Network Solutions - Small business conversations and working together for small business success » Series

Writing a Killer Marketing Plan isn’t hard. Unless you make it that way.

Steve Fisher — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:00:39 +0000

For any small business, customers are your lifeblood to profitability. You have to be able to win them over and convince them that you are the company they should work with over every one else. One primary way to frame your approach to marketing along with identifying the right campaigns that target who you want as customers

I have written my fair share of marketing plans, some for me and others for companies I worked with, but even if that is not required, having a plan is good thing by all accounts. So I looked at this new year as a time when people are thinking of the year ahead to how they are going to gain new customers and keep the ones they have especially in this tough economic environment.

Hence, the Marketing Plan Series was born.

This series is for seasoned marketers that want to pick up some nuggets of wisdom along the way or new business owners who don’t know anything about marketing but know that they need to do it to win customers

I will be writing this series here and cross-posting over on our sister site, MySolutionSpot.com. I will be writing the core series in a rapid fire set of posts over the next few weeks and once a month there will be an evaluation of putting this kind of plan into practice and tuning it along the way. In this manner, I hope to engage all of our readers out there to contribute their lessons learned and advice on building a successful marketing plan.

Getting Productive in 2009 – Spending a Year with GTD

Steve Fisher — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:00:14 +0000

When I first started my career about 17 years ago, I had a mentor of mine give me Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. It was a book that transformed my life and the way I balanced it and and accomplished things on a weekly basis. Yes, I had a “Daily Planner” that was a 7 ring binder which eventually was replaced by a Palm Pilot in the late 90’s and eventually a Palm Treo Smart Phone in the early part of this decade. I loved ‘7 Habits’ but I still felt overwhelmed.

In 2007 someone gave me David Allen’s Getting Things Done book as a present. Everyone I knew that read it, loved it. So I gave it a read but I didn’t really get it. I had been doing the stuff I needed to do for years so why was this so revolutionary?

Toward the end of 2008 with my life getting busier on the personal side and the demands of work still increasing with responsibility, I needed to get this under control. So a few weeks ago I sat down with a good friend of mine who really explained GTD to me in a way I could understand and with some software tools I could work with.

I finally got the point and the core of GTD – When something comes in, do it, file it or toss it. Just get it out of your brain so you can focus on the task at hand. WOW. For someone that feels ADD but has never been diagnosed it fed my control freak nature while allowing me to process everything as it came in and handle it properly in its own due time.

As we approach the end of 2008 I am looking at 2009 as a really busy and exciting year. I’m not usually a fan of the typical New Year’s resolution but I actually just did one for the entire year (read the entire bible over 365 days) so I know I can do something if I focus and am committed.

So since I am just starting with GTD and learning as I go, I would like to share my experiences, lessons learned and hacks I learn along the way.

I will be sharing this journey over on our sister site, MySolutionSpot.com, and cross-posting here. I will be writing once a month on this in a sort of “month in retrospective”. Who knows, maybe you will be inspired and take the journey with me or at the very least learn something new about organizing your life that will make you more productive.

New Series for 2009 – Writing the Killer Business Plan

Steve Fisher — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:00:05 +0000

For any small business, having a focus on what you sell and why customers should buy from you is critical. One primary way to frame your ideas and vision, especially when you are growing and people need a sort of “playbook” to work from, a business plan seems like a logical first start.

In my career I have written many business plans, some of which raised money for a business, but even if that is not required, having a plan is good thing by all accounts. So I looked at this new year as a time when people are thinking of the year ahead for their business or might even be thinking of starting one for the first time.

So I thought about updating what I had written many years ago on another blog for today’s economic climate and the things that are really important in a business plan for 2009. Hence, the Business Plan Series was born.

This series is for seasoned entrepreneurs that want to pick up some nuggets of wisdom along the way or new entrepreneurs who have a dream and real passion to make something happen.

I will be writing this series over on our sister site, MySolutionSpot.com, and cross-posting here. I will be writing once a month on this in a sort of “month in retrospective”. I will be writing one article/post a month on this so you can follow along and be the end of the year be able to write a killer business plan.

Update on feedback from our readers have motivated me to rethink the approach for the Business Plan series and our Marketing Plan Series: