We regularly use nouns from other languages to improve the image of the same items in our product or services offerings. Pomme de terre frites, (or simply pomme frites) appears on fancy menus instead of French fries. Grande and Vente make our cappuccinos and caffè Americanos taste far better (and cost more) than simple big cups of coffee.

Atelier (a workshop or studio) is a popular addition to the store names of artists, or specialty shops or boutiques (to use one French word to describe another French word [wink]).

We use abbreviations such as R.S.V.P. instead of spelling out répondez s’il vous plaît, when please respond is just as succinct and stalwart.

When applying for a job we’ll prepare a summary of our accomplishments and call it a résumé, unless it is a job in academia, in which case that summary might be called curriculum vitae.

Our business plan financials are often labeled pro forma (in advance, or as a matter of form).

Your physician’s protégé may give you a pro bono prognosis and prescribe a placebo and wish you prosit. Geshundheit!

Can you tell the difference between ad lib., au-h2o, ca., circ., ebit, e.g., et al., etc., i.e., ibid., lsmft, v., vs., viz, v.s. or v.v.? Can you spell out all these abbreviations?

It is so easy for us to read over, past or through these foreign words that are emigrating into English. Many times we simply make a guess on the meaning, based on the context of the sentence, because we are too busy, or too lazy, to look them up. But then many of us compound the error. We incorporate them into our own marketing writing, advertising, and branding efforts, still without knowing what we are actually saying.

So, what can you do? Obviously the first thing to do is use your dictionary. There is the old standby, the printed book (our Documentation team has six different editions from different publishers). There are plenty of online dictionaries as well. Google or Yahoo! search and you get a plethora of links. Bookmark your favorites and return to them often.

There are a couple free translators on the Internet as well, such as SDL Free Translation.com and Babel Fish, though they don’t translate Latin.

And, here are two good reference books I’ll recommend to you.

Latin for the Illiterati: Exorcizing the Ghosts of a Dead Language by Jon R Stone. Over 5,000 entries of Latin words and phrases that turn up regularly in modern English.

Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases edited by Jennifer Speake. Covers 8,000 words and phrases from over 40 languages.

Give your marketing message that certain indefinable quality (je ne sais quoi ) of worldliness when you drop in phrases from other languages. No faux pas.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Most of us have heard about, or use Pay-Per-Click, where we pay a search engine or affiliated website dollars and cents each time a potential customer clicks a link on their page which brings that customer to our website. It is a wide-spread practice, and can be a major part of a business’ marketing plan, marketing activities, and marketing expenses.

Pay-Per-Ignore is similar. In PPI your business spends money to get a potential customer to your website, and then you ignore that lead completely. Does that sound silly and foolish to you?

An example. A couple summers ago we were getting the family house in a Great Lakes state ready to sell. I live in Oregon, so I’d been using the faithful search engines to contact painters, realtors, estate sale agents, dumpster haulers…the works.

I found plenty of listings and associated Web pages. They had lots of pictures, good text, mission statements, service descriptions, and, very important for me, “For more info, contact…” links and some had built-in interactive email contact frames. But the results from my contacts were dismal!

I contacted three estate sale agents. One never responded — Ignored. A second sent me an email in a couple days, asking for more info, and then nothing — Ignored. The third emailed me right back and followed up with a phone call the next morning. Guess which one got our business?

I emailed two trash haulers about a dumpster. Neither responded — Ignored. One of two painters emailed me back. The other ignored me. The list goes on. Now, maybe these companies are in the enviable position of having so much business that they don’t need new customers, but I doubt it.

From my business viewpoint, this behavior seems like a unconscionable waste of time and money. From my viewpoint as the jilted customer I become annoyed, unsatisfied, exasperated, increasingly impatient, and left me with a very negative “I’ll never deal with those jerks” attitude.

The goal of your marketing efforts should be to introduce yourself to prospective customers, get them to know and trust you, and convert them from prospective leads to cash spending customers. You need a process for following up with each lead who asks for more information, who leaves their email address or phone number with your “Contact us” link. You need to connect promptly via a return email or phone call. This isn’t a cold call after all, the potential customer invited to contact them! They are asking you to convince them to give you their business.

