Happy New Year

I hope you are enjoying my articles to help improve your business development endeavors. New topics and will be added over the course of the new year.

I have a proposition for readers and subscribers. Tell me what kind of topics you want to learn more about. Suggestions are always welcome.

This blog is for you, the reader, so please add your comments and make suggestions for future articles.

Happy New Year.

Sales & Marketing Procrastination

Sales and Marketing are key corner stones of a successful business. However, this has been proven repeatedly as one of the most overlooked and misunderstood strategic elements of small business plans.

Many times, owners of small companies do not properly implement effective marketing strategies because they truly get caught in other daily activities of running their business, e.g. budgeting, management, managing inventory, and perfecting products, and other administrative duties. These routine daily business activities can be problematic and need be prompt attention. Nevertheless, in most instances, they are a part of your business that should be managed simultaneously with your sales efforts. Over the years I have seen multiple owners who share the “my product is not quite ready” or the “I am too busy with other things” mentality. The point being, many business owners place less emphasis on sales processes, for one reason or another, because sales and marketing are challenges that many business owners do not fully comprehend.

Sales can be exhausting, frustrating, time consuming, and sometimes just overwhelming. But as much as one may hate selling & marketing their products, it is the life-force of their company. Just as a human would die without oxygen and water, a business cannot survive the market place without proper sales and marketing; it’s just that simple. So, do not stand stagnant waiting for orders to flow into your business, become proactive and not reactive.

To combat your daily battle with performing sales and marketing tasks, delegate time in your day and week where you can focus solely on your marketing efforts, through this strategy you can have no excuse. Marketing tasks must be integrated within your overall business model as a key operation. Do not continue to tell yourself that your product is not quite ready to go to market – Constant product refinement and revision are common procrastination excuses that will only drive you into lost time and money. Create a marketing strategy and use it, do not stray away from it due to minor business activities that can be acknowledged at another time.

I wish to acknowledge Josha Appel for his contributions on this topic.

Follow-Up, Follow-Up, Follow-Up

Follow-up is one of the most powerful skills in business, yet many people fail at this simple task. A person can argue their schedule is so busy that they don’t have time. This excuse does not warrant any merit. If you feel that your busy schedule is hindering your follow-ups, then you need serious evaluation of your organizational skills and time management abilities.

Never leave a communication channel open-ended. You must communicate to your contacts and prospects in timely fashion. Even a simple message acknowledging your status, but pending further decision is better than no message at all. Once you open the lines of communication, it is your responsibility to maintain a status update with other people. All communication requires closure at some point.

Imagine yourself on the opposite end of the communication spectrum. You have a great idea to share with a contact and draft a proposal. Now, you get in touch with the other person and discuss your proposition. The prospect needs some time to evaluate what you propose and promises to connect with you next week. A week goes by and there is no word from your contact. You leave a voice mail message and even sent an email reminder -- Still no response. Now what? Everything is in limbo. Feedback at this point is critical. There is no way of knowing that your contact has interest or alternate views to negotiate further.

Poor communication and lack of timely follow up gets in the way of progress. Even if the news is bad, communication to that fact is still required. Lack of follow up and poor communication skills are signs of disrespect and lack of consideration for everyone’s time -- It also demonstrates poor management skills.

Follow up does several things. Among them are: adds credibility, shows you are earnest and professional, helps other people make good decisions, shows you are proactive and decisive, validates your organizational ability, and demonstrates your capacity to get things done in timely a manner. There are more positive attributes than listed here, but you get the idea.

Never leave an issue open-ended. You will never progress unless you improve your follow-up ability.

Messaging your relationships during the holidays

Much of your business success comes from and depends on building relationships. Your business is dependent on the people you connect with because people make many buying decisions based on relationships. Credibility and trust are central to establishing business relations with customers and your network. If you are not showing enough interest in your relationships, someone else will. A simple and brief email or phone call can set you apart from the crowd.

The holiday seasons are an opportunity to exhibit a personal touch with your connections. Even a mere phone call or email message will demonstrate the importance you place on a relationship. Remembering your contacts with a simple message will add to your credibility and sustain your brand loyalty in the minds of contacts.

Many people wait for the winter holiday season to reach out to their network and customers. Why wait to show your thanks just once per year? There are many holidays, birthdays, and other significant events allowing you opportunity to strengthen your relationships throughout the year. For example, you can send congratulations to someone for achieving a certain milestone in their career or thank them for their referral. Whatever method and time of year you choose, keep your message short and central to the event. Last, always thank people for their relationship with you.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when messaging your relationships:

• Avoid sending e-cards. I am not fond of using electronic greeting cards. The Internet is full of scams and spam is abundant. Everyone is concerned about downloading attachments because of computer viruses. You can argue that the recipient knows the email is safe because they can see it is from your email address. Spammers are very good at stealing email identities and disguising email to look like it is safe. E-cards are viewed with suspicion.

