevant: Achieving the goal leads to the purpose & direction of your business
• Timely: You set a deadline—with milestones—for when you will achieve the goal

You may want to consult KPI Dashboard for additional ideas on goals, dashboards, and benchmarks. Your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) can advise you about your dashboard and benchmarks if needed.

Join me Tuesday to continue the series on year-end activities by updating your business plan

Year End Client Retention Activities

This continues our 3-part series on year-end activities that improve next year’s business

Retaining clients costs less than acquiring new ones. This post assumes you already possess clients to retain. You will have more clients the longer your business operates if you retain them properly. You should take advantage of the generous season to sincerely reach out to your clients. Remembering clients in December can enhance repeat business during the next year. However, your efforts must be sincere, rather than calculated for more business.

Purposes and Practices of Client Retention

We discussed several steps to client retention in Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Some of these activities lend themselves to year-end efforts. This post builds on the concepts share in those posts.

Building the personal relationship with the client so they continue to do business with you remains the secondary purpose of client retention. Building the personal relationship so that you may learn more about the person, so that you may serve them more effectively and efficiently remains the prime purpose.

You must capture information about your clients and put it in a useful data system. The right information enhances your connection with the client. For example, knowing that someone prefers reading historical biographies, See’s chocolate, or dinning out allows you to give them a more personal remembrance.

The end of the year provides an opportunity to reevaluate your client retention methods. You may

• Examine the effectiveness of your client management system. Perhaps you should modify or upgrade your system
• Analyze the fields of information you gather about clients to verify you gather the right information.
• Review the information you have gathered to see what you lack and gather it
• Install flags in your system to trigger both personal and business important dates

Reach Out to Your Clients at Year’s End

The holiday season provides an excellent opportunity to reconnect with your current clients. People generally share gifts, cards, meals, and other remembrances during the season. Common business practices also accept the same activities. You need to remember the IRS limit on taxable vs. non-taxable gifts. Examples of year-end methods to reach out to your clients include:

• Send a special email with graphics, your logo, or other methods to make it stand out
• Call to wish them the best and thank them for their association throughout the year
• Send them a card for the holidays perhaps including a gift card for your business or something they value (remember the See’s or dining gift card)
• Arrange for a company to send a gift (Amazon sending the historical biography)
• Hand deliver a gift with a card
• Take the client to lunch or dinner
• Invite them to a special client appreciation party or event (one company I knew invited us to a special screening of newly released movie, they rented the entire theater just for their clients)
• Give them tickets to a sporting event, theater, or other cultural event. Better yet, have them accompany you.

In addition, you may establish a branded method of remembering clients. For example, a friend of mine, a corporate landscape architect, gives a large poinsettia to clients every Christmas. Another friend rewards his clients with an assortment pack from Harry and David’s. In both cases, the gift immediately triggers the thought of the giver. You can accomplish the same result by consistently giving the same gift every year.

Join us on Saturday when we explore year-end goal and action plan setting

Year End Expenditures & Protections

This begins a 3-part series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

As you approach the end of 2011, a few key financial actions can save or protect money for next year. Many business owners know what to do, but don’t do them. Many more do not know the money saving actions they can take. I will try to share the information. You must decide how you will use it. In addition, I strongly encourage you to consult an accounting and financial planning professional to adapt the general ideas in this post to your specific business.

Overview to Year-End Activities

Small Business: Canada published a nice overview of year-end activities that encompasses financial and more:

1. Get your financial books in order
2. Determine the current position of your business: finances, goals, and taxes
3. Plan for the coming year: set next year’s goals, prepare & implement an action plan
4. Get your tax documents prepared

They also offer several links to help you improve the morale, accounting, and balance sheet.

Year-End Tax Planning

Several experts share ideas for reducing taxes you pay next year. Some of the better ones are Karen Klein’s A Checklist for Yearend Tax Planning in Business Week online. Entrepreneur Magazine published A Year-End Tax Checklist last year authored by Bonnie Lee. The Center for Productivity republished Debbie Gilster 2005 article from Financial Management, Time Management titled Year end checklist for a small business. Sue Clement at Ladypens also share some good ideas. Finally, Business News Daily published 8 Small Business Year-End Tax_ Planning Tips.  I’ve combined advice from all of them.

