December 2009

Project Management for Marketing

by Guest Author on December 11, 2009

Project management is critical in manufacturing, event planning, software development… but did you know it’s just as important in marketing?

Joe Dager puts it this way:

“The purpose of a project plan in marketing is to coordinate many of the uncertain activities that happen. And possibly more importantly, a good project plan will coordinate the activities of your resource requirements. Not everything will be predictable, but if we can make even some of the unpredictable predictable, we will increase the likelihood of success.”

Read more about improving your marketing efforts in the full article on Mplans.com: Can Your Marketing be Effective Without Project Management?

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A Wise Woman on Which Business to Start

by Tim Berry on December 11, 2009

When people ask me which business to start, as if one business is generically better than another, or which business is something you could pick off of a list, I always say, “Look in the mirror,” meaning that the best business to start depends on who you are, what your resources are and so forth. But I have to say that Pamela Slim puts a lot more thought into that idea, plus, better still, a methodology, in “How to Choose a Business to Start” on the American Express OPEN Forum.

I highly recommend it. She’s got it down to a logical process, which still respects the basic truth that the answer is different for everybody. Your answer is unique to you. You should read that post.

I like her conclusion:

The only way to guarantee failure in business is to never move your ideas out of your head and into the real world. So get moving, and if one idea doesn’t work, move on to the next.

But don’t just read the conclusion here, click the link, read the whole thing there.

Pamela Slim is the author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, which I’ve recommended highly, including in my post about business books yesterday.

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The Blog Week in Review — 12/10/09

by Jay Snider on December 10, 2009

Which Comes First: Plan or Pitch? — You might think you can pitch your business idea without having a plan. Tim Berry explains why that’s not a good idea.

How a Business is Learning What Small Businesses Want to Learn — Asking your customers what they’re looking for can help you develop or improve your product or build new business.

Startups: Unique and Revolutionary, or Forget It? — Does a new venture have to be groundbreaking to be worthwhile?

Get an Evergreen for Your Blog This Holiday Season — If you have a blog, you want to read this post about how to create an “evergreen” post — one that readers will keep coming back to again and again.

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Small Business Trends' Best Books 2009

by Tim Berry on December 10, 2009

This is a great list. If you are an entrepreneur, or want to become one, you want to be familiar with the Small Business Trends blog by Anita Campbell and a team of others (disclosure: including me, although I haven’t been posting there as often as I wish). It has a wide spread of coverage, good information and a well-deserved great reputation.

I’m reminded today because of this list of The Best Small Business Books of 2009. Yes, I might be biased by being one of the editors’ choice judges, but I still think it is an excellent blog.

There are 12 books on the list. However, I want to call out my three favorites. These are as they appeared in Small Business Trends, so the rest of this post (except for links to my reviews) is directly quoted from Small Business Trends:

Escape from Cubicle Nation–Pamela Slim writes a guide for aspiring entrepreneurs still stuck in corporate jobs or who recently left. Read my review. Read the Small Business Trends review.

Why Read This Book: It’s a road map for getting yourself out of that corporate cubicle and into your own startup.
Key Take-Away: If you think that corporate life is killing you, it probably is. Staying where you are will not make you successful–you have to make a change to be successful.

Greening Your Small Business–Learn how making your business green isn’t just trendy, but cost-effective. Jennifer Kaplan explores how and why to weave green practices into your business. Read my review.

Why Read This Book: Today’s consumer sees eco-friendliness and “green” as a reason to buy from you.
Key Take-Away: There are literally hundreds MORE green tips out there than “recycle.” Switching to internet apps is just one unexpected example.

Me 2.0–No matter your status in the world of work–employed, unemployed, business owner, consultant or freelancer–your personal brand will determine your ultimate success. Written by Dan Schawbel, publisher of Personal Branding Magazine. Read my review. Read the Small Business Trends review.

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Email bridges the gap in Copenhagen

by Jason Gallic on December 9, 2009

If the health of our planet is of interest to you, then the next two weeks are as important as any in history, as told by Connie Hedegaard.

The incoming president of COP15, the United Nation’s conference on climate change, does not mince words about the crucial nature of this global gathering. In an article on the conference’s website, she said that if the world fails to deliver a political agreement at the conference, which runs from Dec. 7-18 in Copenhagen, Denmark, it will be “the whole global democratic system not being able to deliver results in one of the defining challenges of our century.”

Bringing human reform to such a tenuous facet of life may be the task with which the political officials in attendance are charged, but pushing that agenda down through the layers of everyday human life is quite another matter.

And this is a matter in which Email Center Pro is about to get intimately involved. Palo Alto Software’s collaborative email platform will take center stage at the conference, helping to eliminate the barriers that once existed between the people with deep knowledge about climate issues — the scientists — and those whose job it is to share that knowledge with the world — the journalists.

Working with the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the worldwide scientific organization advancing Earth and space research, Email Center Pro is provisioning its centralized, collaborative framework to accommodate the 700+ scientists from around the globe who will answer questions directly from journalists 24 hours/day for the duration of the conference. The scientists are scheduled to attend to email communication in two-hour stints.

For the AGU, this is a terrific opportunity to deliver the scientists’ wisdom — by providing journalists with unimpeded access — to those most in need of it: the planet’s inhabitants.

For Email Center Pro, which is hosted on the Internet, this represents an opportunity to prove much of its intrinsic value: the organization of communication and the chance to facilitate the mission critical development of a dynamic community. Conversations between scientists and journalists will take place around the clock and originate at points worldwide — and yet be virtually instantaneous. At the same time they are not so instantaneous that scientists aren’t allowed time to carefully consider replies to questions.

The conference will not only highlight the advantages of Email Center Pro, but also the continued viability of email as a communication vehicle. The benefits of instant messaging, screen sharing and video conferencing are well documented and true. But because it doesn’t demand the same kind of presence as those services, email still carries the load when it comes to flexibility.

COP15, and the subsequent AGU Fall Meeting being held Dec. 14-18 in San Francisco, are set to prove that.

Jason Gallic
Product Marketing Manager
Email Center Pro Guru

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Lead or Stand Aside

by Joe Costantino on December 9, 2009

I don’t mean to get carried away with the title of this post, but since reading John Maxwell’s book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I’m convinced that one of the key factors to being a successful business owner is becoming a better leader.

Here’s the good news – becoming a better leader is a learned behavior, just like most other skills we learn.

So, what exactly is this thing we call leadership? What does it look like?

According to John Maxwell “leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” Leadership may come in all shapes and sizes, but it only comes from influence, and that can’t be mandated by a title, position or knowledge. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time – either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.

I believe leadership is misunderstood. Many people mistakenly believe that by being a business owner or entrepreneur, you are automatically a leader. Nothing, in my opinion can be further from the truth. To be truly successful, a business owner needs to develop (and continue to develop) the necessary skills to influence not only the people in their organization, but their prospects and customers.

So what are some of the key elements of effective leadership?

Relationships - Effective leaders are able to develop relationships – the stronger the relationship, the more potential for effective leadership.
Knowledge - Information is critical to the success of a leader. Knowledge alone won’t make someone a leader, but without knowledge, no one can become a successful leader.
Intuition - Effective leaders have a “gut” instinct when it comes to putting their “finger on the pulse” of others’ feelings, morale and energy.
Past Success - Nothing is more important to a person’s ability to lead than their track record of accomplishment or for getting the job done.

Here’s a quick method to access what factors you rely upon to persuade people to follow you. For the following factors listed below, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10. (1 means it’s not a factor while a 10 means you rely on it continually)

Character – who you are
Relationships – who you know
Knowledge – what you know
Intuition – what you feel
Experience – where you’ve been
Past Success – what you’ve done
Ability - what you can do

Now, try to determine ways to better utilize the factors with low scores.

ducttapemarketingbadge Joe Costantino is owner of Business Marketing Success in Boston, a marketing company that helps professional service firms learn how to effectively market their businesses with a step-by-step marketing system. He is also a certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach and East Coast Regional Guide assisting in recruitment and training of new Duct Tape Marketing coaches. Joe also provides keynotes, seminars and workshops on a number of marketing topics. You can learn more about Joe at www.businessmarketingsuccess.com or by e-mail at joe@businessmarketingsuccess.com

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Do You Know These Myths of Owning a Business?

by Tim Berry on December 9, 2009

I read “Myths Of Owning A Small Business” on Forbes.com the other day. It’s a good read, based on an interview with Anand Sanwal. Here are some highlights, along with my comments.