• Send email with a personal touch. This is a much better option than an e-card. The personal touch shows you care about the relationship. Your message need not be filled with fancy graphics. The body of the message is more important. Avoid sending frivolous attachments. Compose your message directly in the body of the email rather than relying on attachments and speculative links.

• Keep email messages succinct. A few kind words of appreciation go a lot further than writing a book. Make the message meaningful and related to the holiday or event. You can always follow up with a phone call or meeting at a later date.

• Pick up the phone. Sometimes an email is just not enough. Take a few moments and call your relationships. Actually, you should be making verbal contact with all your significant relationships on a regular basis. Don’t wait until a holiday or event occurs.

• Mark your calendar to schedule routine contact. Make note of any special event coming due like a birthday. Set reminders in advance on your calendar so you do not miss the event.

Maintaining contact with your customers and network should be part of your regular marketing activities. It is much harder replace a contact than find a new one.

Market Positioning

Market Positioning is a module of the Marketing Matrix used to influence demand. Positioning can also create brand loyalty for repeat purchases. Briefly, the marketing matrix is comprised of product, pricing, promotion, placement, and persuasion. A product cannot be all things to all people -- universal appeal is a myth. Tastes are varied and preferences are diverse making it impossible to satisfy everyone with the same product. Therefore, identification of a target niche is critical.

A niche market is one that research establishes a base demand for a product. Creation of brand awareness is essential once a niche is identified. The intent of branding is to promote and imprint the product into the minds of a niche market. Differentiation tactics and concepts need to be developed if there are similar competing products in the market. Demonstrating the differences in product and the company offering it is a comparison between them and us. It should show impactful benefit that distinguishes a product from alternate choices. Prospective buyers should be able to readily recognize unique benefits, enabling purchasers to make better assessments between products.

The Marketing Concept

Marketing is a management tool designed to facilitate sales. As a management tool, marketing is part of the overall business process operation involving effective planning, project organizing, staffing concerns, direction, and control systems. Selling cannot be productive without good marketing. Both marketing and sales are dependent upon each other even though they are different disciplines.

Think of marketing as a way of managing business processes so decisions are made with the awareness of what the impact will be on the customer. For example, in sales, a product is created with the intent of offering it to potential buyers resulting in revenue. The sales staff is told to find prospects and turn them into buying customers. Sales practices are influenced by the marketing plan. Under the sales approach, a customer exists for the business. Under the marketing concept, the business exists to serve the customer.

Marketing Plan Introduction

Marketing – It is an essential component of every business enterprise for attracting new customers, as well as retention of existing ones. There is no single marketing solution to fit all situations. A marketing plan is unique to each enterprise even if the same product (service) type is sold by competing companies in the same marketplace. The plan must also be dynamic because the market demands are in a constant state of change.

Plan review must be regular. Market analysis is also a constant. Strategies require revision to meet the expectations of targeted verticals. Knowing the difference between perceived buyer needs and buyer wants will directly influence demand.

I will expand more on this process in future blogs and articles. Once you start a plan, keep reviewing and refining it for success.

How To Videos in Plain English

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I came across this new service that seems to have taken this saying to a new level. It's called Common Craft (www.commoncraft.com) - an educational service using video. Common Craft is owned and created by Lee and Sachi LeFever based out of Seattle, Washington.

The videos are short, simple, and very entertaining. Best of all, their how to

video instruction takes all the clutter out of learning. Common Craft videos teach in "plain English", as they say it. Different language options are available, too.

If you are not technically savvy and want to know how to build a blog or create a Twitter account, there are videos to show you. They even have videos about investing money. Even if you can't find the video you are looking for, they have the ability to create a custom one for you.

To me, it's kind of like a video how to for dummies. I confess to learning a certain subject from one of their videos, but I am not telling which one (LOL). Seriously, I think Common Craft is pure genius and wish I thought of first. Kudos to them. I highly recommend you viewing their site to learn more.

$ Effective B2B Marketing Tactics

There are actually only four effective B2B marketing tactics for acquiring new clients. They are 1) Direct Contact 2) Networking 3) Promotion 4) Advertising and Publicity. However, it is not effective to use all four simultaneously. Direct Contact is by far the best method for gaining new business in the least amount of time. You still must know what methods to use for direct contact and most definitely you must Follow Up - Follow Up - Follow Up.

