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Being a Home-Based Business Owner ... What's Not to Love?
Being an entrepreneur and working from home has to be one of the most rewarding opportunities available to us. What other business or organization would allow you to work in your slippers with curlers in your hair (or whiskers on your face!) while...
How To Accelerate The Return On Investment (ROI) Of Your Senior Talent
If you were given £100,000, how would you feel? If that £100,000 was then withdrawn and you were asked for another £150,000 how would you feel? You might question whether you had made the right decision to take the £100,000 in the first place....
Human Resource Communication Pays Off
Human Resource Communications and Corporate Communications – are they one in the same? Both plan and develop written communication strategies to further the understanding and perceptions of their audience. Both provide counsel and editorial...
PR: Let's Dump the Smoke and Mirrors
O.K., press releases, broadcast plugs, special events and
brochures help business, non-profit, government agency
and association managers move a message from here to
there. And that’s an important and useful function, but
that’s all they...
The 7 Traits of an Exceptional & Successful Entrepreneur
How often have you either referred to or considered the expression, “Success is a journey and not a Destination?” Probably many times, yet often being in a hurry to get there, we forget that success is not an end unto itself, but is instead an...
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What You Must Do for One Whole Day, Every Week for Your Business
Do you experience periods of feast or famine in your business?
Do you only think about marketing when you realize you are
running low on clients? Do you have some steady clients but
you'd love to have more? Or are you still struggling to barely
reach your key business goals? If any of these situations
describe you, and you are serious about making some changes, I
have an idea for you. First, a few more questions.
Be honest, how much time do you spend on business development,
activities to sustain and grow your business? How often do you
take action to develop your business? Do you do it randomly
whenever it occurs to you? If you are like many business owners
you are planning to do it later, when you have more time, after
you have finished all of the urgent things you are doing that
keep you so busy. How's that working for you?
It won't happen unless YOU make it happen. The key is to plan it
and do it consistently. You've probably heard this quote from
Einstein before and it is worth repeating here - "Insanity:
doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
results."
So what will it take? I am asking you to spend one entire day,
each week (even better if it is the same day each week) on
business development. This will allow you to avoid distractions,
stay focused and get into the flow of what you are doing. If you
can't set aside an entire day, you can break it up. Just make
sure you are spending at least 20% of your time on business
development which means you will need to track how much time you
devote to it.
If you are a solopreneur it is up to you to do this. If you
realize that you haven't been doing enough business development,
and you know you never will, consider outsourcing. If you have
employees, you can choose to be the one to do this or you can
delegate it someone else. No matter what, it must be done and
done consistently.
Spending one whole day on business development every week will
force you to rethink how you are spending your time. You will
need to start thinking about creating solid systems and
leveraging everything you do so that you can get more done in
less time. You never know, you may even discover that there is
much more business than you ever realized and that it is time to
add more people to your company!
So what are effective business development activities? Here is a
short list to get you started:
- Contact
prospective clients with your offer (direct mail,
e-mail, call). This one is rather obvious and yet we somehow
always find a way to avoid it. Be courageous and get into action.
- Ask existing clients if they can refer you to new business.
Existing clients are hopefully happy with your products/services
otherwise they wouldn't be clients. Because of this, they are
likely to want to help you if they can. It's your move to ask.
- Check in with previous clients. If you are on good terms with
inactive clients you can ask them if they may be interested in
your products/services again or you can offer them something
new. You can also ask if they know other people who may be
interested in your products/services.
- Contact potential strategic alliance partners. These are
companies who sell different products/services than you do and
whose clients fit with your ideal client profile.
- Develop a new product/service and promote it. A new
product/service may be attractive to new clients as well as to
existing and inactive clients.
- Contact groups/clubs/associations about speaking for them. It
is critical that you select the groups carefully. Be sure that
the members of the groups fit your ideal client profile.
Speaking is one of the best ways to let people experience you
and what you offer, gain credibility, and build your status as
an expert.
- Place an advertisement in a publication that your ideal
clients read. To be effective, run the ad at least 8-11 times. A
one-time ad will not do much for your business.
Here are some things that will keep you very busy and may not
help you grow your business:
- Cleaning out your files
- Talking about how busy you are
- Thinking about what you could do and not doing it
- Reading books with great ideas that never get implemented
- Buying more books with great ideas that never get implemented
This is about of working 'on' your business not just 'in' it
which is required to create a long-term, sustainable business.
Are you up for the challenge? Sure hope so, your business
depends on it. It's time to get cracking and make it happen.
(c) 2005 Stephanie Ward
About the author:
Life & Business Coach Stephanie Ward helps business owners set
their profits on fire! Get your free monthly profit tips plus
bonus report at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Frequently Asked Questions |
Strategic Planning · Fundraising · Financial Management · Risk Management · Credit Card Acceptance. The FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) listed on this ... |
www.allianceonline.org |
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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 |
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08/26/96 STRATEGIC PLANNING |
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www.businessweek.com |
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Dr. Strategy - Dr. Pete Johnson, Keynote Speaker, Marketing ... |
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strategicplanning.com |
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Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation |
Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation. |
www.sps.org.uk |
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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 |
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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. |
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BPubs.com: Strategic Planning & Business Planning Articles |
Business Publications related to Corporate Strategic Planning. |
www.bpubs.com |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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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