• Get your books in order
  • Create a 2011 file for all tax information
  • Organize your receipts and ensure all vendor information is accurate
  • Check your balance sheets, profit/loss, and return on investment
  • Take physical inventory of your products & make accounting adjustments
  • Verify loan accounts and clean them up if necessary
  • Establish 401K or other retirement programs for yourself and employees
  • Lookout for local tax credits and other opportunities to reduce tax bills
  • Examine your relationship with financial institutions
  • Make end-of-year charitable donations, Roth IRA conversions, etc..
• Meet with your tax and financial planning pro before the December 31
  • Discuss changes in the tax code that may apply to your business
  • Deduct the full amount of purchases upfront rather than depreciate it
  • Explore tax breaks and deductions from research and development
  • The Retained Worker Credit for each retained worker
  • Form 1099 reporting extension for payments after Dec 31 (possible repeal)
  • Small Business Health Tax Credit for providing healthcare for employees
  • New limit for the amount of farming losses a taxpayer has received
  • Requiring taxpayers to electronically file federal tax deposits (EFTPS)
  • Accelerating deductions and deferring income into next year
  • Declare employee bonuses in 2011 but pay them by March 15, 2012
• Reexamine your business units to determine which should be closed
  • Write a list of all the company’s major accomplishments for the year
  • Evaluate marketing efforts & results to decide where to focus next year
  • Check all of the links on your website to make sure they are active

Year-End Legal Issues

Nellie Akalp reposted a guest post that appeared on Mashable explaining “5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year”. She provides excellent ideas for year-end legal entity issues:

1. Close your business before 2012 if you stopped business activity or performance
2. Create a legal entity (LLC or Corporation) before year’s end if you haven’t already
3. Ensure compliance to renewals, licenses, and other local requirements to your business
4. File any amendments to your company (address, phone, etc.) before year end
5. Tie up any legal loose ends (DBA, Tax ID, trademark) before the end of the year

I want to restate the importance of seeing your accounting and financial planning expert early this month. Do not wait until the year ends before you meet with them. You will miss important deadlines for acting.

Join us on Thursday when we review what to do before year-end to retain your best clients

Pillar 7: Client Retention

This concludes our 8-part series on Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Visit Bryan’s blog and web site to learn more and order your own copy of An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing.

All 7 pillars culminate in sales. However, you must conclude with the 7th pillar: Client Retention. As Bryan will tell you—in his own word taken from An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing—it is less expensive to retain a client than to create one.

Create client allegiance & predictable repeat revenue patterns

“Isn’t it a good feeling to know you have an ongoing income stream you can depend
on from loyal clients who are pleased with the products or services with which you are
providing them? If you’re already there, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not,
I want to help you get there as quickly as possible. In either case, you have the
opportunity to create a pool of fiercely loyal clients who wouldn’t dream of living
without the products or services you are providing to them.

To make this happen, you need a couple of essential tools.

1. You need a data capturing mechanism in your business.
• If you are a business-to-business product or service provider, chances are good you already capture most or all of the data you need in the process of making transactions with your clients.
• If you are a business-to-consumer product or service provider, this may or may not be the case. For instance, a service provider making house calls (like a plumber or carpet cleaner) will likely gather the needed information naturally, while a retail store or restaurant will not.
• Think about it, when was the last time you gave your contact information to a retailer or restaurant operator? It’s a savvy few who consistently collect and use such information.
2. In order to actively nurture a client and help him or her become a loyal advocate of
   your company, you have to able to consistently communicate with the client.
• Therefore, you need the person’s name, company name (if you’re a B2B company), phone number, address, email address, and any other contact information you feel will be helpful in staying in front of the client.
3. Once you have this information, helping a client remain active is much like acquiring
   the client in the first place.
• You need to conduct ongoing market research with your
  clients to make sure you’re continuing to meet their needs.
• You may adjust your message to existing clients from the one you use to attract people who have never heard of your company before.
4. You must devise client retention strategies.
• You’ll mount client loyalty campaigns. You’ll still use the same methods we discussed earlier—promotion, publicity/PR, and advertising—to help retain your clients, although the vehicles you use to deliver your messages may differ from your prospecting activities.
• You’ll still need sales strategies and systems tailored to retaining your clients and keeping them actively purchasing from you, preferably in greater amounts and with more
  frequency.”

Questions to Ask Yourself to Retain Clients

• Do we have a suitable client data acquisition system in place
  to capture all the data we need to stay in front of our clients
  with our message?
• If “Yes,” what is it?
• If “No,” what can we put into place immediately?
• Do we have a data management system in place to manage
  the data we capture in a serviceable way so we can conveniently
  and consistently stay in front of our clients with our messages?
• If “Yes,” what are we using?
• If “No,” what can we begin using immediately?
• Remember to go back to the beginning of The 7 Pillars and use them in creating your
  client retention program for your company.

