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The Process of Planning

by Chelle Parmele on October 14, 2011

When is a plan not a plan? When it’s a tool.

Perhaps the most important factor in achieving your desired result and turning your plan into a management tool is regularly reviewing the plan.

In the final two videos of Tim Berry’s video series on how to write a successful business plan, he talks about the actual heart and soul of business planning.

It’s not in the number of pages you have, or in how the finished product looks, or even if everything is spelled right. It’s in its ongoing success. Were you able to take your thoughts, ideas, forecasts and plans and make them work? Did your work on the original plan give you the proper base from which to continue your business by making adjustments, setting goals and milestones and achieving them as close as possible to what you’d planned?

This is the key.

A business plan is never done.


(If you can’t see the videos above, you can view them on our how to write a business plan video page)

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It’s all about the money, money, money!

by Chelle Parmele on October 13, 2011

Tim has taken us through what a business plan is, how to just jump in and get started, how to hone your strategy and focus… now it’s time for the reason why you started a business in the first place. Money!

Knowing how much money you have and how much you need are two important parts of a successful plan and a successful business. But just as important is forecasting out your sales.  According to Tim Berry, good forecasts are created by forming well organized, educated guesses based on research and past results. In other words -  it’s okay to be wrong in your forecasting! But make sure you pay attention to where you were off and why. That will help you make better guesses in the future!

(If you can’t see the videos above, you can view them on our how to write a business plan video page)

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Crafting and Developing Your Business Plan

by Chelle Parmele on October 11, 2011

We’re continuing the series from Tim Berry on how to write a successful business plan.

Yesterday we learned the basics and how to get going, today Tim talks you through narrowing your focus and strategy.

I’ve learned a lot from Tim over the years, and this quote from him is something I’ve found myself passing along to others – “You don’t write your plan in the same order that somebody would read it.”   It’s one of those things that after you hear, you totally get. Of course you wouldn’t write a summary of your plan first thing! And yet, that’s where so many people seem to start.  Check out the next two video’s from Tim below.

(If you can’t see the videos above, you can view them on our how to write a business plan video page)

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Creating a Successful Business Plan

by Chelle Parmele on October 10, 2011

Business planning is about determining your business future.

Where do you want your business to go?
Where should it be in three years?
What are the steps to get there?

Wouldn’t it be great if you had someone who could help you through the hard parts of business planning? Maybe give you a guiding hand in the how and why of it all?

This week we’re going to be posting Tim’s popular business planning video series.

Tim has spent years studying and honing his process of writing successful plans. And he’s passing that knowledge on to you.

We’re starting with the first two videos.


(If you can’t see the videos above, you can view them on our how to write a business plan video page)

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6 Secrets to Creating an Amazing Small Business Website

by Carolyn Higgins on March 17, 2011

Finally, small business owners everywhere realize they need an online presence if they are going to compete in today’s world. Small business owners who just a year ago adamantly argued that their customers aren’t using the web are now jumping on board and admitting – yes, indeed they are.

But slapping up a website just for the sake of having a website can defeat the purpose – and can even harm your image if it isn’t done right.

If you’re thinking about creating a website – or even if you already have one – follow these 6 rules to make it the effective and powerful marketing tool it should be: 6 secrets to a great website for small businesses

  1. The website is not about you. A prospect is not looking for information about you; they are searching for a solution to their unique problem or need. THAT should be the focus of your home page. Use words and phrases they would use to describe their pain and then outline the solution you have to solve it.
  2. Have an offer. Get the most out of your website by using it as a lead generation tool. If someone spends time on your site, don’t just let them click away without engaging them further. Offer a newsletter, a free report, or even a free consultation. Do something to get them to act so you can find out who they are and market to them further.
  3. Be Unique. Beware of canned website services; you know – the ones that offer websites for CPAs or Chiropractors or Attorneys. They all the look the same, they all have the same content, and they make it really hard to differentiate you from your competition. Invest a little bit more in a site that allows you to stand apart from the crowd.
  4. Your website is your online storefront. Your website is very often going to be the first impression people get of your small business. Make it visually appealing. Make it interesting, informative and engaging. Make it different – add some fun elements, or news stories or free tips that your target market would be interested in. Make sure it’s professional- and PLEASE check your grammar and spelling!
  5. Use testimonials and case studies. Yes, your home page should be about the prospect and their problem – but once you’ve engaged them and gotten their attention, they will want proof that you can deliver as promised. Having a page of testimonials and case studies is a great way to demonstrate that you can deliver as promised.
  6. Make it easy for a prospect to contact you. Have a contact page that is easy to find, with your email address, and/or phone number. Put your phone number on the home page (some experts recommend having it on every page of your website). Finding a way to contact you should not be a game of “Where’s Elmo?” If it takes more than a second or two – you risk losing them – and they could mean a lost sale.

