How to Eliminate the Frustration from a Small Business Owner

If you are the owner of the small business company you always have heaps of work, regarding your company finances. The fact is there and still do you need to go to the professional to take the stress off your shoulders?

Visiting with your personal accountant is similar to going to your dentist. Time is money; the longer you delay your visit the more it will cost you.

First you need to know how to set up your business and to consider advantages and disadvantages of every business entity (LLC, Partnership or C Corporation, etc).

You can spend many hours away from your business learning about entities on your own or you can hire a specialist who saves you time and gives you qualified advice on how to protect your hard-earned money.

But any way you are the specialist in your business, and to be competitive in your field you need to invest a lot of time. At the start, most of the entrepreneurs work in average of 12 hours a day.

In addition to your business can you learn everything about accounting and then handle it? Most likely the answer is no.

Your business' finances are vital for your success, and your needs are unique. At the Me My Money and I, we take your individuality seriously, focusing on your business' special situation and needs.

To make the right financial decisions for your company, you need Financial Statements; Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Statement of Cash Flow for every month of the business activity.

All of them are concerning to the company financial reports. What do you know from these financial reports are briefly described below.

From the Balance Sheet reports know what your company owns and what does it owe. Other words, you know your company resources and obligations of your company.

From the Income Statement reports you know the economic performance of a company for the given period. Other words, you know your gross and net income.

From the Statement of Cash Flows reports you know the amount of cash generated and consumed by a company through the following three types of activities: operating, investing and financing.

The statement of Cash Flows is the most objective of the financial statements because it is somewhat insulated from the accounting estimates and judgments needed to prepare a balance sheet and an income statement.

Real world and real understanding of your company finance goes beyond numbers on a page to show to a small business owner how accounting and bookkeeping come into play in your company.

Without good bookkeeping service you can not plan ahead (business planning), get organized, stay informed on the financial matters of your company, avoid costly mistakes, reduce costs and save time.

Why do small business firms fail? Not always because of competition but because of lack of financial information. You are making money, but where do they go to? What is the main outsourcing of your finance? The right answer gives you a huge benefit for your company.

Other benefits you are getting if you go to a professional accountant are the ability to focus on your core business, getting organized, staying informed, avoiding costly mistakes, reducing costs and saving time and improving your cash flow.

And one more great benefit is the good timing because all these benefits work only if performed in the right time. Timing is the key to your business 's success. With the help of a qualified bookkeeper and accountant you will have it under control and making the most profit.

Running a successful business takes more than just hard work but also making sure your hard work is profitable. Good record keeping provides you the solid foundation needed for excellent business growth.

Your company 's reliable financial information eliminates the frustration from your small business company and your financial reports become the powerful tools for surviving in today 's business world.

About the Author

Luda Yazykova helps new business owners to understand the necessity of hiring a professional bookkeeping service. Get the understanding of importance of company finances reports and use them for your business to expand at my website which is at http://www.memymoneyandi.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

The Question Every Small Business Owner should Ask Themselves

The most important small business marketing question to ask, and answer
By Brandt Stohr

When it comes to your business, there is one small business marketing question that you absolutely can’t afford to leave unanswered: Why should my prospective customers buy from me? The answer to that question, in fact, should form the foundation of your small business marketing strategy. In marketing lingo, it’s called a unique selling proposition.

Developing that unique selling proposition should be your first step in crafting a successful small business marketing strategy. To make sure that your small business marketing is all that it can be, follow these four expert tips:

Small business marketing tip #1: Focus on the benefits to the customer

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re deeply passionate about the product or service that you’re selling. You know that it will make a positive difference in people’s lives. But from the small business marketing standpoint, your prospective customers don’t really care what great features you’re offering. They care about how your product/service will help them – how it will solve their problems or help them achieve their dreams.

So instead of listing the 100 fabulous features that your product/service has that the other guy doesn’t, list the 10 ways that your product/service will help your prospective customers, and you’ll be on your way to successful small business marketing.

Small business marketing tip #2: Consider your product/service from the customer’s point of view

Just as the fabulous features of your product/service only matter in so far as they help solve the customer’s problems or help the customer achieve a dream, it also doesn’t matter much how great you think your business is and all the value that you see in your product service. For effective small business marketing, you need to think like your prospective customers. So step in to their shoes.

Even if you can’t hire an expensive marketing firm to set up focus groups for you, you can create a small business marketing solution. Assemble a group of friends and family who are similar to your prospective customers and ask them what their needs and wants are. Then incorporate their responses into your marketing materials. Voila – you’re now speaking directly to the customer, from his or her point of view!

Small business marketing tip #3: Prove it!

If you’ve done your homework on the first and second small business marketing points (above) you’ll have made significant inroads with your prospective customers. You may have already convinced them to buy your product or service.

But some prospects are more reserved. They want proof that you deliver the benefits you claim to.

So, by all means, give them proof! One of the easiest, least expensive small business marketing strategies for backing up your claims with prospective customers is to include testimonials from satisfied current clients in your small business marketing materials.

Small business marketing tip #4: Project an image of confidence and authority

Whether you’re selling widgets or consulting services, small business marketing is really about selling yourself – your expertise, your integrity, and your reputation. Even if you’re just starting out in business, you are an expert in your own right. So act like one! If you see yourself as a confident, authoritative business person, your customers will, too.

Some say that small business marketing is an art, not a science. In many ways that’s true, but there are a number of tried-and-true rules to follow for successful small business marketing. Creating a unique selling proposition is one. If you can define clearly why your customers should choose you, chances are that they will.

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About the Author: Brandt Stohr, the Small Business Marketing Genius has brought startup one man operations to billion dollar corporations by using creative marketing techniques rather then investors and capital. Brandt has been helped hundreds of entrepreneurs to get their small businesses exploding with sales without the use of expensive traditional marketing techniques. For more information and a free report on the ten deadly mistakes most small businesses are still making visit Brandt Stohr's site at www.smallbusinessmktng.com

Search Engine Optimization - A Do-It-Yourself Guide For The Small Business Owner

By: Colleen Happ

So your company has a website – an important step to validate your company, boost its visibility and increase its sales. Now how do you get it to show up on Google and the other search engines like Yahoo and MSN?

A high search engine ranking for your website is essential. At least 85% of people looking for goods and services on the internet find them through search engines.

To increase your website’s ranking on search engines, you could hire a company to do it for you. There is a whole search engine optimization (SEO) industry that will gladly take your money. SEO is simpler than it is made out to be, and there are several steps that you can do yourself to increase the rank of your website.