So, ask yourself this: how much Internet marketing money are those businesses I mentioned above spending in Web design, hardware, infrastructure, search-engine optimization, etc., to attract me as a potential customer, only to ignore me? What is their Pay-Per-Ignore?

What do YOU spend on YOUR P-P-I?

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

I love to write – creatively as well as for business. So last year I decided to take a course at a nearby college to learn how to hone this skill. I learned a very valuable lesson that REALLY should be the GOLDEN RULE for your marketing.

It’s always better to SHOW your audience than TELL them.

Speaking is a great way to do this, especially for those of you in service based businesses. Here are just a few of the key advantages of integrating this into your marketing:

• You have the opportunity to educate your target market in your area of expertise
• By demonstrating your expertise, you increase trust and credibility with attendees
• The content you create can be used in multiple other ways – articles, audio CD, teleseminar, webinar, report or book.
• You get to hone your public speaking skills and may find that you can even get paid to speak!
• Most importantly, you have the opportunity to attract more prospects to you and your business

Okay, so you know that speaking is for you. You do after all possess some public speaking ability. Maybe you have even done some talks already. If this is the case and you are finding that you STILL are not getting the leads you think you should, it could be because one or more of the following areas are not aligned.

• You are not presenting your subject in an appealing way or with a catchy title -Create at least 3 various topics to present. This allows the organizer to choose the one that is most appropriate for them. Research various topics that other speakers in your area of expertise use to give you inspiration in catchy titles and content.
• You are not attracting the RIGHT type of speaking engagements – Look for speaking engagements that have your qualified prospects in the audience. Don’t be afraid to ask about the audience or expected numbers. There is nothing worse than doing hours of preparation only to find a handful of people in the room when you are expecting 50!
• You are giving too little or too much away in your talk – you should be looking to explain why your topic is important to the attendee and what the key areas are they need to address. You are giving away too much if you start explaining HOW they address each area.
• You have no mechanisms in place to capture leads AFTER your talk – This is probably one of the biggest mistakes many speakers make. If you walk away after a talk HOPING that people will contact you, you are losing valuable control in your marketing system. Think of ways that you can contact them. Perhaps you can offer to send them the PowerPoint slides for your presentation or a special Trial of your product or services. By having a lead capture system in place you will be able to measure your results and implement a strong follow up campaign to move prospects closer to a sale.

How do you know you have been successful? That depends on your goals. I am looking to speak at least 20 times per year to an average audience of 50+ solopreneurs and business owners (so let me know if you are aware of such opportunities). At each event, I am looking to capture information on over 80% of them, and to close a minimum of $5000 in sales through each one (not on the day, but through my follow up campaign).

What are your goals? Remember, if you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out our Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.

About the Author
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget minded small businesses and professional services.  She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success.  Cidnee is also a sought after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

Does your business offer a purchase incentive as a marketing tactic? How much good does it do for your business… really? Does your fulfillment deliver the goods?

I’m a geezer who remembers mailing in breakfast cereal box tops for plastic Moon Rocket kits. These were great marketing tools in the Sputnik age. However, sometimes those Moon Rockets never arrived. And boy, was I one angry little kid! I quit eating that brand of cereal… that showed them!

Incentive fulfillment is now an industry in its own right, with good and bad offers and good and bad businesses. We all know the good examples, such as the rebate checks that arrive in three weeks instead of eight weeks. They leave us with a good impression of the offering company.

When fulfillment is slipshod, or poorly delivered, or misrepresented it is the offering company that loses its good reputation, not the fulfillment company. For example, my wife recently decided to try out a different brand of home product because it offered a $15 rebate. However, when the rebate arrived, it was not a check but a voucher for credits at a third party redeem-for-product website. What the….!?!? Grrrrrrrr!

None of the products offered were of any interest to us so she passed the credits along to her sister. Unfortunately, the third party website company deducted credits for transfer, and deducted credits for checking the credit balance, etc., until there were not enough credits left to redeem a pack of facial tissues (to say nothing of the shipping and handling).

And who is getting the bad rap for this scam? Not the fulfillment company, not the people who sold this system, and not the third party website that we would never have visited (and never will again). Nope. All the frustration and ill will that was generated by this thoroughly unsatisfactory purchase incentive falls squarely on the product company. The incentive may have gotten them one sale from us, but they’ll not get another.

