Up and Running Blog

December 2010

Nonprofits, Get Over it: You Need to Plan, Too

by Tim Berry on December 3, 2010

Hmm . I’m guessing it wasn’t just random that planning for nonprofits came up a lot this week while I was traveling and talking to several entrepreneurship leaders and mentors. I don’t have data, just a hunch gathered from talking and tweeting and reading, but it seems like nonprofits, social enterprises and the like are appearing faster than regular for-profit businesses.

I just finished a whirlwind speaking trip that included both the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame and the Disney Entrepreneurship Center in Orlando. It was too quick a trip but, in both places, I was dealing with smart, hard-working leaders who are doing a ton of good for the entrepreneurs they lead. Both Laura Hollis (who leads the Gigot Center) and Jerry Ross (who leads the Disney Entrepreneur Center) shared the same thought, which I’ve summarized here in my words, not theirs:

Nonprofits, you need to get over your mental block about business planning, business, and management.  Your success or failure is as much related to management, metrics, planning, and accountability as all those other organizations. You manage money. Your mission depends on it. You need planning to manage changing strategy, missions and meanings translated to metrics, allocating resources, working towards priorities, managing people, and getting things done. You don’t need just a business plan; you need that plus a planning process to keep the plan live and growing and changing.

Forget the myth of the one-time-use business plan document you do once to overcome a hurdle. Think instead about that plan which lives on your computer and gets reviewed and revised regularly. Call it a live plan. Use it to manage and steer your organization. Use it to optimize your efforts and the causes you serve.

Would you take a trip without planning it first? Would you not revise the plan if a flight gets canceled? Why then would you run an organization without planning?

{ 0 comments }

Marketing is NOT Advertising, Emails and Postcards!

by Carolyn Higgins on December 1, 2010

Article by Carolyn Higgins

If I were to ask 100 people to define “Marketing” I’d probably get 100 different answers. The problem is “Marketing” has become a nice little euphemism for dirty words like “advertising”, “sales”, and “diSimple Marketing Ideasrect mail”.

I’ve also noticed that all a sudden everyone is a Marketer: I met a guy the other day who makes signs – he introduced himself as a “Marketer”. Then I met a woman who sells online ads, she also identified as a “Marketer”. Everywhere I go I run into people who at first- glance do what I do, but when I dig a little deeper I learn they’re really selling some marketing tool; not actually engaging in the bigger picture – or the process and planning of Marketing.

I’ve been able to forgive sellers of marketing tools for calling themselves Marketers – I mean, everyone is doing it. But then I read an article by the CEO of a very well-known company that is a provider of Marketing tools (they call themselves “Marketers” too). In his article he addressed the question, “Isn’t Marketing and Advertising the same thing?” His response was, “Well, not really. Let me explain the differences. Advertising includes: commercials, billboards, radio, and newspapers. Marketing includes: emails, letters, postcards, and fax.” WHAT??? (Ok, in all fairness, he wrote Marketing “includes” not marketing “is”, but still, he used this example to answer the question, “how are Marketing and Advertising different?”, which leads me to believe that’s the basis on which he differentiates them.)

OK – clearly there is a lot of confusion out there. Marketing and Advertising are NOT the same. Advertising is NOT Marketing. Post cards are NOT Marketing. Signs are NOT Marketing. Emails are NOT Marketing. These are tools used in the process of Marketing. They are NOT, in of themselves “Marketing”.

So then, what is Marketing?

Wikipedia - Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development.[1] It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.[1]

American Marketing Association (AMA) – Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Notice that neither of these definitions includes the words “email”, “advertising”, or “post cards”? That’s because those things are merely the tools used to create customer interest, engage them and get them to want to buy from us. Take a look at the AMA definition, they state that Marketing is more than the activity of marketing (i.e.: emailing) – it is the set of institutions and the processes for generating interest.

I want you to be aware. We all know we need Marketing, but be smart; learn what that really means and don’t just trust any salesperson who calls themselves a marketer and walks into your shop selling the marketing idea of the week. Marketing is a process – it’s not a one-time deal. Buying an ad or a sign or an email campaign without an overall strategy or plan is simply a waste of time and money. Educate yourself – take the time to learn and invest in your business wisely.

Bottom line: Marketing is strategy. It’s an all-encompassing, planning, scheduling, studying, figuring-stuff-out, researching, testing, and practicing strategy. And I don’t mean a strategy for getting a 20% response rate on an email campaign, 100 coupons from a print ad, or 20 referrals from your referral group. Marketing is bigger than that – much bigger. And when done right it will give you bigger results than you’ve ever imagined!

For more information about marketing strategy and planning, visit http://FortuneMarketingCompany.com.

ducttapemarketingbadge Carolyn Higgins is the President and founder of Fortune Marketing Company. Her personal mission is to help small businesses stop wasting money on advertising and promotions that don’t deliver and help you implement an effective marketing system that will bring you more customers – consistently.

For more information about Carolyn Higgins and Fortune Marketing Company please visit http://www.FortuneMarketingCompany.com.
Email chiggins@fortunemarketingcompany.com or call us at 707.718.4489.

{ 5 comments }

What Really Causes Business Failures?

by Tim Berry on December 1, 2010

What causes business failure? Tough question. And it’s very hard to answer, because there’s so much misinformation and questionable research.

Just think about it: to really answer that question you’d have to start with a random list of business failures. Where would you get that? Then you’d have to investigate each one and figure out the real cause. The owners wouldn’t always know for sure, and even when they did know, they might not tell the researchers. Poor product, poor service, lack of financial planning, no real market, unforeseen competition, changes in fashion, lack of resolve … maybe not doing the work, trusting vendors too much … how often do you think there’s just a single cause?

Still, we throw these statements around as if we knew. Yesterday I got a sales email with the subject line (direct quote):

How to prevent the #1 Cause of Business Failure

And the lead-in (also a direct quote):

According to the SBA, the #1 reason why entrepreneurs fail to launch and grow successful businesses is simple… “LACK OF FUNDING”

I ask you: How useless and obvious is that supposed fact? Isn’t it like saying the cause of death is lack of breathing? And what good is it, except possibly to sell something to small business owners.

I don’t blame the SBA for the sales email here. The SBA does tons of good research and gets misquoted, or misinterpreted, all the time. And I don’t even blame the author of the email, because it’s a useful lead-in to what they’re selling. I assume (I didn’t click to watch). It’s just that the so-called cause of failure is so trivially obvious that it bugs me.

One of my personal favorites on this subject is a list from several years ago that puts started for the wrong reasons as the first on a list of seven causes. That captures the real essence of the problem: the businesses fail because people discover it wasn’t what they thought it would be. Author Patricia Schneider wrote:

“Would the sole reason you would be starting your own business be that you would want to make a lot of money? Do you think that if you had your own business that you’d have more time with your family? Or maybe that you wouldn’t have to answer to anyone else? If so, you’d better think again.”

I believe she has a really good point. Is it a business failure when you start the wrong journey for the wrong reason, with the wrong expectations, and then eventually stop?

I think lists can be useful when they generate thought. But when you get these lists, like supposed causes of business failure, turn them back onto your own specific case and see what applies to you and your business. Then discount the rest.

{ 0 comments }

Newer Posts »