1. The content of your website is key. Search engines check to see if search words appear close to the top of the page and their frequency on the page. You must first determine what the key words that your customers search with. Consider the website from the perspective of a potential customer and try to understand what they would be searching for on the web. Aim to have 100-250 words on each page with those key words used as often as possible. Those same key words should be included in the title tag of your coding, but keep it to six words or less. (this is the coloured bar at the top of the page). The site at http://www.related-pages.com/seoTools.aspx?cb=wgyr has some great tools to help you optimize key words.

2. Link Popularity. This is a factor that is extremely important in search engine rank. Almost all of the search engines use link popularity to rank websites. Inbound links matter most, and highly ranked sites linking to your site are worth more that lower ranked sites. If you can provide content that other sites want to link to, you will move up in the rankings. This means that you may have to actively solicit links to your content and perhaps write articles for other websites.

3. Proper Page Structure. This can be tricky for people who don’t know HTML, but it really isn’t that complicated. Your pages should be coded correctly so they are easier for the search engines to index. Your site should have easy to follow text navigation, and you should avoid using Flash to build your entire page because it makes the site harder to index. If you want dynamics on your page generated by other languages such as JavaScript, you should have these codes in external files. There is also an html validation tool at http://validator.w3.org/ that is useful. Errors in programming code and incorrect html can keep the search engine robots from indexing your web pages. Keep coding clean and simple.

4. META Tags. This may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but it is very simple code that should be included in your site because its makes it more inviting to the search engine spiders that crawl the internet.

5. Don’t Cheat. Don’t try to ‘spam’ the search engines by including invisible keywords repeated hundreds of times or by repeating key words in META tags. The engines are getting smart and will penalize you for this. They may even drop your site all together.

6. Patience, Patience, Patience! It can take weeks for the search engines to re-index and re-rank your site once you have made changes or if you have a new site. Search engines are smart, but they taken time to sort through the vast amounts of information that’s thrown at them. If you are patient, you will see results.

7. Many of the major search engines still include a free submission section for their listings. It may take 6-8 weeks (or more) for your listings to show up, but Google, AltaVista and Yahoo still accept free submissions. Since search engine rank is key for success on the internet, you may want to budget for search engine optimization and consider paid listings (Yahoo), or pay-per-click advertising on Google.

Good web design is a balance between what looks great and optimizing your site for search engines. Your content must be good enough so that other sites want to link to it while at the same time include key search words that will draw potential customers. You also need to have your site built correctly and take the time to manage it and keep it fresh. Now you are well on your way to having a high ranking website on Google. Good luck!

About the Author:

Colleen Happ designs effective and affordable websites and graphics. Her portfolio can be viewed at http://www.happconsulting.com. She offers free one hour consultations to show how an effective website can benefit your business. Read more articles by: Colleen Happ
Article Source: www.iSnare.com

Why Every Small Business Owner Needs Two Websites

by: John Jantsch

Every small business owner knows that they need a website, right? Well the truth is what they really need is at least two websites.

One website that is specific to their business, product, service, name, etc. and...

another site that is an educational site specific to the benefits of their service or product.

So JoesBaitShop.com tells all about the various lures and tackle you offer, even more about the charter trips, and eventually how to buy.

CatchFishToday.com (your other site) however is full of informative information, how-to tips, and resources for avid fisherpersons.

Of course this site also has plenty (but not too many) of links back to JoesBaitShop.com.

Here's the deal. Online people don't go out searching for companies, They go online looking for solutions, information, answers to life's persistent questions...you know like what's the best hat to wear cod fishing?

Your second website gives them the answer and sends them to your first site to go shopping.

It really doesn't matter what business you are in. An investment banking firm can benefit from the same strategy.

Here's the reason. The major search engines want to index high quality information. A site about what a person can buy from you doesn't make that cut but a site with an article about how to cast in windy conditions does.

In addition, search engines take a look at sites that link to you and give your some points for that. A high quality how to site about fishing will draw plenty of related links. This will only help drive that traffic to JoesBaitShop.com even faster.

The cost of putting up a website is so low these days it's really a crime if you don't come up with about 10 reasons to have multiple sites.

Think of it this way. You need one site that presells and one site that sells. If this strategy even remotely makes sense to you then there is a book you should read today! It's called Make Your Site Sell. Go see for yourself

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

About The Author

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of Duct Tape Marketing, a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blog at http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com/weblog.php or at http://www.JohnJantsch.com

Small Business Owner's Note: MSN Releases It's Own Search Engine

by: Karyn Greenstreet

Several months ago, MSN began to beta-test its own search engine. Previously, MSN had been using search results from Yahoo.

This month, MSN has gone live with its own search engine.

What does this mean for you, a small business owner? Simply put, there are now THREE key players in the search engine world: Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Therefore there are now three key players to consider in your own internet marketing plan.

I've always advocated that you check your search rankings on Google and Yahoo to see how you're doing for search phrases your prospective clients might use to find you. Now you'll want to do it with MSN as well.

Try this test:

1. Go to each of the search engines and type in Small Business Coaching. It's best if you open each of the search engines in a separate window by using each link below, so you can see the results side-by-side:

• www.Google.com
• www.Yahoo.com
• www.MSN.com

2. Ignore the "sponsored links" (advertisements) at the top of the page, and look at the organic search results.

3. You'll see that Passion For Business ranks #1 at Google, #9 at Yahoo, and #1 at MSN.

4. Now try a slightly different search phrase: Small Business Coach in each of the search engines. (Replacing "coaching" with "coach.") Notice the difference? #7 in Google, #29 in Yahoo (on page 3), and #3 in MSN.

By checking slightly different search terms, you can see your overall ranking with each of the search engines. If you're not on page one or page two, it's time to reconsider your search engine marketing strategy.

Think about your own possible search terms. For example, if you're a graphic artist, try "graphic artist" or "graphic design artist." Since there's a lot of competition for those search terms (hence the likelihood of you getting high rankings is reduced), consider using some alternative search phrases like "web artist" or "graphic artist new jersey."

Need help in choosing search phrases? Try Overture's search tool: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Why Does This Matter To You?

Now that there are three big players in the search engine field, it means your marketing plan must change. In the past, MSN got its search results from Yahoo and its paid advertising (sponsored links) from Overture. (Overture is owned by Yahoo, big surprise!)

I used to pay for advertising with Overture because my ranking was lower on Yahoo and MSN for certain search phrases. I didn't pay for advertising on Google AdWords because my rankings were great on Google. Now that MSN has it's OWN search engine, my rankings on MSN are really wonderful, so why pay for advertising through Overture? I've dropped my advertising with Overture for search phrases that show up strongly on MSN and I'll watch my website statistics to see if I'm still receiving traffic from MSN and Yahoo.