In Conclusion

“There you have it, the most powerful marketing system in the world. It works for any
business—regardless of size or type—in any industry. Do you feel more powerful—more
in control—just having read this short summary? You should! This is the real deal. If you
will apply just what you’ve read in this brief document, you’ll see differences in the
financial outcomes of your marketing efforts almost immediately.”

I enjoyed sharing what I consider to be one of the best marketing programs around. I hope you appreciated Bryan’s sound and simple approach to million dollar marketing on a shoestring. One last time, I encourage you to buy the download and accompanying PDF and to read Bryan’s blog.

Join me Monday when we begin a series on year-end activities to improve next year’s business

Pillar 6: Sales

This continues our 8-part review of Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. As before most of this post comes from Bryan’s own words from An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. I still strongly urge you to buy the download with its accompanying PDF for further study. In addition, I think that you will find reading Bryan’s blog very beneficial.

Marketing Must Include Sales

Effective implementation of the first 5 pillars should lead to sales. For that reason, Bryan includes sales as one of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. He recognizes that some people separate sales from marketing. He shares his feelings on why sales is definitely part of marketing.

“Here it is, plain and simple: Sales is part of the ongoing marketing process. If
marketing is everything I do to get people to notice my company and sales is the act of
closing the deal, where does everything else—you know, important things like client
retention—come into play? For that matter, isn’t stellar client service part of my
marketing strategy? It had better be! The bottom line is this: Every truly successful
company is a marketing company. Let me repeat that. Every truly successful company is
a marketing company. The product or service they are offering is immaterial. If they are
on top of the heap, that’s because they understand marketing. And they understand that
marketing starts long before they opened their doors, it goes on long after each
transaction is made, and it pervades every aspect of their business.

So, yes, we’ve done much in the name of marketing to get our potential clients to
notice us and get them to the sales table, but the act of striking a mutually beneficial deal
and closing the client is as much a part of marketing as everything else that will happen
from that moment forward as you nurture that client and help him or her become fiercely
loyal to you and your company.”

Increase Revenues Using Consistent Sales Systems

“First of all, just as you have overarching strategies for your marketing efforts, you
must also have specific sales strategies. Whether that strategy is

• Driving someone to a well-crafted website where a final transaction will take place
• Getting them to try your product so they realize there’s no way they can live without it
• Allowing them to feel left out if they don’t jump on your bandwagon

The sales function…is the entry point of cash into your company—of course it
is wildly important! You can go through all the motions of marketing you want all day
long, but if you fall down on this one, you lose! You won’t make any money, and,
therefore, your existence as a business will be short-lived.

It is also very important to establish sales systems in your business…If you’re stumbling through every sales transaction—whether “sales” in your business means an outside salesperson closing a deal, someone stepping up to your cash register and handing the clerk cash, or any other way that transaction ultimately transpires—you must have systems in place that streamline the process, make it consistent, and allow you to continue to tweak it as you identify better ways to make sales happen for your company.

Some companies have just one or two sales systems in place. Others may have
dozens. Whatever your situation, see these systems as systems and treat them as systems.
Train everyone consistently in using the best practices that have been discovered and
continue to improve your sales systems as new discoveries are made.”

Questions to Help You Establish Sales Systems

1. What sales strategies do we currently have in place?
2. Are these the best possible strategies?
3. What might work better? What is worth testing?
4. What are the sales systems we currently have in place?
5. What are some ideas for systems we might test to see if we can improve the
   consistency of our sales efforts?
6. As part of my marketing budget, what expenses do I have related to my sales
   strategies and systems?
7. Is that budget where it should be?
8. Am I overspending for my return-on-investment?
9. If I invested more, would I see a greater ROI?

Budget for Your Sales Systems

“There is, of course, a cost to doing sales as well. Establish a sales expense forecast for
your business. Whether that’s travel expenses, meals, etc. for outside salespeople, costs
related to your website as a point-of-sale spot, or any other expenses related to making
sales happen for your business. These expenses will come out of the marketing budget
you’ve established. If you didn’t consider these expenses as part of your marketing
investment, go back and revise your marketing budget.”

Saturday we will conclude our examination of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

Pillar 5: Methods & Vehicles

Part 5 in our 8-part examination of Bryan Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

The 5th Pillar of Bryan Pope’s 7 Pillars describes the two key elements of a marketing campaign (pillar 4): methods and vehicles. I quote Bryan himself (with his permission) from his download and PDF An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. I strongly urge you to buy them for yourself, study each of the 7 pillars, and implement them.

Overview for Pillar 5

“If you’ve done your marketing right up to this point, you’ve done your research to
find out what your market is really looking for and what they are willing to pay for it.
You’ve developed a message and image that say to your audience, “Hey! This is where
you can get what you’re looking for!” You’ve created at least one, and perhaps multiple,
strategies that clearly state your goals and big picture plan for taking that message to your
target audience. Then you’ve looked at when to get that message out, whether that’s in
short bursts at optimum times, or ongoing for a period of time. You’ve also established
specific campaign budgets and identified the resources you’ll need to make those
campaigns happen.

If you’ve done all that—and only if you’ve done all that—are you ready to start
looking at tactics or, in my terms, methods and vehicles.”

3 Marketing Methods

“When I say “marketing methods,” I’m talking about just three things: promotion,
publicity/PR, and advertising.

1. Promotions are marketing activities designed to get the cash register ringing with a specific offer, a strong call to action, and a deadline. Those three elements create promotions.
2. Publicity and public relations are largely the exposure your company gains for free. This marketing method includes such things as distribution of press releases, public speaking opportunities, stories in publications about your company, product, or service, and so on.
3. Advertising is the one method with which we’re all quite familiar. From
   traditional media such as radio, newspaper, magazine, and television advertising, to
   billboards, to new media advertising on the internet, through texting, and so on,
   advertising is perhaps the best understood marketing method.”

Marketing Vehicles

“Now that you know what the three methods of marketing are, let’s look at some of the
vehicles that fall under those methods. This should be real eye-opener for many people
since these are the very things they think of when someone says “marketing.” Yes, these
are extremely important elements of marketing, but they, on their own, are NOT
marketing! …

You must follow The 7 Pillars completely and in proper order to gain the synergies, power, and success that are waiting for you as an enlightened marketer.

Here is a short list of some of the marketing vehicles you may use in your marketing
efforts as appropriate based on your market research, messages, strategies, campaigns,
and methods:

• referral programs
• frequent buyer clubs
• rewards programs
• contests, sweepstakes and drawings
• cross-promotions
• discount programs
• coupons
• gifts and premiums
• in-store events
• educational programs and seminars
• newspaper ads
• signage
• email
• word-of-mouth
• direct mail
• telemarketing
• bounce-back offers
• press releases
• community volunteerism
• company newsletters
• internet advertising
• blogging
• podcasting
• networking events
• banners
• joint mailings
• sponsorships
• point-of-purchase displays
• trade shows

…and the list goes on and on.

These, and many other vehicles, deliver your message and facilitate action on the part
of your audience. ”

Questions to Help You with Methods or Vehicles

• Which marketing vehicles can I use under the Publicity/Public Relations method to get my message to my target audience?
• Which marketing vehicles can I use under the Promotion method to get my message to my target audience?
• Which marketing vehicles can I use under the Advertising method to get my message
  to my target audience?
  (Remember, especially with advertising, to consider the budget you’ve established.)

“Until you’ve found some answers through addressing the first four critical areas of marketing
as represented by the first four pillars, you’re robbing yourself of every opportunity to
make your marketing as potent as it can possibly be. You’re going to spend the time and
money getting your message out there anyway. Why not do it right?'”

Read the blog on Thursday when we assess pillar 6: Sales systems

Pillar 4: Campaigns

Thank you for joining us to learn how to translate strategy into campaigns
Once you establish your marketing strategy (Pillar 3), you implement the strategy into campaigns (Pillar 4). Bryan Waldon Pope explains more about campaigns in his An Introduction to The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. You can learn more by following Bryan’s blog and buying the download.
Campaigns Turn Your Strategies into Effective Tactics
“We’re all familiar with the term “marketing campaign.” But just like “marketing
strategy,” the term “marketing campaign” is often misused and misunderstood. Once we
have established a strategy, or strategies, for our marketing efforts, we need to be able to
carry out actions that will turn those strategies into the tactics that will bring us the
success we’re seeking. This is where campaigns come into play.
A marketing campaign may consist of only one marketing method and one vehicle
delivering that message to our audience; but more often, campaigns employ multiple
marketing methods and vehicles to get our message to our intended audience.
Campaigns can be based on an event; time of the day, week, month, or year; or a
specific marketing goal. Campaigns become a handle we can attach to a group of
marketing activities that are aimed at accomplishing a specified outcome. Here are a few
examples of possible marketing campaigns:

