Category: Planning & Management

As we sit here at the start of a New Year, many of you may be wondering what the heck you’re going to do this year in your business.  You may be:

• Feeling overwhelmed with getting your system in place – maybe you don’t have any clients yet so you’re trying to set up a system so you can serve clients;
• Stuck in “analysis paralysis” because you have so many ideas you don’t know where to start; or
• Trying to stay on top of all the different moving parts; ezine, listbuilding, giveaway creation, blog posts, social media, financial stuff

The answer to all of this overwhelm and chaos is simple … you need a plan!

Listen, I know that many of you shy away from creating a strategic business plan. For some of you it’s simply a huge stumbling block. For others, you think having a plan makes you feel boxed in. In fact the very opposite is true.

When you do have a plan in place, you have a clear path to follow. And it changes your business and your life for the better.

Today, I’m going to share with you my top three simple steps so you can get your business on track in 2014:

1. Be clear on the purpose of your business; why you’re setting it up and what results your services will deliver for your clients. This is also known as creating your Big Picture Vision.

Your Big Picture Vision consists of two key questions that you have to think really hard about and answer.

• What is your PASSION?
• What is your WHY?

When you put these two answers together you create your Big Picture Vision, and this is the framework that you build your business around.

2. Get clear on your ideal client – be really specific on who that person is.Creating an ideal client profile is a big sticking point for many business owners.  Without an ideal client profile marketing becomes hard, and your message becomes very general.

Many business owners are afraid to pick an ideal client profile for fear of limiting themselves in terms of not getting enough clients, but the opposite happens.  When your marketing and your message are very general you don’t really attract anyone because they can’t relate to what you’re offering … it doesn’t talk to them specifically and address their concerns, their issues, and their problems.

The clearer you are in identifying your ideal client, the clearer your message will be, and the easier your marketing will be … and you will attract your ideal clients and more of them.

Because you are talking specifically to them, when they come across your website/see you at a speaking gig etc. they can immediately say, “that’s me!”.

3. Plan your activities in 90-day blocks of time. Ninety days are perfect for creating a really focused, action-oriented plan.  It’s far enough ahead that you can create some long-term plans, but not so far ahead that you feel overwhelmed.

Your 90-day plans need to be specific and measureable, and identify who is going to do the work, if not you.  Plans should be:

• Action oriented
• Have specific tasks
• Assigned deadlines

Follow these three simple steps, and you’ll soon get your business on track.

Just last week I had two, almost identical, conversations with two clients.  But the worrying thing is this isn’t the first time I’ve had these conversations; in fact it’s cropped up quite a bit over the past couple of years. And it goes something like this:

I’m frustrated with my VA (Virtual Assistant). She’s missing things.

Or

I’m on my third VA this year.  I can’t find someone who knows what to do.

Or

My VA takes two / three / four days to get back to me when I need her to respond to me sooner.

Whenever I hear a client say this it raises a red flag for me because, very often, it’s not the VA who’s at fault … it’s the client.  So I dig a little deeper and start to ask a few questions, such as “give me an example of what’s going wrong”; or “what kind of things does she miss”? And usually what I find is that:

• The VA is doing a great job; she’s doing exactly what the client asks her to do (no problem there!).
• It’s the client who doesn’t know what to do. They don’t understand the strategy behind their business so they can’t give specific instructions to their VA on what to do; instead they believe that the VA should know what to do without the client having to tell them.
• The client doesn’t have a plan or doesn’t share the plan with the VA. So their VA is constantly operating in reactive mode and the client is operating in “constant crisis” mode (which is why they get frustrated when their VA doesn’t reply to them immediately).

A Virtual Assistant’s role is to provide administrative support to the business owner; they’re not a strategist/consultant and their role is very much in a support capacity, not strategic capacity. Therefore it’s not their job to tell the client what to do, how to run their business, or when to send out promotions etc.  It’s the client’s job to understand business strategies, create a strategic business plan, and share it with their VA so their VA can support the client and the business as fully as possible.

And this is where the problem lies!  There is a mismatch between what the client’s expectations are and what the VA’s role is.

As a client/business owner, it’s your responsibility to:

1. Understand the strategy behind everything you do in your business, i.e. hosting a telesummit, launching a new product, running an online coaching program – how does all this fit into your “Big Picture Vision”?
2. Create a strategic business plan that supports the “Big Picture Vision”.
3. Share your strategic business plan with your VA and other team members.

