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Informative Articles

Book Summary: Mind Your Own Business
This article is based on the following book: Mind Your Own Business A Maverick’s Guide to Business, Leadership and Life Doubleday & Company, Inc., 2003 ISBN 0-385-50959-6 208 pages A maverick is an independent person who will...
Change May Be Your Ace in the Hole
Whether it has been thrust upon you by external market forces or it has simply bubbled up from the internal dynamics of your enterprise, change itself always presents opportunity for improvement. And in a knowledge based economy, change may be the...
Generating Publicity: Will The Media Be Interested In My Product/Business?
When it comes to launching a new business or product, some marketing consultants might say that EVERY product is appropriate for a publicity or media exposure campaign. That is true to a degree, but as a PR/publicity professional and former media...
Mission and Vision Statements - Foundational to Successful Change
Successful leaders and organizations are vision driven rather than problem driven. Some management tools fail to affect any change; but here is one that will, if properly implemented. Mission and Vision Statements have been crafted by organizations...
When and Where the Affluent Shop for December Holiday Gifts
The majority of the affluent will do most of their shopping for holiday gifts during the first two weeks of December, and traditional department stores will be the most important source of gifts, based on dollars spent, according to a recent...
 
SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

When conducting strategic planning for any company - online and/or offline - it is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own business, but your competitor's businesses and the current business environment as well. A SWOT is one such analysis.

Completing a SWOT analysis helps you identify ways to minimize the affect of weaknesses in your business while maximizing your strengths. Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities that result from your competitors’ weaknesses or voids.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Basic SWOT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can develop a basic SWOT analysis in a brainstorming session with members of your company, or by yourself if you are a one-person shop. To begin a basic SWOT analysis create a four-cell grid or four lists, one for each SWOT component:

| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |

Then, begin filling in the lists.

* Strengths - Think about what your company does well. What makes you stand out from your competitors? What advantages do you have over other businesses?

* Weaknesses - List the areas that are a struggle. What do your customers complain about? What are the unmet needs of your sales force?

* Opportunities - Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company's strengths? Is there a product/service area that you could do well in but are not yet competing?

* Threats - Look both inside and outside of your company for things that could damage your business. Internally, do you have financial, development, or other problems? Externally, are your competitors becoming stronger, are there emerging trends that amplify one of your weaknesses, or do you see other threats to your company's success?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Advanced SWOT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A more in-depth SWOT analysis can help you better understand your company's competitive situation. One way to improve upon the basic SWOT is to include more detailed competitor information in the analysis. Note Internet-related activities such as trade organization participation, search engine inclusion, and outside links to the sites. This


will better help you spot opportunities for and threats to your company.

You can also take a closer look at the business environment. Often, opportunities arise as a result of a changing business environment. Some examples are:

* A new trend develops for which demand outstrips the supply of quality options. Early on, the trend toward healthy eating coupled with an insistence on good-tasting food produced a shortage of acceptable natural food alternatives, for example.

* A customer segment is becoming more predominant, but their specific needs are not being fully met by your competitors. The U.S. Hispanic population experienced this phenomenon in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

* A customer, competitor, or supplier goes out of business or merges with another company. With the demise of many pure-play "dot coms", examples of this abound. As each went out of business, opportunities arise to gain the defunct business’ customers.

You can also enhance a SWOT analysis through surveys. You can learn more about your own as well as competitor’s sites and businesses. Areas you can research include 1) customer awareness, interest, trial, and usage levels, 2) brand, site, and/or company image, 3) importance of different site or product attributes to your customers, and 4) product and/or site performance.

Whether using a basic or more advanced approach to SWOT analysis, you are sure to come away with newfound insights. Use these to increase your company's effectiveness and as input into your business or marketing plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Book: Strategic Marketing Planning
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/sr.htm

* Resources: Market Research and Analysis
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/SR12.htm

* Article: Affordable Market Research
http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/Arts/MktRsrch.htm

About the Author

Bobette Kyle is author of "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site Marketing." She used techniques detailed in the book to bring her own site, WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, from a ranking of 17 million to 54 thousand+ in less than four months. http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/sr.htm

 

Strategic Planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations)
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... First, a Point About For-Profit and Nonprofit Strategic Planning ...
www.managementhelp.org
 
Basic Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know)
Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... Strategic planning often includes use of several key terms. ...
www.managementhelp.org
 
Strategic Planning, Strategic Plan, Business Strategy, Strategic ...
Strategic planning advice with free strategic planner & sample strategic plan covering mission statement, SWOT analysis with business plan software for cash ...
www.planware.org
 
Strategic Planning
FAQs regarding strategic planning - geared primarily toward non-profit organizations but with enough detail and general information to provide useful ...
www.allianceonline.org
 
Frequently Asked Questions
Strategic Planning · Fundraising · Financial Management · Risk Management · Credit Card Acceptance. The FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) listed on this ...
www.allianceonline.org
 
Strategic planning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strategic planning involves defining objectives and developing ... Strategic planning uses "the big picture" to pursue large scale, long term objectives. ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
08/26/96 STRATEGIC PLANNING
You guessed it: strategic planning. Suddenly, the idea of rising above the ... But if strategic planning is back with a vengeance, it's also back with a ...
www.businessweek.com
 
Dr. Strategy - Dr. Pete Johnson, Keynote Speaker, Marketing ...
StrategicPlanning.com “Turning Change Into A Competitive Advantage”. Dr. Pete's Preview Video Click Here. Take-Away Value Sample Program Handouts ...
strategicplanning.com
 
Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation
Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation.
www.sps.org.uk
 
Guide 7
Strategic Planning in Smaller Nonprofit Organizations ... In short, as a result of a strategic planning process, an organization will have a clearer idea of ...
www.wmich.edu
 
STRATEGIC PLANNING MANUAL
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Your browser may not have a PDF reader available. Google recommends visiting our text version of this document.
 
BPubs.com: Strategic Planning & Business Planning Articles
Business Publications related to Corporate Strategic Planning.
www.bpubs.com
 
Strategic Planning Tools
Strategic Planning is a method for positioning an organization to take ... A strategic planning process incorporates an in-depth planning model that takes ...
www.nsba.org
 
Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.
The Center for Simplified Strategic Planning offers training, seminars, consulting, speakers, workshops, a book and a newsletter on strategic management for ...
www.cssp.com
 
LEADERSHIP: Strategic Planning and Strategic Management
Introduction: Is strategic planning really worth it? ... The purpose of strategic planning is to encourage thinking about your organization's "big ...
vskn.ca
 
The CEO Refresher Archives - Strategic Planning
When done right, the integrated strategic planning process can take a ... Strategic Planning and Project Management: The Key to Successful Implementation ...
www.refresher.com
 
HEFCE : Publications : 2000 : 00/24 - Strategic planning in higher ...
This guide reviews good practice in strategic planning in higher education (HE). It originated in a consultation exercise which we held in 1998 to review ...
www.hefce.ac.uk
 
The Association for Strategic Planning
The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), is a non-profit professional society whose mission is to enable people and organizations to succeed through ...
www.strategyplus.org
 
Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A ...
Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook: Books: Michael Allison,Jude Kaye by Michael Allison,Jude Kaye.
www.amazon.com
 
Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for ...
Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast!: Books: Robert W. Bradford,Robert W. Bradford,J. Peter ...
www.amazon.com
 
 

 
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