1. A holiday sale: This type of campaign is mounted a short time before the holiday
   (unless it’s Christmas, in which case we see people beginning their campaigns earlier and
   earlier). So we may give our campaign a name like our “Annual Mother’s Day Sale” or
   the “Deer hunter Widow Sale,” a popular one in many communities for getting women to
   spend money while their husbands are away hunting with all that expensive equipment
   they bought recently.
2. A client-base building campaign: If my company were looking to add 10 new
   clients to its client base over the next six months, I might launch a campaign called my
   “Two New Clients a Month” campaign. Going back to strategy, in this scenario I’ve
   obviously set a goal to get 10 new clients in the next six months. I’ve decided that getting them at the rate of a couple a month makes the most sense. Thus, the “Two New Clients a Month” campaign.
3. End of the Month Deadline campaign: Sometimes involving your audience in your goals can be helpful. Getting client buy-in can be very powerful. One place I see this regularly is in the new car sales industry. The dealer will let his audience know he needs to move 200 new cars by the end of the month. To put a handle on it, we would probably call this our “200 Cars Must Go by the End of the Month” campaign.

Have you got the picture? I hope so. If you need more input on this, or any of The 7
Pillars, involve your marketing team or look at the specific audio program titles I’ve
produced on most of these topics. They go deeper and offer more resources for
implementation.
A few elements that will play into putting together your campaigns include creating
campaign budgets from your overall marketing budget, identifying the elements and
deliverables necessary to mount the campaign, being specific on timelines for each
campaign, and creating a campaign calendar which, for most businesses, should be
looking at least one year ahead.”
Questions to Ask Yourself About Each Campaign

• Based on the goal(s) I’ve set and the strategy(ies) I’ve devised, what is one campaign I
  can run to support my goal(s) and strategy(ies)?
• How much of my overall strategic marketing budget will I allocate for this campaign?
• What are the elements and deliverables necessary to mount this campaign?
• For example, design and print work, copywriting, mailing services, website-related work, telemarketing service, memberships in associations or organizations, and more)
• What is the timeframe/timeline for this campaign?
  

Remember to create your campaigns in advance, to the best of your ability, for at least
one year. This will result in better quality campaigns, more cohesion between campaigns,
and more control of your marketing budget. A one-year calendar is very helpful!”

Please check back on my blog on Tuesday when we discuss Pillar 5: Methods & Vehicles

Pillar 3: Strategy & Happy Thanksgiving

Welcome to the fourth of our 8-part exploration of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

Pillar 3: Strategy defines the difference between high-level strategy and operational tactics. As before, the content of this post comes directly from Bryan Pope’s An Introduction to The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. I still encourage you to buy the download and accompanying PDF, and to follow Bryan’s blog.

Devise Strategies That Support You Specific Goals

“Your marketing strategy is a high-level picture of both what you are going to
accomplish with your marketing and how you are going to do it. But again, it is high level.
Perhaps the best way to paint the picture of how marketing strategy works is to
liken it to military strategy. Just as the military has a strategy, campaigns to support that
strategy, and the tactical forces in place to carry out the campaigns, marketing, too, has
strategies, campaigns, and tactics, which I call methods and vehicles. We’ll discuss those
later on. So let’s take a look at some marketing strategies so you can get an idea of what a
proper marketing strategy might be.

Market entry strategy: One common strategy among retail store operators is to enter a new market area and low-ball prices until consumers have created new habits and traffic patterns that take them to that store on a regular basis. Once the store is established, the operators will inch up prices until they are back at a level similar to their local competitors.

Notice in that scenario we didn’t talk about when the store will open or where or how
we will get the word out to our audience letting them know about the great deals we have.
Those are all details handled by campaigns, methods, and vehicles.