While MSN is still using Overture for paid advertising, I sense that it won't be long before MSN dumps Overture and comes up with their own paid advertising scheme. Watch sites like www.searchenginewatch.com for news about these sorts of changes. If I hear any definitive news, I will put it in a newsletter or bulletin for you.

Expect that the search engine world will continue to change and evolve, and be prepared to evolve your marketing planning to parallel these changes.

About The Author

Karyn Greenstreet is a self-employment expert and small business coach. She shares tips, techniques and strategies with self-employed people to maintain motivation, stay focused, prioritize tasks, and increase revenue and profits. Visit her website at www.PassionForBusiness.com.

7 Key Tactics For The Small Business Owner

by: Allyn Cutts

For most folks, owning your own business is a dream come true. The freedom of being your own boss and succeeding to the best of your ability are facts of life for the small business owner. Sure, there's more stress than what you probably imagined when you were creating your grand plans, but with a little strategy and planning you can overcome any tough spot you get in. There are 7 tactics developed by successful marketers that are sure to make your business as successful as theirs.

1. Create A One of a Kind Selling Point

If you want to stand out from the crowd, create a unique selling proposition that stresses the benefits the customers will receive from doing business with you. Will they get faster service? Go ahead and dramatize it, but keep the customer at the focus...”Get free overnight delivery!” Hey, it tells the customer...you get quick service and a discount on shipping. Two definite benefits in one statement.

Why should someone buy from you and not your competitor? I hate to deal a blow to your ego, but it really has nothing to do with you , your product, or your service. Yeah, its a little self-centered, but customers are attracted by offers that point out the things that benefit THEM.

Don’t go out on a limb to create new products and services to get attention. Just, add a special benefit to the ones you already have... maybe it’s quicker service. The most effective things to emphasize are benefits that your competition cannot or is not willing to give.

2. Use Testimonials

Hey, we all know that business owners think their product or services are the best thing going, but it's what the current customers think about it that really matters to your prospective customers. They're the ones who see things from their point of view... what they have to say about the business has an impact.

Testimonials play an important part in advertising - especially for small businesses. Yeah, big businesses with well-known names don't have to worry about it, but small companies can use testimonials as marketing tools to build credibility.

Think about it...how else can we gain credibility than by creating a group of satisfied customers and shouting what they have to say? Let's look at some ways we can make testimonials an effective part of our marketing campaigns.

3. Upsell

Upselling is one of the most successful marketing trends today. Everywhere you go, someone is trying to get you to buy more. From McDonalds with its supersize options to clothing stores that try to sell you shoes to match your outfit, everyone's jumping on the band wagon. Why? It works!

Your customers already know that you have great products and provide satisfactory service. They trust you to come through for them. Think about it... it’s much easier to make sales to someone you already have a relationship with.

Use every opportunity to increase your sales volume within the customer audience you already have. Do you have a product that goes with the one they are purchasing? Offer it to them at the register. It’s a proven and effective method for increasing sales. You may be shocked at the additional sales you can generate from those who are already buying from you.

4. Make Your Price Seem Smaller

Divide and conquer... The old war tactic works in marketing too! When the price seems too steep, break it down into "buyable" size bites. An $120 item is only 12 low monthly payments of $10. A $365 purchase would only cost $1 per day. Now that sounds affordable!

5. Paint The Benefits Pretty

Customers buy because they want to enjoy the benefits of the purchase. A lady might buy a dress because she wants to feel sexy, or a man will buy a book because he finds pleasure in reading. Emotions are the key element that drives purchases.

Use word pictures to stir up the emotions that will instigate the sale. Let them “feel” the benefits, and they’ll be more apt to head for the cash register. Put them where you want them.

6. Create Attention Getting Headlines

Are you ready to capture your reader’s attention with great copy? The headline is the place to start. How often do you scan the newspaper’s headlines before you decide whether or not to read the article? Yeah, that’s where we lose or gain the reader’s interest, so it’s a pretty important part of the advertisement.

A good headline should telegraph its message in twelve words or less. Double check those headlines. Do they make a promise of a positive benefit, or ask a provocative question? Don't settle for less than attention grabbing statements.

7. Provide An Offer They Can't Resist

Is your deal too good to pass up? If not, you need to improve it. Hey, I'm not talking about cutting prices even more...you've still got to make a profit. You can make the deal sweeter just by increasing the readers knowledge of the value of the product, or adding bonuses that are perceived as valuable, but cost you little.

Motivate buyers with expirations. Yeah, an open ended offer encourages procrastination...which leads ...yep, nowhere. When the customer knows he has until Saturday to purchase an item he'll pay more for on Sunday, he'll make it a priority to head for your shop.

Copyright 2005 Cutts Group, llc

About The Author

Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care? Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Small Business Survival Guide: How to Manage Your Cash, Profits and Taxes (The Small Business Sourcebooks) (Paperback)

This book is most important book concerning creation and operation of a business. Also presents a system for organizing your paperwork and staying on top of the financial condition of your company. The system is at once simple, convenient, and perpetually audit-ready. Best of all, it allows you to accurately understand your cash flow so that you're able to make sound business decisions. Having this book is A MUST for Small Business owner.

The Small Business Owner's Manual: Everything You Need To Know To Start Up And Run Your Business (Paperback)

About the Author
Joe Kennedy has more than twenty years of experience in operating and working with hundreds of small businesses, a degree in finance and an MBA. He knows how entrepreneurs think and their drive to get to the essence of an issue, make the right decision and quickly move on. Impatient business owners will prefer this book since only the most relevant information is provided. A few bigger books are out there but this one is not puffed out with clutter and other information you already knew. With years of experience in the IT industry Joe knows a lot about the Internet too so the content here is better than web-based searches.The Small Business Owner's Manual is great for those starting a business, operators of existing enterprises, or as a gift.





Book Description
An Owner's Manual provides fast, practical and direct advice and that's what you get with this book! The Small Business Owner's Manual is useful for newly minted entrepreneurs as well as seasoned business owners and can be read from cover-to-cover or to quickly lookup information in the midst of a crisis.

For example:

* Choose among 13 ways to get new financing and the 17 steps to building a winning loan package.

* Weigh the pros and cons among 8 legal structures, from corporations to LLCs.

* Write winning ads and analyze 16 advertising and marketing alternatives including the latest in Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

* Develop a powerful business plan in half the time.

* Learn to sell products and services by considering 10 possible sales and distribution channels.

* Discover the latest trends to quickly and inexpensively set up a web-site and e-store.

* Get taxes paid on time, collect from deadbeats, protect the business from litigation and get legal agreements with teeth by effectively finding and partnering with CPAs and attorneys.