So this marketing tactic backfired. And any good impressions chalked up by other marketing expenditures by the product company were wiped clean off the board. Money wasted.

If you are going to offer a purchase incentive, decide if you really want to offer something of value, and whether your goal is to attract repeat customers instead of simply a bunch of one-time sales. Then, (I hope you are choosing the high ground) find a reputable fulfillment company with a good track record, and a commitment to serving you and your customers well.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Well, I have the answer for you! Yes…and no. Allow me to explain.

Small businesses all over the world are using Twitter to boost their business; from local pizzerias to your neighborhood mechanic. Just jump on Google, or use the Twitter search engine, and search the words “Twitter success stories” and you’ll see hundreds of stories about the small-town guy or gal who tweeted their way to a 400% increase in revenue. But for every success story, there are a hundred other stories that can be summed up in three words: waste of time.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s ok for you to fall on either side of the statistic. Just make sure you don’t flounder somewhere in the middle. That’s when Twitter becomes most dangerous – a time-sucking habit that provides no return on your investment (time)! I’ve outlined a plan for you below, and by staying consistent and scrutinizing your results, this should help determine if Twitter is right for you.

So here’s some guidance in giving it the old college try:

• Set up a Twitter account for your business. It’s ok to be the owner that is representing a business. People love knowing the owner is on Twitter!
• Tweet at least once a day. What should you tweet about? Anything that your customers (or potential customers) would find interesting/valuable/amusing about your business. Also, engage people. Don’t make it a one-way tweet. Ask questions and answer questions.
• Use Twitter’s search feature to find conversations to engage in. If you are a florist in Atlanta, Georgia, search for “flowers Atlanta” and see where you can add value to a conversation.
• Use Nearbytweets.com and find local people to follow.
• Offer occasional offers/coupons/discounts to get people from Twitter inside your store or on your Website!
• Measure the results! Ask people where they found you. Allow them to print a coupon that you only put on Twitter so you can track its effectiveness. This is critical to deciding if Twitter is right for you.
• Give it at least three months before making a decision. It takes time to get good at Twitter.

Once you’ve completed the above list, evaluate how Twitter is working for you. Have you seen results? Has it become quick and easy for you to keep up with? Bottom line: is it worth your time? If the answer is no to one or more of those questions, take a break or stop all together. Just like with any other marketing strategy, you have to evaluate and be willing to abort mission if it’s not producing results. And don’t be discouraged to admit that it’s just not for you. That might be the best time-saving decision you’ll ever make.

I hope this has given you some insight as to whether or not Twitter is right for you. I’ll leave you with the three keys that I believe are critical to having success with Twitter: engage people, be consistent, and have fun!

About the Author
Corey Perlman is the author of the #1 Amazon.com bestseller eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business. The book provides easy-to-do strategies and techniques to help market your business on the web. It covers topics such as social networking sites, Web site optimization, online articles and press releases. You can follow Corey on Twitter or learn more about how to purchase the book at www.eBootCampBook.com.

Social bookmarking is a cool concept that allows you to save bookmarks to websites you find interesting or useful.  It’s a great idea from a personal standpoint because you can access your favourite bookmarks from any computer. But how can social bookmarking help your business?

Okay, I must admit – it definitely has taken me a bit to figure out how to explain this simply (like I wish someone could have explained to me)!  But here it goes.

If you would like:

• Increased Traffic To Your Site
• A quicker way to access new business resources, and/or
• Another way to strengthen business relationships 

Then subscribing to popular social bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Digg or Stumble Upon is worth considering.

Social bookmarking differs from search engines in that other people are ranking and tagging your content.  So you don’t need to be a Google “whiz” with keywords or rely on their bots to drive traffic to your site.  But you DO need to submit great content in terms of links, articles, photos and videos.

Increased Traffic To Your Site – Just how well does social bookmarking drive traffic to your site?  Well put it this way.  If your submission makes it to the first page of a site like Del.icio.us or Digg your server may not be able to even handle the traffic!!  An interesting problem to have if at the moment your web traffic is less than stellar!  