Your Strategic Marketing Action Plan (MAP) is a document that is used to plan your day-to-day marketing activities/strategies for running your online business; in other words it’s your MAP to online business management success. And just like a real map, your MAP tells you exactly how to get from point A to point B and the route you need to take in order to get there.

When you have your MAP in place it eliminates the guess work – you always know what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, and how you’re going to implement the strategies.

Creating a Marketing Action Plan can seem very daunting if you’ve not done this kind of detailed planning before; it can be difficult to know where to start.  My favorite tool for creating my strategic MAP is a spreadsheet because of the row/column formatting that spreadsheets use.

Today I’d like to make that process easy for you and share with you my insider secrets so that you can create your own MAP.

1. Heart of your business – your MAP is not a document that you create, look at once, and then set aside to review in a year’s time.  Like a real map you continually refer to (typically on a weekly basis) so that you know you’re going in the right direction. And if you do sway off course a little, maybe for a pit stop along the way, you can easily update it as necessary.

Your MAP will provide you with your ‘Big Picture’ route for the year.  You’ll want to keep it handy so that you can refer to it often, whether you print it out and keep it on your desk, or have easy access to it on your PC.

2. Chunk it down – the easiest and simplest way for you to manage your MAP is to break it down into doable action steps, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by feeling you have to plan out your entire route in one go. You’re going on a journey and as such there might be detours along the way. I highly advise you to chunk down your MAP, first into quarters, then into months, and then into weeks.

3. See any overlaps/conflicts – as you’ve been planning out your marketing activities for the upcoming year, having it all together in one place will allow you to see any overlaps or conflicts in your plan.  Similarly it will also allow you to see any gaps too.

4. Automatically creates your weekly/monthly To Do list – this is one of my favorite aspects of creating my MAP because when I chunk everything down into quarters/months/weeks I find that I create my weekly action list.  And it’s so much easier to be able to just focus on that week’s action steps and so implement them.

Some points to remember as you’re putting together your marketing plan:

• Seeding in ezine/networks – as soon as you’re clear on what programs/products/services you’re going to be offering and when, start mentioning them in your newsletter and to your social networks.  You don’t need to give a whole lot of detail – simply say that you’re working on something new, or an exciting project etc.  and this will start to create interest in your offerings.
• Marketing – plan out when you’re going to be opening registrations and when you’re going to be running promotions.  This is important so that you don’t have any overlaps in your promotions/activities.
• Delivering – also plan out when you’re going to be delivering your programs too, again to avoid any overlaps/conflicts in your promotions and activities.
• Team Members – know which team members you’re going to need support from to help you implement your goals, i.e. virtual assistant, graphic designer, web designer etc.  You may need to contact them several weeks in advance so plan this in too.
• Dates – and finally it’s important to include all dates in your Marketing Action Plan so that nothing gets missed out.

As my financial adviser reminded me just last week, you’re running a marathon not a sprint, and the same is true for your business also. Follow these simple steps for creating your strategic Marketing Action Plan and you’ll soon find yourself on track for achieving your business goals.

About a week ago a former counseling client emailed me to ask if I could help her mediate a conflict she was having with her mother. They’d been trying to work through things for over 9 months and seemed to hit a wall. Her mother suggested counseling and my name came up as someone who might help. The desired result was to get past the conflict so that their relationship could be restored in a better way.

Working through conflict can get very sticky. I believe it takes skill, finesse, resilience, a healthy self-esteem, and objectivity to be really effective in conflict resolution. I see it as an art – something you get better at with practice and increased self-esteem. When things become personalized, objectivity can go right out the window. I know that when conflicts arise between family members, close personal relationship and friendships, things can become painful, uncomfortable, and scary.

Common situations that often lead to conflict:

~ The Blame Game – finger pointing, accusations, buck passing, using excuses, defending, and explaining are all ways people deny taking 100% responsibility for what they create in their life. As long as we have someone or something to blame for our situation, we never have to look at our role in what happened. The fact is that we are powerfull creators and we are consciously and unconsciously manifesting all the time. In a conflict situation, questions to ask yourself are, “What was my role in this creation?” What were my beliefs? Intentions? Expectations? Behaviors? that contributed to this situation?

~ Upset. The root causes are:
1. Unmet Expectations – was it realistic? Was a clear promise made? Did you perceive it as a promise?
2. Undelivered Communication – what was unclear, assumed, unsaid?
3. Thwarted Intentions – things happening out side of direct control.

~ Judgments and Self-Criticism – people aren’t who we want them to be. We’re unhappy with ourselves. Things aren’t the way we want them to be. Inner turmoil and struggle creates stress, anger, frustration. It’s exhausting and very painful. We all want to be unconditionally loved and accepted for who we are. Practicing compassion, tolerance and love for each other’s humanness (and ourselves), invites happiness and inner peace and offers healing and growth opportunities.