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How to win a business plan competition

by sara on April 12, 2010

We’re in the middle of business plan competition season, and we’re seeing some great plans, and a lot of common mistakes. We’ve assembled some of our best advice on business competitions, below.

Ask Tim Berry – Tips for Business Plan Competitions

  • Don’t Shade Your Eyes, Summarize: “I don’t care if you’re the next big thing, with an unimaginably exciting new idea and a great team, you can still create a meaningful summary in 10 pages.”
  • Writing an Executive Summary: Hit these highlights, and customize your Executive Summary for the intended audience.
  • Estimating Unknown Expenses: How do you predict expenses? Normally you need some experience. If you have no idea, then you might think again about starting this business.
  • Why not do your best? If you’re going to a graduate level intercollegiate and international venture competition, ask somebody to edit the plan for simple practical writing. Make sure your projected income and balance link up correctly with the cash flow, and that the cash flow understands working capital. Use business charts to illustrate the main numbers.
  • How to Succeed in Competitions: Competitions normally receive far more entrants than they can practically screen any other way, so the business plan is the critical document. This white paper explains how to customize and improve the output you create in Business Plan Pro to meet the sophisticated needs of a venture contest.

How to lose a business plan competition

Presenting your plan to judges:

Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule: How listening to crappy business plan pitches is giving Guy Ménière’s disease.

Ask Tim Berry – The Elevator Pitch

Sara Prentice Manela
Editor

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Great New Superlatives Needed

by Steve Lange on September 3, 2009

We need to start using some new improved superlatives in our marketing copy. “Great!” you say. Yes, that’s the one. Great really grates on me. Great is so overused that it may as well be blank space. Great carries all the impact of a cotton puff.

Now, there was a time when great really meant something. Take Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of lands, founder of cities for example. Now, he is great. Somehow I just can’t see Product XX’s great online resources changing the political and demographic history of three continents.

Or maybe Ramesses II, Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty, known as the Great. Can you imagine the great new flavor of Processed Food XXX ruling unchallenged for 66 years, causing the building of cities and monumental sculptures that survive for 3,500 years? Or inspiring poetry such as P.B. Shelley’s Ozymandias “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”?

OK. Actually, I CAN look on Processed Food XXX and despair. But Processed Food XXX great?!?! Not a chance.

The Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s east coast is truly Great. The reef system is thousands of kilometers long, and hosts a diversity of corals and sea life unmatched on the globe. Somehow it just seems insulting to compare it to the great customer (dis)service system of Company XXXX.

So let’s stop claiming every new and old product or service is great. After all, when every thing is great, nothing is great.

There are plenty of under-utilized superlatives available. Pick up a thesaurus or a dictionary and take a look. Click over to Thesaurus.reference.com, Merriam-Webster.com’s Thesaurus or any of the other online thesauri and peruse some of the

august, capital, chief, commanding, dignified, distinguished, eminent, exalted, excellent, famed, famous, fine, glorious, grand, heroic, high-minded, highly regarded, honorable, idealistic, illustrious, impressive, leading, lofty, magnanimous, main, major, noble, notable, noted, noteworthy, outstanding, paramount, primary, principal, prominent, puissant, regal, remarkable, renowned, royal, stately, sublime, superior, superlative, talented, able, absolute, aces, adept, admirable, adroit, awesome, bad*, best, brutal, cold*, complete, consummate, crack*, downright, dynamite, egregious, exceptional, expert, fab, fantastic, fine, first-class*, first-rate, good, heavy*, hellacious, marvelous, masterly, number one, out of sight, out of this world, out-and-out, perfect, positive, proficient, super-duper, surpassing, terrific, total, tough, transcendent, tremendous, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, wonderful, abundant, ample, big, big league, bulky, bull, colossal, considerable, decided, enormous, excessive, extended, extensive, extravagant, extreme, fat, gigantic, grievous, high, huge, humongous, husky, immense, inordinate, jumbo, lengthy, long, major league, mammoth, mondo, numerous, oversize, prodigious, prolonged, pronounced, protracted, strong, stupendous, terrible, titanic, towering, tremendous, vast, voluminous,

alternatives to great. It is time to spice up and enliven our marketing language.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