Social bookmarking sites also track the links each user accesses.  You can use this information to understand the demographics of those who visit your site.  This data will show if you are reaching your target market.  This information may also reveal new markets that are interested in your business.

The reasons these sites drive traffic to your site are because you have committed to taking the following steps:

• You are creating bookmarks of your own site when you sign up as a start!
• You are encouraging others to bookmark certain pages on your site or your blog
• You are building your new bookmarking community and sharing bookmarks with these contacts.

Effect - Targeted New Traffic to Your Site
Cost   – $0 but a time investment to work it

A Quicker Way to Access New Business Resources – (and some fun personal ones too).  With new information appearing on the internet at an exponential rate, it can be mind boggling to try and keep up.  But with bookmarking sites you can use your community and RSS Feeds to stay on top of those sites and information that is relevant to you.  Add them to your bookmarks and then when you need them they are there.

Strengthen Business Relationships – Think about that next big client you are wooing right now, or perhaps some that you are dealing with at the moment.  You can start looking for valuable information for them too and use this to show your interest in them and their company.  Overall, it’s an extra tool you can use to build better business relationships.

To Get Started:

Sign up for at least one major site – I find del.icio.us  very easy to use, but am also researching StumbleUpon and Digg.  Each one is a bit like learning a new program, so starting with one and building one community at a time is probably all you have time for.

• Make sure to submit content from your site, or blog
• Start to build your network and share bookmarks
• Promote your affiliation with your bookmarking sites and
• Encourage people to add you to their network and add your web site, web page or blog to their bookmarks (or on some sites like Digg, vote on it).  
• Start seeking out relevant bookmarks that can help you and your business 

And of course, if you found this post valuable or interesting, please share this page with your favourite social bookmarking site.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

I attended a presentation last week by Clara Shih from Salesforce.com. Clara just released her new book, called The Facebook Era, about how businesses are networking, marketing and selling more stuff through social networking applications. We do a fair amount of social media marketing here at VerticalResponse and we definitely believe in its value for small business. While it’s not a replacement for other online marketing programs, it does augment those programs more virally at little to no cost.

Social marketing is more the responsibility of the employees today than the employer. Why? Because any company or business owner can set up a Group, Page, or Cause on Facebook and invite current customers to become fans or members, but it’s the employees (or friends of the company) that already have the established social networks online. Without a few individuals taking the time to create posts, add links, and invite their friends to become fans, too, it will become a stale community. Leverage is the key to driving adoption.

Three easy steps to get you started with social media marketing:

1) Create a Company Page or persona, like Jack Box on MySpace, that is fun and interactive. Get your employees or friends to dedicate a minute or two a day to help get things going, update their own Facebook status’ mentioning your brand, Twitter about the page or something new they posted, and include a link in your email newsletters to increase traffic and membership.

2) Search Twitter for your company’s industry or topics that relate to your business and start to follow a few other industry experts. Your own list of followers will quickly grow. As it grows, keep tweeting about industry news, press you received, or even that you’ve just completed your latest email newsletter (this is a little list-building tip). Add links in every tweet to drive them to your site, group, blog, or opt-in form.

3) Measure your success. After all, if you can’t measure it, why are you doing it? Use tools like:

• Facebook Lexicon – to see the frequency of your topic being mentioned.
• TweetDeck – to review all the twitter feeds and break them down into manageable views.
• Andiamo Systems- (our choice at VerticalResponse) to manage all of your social media activity. We track not only our own online “buzz” but our competitors’ to compare.

Obviously there is a lot more you can do with social networking, leveraging sites like LinkedIn, Classmates.com, and others. But I wanted to make your first steps into social media easy and fun. Remember, social media networking is just another way to keep your business top of mind with customers and prospects. You are bringing your message to a highly targeted audience online and making your business or service easy to find for your customers.

About the 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.

Nothing saddens me more when I’m out at an event or opening my mail than seeing BRUTAL (that’s right, BRUTAL) promotional material. Let me describe it. First, like something out of a horror movie, I find myself staring at a home made business card or worse, the tri-fold brochure (start the creepy music). At the top is what can only be described as an abhoration (spell-check doesn’t like this word, but I do) that is supposed to be a logo (enter the hallowing scream), that was obviously developed by a 5 year old (correction a 5 year old could probably have done better). Next I see so many fonts and sizes on the page that I find myself getting dizzy and usually there is not a photo in sight….or worse…..I find myself looking face to face with the scariest creature of all – CLIP ART!