We must become the change we wish to see in the world – Mahatma Ghandi.

~ Stuffing things for too long – sitting on something that is simmering will eventually start to boil and lead to a blow up. That’s what happened with my mother and daughter. I’m an advocate for clearing things up as soon as possible. Withholding upset creates a gap in a relationship that widens the longer a person remains silent. One of the keys to clearing things up in a healthy way is the ability to hear things without taking it personally. This takes tons of practice and strong self-esteem.

When both parties can be in an objective space, having a conversation using these 4 opening statements can be a useful Model in conflict resolution. Notice the intentional omission of any accusations or blaming language?

In this model, YOU take full responsibility for your experience, interpretation and reaction as well as what you need to bring the experience to peace inside yourself. To be the most effective, let go of any attachment to what you want or need the other people to do or be. This is critical to offset high expectations.

1. This is what happened (from your perspective).

2. This is how I felt about it at the time (taking full responsibility for your reactions, interpretations, assumptions, feelings…)

3. This is how it affected me (taking full responsibility to what happened as a result of how you felt, what changes might have occurred…..)

4. This is what I want from you now (which might be nothing, you just needed them to hear you, you want an apology…) Understand that what you might want might be offered and be prepared for your request to be denied.

These steps can be very therapeutic regardless of the result because it creates an opportunity to have a conversation where both people can express what happened, show up for themselves and be heard. Being able to show up and hear things that might be upsetting by remaining compassionately detached and present is a skill that takes lots of practice and high self-esteem.

Mutual respect, compassion, accountability, strong self-esteem, good communications skills and the willingness to grow as a person are key ingredients to having more successfull conflict resolutions that build trust and safety in any relationship.

Finally – seek help if you need it. Sometimes we are just too close to the situation and need a third-party to help move things forward.

Many business owners (especially those with a non-business background) struggle when it comes to creating a strategic business plan for their business.  Chances are they’ve never ran a business before, and even in their “employment” days were not involved with the day-to-day business management.

So when it comes to running their business they struggle!

“Still need to figure out (sit down and actually learn) how to do this!” said one business owner to me earlier this week.

They have a dream for their business, are an expert in whatever it is they do, but have no idea how to take that idea/dream and turn it into a viable and profitable business … so they continue in a state of overwhelm and frustration, with a slow growing business.

Spending some time planning all of your business activities is crucial if you are to succeed long-term.  It’s not just about planning your business – you need to understand the strategy behind what you’re going to be doing.  And you also need to understand how all the different pieces of your business fit together to create one coherent business.

Today, I’d like to share with you my simple, 3-step process, for sitting down and crafting your own strategic business plan.

PLAN – schedule some time in your calendar to work on your business plan. Some people opt to take a mini-retreat away from their office.  It could be spending the day in your local coffee shop, or actually going out of town for a few days.  Or you could just schedule one or two hours and sit quietly in your office planning out your business (that advantage of doing in your office is that you have all your business information right there with you). Whatever works best for you is going to work best for your business.  But the important thing is, you to schedule in the time to create your plan!

INVESTIGATE – what is it you’re going to be offering over the coming 90 days; 6 months; 12 months?  I like to have a loose 12-month plan, but then have a very specific 90-day plan in place.  It’s much easier to focus and implement with a shorter time-frame than it is to do so over, say, a 12-month period.  Sometimes planning out so far ahead can feel overwhelming.  But it is important to have that “big picture vision” in place so that you know where you’re heading.

Also when you’re deciding what it is you’re going to be offering ask yourself, “Does this make sense? Does it fit my big picture vision?”  This is where understanding the strategy behind your business comes into play.  It’s no good deciding you want to do a live event, or offer an online training course, if you don’t understand how this fits into your “Big Picture Vision”. All paths must lead you to that “Big Picture Vision”.

EXECUTE – now that you know what it is you’re going to be offering and when, it’s time to put that plan into practice.  One thing that I do in my business is “reverse engineering”.  I always start with the end date in mind and then work backwards.  For example, if I’m offering a 4-part live training class on a specific date, what do I need to do to promote that training class, and when.  It’s much easier to plan out the promotions if I work backwards from the start date of the class.  That way too, I can see if I’m leaving enough time for the promotions or if I need to adjust something in some way.

So there you have my simple 3-step process for creating your strategic business plan.  No go ahead and create your own!