A workshop in book form for all Small Businesses. Some Actions help business owners sell; others simplify painful – but necessary – activities such as planning, preparation, follow-up and networking.
Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever said or thought any of the following:
o Could I get that coffee straight into my vein, please?
o I need to lose five pounds by this weekend.
o Call me back right away!
o That hostess thinks I’m gonna wait 20 minutes for a table, are you kidding?
o If you are going to drive the speed limit then get in the right lane!
Today it seems that we not only want instant results, but we often feel it is our right to expect and receive things immediately. We always have what we think are good reasons to justify this need for immediacy. Some of those reasons appear in the rationalization Small Business Owners use to explain why they haphazardly market their business and why they do little, if any, Marketing Planning and Research.
Have you ever used any of the following justifications?
o Why make a Marketing Plan, the marketplace drives my Customers.
o I’m too busy servicing my Customers to market my business.
o I don’t have time to do research.
o I’d like to get some government business, but I don’t know how (or it’s too complicated).
o I have a Marketing Plan – call on 30 people every week.
In your hands you now have a “workshop in a book” that provides you 101 Actions that yield immediate results and collectively produce a marketing action plan.
When I was in telecommunications marketing/sales we Account Managers were required to develop and use Marketing Action Plans – MAPs. In developing these MAPs (plans) we listed Actions, established time frames for them and identified roles and responsibilities for carrying out the Actions. Some of the marketing research was done for us because we had assigned geographic territories and customer types such as: Professional Services, Medical, Government, Manufacturing, etc. When I first worked in telecommunications we operated as a utility so we were to market/sell to everyone in our assigned area and business type. However, after we really had competition, management realized we needed to operate more like a business than a utility and Account Managers were instructed to incorporate qualification of prospects into our MAPs (plans). Most businesses, whether large or small, that are successful have some type of Marketing Plan that includes activities with time-frames. So if you are operating without a Marketing Plan or have one but it needs updating or is not helping, you can increase your success by following the Actions in this book.
The book provides 101 Marketing Actions that, when used, provide you understanding, activities, templates, methods and challenges. These Actions will simplify your marketing and sales efforts and make them more efficient and productive. If you use the Actions and set time-frames for them you will have a Marketing Action Plan – MAP. Many of the Actions utilize forms and examples to help you understand and get started. There are even some Actions that give you immediate payback.
All the Actions may not apply to your business or they may not be feasible now. In the last Chapter of the book (Chapter 9) is a list of all the Actions with a place for you to make notes or set dates for future use or consideration.
Some concepts that you will see throughout the Actions are:
o Subcontracting – an approach that increases your opportunities by allowing you to participate in the big projects.
o Outsourcing – being the recipient of outsourced projects, processes and functions
o Partnering – another method for increasing your opportunities.
o Focused – meaning alert, targeted and homed-in; all things that will make your Marketing Actions simpler and more productive.
o Doing – the book uses Actions instead of Tips because Actions will move you forward and get results for your business.
Some of the Actions are dependent on or intertwined with others, but most of them do not have to be done in a specific order. The Actions are divided into 8 sections to help you choose the ones that apply to your specific situation at a specific time. A chapter is devoted to each section:
* Chapter 1 – BEGINNING
* Chapter 2 – PHILOSOPHY
* Chapter 3 – PREPARATION
* Chapter 4 – PROSPECTING
* Chapter 5 – GETTING THE WORD OUT / GETTING NOTICED
* Chapter 6 – TRADE FAIRS & NETWORKING
* Chapter 7 – FOLLOW UP / FOLLOW THROUGH
* Chapter 8 – SCHEDULE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janet W. Christy has spent the majority of her professional career in marketing, sales and public relations positions.
In 2003 Janet formed Leverage & Development, LLC, a consulting firm focused on helping Small, Disadvantaged and Woman/Minority Owned businesses and the agencies and organizations that work with them.
Janet currently works with businesses to develop plans that will help them maximize their Small, Disadvantaged or Ownership status. She prepares a customized manual for her clients that includes: Market Assessment, Key Prospects, Prospecting Strategy, and a Step-by-Step Marketing Plan.
Janet also conducts seminars on marketing and certification for Small, Disadvantaged and Woman/Minority Owned Businesses. She conducts the seminars for Chamber of Commerce memberships, private businesses, education institutions and municipal/county governments. These workshops provide attendees with practical instruction, resources and experience-based advice.
In 2006 Janet’s fist book Capitalizing On Being Woman Owned was released. This book is still available through bookstores and online booksellers such as Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. Janet has also written articles for several magazines and blogs including “Home Business Magazine.” She has made more than 30 radio appearances to discuss the advantages and opportunities for Small Businesses. Janet was selected as part of the “Brain Trust” for the Small Business Advocate (www.smallbusinessadvocate.com). She was named as “Communicator of the Year” by the Greenville SC Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. She continues to speak and conduct workshops related to Small, Women and Minority Owned Businesses.
Janet has worked on both sides of the procurement process. Her experience includes both preparing RFPs (Request for Proposal) and RFIs (Request for Information) and responding to them. She currently works as a consultant for Small and Woman/Minority Owned Businesses to aid them in marketing to government and education entities. She also assists government and education entities in the development of RFPs and the evaluation of responses. Janet’s firm, Leverage & Development, LLC offers a workshop to help businesses understand the culture behind government purchasing.
Because of Janet’s experience and unique grass roots research methods she is often called on by both businesses, government entities and non-profit organizations to conduct feasibility, needs assessments and other complex studies. Reports from Leverage & Development, LLC provide detailed information and practical applications that are easily adapted for business plans, operational guidelines, and grant applications.
Before becoming a Consultant and Author, Janet spent more than 25 years in the telecommunications industry. In late 1999, Janet, along with several partners, formulated, raised angel and bank financing, and implemented the business plan for a telecommunications company specializing in back-office and consulting services for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Virtual ISPs and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). The group launched the telecommunications company and within less than a year sold the ISP portion to a publicly traded company. Janet served as Executive Vice President for Sales, Marketing and Customer Service.
At the website of her firm Leverage & Development, LLC www.leverageanddevelopment.com, you can find more information about Janet along with helpful articles and guides she has written. She can be contacted at janet@leverageanddevelopment.com. Janet is also the host of two other websites www.janetchristy.com and www.businesshospitalforwomen.com.
Read more about 101 Winning Marketing Actions for Small Businesses and Janet Christy HERE.
Copyright 2010 Janet Christy. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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