Most small businesses will say, “but Cidnee, I can’t afford the thousands it takes for a professional logo and superior design. I only produce small quantities and it is just cost-prohibitive.” WRONG! There are so many amazing resources out there to produce KILLER copy on a budget that there are just no more excuses for CREEPY hand-made tri-fold brochures.

IT’S YOUR BRAND – Remember you are creating an image every time you go out, you say something, you write something and/or you design something. A home-made tacky black and white brochure says – “I’m home-made, tacky and have no money. In fact, I may not be around tomorrow, so please spare me some change.” Is this really what you want people to see you as?

SOME SECRET WEAPONS – I have put together a list of some of my favourite secret weapons for creating killer copy. Here is how I decide which route I’m going to go on a piece. How much time do I have vs. how much money, and how important is this piece to my overall business? Obviously if you are starting out or you are producing a low priority piece, you can opt for more of the do-it-yourself approach. But when it comes down to the crunch, OR the piece you are developing is going to be a key piece for your business, it’s time to open up your wallet and bring in some of the big guns!

Logos
It is usually a very scary thing when people develop their own logo. Check out these sites for some budget options for logo development. Biggest tip – don’t dictate what MUST go into the logo, but communicate what you want the logo to represent. It makes for a much better logo!

Quick and Dirty Logos – From a graphic designer’s cutting room floor, these logos are very inexpensive, IF they fit your company and the message you are trying to portray.

Logoworks – Built from scratch and using multiple designers, this is a slick outfit that produces some great logos for a fraction of normal design costs (starts at $299).

Graphic Design
From clever Word templates, to stock design, there are a number of options here for very little investment if you have the time to play with them. If you don’t have the time, then a good graphic designer is worth their weight in gold. They usually charge around $60 – $70/hour and can complete miracles on a simple one-pager in 3 – 4 hours! I have become hooked on outsourcing this component of my biz.

Word Templates - Definitely the cheapest, but most time consuming option. There are some great designs however. If you can only afford this “do-it-yourself” option, please make sure that you maintain colours and fonts, logos, and key messages throughout ALL of your promotional pieces to build a strong and consistent brand.

StockLayouts – This is a great site for graphic design. They can produce material in a variety of medium depending if the end use is for print, email or online. Have a look. It’s a great middle ground for professional looking pieces.

Professional Images
A picture says a thousand words. So if you are developing your own pieces, make sure to have at least one strong photo that portrays the key message of your piece. People love to see pictures of people so, where possible, try to include at least one live body.

Please, please DON’T steal images from the internet. It is illegal and will be very embarrassing if you get caught. 

iStockPhoto – I love iStockPhoto. In fact the picture I used today is from their site. I find it easy to search, easy to download and this pic cost me a whole $1 and I can now use it as much as I want. It’s a no brainer!

The Perfect Words
It’s important to spend time and money on your copy. It is usually the part that delays the project or can cause the piece to be the least effective. Spend some money here unless this is a talent of yours. Remember to watch where your talent comes from. If you are marketing from Canada to the States or vice versa there are subtle spelling differences such as colour to color or center to centre that your writer needs to be cognisant of.

Elance – Elance is an interesting American site. You can find writers with varying skill sets and also see their earnings to date (from the site). 

Local Talent – I also recommend searching locally for copywriters. I find it is great to have more than one as some are strong at web writing, while others write great sales letters or are gifted in creating the perfect advertorial copy.

Professional Copywriting – This is a Canadian site, with prices all laid out for you for various types of copy requirements.

Printing on a Budget
With digital printing, gone are the days of mandatory high volume printing. Consider designing and printing nice templates and then running them through your own colour inkjet or laser to give you flexibility on copy. Use colour…even if it is just one colour, and use high quality paper. Remember your image!

Shop locally for a good printer that offers both digital and offset printing – it will save you the time it takes for freight and delivery, but also look at some of the online houses that have some eye-popping prices.

PrintingforLess – Based in the States, this online powerhouse has great pricing. Quality is “nice” not exceptional, but a great budget option. They will also deliver to Canada.