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Tips for Creating Effective eNewsletters

by Guest Author on March 5, 2009

Palo Alto Software is proud to welcome Erin Jacobs of VerticalResponse as a contributing author. As Director of Marketing at VerticalResponse since 2007, Erin is responsible for evangelizing the benefits of email marketing to emerging companies. With over 14 years experience managing global marketing campaigns for technology companies large and small, Erin now shares her Lead Generation and Email Marketing insights with the small business community, helping them increase sales and promote their business online as cost-effectively as possible.

The challenging economy has encouraged many small businesses to test out email marketing in 2009. It’s simple, affordable and trackable after all. Maybe you started out with a “thank you for your business” message or you enticed customers with offers for repeat business and referrals. But the idea of creating a consistent e-newsletter to issue on a monthly basis seems daunting.

Well fear not, you can put a surprisingly compelling newsletter together with a small amount of information. In a recent Extreme Email Makeover session that VerticalResponse hosted, we found that many customers are putting too many offers together in a single email and calling them newsletters. The result, nothing stands out, it isn’t clear to the customer what action they should take, and over time recipients stop opening the emails. A great e-newsletter can be created with very basic information that is readily available. The key is a balance of information and offers (remember the “what’s in it for me” factor). Start by testing a newsletter format with 3 content sections and then increase to 5 over a series of a few months. Let your audience decide the right about of content with open and click through rates.

Easy E-newsletter Content Topics:
1) A Message from the Expert- A short paragraph from you to your audience or an introduction that drives recipients to your blog for a feature length article. Consider offering 5 Ways to Improve X in 2009. Include the first 2 lines of copy in your newsletter as a teaser and link to the full story on your blog for the full list

2) Customer Testimonial- A simple quote from a happy customer about how your product or service helped them or fixed a problem, a measurable result achieved, or link to a video testimonial that you host on YouTube.

3) An Offer- Do you have a white paper, discount, or promotion currently running to announce?

4) Event Schedule- Link to the event page on your website or directly to an industry event you plan to attend.

5) Quick Fact- What’s the post popular selling product last month? What do your customers view as the greatest challenge for them next year? Gather important insights and facts with a simple online survey tool and share results in each issue.

The final challenge is committing to frequency so that your audience will come to expect your newsletters. Write your first 3 issues at the same time. Line up 3 customer quotes, 3 notable events worth covering, and 3 facts to share from a single survey. Remember, this month’s event can become next month’s main article. That’s a formula for successful newsletters in 2009.

Back to the Fundamentals

Back to the Fundamentals

Want to learn more tips from the experts at VerticalResponse? Attend the webinar! March 11th at 10 a.m. Pacific Time

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What Good is Your Marketing Without a Strong Idea?

by Guest Author on March 4, 2009

When we present a seminar to a group of business owners, we always ask, “Who here is in the marketing business?” The answer usually is, “Just YOU.”

It’s really a trick question because the simple fact is: anyone who operates a business of any kind is in the marketing business. Otherwise how would you build your business? Every time you book an ad in the paper; run a radio commercial; send out a flyer; launch a web site, or any other activity you engage in to promote your business, you are in the business of marketing!

And now that we all understand that, the point is: in order for that marketing to be effective, it must convey a “Strong Idea” about your product or service to those people you are trying to reach.

Most of us market in ways that are interesting but not sensational, truthful but not mind-blowing, important but not “life-or-death”. You probably don’t have many resources to back your ideas. You don’t have a multimillion-dollar ad budget. Your ideas need to stand on their own merits.