Strategy is important because at times we may have multiple campaigns supporting a
given strategy, with a number of methods and vehicles supporting each campaign. If we
don’t have a targeted strategy from which we are working, it will become very easy to get
off track with any number of our marketing activities and fail to meet the goal we’ve set.
Although the following list isn’t exhaustive, these are key elements of devising
strategies that will keep our marketing efforts focused:

1. Set measurable goals: Without goals we don’t know where we’re even
   wanting to go.
2. Establish timelines and milestones: For example, suppose I established a milestone and time of increasing revenues by at least 10% over a one-year period. In that scenario, the strategy established what I’m going to do in one year’s time. However, I would need to set a monthly milestones (For example, establish a 1% increase in monthly sales) to help me know if I’m on track.
3. Set a marketing budget: When we have meaningful goals set that include timelines and milestones so we can measure our success along the way, it becomes much more realistic to set meaningful budgets. If our budget is simply based on an arbitrary number, how do we know it will support our strategies?
4. The Path to Advocacy: This is a system that is compatible with any contact management software program (or even paper-based system) that will help you strategically advance people from being leads and contacts, to being qualified prospects, then clients. One of the best things about the Path to Advocacy is that it helps you create advocates out of your clients as well as those who are not, and may never be, your clients. It’s something you really should check into!”

Questions to Ask Yourself to Establish Your Market Strategy

• What is (are) my specific and measurable goal(s) with respect to the profit center I’m
  working on?
• What is the timeframe for the accomplishment of this (these) goal(s)?
• What milestones can I establish that will help me know if I’m on track?
• What is my marketing budget to support this effort?
• What is my product/service offering strategy?
• What is my price strategy?
• What is my placement/distribution strategy?
• Do I have the Path to Advocacy model instituted in my business?

The strategy pillar is also where we address elements related to the strategic makeup
of our products or services, the placement of those products or services, and our pricing
models—all, of course, based on the market research we’ve already done. Do you see
how this approach to marketing builds on itself? Every piece of the puzzle has its place,
and it is only with all the pieces in place that we create a complete marketing picture.

Please read Thursday’s post about how to translate your strategy into marketing campaigns

Pillar 2: The Right Message

This is the third in an 8-part examination of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

I want to remind you that the content from today’s blog comes directly from Bryan Pope’s  An Introduction to The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Once again, I encourage you to buy the download and accompanying PDF. Listen to it multiple times and build your marketing plan using the 7 pillars to guide you. I also encourage you to check Bryan’s marketing blog.

Project a Message that will Drive Clients to Your Business

“Projecting the right message means more than just having a catchy slogan or a sharp
advertising campaign. It begins with a Unique Market Positioning Statement (UMPS)
that identifies clearly what your business is about. This statement acts as the foundation
for all your marketing messages, creating a cohesive image that adds impact to your
efforts delivered through various channels. If you have the right message, everything
from your advertisements and promotions, to the way you answer your phone, to the
experience people enjoy consistently when they are in the course of doing business with
you build on each other and build awareness in the minds of your clients and prospects.

Other elements of developing the right message include having a name and company
image that are consistent with what you are offering and don’t leave people wondering
who or what you might be. Too many people—especially small business owners—tend to
want to become clever with their name, graphical images (logos, business cards,
websites, etc.), and other identifying elements of their businesses. If a play on words or
other device works, no problem. But far too often these witty approaches require
explanation which takes away from their effectiveness. Remember the market research
pillar? It has many uses. Use it to make sure your company name, logo, and other image related
elements really say what you do!”

How to Develop The Right Message

“Your UMPS is built by answering the following questions and then stringing the
answers together into a brief paragraph. While your UMPS will never be used in its raw
form as a marketing message, it will provide a benchmark against which to check all your
marketing messages to see that you are consistently building a brand and appropriate
image for your company. The questions are:

• Who are we? (Do people know us by our company name? A brand name?)
• What do we do? (What solutions do we provide for our clients?)
• Who are our clients? (Build a brief and pointed profile.)
• What need/want do we fill? (If there’s no motivation, there’s no sale!)
• Who are our competitors? (Who is vying for the same dollars we are?)
• Why would someone do business with us? What sets us apart from others?

In addition, ask yourself these questions to enhance the right message (Hint: Use your marketing team to help you answer these questions!)

• Is our company’s name and logo consistent with what we offer? Is it clear?
• Is there a better name and/or image for our business?
• Do our prospects and clients enjoy a consistent, positive experience when interacting with our company and its people? If not, how can we change to make this the case?

Above all, the right message is all about creating a consistent, positive experience for
your clients and potential clients. The activities and elements included in this effort are
numerous. Be aware of this issue and you’ll begin seeing many places in your business
where you are not projecting a consistent message—or even the right message.”

Join me again on Thursday to discover the power of the 3rd pillar marketing strategy

Pillar 1: Market Research

This continues our 8-part series on Bryan Pope’s “The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing”

The following comes from Bryan Waldon Pope’s An Introduction to the 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing. Once again, I suggest you purchase the download from Bryan’s web site and follow his blog.