* Get a quick overview of the 14 top forms of business insurance including workers comp and medical.

* Looking to lease? Exploit a comprehensive review of the top 18 critical factors used to evaluate locations and 24 of the most important clauses in lease agreements.

* Understand the legal side of hiring, firing, and managing employees and contractors.

* Minimize taxes by learning the ins-and-outs of business income taxes, the top 5 payroll taxes, sales and use taxes, common tax dodges, and the latest loopholes for business owners. Filing schedules, form names, form numbers and download links are also included.

* Credit cards are critical these days - so learn how the system really works and minimize chargebacks, disputes and headaches. Includes 35 important definitions and 12 ways to minimize fraud.

* Lots more too!

New Regulations that Small Business Owners Need to Know

Audrey Hoffman

Time was, you could just hang up a shingle and call yourself a business. As long as you didn't shoot anyone, you were pretty much left alone. Not so any more. A glut of federal and state regulations have come into being, many just over the past few years, and many apply to small businesses. These regulations are meant to accomplish any one of several social goods, such as protecting an individual's privacy and preventing identity theft, preventing corporate financial scandals, or lastly, or so it would seem, just to annoy small businesspeople by increasing their paperwork burden. Fortunately, if you understand these regulations, complying doesn't have to be too difficult or expensive.

If you have a publicly-held company, you'll have to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which sets technological standards and reporting requirements for how companies handle their financial reporting. Passed in response to the recent wave of corporate scandals, fiscal mismanagement and outright theft, Sarbanes-Oxley puts in place a set of requirements for establishing internal controls that ensure the integrity of a company's financial data. Although the requirements are generally the same for companies of all sizes, smaller companies have been granted some flexibility in terms of longer timeframes to become compliant. This Act calls for, among other things, security-related solutions to be put into place to regulate access to financial data, provide an audit trail, and generate detailed reports for the government. The good news is, if you already follow best practices in security, you're already more than halfway there.

If you are in the healthcare industry, whether you are a healthcare provider, pharmacy, or a data processing agency serving the healthcare industry, you'll have to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA calls for any company that handles private patient data to guarantee that it is secure and protected against unauthorized access. If your company handles healthcare information of any sort, for any reason, you will have to take technological steps to ensure that it is secure through measures such as encryption, strong two-factor authentication, and adequate firewalling.

And if you're in California, or if any of your customers are in California, you'll have to comply with SB 1386 (the California Information Practice Act). This law requires that your company provide notice to customers whenever any technological hack, or other attack has occurred and caused personal information to be exposed and vulnerable to theft. Meant to safeguard against identity theft, this state law also applies to any subcontractors of companies that maintain information about California residents. This particular law is ground-breaking, since although it is on paper just a California law, it has, in reality, become a federal law. California is the largest state, population-wise, in the U.S., and any mid-size company and many smaller ones have at least a few customers in California, regardless of where the company is actually located. If, for example, your company is in Maine, but your mail order division sold some products to someone in California, you must comply. Compliance simply means that if your network is attacked, you must notify your customers. Although this can be done individually, most companies actually make notification on their Web sites, or through issuing a public press release.

The Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) isn't a state or federal law, but a mandate from VISA USA created to protect cardholder data. It calls on all vendors who accept credit card payments to adhere to a higher standard of information security for the purpose of guarding against identity theft. CISP calls on vendors to implement standard security measures such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and strong authentication to regulate who has access to customer credit card data. Visa also has set forth a set of best practices. Compliance is easy, and involves adhering to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard which includes a call for implementing standard security technology, restricting access, and encrypting the transmission of any cardholder data.

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About the Author: Audrey Hoffman is a successful business woman who writes articles for entrepreneurs, in addition to writing for Speedy Incorporation, a site that helps people incorporate in Georgia and offers business advice. http://www.speedy-incorporation.com

Focus Your Definition

By: Erin Ferree

As a small business owner, you're passionate about your business. You think about your business all the time. You constantly get ideas on how to improve it, changes to make, and more and more details about your business. You wake up in the middle of the night, inspired. You have huge brainstorms during conversations with your clients.

Soon you have a giant pile of important details that you want - no, need! - to tell your clients and prospects about your business. So you march straight to your marketing materials and website and fill them up with all of this great information.

You have so much important information that soon all of your marketing materials are crammed full of text and information. Your margins are disappearing and your designer is using smaller and smaller type sizes. Materials that used to be gorgeous and well laid-out are now looking cramped and unappealing. And your web pages just keep getting longer and longerÉ scroll, scroll, scroll!

Most small business owners have this problem. They are so excited about their business and everything they can do for their clients. They make the mistake of putting it all into their marketing materials.

You want to tell the world about everything you can possibly do to help your clients!

The problem is that it usually comes out looking like a big mess. And when your clients read your materials, they get confused. You don't want confused clients! You want them to feel comfortable, confident and to have their questions answered.

What questions do we need to answer? When a client looks at your marketing pieces they're trying to figure out a few basic things about your company. Here's what runs through their mind:

- Is your company a good fit for their style and personality?
- Do they want and need what you do?
- Should they work with you instead of someone else?
- Are you really good enough for them to give you their hard-earned money?
- Does what you say make them feel comfortable to actually hand over a pile of money?
- Does what you're selling actually work for their specific business and situation? If you're presenting a big list of all the great things about your company, there's a good chance they'll have a hard time pulling the answers out of your materials.

Instead, help your clients by making it easy for them to find the answers to their questions. The best way to do this is to create a Brand Definition.

A Brand Definition gives your clients the information needed to answer their questions. A Brand Definition is made up of four elements. These four elements map directly to the needs and concerns in your client's mind:

1. Who You Are: Is your company a good fit for their style and personality?
2. What You Do: Do they want and need what you do?
3. What Makes You Different: Should they work with you instead of someone else? Are you really good enough for them to give you their big pile of hard-earned money?
4. Who You Can Best Help: Does what you say make them feel comfortable to actually hand over a pile of money? Does what you're selling actually work for their specific business and situation?

The key to answering these questions well is making sure that your Brand Definition in each area is succinct, clear and focused. The narrower the Definition of each element, the clearer you'll be able to communicate. And when you communicate clearly, instead of rambling on, the easier it is for your client to figure out what you are talking about. They can then decide quickly and painlessly whether or not you're a good fit.