1. Myth: Entrepreneurs are risk-taking visionaries. Actually, as it turns out, we’re driven to something better, but we like to plan carefully and take precautions.

2. Myth: The idea is more important than the details. My sentiments exactly. I’ve posted about this one a lot on this blog. For example, “The idea and 2 dollars gets you a cup of coffee”. And so on.

3. Myth: Jealously guard your idea, lest someone might steal it. I’m not so sure. Forbes says:

Truth: You may be onto something, but you surely don’t have all the answers (if you even knew to ask all the right questions). “While you don’t want to put your entire business plan on the internet, entrepreneurs who do their homework look to a relatively large but select number of people to talk through their ideas,” says Reid Hoffman, founder and chief executive of LinkedIn.com.

I say it’s not that simple. You can’t get paranoid about an idea: If you need investors, you have to talk about it. Real investors don’t steal ideas, they want teams to build companies, not ideas. On the other hand, most ideas are bouncing around for a while, and you’re in competition with other people who have the same idea. Don’t make it simple. Share carefully, and only with people who can give you something back in return (like help, feedback, etc.)

4. Myth: Your business plan must be rock solid from the get-go. No, not really. That’s why I keep saying your business plan is wrong, but vital, because you build it as you go.

5. Myth: Passion will get you there. Of course the truth is that passion isn’t enough. You need to offer value, and implement and so on. I like the way Forbes says it:

Passion can ease the pain of 15-hour days. It can galvanize employees and win over customers. In some cases, it can even enthrall deep-pocketed investors. But it is no silver bullet.

6. Myth: You can set your own schedule. Yeah, right, I say; unless you have clients or customers. Forbes quotes Mike Zaya, chief executive of PrintRunner:

“You have to be the first man in and last man out on any given day.”

7. Myth: There’s glory in it. Well, sometimes . . . on the good days, maybe. Forbes says, though, “For all its rewards, entrepreneurship can also feel like a thankless job.”

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Professional Writer Uses Professional Tools — A Business Plan Pro Success Story

by Jay Snider on December 8, 2009

James P. Shelley

James P. Shelley creates business documents for a living. He writes full business plans, financial plans, summaries, even Web copy and employee/employer documents (like employee manuals). He works with startups and ongoing businesses to craft their documents, and explains, “my specialty is to work with principals and key employees of existing businesses of all types to create changes that will help them reach their next level of organization, leadership, and performance, and to improve their profitability.”

Back in 1996, Jim was launching a health information consulting company with a few partners, and used Business Plan Pro to write the plan for that business. Since then, he has used several versions of the software to write plans for his own businesses, as well as all business and financial plans he writes for his clients. “I like the simplicity of Business Plan Pro,” he notes.

“In 2004 I engineered my own business plan for a venture separate from my writing business. The lending institution told me that it was one of the best plans they had ever seen; very detailed and easy to understand. This resulted in a business loan that included the purchase of a business and the associated real property.”

A business plan is an important document, according to Jim, because it helps to determine if a business idea will work. “Many people have great business ideas, but until everything is fleshed out — until they look at how all the numbers gel together — it’s a guessing game.” But almost as important as the plan is for determining the course of the business for the business owner, is the tremendous impact it has on lenders and investors. “Having a properly prepared business plan has ensured my clients present their ideas to the proper people in a proper format. It must be perfect. There is no un-ringing the bell.”

Writing a business plan is an everyday thing for Jim, but he experiences the same difficulties as anyone who sits down to the task. “The biggest challenge of engineering a business plan without Business Plan Pro is the financial plan component. Engineering a financial plan as comprehensive as that in Business Plan Pro, using a workbook with spreadsheets, is simply too time consuming.” He tells the story of a client who handed him a bundle of 36 spreadsheets, prepared by a CPA. Though it was challenging, he was able to cull the information from all those sheets and use Business Plan Pro to create a finished product that made his client happy. “I’m not a CPA, but when everything folded together in Business Plan Pro, the end result was a comprehensive financial plan easily understood by most any banker.”

