Business Book Summaries

Marketing is by no means a small game, and marketing your small business to big success will require some dire attention to detail. A hefty amount of work goes solely into marketing an organization's goods and services each year. Billions are spent on things like advertising, promotions, consumer surveys, and quality control to assure the thorough-put of an organization's reach to its most valuable asset – the consumer.  

 

The sunny side of this road is that we have come a long way in understanding the bridges between attracting consumers and making sales. This allows for a small business to learn from the previous failures and successes of its competitors. Outsourcing through more adept organizations, who are fervent in turning up qualitative and quantitative statistical research, is then a luxury to your small business.  

 

Many of those going into business for the first time tend to believe that the more people they market to, the more sales they're bound to make. While this may only seem logical to the average mind it is quite far from the truth in the world of small business marketing. You shouldn't try to compare your small business with that of a multi-billion-dollar corporation like Coca-Cola where, to them, everyone is considered a potential customer. For your small business to grow and make a name for itself you will need to do the opposite. This means eliminating unnecessary marketing expenses on those groups of people who are not very likely to benefit your small business.  

 

Finding Your Target Market  

 

You need to become successful in your marketing efforts and drive up your sales, without incurring additional expenses or furthering your business in debt. That requires finding your target market. A target market is a well defined set of present and potential customers that your small business attempts to satisfy.  

 

You will need to identify your target market and focus all of your marketing energy on that specific group. There are a number of analytical approaches to understanding and refining your target market depending, of course, on your product and business. However, it is important to be creative and open-minded when seeking out your target market. Many aspects of a target market may seem vague and obscured, at first, to the inexperienced marketer.  

 

In defining your target market you will need to create what is called a marketing mix. The marketing mix combines the four variables – product, place, promotion and price – that are controlled by your business, and uses them in a manner which aims to satisfy your target market. The product variable is made up of all the qualities that are perceived by the customer from your product and have the potential of satisfying their wants. The place variable determines time, place, and possession value. This means distributing the right product to the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantities. The promotion variable focuses on communication between the marketer and the customer. Is your message getting across to your target customers effectively? If so, how are they reacting and how fast? These are important variables to note when effectively trying to promote your product. Finally, the price variable notes the amount of money or resources your business seeks from the buyer in exchange for the goods or services being sold. All four of these variables are what make up your entire marketing mix and must be coordinated and developed so that they may both satisfy your market and result in a profit for your small business.  

 

Furthermore, you will need to understand the relevance of dividing your market in order to pursue effective targeted marketing for your small business. This is what we call ‘Market Segmentation'. Every market can be segmented into a number of categories and subcategories. A few basic market segmentations, for example, would be geographic, demographic, psychographic, and product-related segmentation. The primary objective here is to identify all of the characteristics or traits your most promising customers have in common so that you may harness all of your business efforts on reaching those particular customers. This will involve nitpicking through the market and finding a market segment, or a smaller group of people or firms, that exists within a larger market and whose wants are currently not being filled by products already on the market.  

 

The Mass Market Strategy  

 

The mass market strategy assumes the target market to be any potential buyer of brands in a product category and offers a single marketing mix. The mass marketing strategy has been used by such large corporations as Ford, for example, even in the early 20th century to retain low production and distribution costs. Henry Ford offered only one marketing mix for all car buyers with the Model T automobile, which enabled him to become the lowest-cost mass producer of cars.  

 

Times have changed though and today's consumers are more demanding and expectant than ever. Pursuing a mass market strategy proves unreeling to the ill-capitalized firm. Mass marketing draws a great deal of risk and uncertainty when inexperienced or underprivileged. Market Segmentation As your small business begins to better understand its market, it will become second nature to practice market segmentation. Offering one or more marketing mixes to just one segment of a market might prove more resourceful than trying to conquer the entire market share. In this case, agility becomes the tradeoff to muscle.  

Markets are often segmented based on geography. Geographic segmentation divides a mass market into such units as regions, nations, states, cities, and districts. For example, your small business may choose to target the sunny Florida state differently from the windy city of Chicago due to the climate for which their geographic locations afford them. This may result in two different market segments for a product category that holds a market in both geographic segments. Just as more stringent emissions laws in California cause auto makers to provide for a different market segment from the rest of the country, your small business too will become overpowered by geographic segmentation for all sorts of reasons. Markets are also segmented on the basis of demographic variables. Demographic segmentation pertains to statistical data as in age, gender, race, nationality, education, occupation, and purchasing power. Your products can not only be marketed depending on where a potential buyer is situated, but also based on who they are and to what they are associated with. Power drinks are targeted mainly to athletes and male fitness fanatics. Apple computers target the youthful and creative individual. Centrum Silver vitamins are targeted to people over the age of fifty. The demographic classifications of your target market can go miles long and stories high or they can be short and resolute depending on how well you know your product and market.

Psychographic segmentation zeros in on social class, personality, and life-style. For example, the Oprah Winfrey show targets independent women. Harpo productions has committed a great deal of its marketing efforts in various psychographic segments by empowering female opinion. Also, the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada caters to the high-roller gambler's life-style. These market segmentations are subject to a great deal of scrutiny, however, and it can be hard to clearly predict the scope of a psychographic market segment. A firm may also divide a mass market based on the consumer's amount of usage of a product or service, the type of usage involved, and what benefits the consumer is looking for. This is called Product-Related segmentation. For example Google AdWords, targets the direct marketer or low-budget small businesses looking to gain global, national, or even regional exposure for their business with the flexibility of controlling how much or how little they spend.