Steps to figuring out a clear Brand Definition:

1. Do a "brain dump" of all of your thoughts about your business for all four elements. You can do this organically by thinking about your business and scribbling down all the answers.
2. Think through it. Carefully refine and condense your thoughts for each element. You want to pull out the essence of the four elements of your Brand Definition. It can be very hard to do this yourself when you're right in the middle of your brand. It can be hard to see what is most important and effective. Friends, colleagues and hired help can assist you with this.
3. Summarize your answers for each area down to a single sentence. Be very clear and concise about this step.
4. Test this Brand Definition on some members of your target audience to make sure that they both understand and are interested in it. If not, revisit steps 2 and 3 to make your definition more effective.
5. Now celebrate - you've done it!

You now have a brand definition you can use to create your Brand Identity, Brand Messaging and base your Brand Service on. Remember to look at this document often. Live by it so you can create a consistent business going forward.

Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand out in front of their competition and attract more clients. Her "Define Your Difference Branding Workbook" will help you with your brand definition - the most important step in the brand identity design process. http://www.elf-design.com/products-define.html

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

VoIP is the Bell Killer; Small Business Owners Are Grabbing Lucrative Voice Services Market Share

by: Martin OKeeffe

When I entered the fledgling cable TV industry in 1979, a newly minted college grad, I remember thinking, WOW, everyone should be in this business. Even discounting those ignorance-on-fire days, the feeling of being in an industry poised to take off like cable did is one I'll never forget.

It's the same feeling I have now, marketing the rapidly emerging broadband voice technology VoIP, and creating a vibrant new revenue stream for my business. Only this time, it's not a new product introduction - the residential, landline voice market in the US alone represents hundreds of billions of dollars in existing consumer spending. It's consumer spending previously held captive by a relative thimbleful of companies due to technology and regulatory constraints. Now this market share "deck of cards" has been tossed up in the telecom whirlwind, with enormous opportunities for individuals and small businesses to tap into huge, recurring, monthly income streams.

The market research firm IDC says more than 10 million residential phone customers are now using VoIP services, and it predicts that the number will grow to 44 million in 2010. The Harvard Business Review, in a recent article predicts not only rapid growth for VoIP but also profound, beneficial changes to the way businesses operate, as a result of VoIP deployment. The impetus for such a rapid, mass shift in market share is simple: Lots more features and functions for about half the price the Bells (over)charge for unlimited local & LD.

And it's getting bigger. My company is already marketing VoIP video phones, and flat-rate global calling plans that the big phone companies can only dream about. And we represent the only VoIP provider in the US currently offering VoIP service in Puerto Rico...WITH Puerto Rican phone #s. Also, right around the corner is IPTV, internet-based video entertainment which promises the same market share impact on the cable & satellite TV business.

Here's some of the things being said about VoIP:

"VoIP will irreversibly alter the world of communications. VoIP is the most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications since the invention of the telephone."

-- Michael Powell, Former FCC Chairman, Fortune Magazine - July 2004

"VoIP will be the largest transfer of wealth ever in American business history.

-- Business Week magazine, 2004

"There will be 50 million new subscribers to this service by 2008"

-- Harvard Business Review, September 2005

Want to learn more about VoIP? See how you can drastically reduce or even eliminate your phone bill. Plus, learn how to plug your existing business into, or create a new business around, these exciting new revenue streams, please visit http://www.voipaware.com. For a copy of the Harvard Business Review Article referenced above, please send a request to: 1voipgeorgia@comcast.net.

About The Author

Small Business Owner Sales Tips

by Jim Degerstrom

Small business owners may find selling awkward or difficult at best. Here are some tips and sales techniques to help understand the process.

Sales is not a dirty word. People seek answers to problems and if you provide a quality solution at a fair price, delivered on time and willingness to service after the sale, the buyer and seller each win. This is key to making repeat sales.

A sale is identifying a need (problem) and offering a suitable product or service (solution), yet there's more.

You know the value of what you offer, so how do you convince a prospective customer? Understanding the psychology of what happens during the sales process requires empathy. You need to know what the prospect is thinking. Here are a few sales tips with answers to that part of the mystery.

Tip #1
People buy based on emotion more often than reason. They purchase what they want, not necessarily what they need. First impressions are crucial, so your initial approach must establish a professional image. You have 5 seconds.

Tip #2
People will buy from someone they trust. Your credibility must be evident, and how you open after those critical first 5 seconds will often determine your success. Do not try a hard sell up front. Avoid talking about the weather, current events, or the latest joke. It is time to listen. A brief introduction is usually enough which gives the prospect a chance to explain their business and situation.

Tip #3
People are not looking just at you. What you have, what it does, and how it will help doesn't matter until you understand fully what they want. If you start out with an open ended question, you show respect for the buyer's time, and a willingness to listen. Any question that may be answered "yes" or "no" won't work. Open ended means you begin by asking or stating something like "Please take a moment to explain your business and a few details about what you need."

Tip #4
People will open up if given a chance. Do not dominate the conversation until you understand what they want. Be prepared to paraphrase what you hear, and then offer your solution. Your message needs to be direct and to the point to establish the benefits of what you offer. Anything that you can do to create a mental image of your solution and the benefits to the customer shows you care more about them than the sale.

Tip #5
People are usually sold before you ask for the order. Many are presold in those first 5 seconds explained in Tip #1. If you listen first, restate what they have said, and then explain your solution in terms of the benefits, it's time to ask for the order. A small business owner may not be comfortable here. My advice is simply state "I want to do business with you. From what I have learned, I'm ready to help, so let's get started today."

Tip #6
People will forgive mistakes if you remain honest. Establish trust, and openly admit errors if mistakes are made, and your customers are more likely to remain loyal. Have a plan when things go wrong. React quickly and state what happened, what you are doing to resolve any problems, and how long it will take. How you handle mistakes will be remembered by your customers a lot longer than what went wrong.

Tip #7
People will not forgive a dishonest salesperson. A sale is not about tricking someone into something they don't want or need. This is an important and tough rule: Be prepared to refuse an order if you realize your solution just won't work. In any sales situation if you perceive an opportunity to sell, but doubt the results of your product or service, consider your long term reputation. Credibility lost is nearly impossible to regain, so give your customers the truth up front.

In conclusion, the value of placing what your customer wants, or needs, ahead of your sales quota or personal interests will help you succeed. Repeat sales depend on a business relationship where you care about your customers. Adapt your thinking to solving problems instead of selling something. The best salespersons are still those who are good listeners.

Health Insurance For Small Business Owners – Guaranteeing Protection

By: Lynn Vandyke

Health insurance is a topic that never ceases to be discussed. The high cost of medical expenses will not let the topic die a comfortable death. There are a lot of people that have no health insurance and small business owners are in that number.

When every dollar counts, health insurance is one of the items that is frequently excluded from the budget of a small business. The owners just hope that nothing catastrophic happens until insurance can be budgeted.