VistaPrint – Available in both Canada and the USA – www.vistaprint.com or www.vistaprint.ca. This is another “nice” not exceptional online service.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

A challenging economy has encouraged many small businesses to test out email marketing with an invitation or announcement. It’s simple, affordable and trackable, after all. But the idea of creating a consistent e-newsletter that you 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 one email and calling them newsletters. The result is that nothing stands out, it isn’t clear to the customer what action they should take, and over time recipients might 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 three topic areas and then increase to five over a series of a few months to see if you get more clicks. Let your audience decide the right amount 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 Five Ways to Improve X in 2009. Include the first two 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 most 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 three issues at the same time. Line up three customer quotes, three notable events worth covering, and three 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 email newsletters in 2009.

About the 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.

January is such an exciting time for businesses.  Owners normally find themselves rejuvenated after the holidays and ready for an even BETTER new year.  The desk gets cleared, the blank pages come out, the pen is poised and the first question that comes to mind is, “where do I start?”

Here is the thing with planning and goal setting.  It’s fun, especially when done at the 50,000 foot level that entrepreneurs love.   However, somehow these great ideas need to be realistically achieved or you are simply setting yourself up for failure.  

Here are some guidelines to Plan for Success:

Start with the end in mind. 

Where do you want to be a year from now? Obviously one of the main goals you should determine is your gross revenue for the company and the net pay that goes into your pocket.  But some other goals you may want to achieve relate to company growth (e.g. # of employees, new regions, products & services, etc).  There is also nothing wrong in throwing in personal goals.  Life is about balance.  Good health, a positive outlook and peace of mind always make for a more productive business owner.

Make your goals S.M.A.R.T. 

Stay away from obscure goals.  SMART goals are:

a) Specific – Avoid generalizing in your goals.  Make them as specific as possible by incorporating as many of the following as you can into each goal.

• Who is involved in the goal?
• What are you trying to accomplish?
• When will the goal be completed by?
• Where will this goal take place?
• How will this goal be reached?

   b) Measurable – Ask yourself, “How will I know I achieved my goal?”  You will need to include measurement in your goal so you know you have succeeded in reaching them.  (e.g.  Increase of 2 employees, overall business growth of 6%, etc).

   c) Agreed Upon – Goals should be agreed upon by all those that will be involved in making them happen.  Even if you are solopreneur, if you delegate to others, ensure that they understand the importance of the goal.  You also must agree to yourself that this goal is important.  It is a good idea when making goals that you set priorities for each goal and that you put some serious thought into whether or not they are TRULY important to you.  Because when the going gets rough, its easy to abandon your goals.

   d) Realistic – One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to set yourself up to fail.  The goals you set should be achievable within the time period you specified.  It is an art to determine goals that stretch you just enough without becoming unrealistic.  The more facts you are basing your goals on the better you can predict real results.

   e) Have a Target Date – Always, always include a target date to achieve your goals.  Then note those dates in your calendar.  Important to note here is HOW much time you allocate to each goal.  Too much time affects your overall performance and not enough time sets you up for failure or poor quality.

Work Backwards

Once you have set your long term goals, you will need to break those goals down into monthly, then weekly then daily mini-goals.  I’m a big fan of Excel sheets and calendars to show you what you need to do at specified intervals to achieve the end result.  This is time management at its best and will help you to be as productive as you possibly can. 

You should identify others that you need to delegate to in order to achieve your goals and when they need to complete their tasks by.  Working backwards helps you avoid being at the same place a year from now, wandering why you didn’t succeed.

Review, Revise, Reimplement

Schedule regular intervals throughout the year to review your goals and whether or not you are on track to achieving them.  If you are ahead or behind schedule, determine what has caused the change, revise your plans accordingly and reimplement for the remainder of the year.

This is a vital step to staying on track.  Just like a captain steering his ship, a business owner needs to check direction and adjust for unforeseen circumstances to get to their final destination.

Goal setting and company planning should be done every year you are in business.  Not only does this keep you on track, but it keeps you motivated.  As a mother and an entrepreneur, who doesn’t need a little dose of motivation at times to keep you moving forward with your dream!

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.