Introduction to Pillar 1: Market Research

“Engaging in market research will begin with establishing a marketing team and
completing a SWOT analysis. Establishing your marketing team is essential to everything
else you do, and it isn’t difficult or costly. Your SWOT analysis (that’s Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) will become an important planning tool in your
marketing.

Most small business owners think market research is too expensive or the results of
such efforts are useless to their business activities. There are simple and cost-effective
ways to determine why your clients do business with you, why your competitors’ clients
do business with them and how to win the long-term loyalty of more of those people in
both camps. Ongoing market research is a vital part of any serious marketing effort.

Under this pillar, we also complete primary and secondary market research. Primary
market research is research you do yourself, directly with your audience of clients or
potential clients. Secondary market research is research that has been conducted by
another party, then sought out by you. Examples of secondary market research include
information from the census, information provided by trade associations, and information
available from list companies. Primary market research can include surveys conducted by
your company, sampling events, and so on.”

Simple Way to Start

“A simple way to begin using market research as a tool for directing your marketing
efforts is to survey your existing clients. A simple survey conducted at the completion of
rendering a service or delivering a product can let you know if you are offering the
products/services that best meet your clients’ needs. Based on the feedback received, you
have the opportunity to adjust your offerings to better meet the needs and wants of your
clients.

You can also simply ask your clients why they do business with you. You may be
surprised at some of the answers you receive. Make sure you take them into consideration
as you develop your messaging, strategies, and campaigns. One other method I like as a
starting point for getting into the mode of being research-minded is to ask clients this
question: “If you were CEO of our company for one day and could make any change or
enhancement you wanted, what would it be?” This approach tends to open people’s
minds up a little more and really share what they are thinking and feeling.

Keep surveys brief and make the information gathered applicable to your specific
goals. The less questions asked and the less personal the information, the greater the
response. Strike a balance that allows you to discover those issues important to you while
leaving your client feeling comfortable. Remember, in-person or on-phone surveys are
considerably more effective than written surveys.”

Begin to Build Pillar 1: Market Research

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I currently have an operable, knowledgeable marketing team?
• Have I recently completed a SWOT analysis for my company?
• Do I actively conduct meaningful market research with both my existing clients and my prospective clients?

(If you answered “No” to any of the above questions get hold of Bryan’s audio programs on these specific topics and turn those No's into Yeses!)

• What questions would I ask my existing clients?
• What questions would I ask my potential clients?
• Areas I feel I have covered well with regard to market research?
• Areas I need to work on with regard to market research?

I hope you act upon this first pillar to enhance your marketing and increase your revenues.

Join my on Tuesday when we explore pillar 2 The Right Message

The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

This begins a 8-part series on Bryan Waldon Pope’s The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing
Bryan Waldon Pope is the architect for The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing and the founder of The Abundance Group. I have known Bryan for almost a decade. I subscribe to his monthly download on marketing and team building. His concepts helped me improve my job and my business. His techniques helped me quadruple attendance at our events and maintain desired levels for 6 years.
An Introduction
The comments below all come from Bryan’s An Introduction to The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing.
“The 7 Pillars of Successful MarketingTM is a system that has been developed over the
past two decades that works with literally any business, of any size, in any industry. And
the reason this is true is that it isn’t a pre-packaged marketing plan or any other such
thing. It’s a principle-based framework that gives you all the tools and direction you need
to develop marketing activities that perfectly fit your exacting needs while improving
your marketing impact and increasing your marketing return-on-investment. This is
exciting, timely, useful, very down-to-earth information that, when applied as directed,
will change your confidence level, action intensity, and success rate in all your marketing
endeavors.”
“Before we go any further, let’s get on the same page as to what marketing is. There
are many definitions of marketing floating around in the business world. Most people’s
view of marketing is based on their past experiences in marketing, so their views are
limited to those aspects of marketing with which they are familiar. I’ve found the more
encompassing one’s view of marketing, the more successful that individual’s marketing
efforts. Based on that belief, my definition of marketing is this:
Marketing is a composite of activities focused on:
• identifying the wants and needs of your clients and potential clients,
• modeling a solution to meet those wants and needs,
• attracting and converting your audience, and
• retaining your clients by filling their wants and needs again and again.”
The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing

1. Market Research: Offer exactly what your market is looking for
2. The Right Message: Project a message that will drive clients to your business
3. Strategy: Devise strategies that support your specific goals
4. Campaigns: Develop & implement campaigns that turn your strategies into effective tactics
5. Methods & Vehicles: Wisely use marketing Methods & Vehicles that support your message and strategy
6. Sales: Increase your revenues using consistent sales systems
7. Client Retention: Create client allegiance and predictable repeat revenue patterns

There you have The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing as designed by Bryan Waldon Pope.I plan to add detail to one pillar at a time for the next seven posts. You can develop your marketing plan if you complete the exercises for each pillar. In addition, you can buy the 7 Pillars from Bryan. I also suggest that you follow Bryan’s Blog.
I hope you sense the simplicity of this system that builds on itself to provide you with more revenues and less stress. As Bryan says “Here’s to your marketing success!”
Join me Saturday to learn more about the first pillar “Market Research”

Home, Suites, Facilities, or Offshore

Every business owner must determine where to locate the business. In the past, industrial companies required large plants, heavy capital, and factories. Location, location, and location still proves the success of storefront companies in spite of today’s internet stores and shopping carts.

Today, however, business owners may select from a variety of location options. We’ll examine just a few in today’s post.

Base Your Business at Home

You may choose to run your business from your home for the first several years. Several types of businesses do not require a location for clients to visit or a facility to manufacture products. Basing your business at home reduces overhead, but may create other challenges. For example, young families may distract you from business tasks. Isolation also affects business owners who work alone at home. Creativity and synergy decrease from the lack of people in the facility.

Shared Suites/Business Incubators

Many communities now offer shared suites. The shared suites are owned and possibly managed by one company. Different business owners lease an office in the shared suite. Other business owners also lease offices in the suite. The management company provides shared clerical staff, equipment, conference or training rooms to each business owner. Some suites even let business owners lease the offices for just hours a week instead of full-time.

Manufacturing or Office Facilities

Many office and manufacturing companies look forward to moving into big beautiful facilities as soon as possible. Some jump prematurely into expensive facilities they don’t need, nor afford. I do not dispute that some businesses require stores, factories, or offices. If so, they should identify the best possible facility with the right location and the right price. However, if you absolutely do not require a big facility, wait until you need to invest in the big office or plant. Always use a good real estate agent or property management company to consult with you on major property decisions.

Offshoring or Outsourcing

Offshoring or outsourcing provides another option for business owners. Manufacturing companies may find low personnel costs in Asia or locations. Yet, sometimes tariffs, patent and copyright differences, and cultural challenges eliminate possible cost savings. Nevertheless, contracting with other companies to provide call center, customer support, manufacturing, production, and other services. You can find additional information about each type of company through their respective associations.

Other options for physical facilities exist for business owners. I suggest you consult with a facilities consultant from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), and real estate professionals. Explore well before you sign a contract.

Leadership Skills Develop Careers

This begins a multi-part series examining how—& which—leadership skills develop your career

Exhibiting current and potential leadership provides an excellent path to career growth. You can exert leadership as both a formal and informal leader. Your leadership may be a positive or a negative influence on the work team or organization. You may yearn to lead. You may resist leadership with all your might. Whatever you choose, leadership will affect your career growth.

Over the next few weeks we will examine various traits of leadership. Our study will include reviewing concepts presented by Bill George, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, Paul Thompson, Gene Dalton, and other experts on leadership. We will explore the differences between leadership and management that will help you comprehend the differences between Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Operating Officers (COOs).

In addition, we will delve into the roles of leadership including establishing the vision for the organization, adopting and adapting the corporate culture, formulating and implementing strategy, evaluating and improving performance. Once again, we will refer to prominent studies and publications for you to study to better understand these roles.

Finally, we will discuss the models and tools leaders use to enhance and improve the organizations and teams they lead. Tools will include:

• Bill George’s True North or Model for Authentic Leadership
• Clawson’s Level Three Leadership
• Six Steps to Effective Leadership
• Agle’s Stakeholder Salience model
• Kotter’s Model for Leading Change
• Principle Centered Leadership
• Jim Collins theories on Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Great Have Fallen
• RACI, SWOT, and Structure Analysis
• McKenzie’s Seven S Model
• Porter’s Five Forces
• Principle Based Negotiation

These concept will enhance your career, earn the biggest raises, and obtain the best promotions. I recognize that they will not apply to all of you at this time. They may in the future. For some of you they may help you understand management better, while you never pursue a career in management or leadership.

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy our exploration of management and leadership.