You need a way to make your marketing messages stick. You need a Strong Idea.
A Strong Idea is one that gets attention, is understood, is remembered and changes something. That is, a statement, an offer, or a visual that will stop your potential customer in her tracks, and compel her to change a buying habit.
A Strong Idea can be a catchy headline e.g. “We Paint Every Car We Repair GREEN” for an environmentally friendly auto paint shop. Or, it can be an offer using an unusual visual: “If You Can Finish This Steak in Ten Minutes, Desert is On US” with a picture of a waiter with a pie in the face!

Strong Ideas are about simple action. They use vivid, concrete images that cling easily to memory, and they tap into emotion. And you don’t need to be a marketing guru to have them. Subway’s advertising campaign that focused on Jared, an obese college student who lost more than 200 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches every day was a huge success. And it started with a single storeowner who had the good sense to spot an amazing story.

So why don’t more of us use Strong Ideas all the time? Sadly, it’s because we know so much about our business. We suffer from enormous information imbalances.

When we discuss “unlocking shareholder value” or “our customer focused approach to business” or even “we believe in building relationships through face-to-face interaction” we know what we mean – but our prospects don’t, and they aren’t going to invest time finding out.

When a restaurant advertises “fine cuisine and a great atmosphere” to someone who’s never visited, prospects have no compelling picture in their minds of what the experience will be like. They might not know exactly what “casually elegant dining service” is.

It’s a hard problem to avoid. You can’t unlearn what you already know. Your only option is to take your idea and transform it – but, for heaven’s sake, make it a Strong Idea!

ducttapemarketingbadgeKen 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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17 Ideas You Can Steal to Grow Your Business Without Spending Money.

by Guest Author on February 27, 2009

Guest Post from Elizabeth Walker and Ken Burgin

Today we’re sharing what we call “ideas to steal”. They are all real-life ideas from successful businesses — action steps you can pick up and run with right away, without having to research, test or otherwise delay implementing. And, you don’t need to spend money to do them.

Pick three that you can sink your teeth into, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you want more information or help implementing them — these days we all have to work together.

1. Bill faster. Your receivables can count for 40 – 50% of your actual assets. Don’t batch invoice: bill as soon as you can. (See The 10 Most Dangerous Accounts Receivable Pitfalls  at: www.sterlingservices.ca).
2. Simplify your business. Weed out the unprofitable and the hard-to-sell.
3. Simplify your marketing message. Read  Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. (www.madetostick.com).
4. Get your business and your web site listed in relevant directories. To find directories, Google the name of your town plus directories url” (e.g. “cobourg directories url”).
5. Learn to delegate. Figure out what you do that turns dollars. Then delegate the rest.
6. Encourage employees to explore more efficient approaches to their tasks instead of relying on their standard way of doing things.
7. Don’t forget suppliers. They might not be on your payroll, but they are more apt to do a few things for you at no charge because you really take care of them.
8. Work faster. If you can condense three four-month jobs into three three-month jobs, you can do one more job in the year.
9. Reward your team for meeting budgets and time lines. A 5% bonus is cheaper than a 20% increase in costs.
10. Cut overhead by automating most of the non-producing items like accounting, customer care, voice mail, sales reporting, ordering and record keeping.
11. Make sure you’ve clearly outlined project scope, and don’t be afraid to charge your customer for changes.
12. Offer to be a spokesperson on your specialty when your local media need an expert opinion. Send them a relevant press release every month.
13. Give something valuable away on your web site; at your front counter; when you send out your invoices; when you deliver goods. This should be free to you, but valuable to the recipient, for example, coupons or a “How To”.
14. Highlight offers, features, promotions and news in your email footers, invoices and letter signatures.
15. Start accounts with Twitter.com, Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com and post articles. (Get a good overview at: http://odeo.com/episodes/24070501-Guy-Kawasaki-Reveals-How-To-Use-Twitter-As-A-Twool).
16. Go where your audience is on the web. If your potential audience hangs out on forums, then post to those forums. Become a trusted advisor.
17. Get your supporters to refer you. Check out “Make A Referral Week” (www.makeareferralweek.com) to learn more about how referrals can build business.

ducttapemarketingbadgeElizabeth Walker (thinking and words) and Ken Burgin (creative genius) are the Marketing Masters. They are both Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coaches. Liz leads seminars in business strategy and communications at the Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University. We are thrilled to be working with small businesses and entrepreneurs everyday, and derive considerable joy helping them build busy businesses.
web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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