The government and health insurance companies have been working for years to remedy that situation. As a result, a variety of health insurance plans are now available to fit any budget.

Robust Business

Insurance is formally defined as guaranteeing protection. That is what a small business owner needs – protection. Many small businesses are heavily dependent upon the owner remaining healthy.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Employees need health insurance coverage also for their welfare and the welfare of the business. Maintaining a robust business means encouraging employees to care for their health. This is much more likely if they have health insurance.

Circular Logic

The options for health insurance have significant differences. The option chosen normally depends upon the cost of the plan and the level of coverage desired by the small business owner.

On the other hand, the actual level of employee utilization often determines annual cost for out of pocket expenditures. Following is a summary of the most common health insurance plans available for small business owners.

- There is health insurance coverage purchased by the company that covers the owners and the employees. This is the traditional fee-for-service. The dollar amount covered for health costs are determined by the amount paid by the owner to a provider based on the number of employees included in the plan. More expensive plans will naturally have lower deductibles and copays.

- In some states there are health insurance plans that cover the owner only. It is the perfect solution for small business owners, especially one with no employees except for the owner.

- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO's) are private insurers who limit access by members to designated services and doctors. The cost efficiencies are derived the careful control kept on reimbursable expenses.

- Insurance pools offer insurance to people considered high risk and that includes small business owners.

These are the major kinds of health insurance available to small business owners. Additional plans include a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or Point-of-Service (POS).

Choosing Coverage That Won't Disappoint

When choosing a health insurance for you or your business, it is important to understand the level of coverage desired so you don't under or overspend. Insurance contracts have a lot of fine print and it can be distressing to discover services you thought you were paying for with the monthly premium are not covered.

- If an HMO or PPO, make sure there are enough service providers in the area

- Make sure that the plan covers high maintenance diseases such as diabetes if possible

- Verify that the provider is reliable and pays its claims in a timely manner

- Have a clear understanding of prescription coverage

- Have a clear understanding of procedures that are excluded

- Decide if you want to include dental and vision coverage

It is important to shop around for coverage even if it is to cover only one person. There are a lot companies entering the health insurance market that are not credible. Medical costs can literally bankrupt you or an employee if coverage is inadequate. It is worth spending the time to study the options so that there are no disappointments later.

Small Business Owners Marketing and Customer Service

By: Adam Heist

Marketing can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be hugely expensive now, thanks to the Internet. By using e-mail and keeping in touch with your clients on a regular basis, you can increase your business without any mail costs.

One big problem for small business owners is the tendency to try to do everything themselves. You have to learn to lead and to develop other people. Also, it is worth the expense to hire an accountant, have a lawyer on call, and use other outside services. If your business is at all profitable and worthwhile, you need time to develop your business. Whether you are in the food and restaurant business or writing e-books and marketing them, you need to devote your energy primarily to what makes your business function.

Take the time to socialize with business people. Even if you are doing the best kind of internet research possible, you have to get out there and talk to business people to know how to ask the right questions. By going to classes and seminars you can learn new ideas and get a chance to network with both clients and vendors so you can both improve your business’ operations and also find more clients. Business to business sales operations tend to accelerate more rapidly for small business people because the orders are larger than clients one by one. Going to a business associate’s Christmas or New Year’s party can be much more than an opportunity to get drunk on five martinis. Once you are over 40-years-old, your acid reflux problems will probably preclude you from doing that in good conscience anyway. So get out there and talk about the real estate market, computer aids to business, or whatever relevant topics there are for you, and get some business cards. You’ll feel a lot better about it later, and you won’t have a super hangover.

Work on your customer service, it’s what keeps customers coming back. Many small business owners spend huge amounts of time and money on advertising and public relations, but tend to neglect the important area of customer service. When you fill an order on a mail-order or electronic information product, do you take the time to email the customer after the order to make sure that they are as satisfied as possible? You can do this by an automatic e-responder, but often, a simple and short note that you compose is worth the effort.

This Is Not Your Parent’s Workplace: The Case for Becoming a Small Business Owner

By: Susan L Reid

Workplaces, and how we view them, have changed dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century. Particularly in the last 30 years, the complexity of business has grown enormously, making traditional jobs nearly obsolete. With punishing, productivity-sapping expectations and vise-like deadlines the norm, old assumptions about how to work and how to advance are out of date. The old-school work ethic of doing "whatever it takes" to get the job done is a present-day formula for disaster and burnout.

Your Parent's Workplace

The old-school work ethic was based on the notion that security, peace of mind, and a steady income came from having a job, being loyal to the company, and maintaining the status quo. Indeed, less than 70 years ago, generations of men and women confidently built their family economic and security systems around this way of thinking. Then, people generally had one job, advanced through the company ranks, and kept that job for life. In return, the company was there for them in good times and in bad.

The Changing Workplace

Today, if you want to work in the traditional workplace, don't expect the same work environment your parents probably experienced. You need to be ready for a brutal, 80-hour-a-week "extreme" job. You need to accept that your workspace is a little cubical on the third floor, where people driven to excel and win at all costs surround you. It is likely that you will come in early, stay late, and work weekends. And, in the end, there is no guarantee that all this hard work will help you get promoted or keep you from being down-sized.

Today's Workplace

Today's workplace is driven by an information and communications technology that wouldn't have been considered in previous generations. In addition, it is fueled by a Baby Boomer generation whose dominant characteristic is individualism and supported by Gen Xers who aren't motivated to do anything unless they find meaning in it. These harbinger trends of our times are, arguably, the most significant factors that have influenced our changing workplace and how we think about work.

Many Baby Boomers, once the stalwarts of the production work force are getting ready to retire, if they haven't already done so. Education has lost its distinctive power to get you hired. What's more, experience and long service to the company do not guarantee continued employment.

The Baby Boomer generation knows that as company fortunes rise and fall, jobs are created and destroyed. Security, peace of mind, and benefit packages are casualties of the process. Vastly different from their parents, Baby Boomer workers find themselves in a less stable and predictable work environment, with the length of time spent at each job, whether by choice or otherwise, getting shorter.

For the first time, they are faced with something that their parents never had to consider: how to make ends meet while ensuring a secure retirement and financial future with adequate health coverage. The traditional workplace is gone, and left in its wake is a confused and discouraged workforce wondering about its future.

The Case for Owning Your Own Small Business

Small Business ownership is on the rise. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the estimated 25.8 million small businesses in the United States:

• have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade, • employ 50 percent of the country's private sector workforce, • represent 97 percent of all the exporters of goods, • and represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.

According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's 2005 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship: "Women represent more than 1/3 of all people involved in entrepreneurial activity."