Direct Contact is your proactive outreach activity. It let's your prospects know you exist rather than waiting for them to discover you themselves. You are able to engage with prospects, share information, immediately respond to questions, and so forth. This is where you establish rapport. People will buy more readily from people they learn to trust.

Networking also proactively let's the world know you're alive. Your network contacts are your source for referrals and building credibility. They care your viral marketing arm.

Promotion is about spreading the word either by yourself or having others do it. You can attend trade shows or perform public speaking engagements. The goal is to create visibility, but it does not always motivate others to contact you. You still need to follow up (direct contact).

Advertising and Publicity are dependent upon each other. Like promotion, it creates visibility. These activities are passive. This means that you place ads or press releases out in the world hoping to brand yourself and create awareness. However, these activities alone do not drive business to your door.

The best advice is to use only two of the four strategies at any given time - and use them with purpose. When I state "purpose", I mean you need to have plan in advance with set goals. You can always add additional tactics along the way. Mix and match tactics depending on your environment. Just make sure Direct Contact is always in the mix.

Ripped Off and Sounding Out

I've written and published my own original articles on many web sites including this blog. Recently, I joined a new publishing site to gain a little more public exposure for networking and building opportunities. I submitted a few of my previously published articles to get acquainted with the new site before publishing new content. Submitting previously published work is an acceptable practice on this new publisher web site, as it is with many others.

Here is the issue. A couple of my article submissions were denied by the new publisher. The two main reasons for denial are copyright infringement and no matching byline. Wow! My own creations were being unjustly accused of plagiarism. This really ticks me off because all my written work is original from my own experience and mind.

I checked the web sources cited by the AC editor who declined my articles. The first web link was to an expired domain and it contained a portion of an article I wrote and published long ago. The other web link shows my exact full and previously published article, but does not cite me as the author.

Obviously, my written work has been ripped-off and published by some scoundrels. I can verify, without question, these articles are my own creation. In fact, I can show the published date of one of my articles precedes the date on one the links found by the publishing editor.

So, what is the moral? Once you write on the internet, you never know where your words will be found -- or stolen.

When a Client or Customer is Wrong

Never tell a client or customer, "I told you so". You provide advice or offer a solution to your client, but sometimes they still go their own way. On occasion, their decision fails even though you warned them about the outcome. This is not an occasion to point out their mistake. Rather, it is an opportunity to shine and establish more credibility. Nobody likes to be told his or her decision-making is faulty. Ask questions about what they think should have been done differently. Offer to help by providing alternate solutions. Guide your clients to find the correct answers to their issues. Be prepared to validate your solutions with supporting facts. Remember not to remind them that they should have listened to you in the first place. Your client will recognize you as valuable resource and will be more receptive to future advice.

True Cost of Staff Compensation

Staffing is probably the most challenging task and time-consuming tasks faced by any organization. It can also be the most expensive part of operating a business. Without good people, all enterprises cannot effectively pursue their goals and achieve objectives.

How do you find qualified job candidates? How long does it take to recruit, hire, and train new people? How will you evaluate them to ensure they can deliver upon your objectives? How does staffing fit within your overall business plan? Once you have connected with others, you still need to engage, recruit, qualify, orient, and control. This is the management side of building an effective staffing infrastructure. Even if you find the right people, they may not consider your offer. Compensation is another element that will determine the quality of the candidate. As the old saying goes…“You Get What You Pay For”.

Real staffing costs of a company are more than salary considerations. Whatever you decide to pay an employee must be multiplied 125 to 135 percent. Why use a multiple? Because overhead costs add to overall payroll expenses and ultimately affects your profits. Additional soft costs of staffing include benefits, time off, taxes, supplies, office use incidentals, and more. For example, a $50,000 annual salary will likely cost more than $63,000 in payroll expense and may have detrimental results to a budget if soft costs are not pre-planned. Many entrepreneurs and mangers do not realize the soft costs until after they occur.

An effective solution is to outsource some or all of your staffing - at least in the beginning. Working with a professional business process outsourcing (BPO) firm can take much of the initial load off your back and still allow you to have full control. A BPO firm will provide expert management functions at a significantly reduced cost compared to hiring direct employees. You can set up and initiate faster using a BPO. While the BPO is performing assigned duties, you can work on recruiting a permanent staff to eventually transition away from the BPO. In fact, the BPO can assist you in the recruiting of their replacement.