While the financial tools were his favorite part of the software, he says the flow of the program was really helpful as well. “The outline feature is very appealing. I like to see where I’ve been, where I’m going, and enjoy being guided towards a conclusion. I also like the review feature… which identifies the success or failure of your work.”

One feature of Business Plan Pro that Jim doesn’t use is the plan versus actual comparison. Since he’s writing the plans for other people, he doesn’t usually have the opportunity to follow up. “However, for my clients, I encourage them to purchase Business Plan Pro Premier Edition so they can use that feature once they’ve established their business.”

Jim has been writing business plans for clients for over four years, and says he has not written any of them without Business Plan Pro. “While I consider myself very organized, I found the intuitiveness of Business Plan Pro quite appealing. It really is a smart approach to engineering such an important document.”

Before starting his writing business, Jim says he labored in the corporate world — “Been there, done that.” He finds a great deal of satisfaction in what he’s doing now. “I enjoy helping people identify, reach, and enjoy their hopes, dreams, and aspirations through proper planning.”

Check out Jim’s website for more about what he does, samples of his work, or to contact him directly.

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Startups: Unique and Revolutionary, or Forget It?

by Tim Berry on December 8, 2009

Here’s a question I got yesterday in e-mail:

I’m 25. I have a good degree, I did OK with my own online business, and then I did really well in a dealership, brick and mortar, selling major brands. But I want to go back and start my own thing again, only slightly different than where I’ve been working. Is this entrepreneurial? Is it worth opening “another” dealership only because you believe you are better at marketing and offering SLIGHTLY different product delivery? Should new ventures be saved for only the unique and revolutionary?

I love this question, because I get it so often, and it’s based on one of the biggest misunderstandings there is in small business. You don’t have to be first to be a success. You don’t have to be unique. You don’t have to be revolutionary.

What you do have to do, however, is give people value. Give them a reason to buy from you instead of from somebody else. You have to show up, open the doors, answer the phone calls, solve the problems and do whatever marketing you need so that people know it. How’s that for unique and revolutionary?

Think about this one: How many graphic artists are there? Or restaurants, shoe stores, bookstores, doctors, lawyers, butchers, bakers and so on. And yet people still keep starting new ones, and succeeding. People keep changing from old ones to new ones.

(Image: Kelly Talele/istockphoto)

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How a Business is Learning What Small Businesses Want to Learn

by Marketing Masters on December 7, 2009

One of our favourite clients is a business training centre at a local college. For the past few months, we’ve been working with their team to find out what small business owners want most from training, and how they want to receive it.

We began by doing a telephone survey. It was illuminating to see how extremely satisfied the training centre’s clients are with the great customer service they get from the staff, and a bit daunting to think that we could help grow such a well-established business even more.

We could have asked a standard question like, “Is (subject) of interest to you?” or “Do you or your employees need training in anything?” …but our work with entrepreneurs has shown us that the answer to this question is usually “No. I don’t have time.”

We ended up asking “What topics would be worth taking time off from your business to learn about?”

Small business owners told us they would indeed take time off work if they could learn: a better way to find new customers; stay ahead of their competition; and spend marketing money more effectively.

This was a great start. But these topics cover a lot of territory and the training centre wisely wanted to do further research to hone the new offerings. To do that, they decided to offer a series of free seminars to businesses in three separate regions, teaming up with partners in each area.

The seminars will be samplings of the broader courses they are considering offering at the centre. They will gauge interest in the topics via the number who enroll for the seminars, and circulate a questionnaire to gather even more information. They will also ask for permission to continue sending information to participants.

The results should provide guidance on what courses to offer and what kind of businesses will be interested in each. Further, the seminars will kindle interest in training in those companies that participate.

Sampling is a standard strategy in package goods marketing. This project by a training centre shows how the same technique can be used to develop or improve a product and build new business.

ducttapemarketingbadge Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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