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that "black-owned businesses are the fastest growing segment, up 45 percent between 1997-2002."

Entrepreneurship among seniors is growing due to jobs disappearing and people taking early retirement. AARP reports that in 2002 "those age 50 comprised 40% of the self-employed." Definitely, the trend for going smaller is growing bigger. As large corporations scramble to keep pace with the latest business developments and trends, independent contractors and small business owners are stepping in to fill the gap. Security, peace of mind, and a steady income (once thought only possible by working for a large company) are now being viewed by millions of small business owners as "doable."

For the individualistic Baby Boomer generation, becoming a small business owner is the mother-load of opportunity. For value-driven, looking-to-make-a-difference-in-the-world Gen Xers, owning a small business is the way to go. In light of today's changing workplace, now is a great time to become a small business owner.

Health Reimbursement Arrangement Plans for Colorado Small Business Owners

By: Wiley Long

With group health insurance rates continuing to rise, more small business owners are turning to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) as a way to help their employees obtain health insurance. With this type of arrangement, the business reimburses employees for the cost of their individual health insurance plans, instead of offering a group plan.

What Is an HRA?

A Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) is an arrangement where an employer reimburses employees tax-free for qualified medical expenses, including health insurance premiums. HRAs are also known as Section 105 plans, named after the section in the U.S. Tax Code that governs them.

Group health insurance is "guaranteed issue," meaning that the insurance companies must accept any applicant, regardless of pre-existing health conditions"guaranteed issue," meaning that the insurance companies must accept any applicant, regardless of pre-existing health conditions. As a result, group insurance premiums are about twice as expensive as individual plans, and approximately 40% of small business owners can no longer afford to offer health insurance to their employees.

Companies cannot purchase individual health insurance for their employees, but if they have an HRA set up they can reimburse them for their medical expenses, including the cost of health insurance. The reimbursement is considered a tax-free fringe benefit to the employee, so it is a much better value than simply receiving a pay increase.

Because some companies are now offering online HRA plan set up, they are also extremely easy to set up and to manage. The employer simply provides a fixed monthly tax-free contribution to an HRA for each participant. The Health Reimbursement Arrangement then enables employees to obtain reimbursement for qualifying medical expenses, including health insurance premiums.

Your employees can then select an affordable plan customized to their own needs and budget. One great advantage to the employee is that the coverage is totally portable - if they ever leave their employer they can take the coverage with them. They do not have to worry about being tied down to their job just because they need the health insurance.

These plans are primarily being adopted by small companies with employees who are all in good health. Because insurance companies are allowed to "underwrite" individual health insurance applications, someone with some pre-existing health problems could be denied coverage.

The average group health insurance premium for a family is nearly $14,000 per year. However, the average premium of an individually underwritten plan can be less than $300 per month. So it is not surprising that as more small business owners learn how they can use an HRA to reimburse individually underwritten health insurance plans, their popularity continues to soar.

Small Business Marketing on a Budget - Easy Technique for Growing Your Customer Base

by Karen Scharf

Hopefully, you're aware of the value of giving something away for free in order to grow your customer base. When using this tactic, it's good to know the lifetime value of your clients so you can determine how much, monetarily, you can afford to give away for free.

More than likely, that the lifetime value would be higher if you knew each customer would refer other new customers to you. And that brings us right to our simple technique for increasing your customer base and growing your business:

Create A Surefire Referral Program

A solid referral program is, without a doubt, the least expensive way of generating new customers.

Prospects who are referred to you are "easier" to convert into customers since they are, in effect, pre-sold. Recommendations from friends are always more trust-worthy and credible than any advertising you could ever do.

Additionally, the customers who do the referring become more loyal to your business. They've identified with you and staked their own reputation on your. It's very unlikely that their psyches and their egos will let them back down from this public statement.

Don't rely on word of mouth to generate your referrals. While word of mouth does work, it's slow and hard to control; it will never bring in enough referrals quickly. You must have a systematic plan in place and you must follow it on a regular basis.

One of the easiest ways to get referrals - and the one most small business owners are the most afraid of using - is to just ask. I think many of us are afraid to ask for referrals because of fear of rejection. We're afraid our customer will think we're pushy and that they'll say "no". But let me share a little secret with you. Most of our customers want to give referrals. It makes them feel special, like "they belong", like they're a personal part of your business. And it allows them to be a hero to their friends by sharing an "insider's tip" or a "secret resource".

OK, we know we should all be asking for referrals, but there's a little more to it than that. You can't just ask, "Do you know anyone who could use my service?" You'll get lots of blank stares and you'll hear lots of "Not right now, but I'll think about it." You've probably been down that road before and you took that response as a rejection. Which is why you're now afraid to ask for referrals.

But the blank stare wasn't because you asked, it was how you asked. Your question was too vague. "Do you know anyone..." You're basically asking your customer to think of everyone she knows. That's overwhelming and confusing. You need to help her focus on specific people she knows.

We'll use the quick lube center again as an example. Try this: "Kathy, do you have any neighbors who drive hybrid cars like you do who might be interested in using our service?" Do you see how that helped her focus? You narrowed down a demographic (where they live) and a psychographic (what type of car they drive). If Kathy still says "no" you can try one more appeal: "Well, how about co-workers?"

Now you've got Kathy focused on three things: neighbors, co-workers, and hybrid cars. It should come as no surprise when Kathy says, "A guy at my church drives a hybrid car." or "My co-worker Jim was complaining about the condition of his wiper blades the other day. I'll tell him to come here and get some new ones."

Great! You've got Kathy focused on specifics and she even mentioned particular people she could refer. Now you might want to take the extra step to get those prospects into the door. You can hand Kathy some coupons to give to her referrals, or, if you're bold enough, you can even ask for their phone numbers.

If you want to use the coupon approach, here's an amazing tips that works on so many levels: on the back of the coupon, quickly jot down "special friend of Kathy Smith". The persuasive cleverness behind this is brilliant:
1. You made Kathy feel special by implying that her friends deserve exclusive treatment.
2. You've allowed Kathy to become a hero to her friends and acquaintances.
3. Kathy is more likely to encourage her referrals to come in for service since there is now a tracking method in place. (Remember the law of reciprocity.)
4. The referred prospect is more likely to come in since he now believes he'll get "special service".

Want a more covert way of asking for referrals? This may not be as effective as asking outright, but it's a good way to "get your feet wet" if you're too afraid to ask. Remember that free give-away we talked about earlier? Now would be a great time to pull it out. As Kathy is paying her bill, simply say, "Kathy, I have this new report 'Which Funny Noises That You Car Makes Do You Really Need To Pay Attention To?' Here's one for you, and here's one to share with a friend." When Kathy gives the report to a friend, it's sure to spark an endorsement of your services.

The key to generating tons of referrals on a consistent basis is to have a system in place that you use each and every time. If you decide to ask for referrals, ask every single customer. If you decide to use a freebie, give it to everyone, every time. It's also very important to reward the customers who send you referrals. (Remember writing the name on the back of the coupon? That's a very easy tracking mechanism. Why not send Kathy a free oil change for every three customers she refers?)

Why Your Tiny Business Wants A Toll Free Number NOW

By: Robert Brown

All small business owners dream of greater leverage which means the reaping large profits from a simple inexpensive tool. So they look around for tools, tactics or software that will give them an edge. But they miss one of the most effective tools that sits right under their nose. The profit-building tool that most small business people miss is the toll free number.

Independent surveys have shown that toll free numbers can increase your business’ sales, improve the branding and perception of your company and significantly increase the value of your business at the point of sale. Below are 3 critical reasons why you should get a toll free number for your small business today.

Reason 1. You’ll Enjoy Increased Sales

Vanity or custom toll free numbers such as 1 800 WORKOUT are proven to increase sales. PRWeekly stated that such numbers result in more calls that are better qualified both by desire for - and also the ability to buy - the product or service. With the right phrase, a specific number for your business will make an instant bridge in your customer's mind between a desire she has and your product or service.

Reason 2. You Can Increase The Asset Value Of Your Business At The Time Of Sale

Smart entrepreneurs think differently. They don't just see their small business as a vehicle for creating sales. They see it also as a potential commodity for future sale. They know that the greatest cash windfalls in business can come from selling the whole company. And a toll free number can help you sell for a significantly higher than you might expect…

Much like internet domain names, a good vanity toll free number will appreciate in value over time. For instance, 1 800 COMPUTER has recently been valued at $500,000! While you may not easily find million-dollar 800 numbers, there are still opportunities to be found in 877 and 866 area.

Reason 3. You Could Easily Make A National Brand Out Your Small Business

If you were looking to buy from 2 companies and the first company had a toll free number and the second didn't which would you call? If you're like most consumers the answer will often be the first one. But there's also evidence that you'd trust the first company more. Consumers perceive companies who have toll free numbers as being bigger, better, more reliable and longer established.

If toll free numbers can do all this for a small business, why do so few small companies use them? The answer is their perception of the cost. Home or small business people expect these services to be expensive. Nothing could be further from the truth. A toll free number service can be obtained for less than $15 a month and a vanity number could be obtained for $30.

Five Strategic Management Tasks for the Small Business Owner
by: Marjorie Geiser

You have been considering starting up your own small business for some time, now. You have read books and perhaps subscribe to some magazines that focus on small business. Maybe you have started to investigate what exactly you would like to do or offer, and perhaps even started working on your business plan. Then you get stuck.

In order to successfully get a business up and running, you have to have a plan, and a strategy to make that plan become reality. Working through the difficult and insightful steps to set up that strategy is what will make the difference between your dream continuing to be just a dream and making that dream turn into reality.

When you create your business plan, you create your company mission and vision statements. From there, you need to create all the details on how you will implement strategies to accomplish your mission. Your strategic plan, I like to call marketing plan, will be your game plan for how you will run your business, how you will strengthen your competitive position in your industry or location, how you will best satisfy your customers or clients and how you will achieve your performance targets you set up.

In creating your strategy, you will answer three big questions:

• Where are you now?
• Where do you want to go?
• How will you get there?

We are going to look at the five tasks involved in creating your strategic plans to answer these questions, which include:

1. Define your business, create your vision and mission statement
2. Set measurable objectives
3. Craft your strategies to achieve your objectives
4. Implement your strategies
5. Evaluate the results of your strategies and take corrective action

1 - Define your business, create your vision and mission statement

What do you want to do? What do you have a passion for? Who do you want to be known as? Where do you want to be in 10 years? These are all questions to help you determine your vision and mission. I offer a one-hour audio course on how to look at your unique brilliance to answer some of these questions. The advantage of becoming very clear about who you are and what you have to offer is that it will help you avoid going in so many different directions that people will be unclear exactly what it is you excel at. Every potential client or customer wants to see the person who is best at what they have to offer. If you offer everything to everyone, you won’t stand out. Once you set up long-term goals, you will also have a template that will keep you focused and on the right path to achieve those goals.

2 - Set measurable objectives

The purpose of setting objectives is to create a yardstick with which to track the performance targets set up in the mission statement of your company. These objectives should be challenging but achievable, so that you have to stretch yourself in order to be innovative, creative and focused. You can’t succeed by just ‘going along with the flow’. When you create your objectives, you need to focus on financial objectives and strategic objectives. With both, it is necessary to set up specific goals, such as ‘increase earnings growth rate by 10% per year’, or ‘increase market share in my area by 5% this year’.

3 – Craft your strategies to achieve your objectives

Working with clients, I see this as the most difficult part of the process. Yes, people find it difficult to really pinpoint who they are and what they have to offer, and they spend time struggling with narrowing down objectives, but quite often they get bogged down on determining how they want to achieve those objectives. It’s like a block wall, but once they have successfully chipped a whole in the wall, it quickly falls away. Often, if you have made the right choices about what you really want to do, this step starts to develop quickly and easily. It goes from being the hardest to the most inspiring step. After all, this is the essence of how you will run your business. This is the ‘how’ of how you will make it all happen; the action steps. Your strategies will include such things as how you will grow your business, how you will satisfy customers/clients, how to capitalize on new ideas or services, and how to respond to changing industry and market conditions, just to nam!

e a few. This is where the ‘entrepreneur’ in you will come into play.

4 – Implement your strategies

Implementing your strategies involves making sure there is a good fit between what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to make it happen, AND making sure to do this with excellence, and in a timely manner. It’s important to be sure that ample resources are allocated to the activities outlined in the plan, and there are adequate rewards and testing procedures to keep track of how you’re doing. How will you know when a strategy has been successful? If it is, what do you plan to do, then?

5 - Evaluate results and take corrective action

Because conditions and goals change, setting up strategies and evaluating them is an ongoing process. Throughout the entire process, it’s important to constantly evaluate and monitor performance to see if things are going as planned, or if there may be a better way to accomplish an objective, and make adjustments accordingly. This may even mean making major adjustments to your company’s mission or vision statement!

The steps listed above are the basics on how you will put together and run your company. It is as simple as that! Once you have created your goals and objectives, and have set up your strategies to achieve these goals and objectives, the rest is just the making of history.