Once you have clearly understood your target market and begun the process of eliminating unnecessary marketing expenses on groups or individuals outside the scope of your target market, you will inevitably see a much higher return on your investment and long-term growth in your business. Targeted marketing increases the chances of your small business for channeling more spectators into buyers. About Author: If you're starting a small business and wish to learn more about small business startup, visit the Business-Geek.com website to find affordable small business services  

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In a competitive marketplace every decision trickles down to the bottom line. Of course, no one is perfect, we've all committed ourselves to decisions we later regretted. Unfortunately, once the ball is out of the pitchers hand there is no turning back. However, bad decisions do provide us with significant learning experiences.

If sales are slow you may be tempted to take on a bad client. While the deal may look nice at the end of the day you most likely will end up getting burned. the big lesson here is simply to trust your instinct when tasking on new clients and always draft contracts with specific terms that leave nothing to interpretation.

Along similar lines: a business can lose a good deal of money as the result of a bad hire, much like trusting a bad client, a bad hire spells nothing but trouble. Be sure the people you hire understand your business. Someone with an impressive track record from another sector may not be able to apply those skills to your business. For example, a sales manager with a great deal of experience selling tangible products for a large company may falter when asked to sell a business service to smaller companies.

Another crucial mistake to avoid is in the area of product development. Is your new product ready to go? Are you sure? If you have doubts its more than worth it to re-examine your position. jumping the gun by putting your underdeveloped product into the marketplace only translates into lost customers and credibility. Once that kind of damage is done it can be difficult if not impossible to recoup those lost sales. Wait. Redesign, retool, re-engineer, whatever it takes to assure that your product is the absolute best it can be at the point of entry into the marketplace will pay off. Quite simply, customers will always notice the difference.

About Author: Timothy Cavinder is a freelance copywriter working hard to save his clients time and money. For more information please visit http://www.cavinder.com

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Do you know what the most recognised item in the world is … it's the coke cola, believe it or not. A vacuum cleaner is not known by its proper name, but instead is known by a brand name – a Hoover (a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners). A photocopier was known for years not as a photocopier but as a Xerox machine – a manufacturer of photocopiers, a brand.

This is how important branding is to businesses. Billions of pounds are spent every year by companies on branding and brand recognition. Think about your last trip around the supermarket – how many brands were screaming at you for recognition and to pry money out of your wallet?

Whatever your business, whether you are a small family concern or a multi-national conglomerate, proper business branding is vital for you.

Branding is more than just a logo design, it’s almost an ethos, it permeates everything you do and are as a business. It’s on your business cards, your stationary, your leaflets, your posters, your adverts, your … you get the picture?

A brand is how the public recognizes your company and your product. It’s an identity and association in the minds of the public.

For example, would you pay the same amount of money for a Skoda compared with an Audi or a Bentley? No of course not, yet they are owned by the same company. The Bentley is branded as being an expensive, luxurious car whereas Skoda branding is cheap, reliable family car.

You can see from this why it is important to have your business branded. However you are positioning your business, whether it is the high or lower end of the market, you need to brand yourself accordingly.

The “pile it high, sell it cheap” branding used by cheap supermarkets years back would have never worked for the perceived high end shops such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. This branding was dropped by the cheaper supermarkets when they gained market share and started to aim their sights on more affluent customers.

What is your target market? Is it male, female? Young or old? Trendy or traditional? High end, “posh” or cheap and cheerful, appealing to the masses? Luxury or practical?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself and consider with your graphic designers when creating you corporate identity.

A corporate identity and brand is not exclusively the remit of large companies. It is something that every business from the home based entrepreneur to the small and medium enterprise needs to use to establish their identity in the marketplace.

About Author: Trap 5, a Bedford graphic design team, can help you with all your graphic design requirements, whether it's a menu, letterhead, banner, poster, leaflet or business card. Contact Trap 5 today at http://www.trap5.co.uk for free advice and information.

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Boundary setting is something one expects to find in a parenting book or a psychologist's journal. However, it applies to adult to adult relationships at work as much as it does to adult to child relationships.

In almost any workplace, for any given behaviour required to deliver an organsation's goal, people can be split into three groups.

One group is those that are both willing and able to perform and behave in a manner which contributes positively to the desired goal of the organisation.

Another group is those who are unwilling to contribute to the desired goal of the organisation even if they are able.

The third group is in the middle; those who sometimes are willing and sometimes are able to contribute to the desired goal of the organisation.

When boundaries are not set and people are allowed to behave in whatever fashion suits them, the unwilling group generally outnumbers the group which is willing and able.

People tend to seek the personal benefits of the freedom to do as they please over the benefits of the group.

When boundaries are set, with consequences for breaching the boundaries, the group which is willing and able tends to outnumber the group which is unwilling.

Further, when boundaries are set, with consequences for breaching them, the group in the middle tends to want to become more willing or more able to avoid the consequences.

There are basically three parts to a boundary. The first two are setting the boundary – the third is what we will do to defend that boundary.

If you {a description of the behavior we find unacceptable}.

We will {a description of what action we will take to protect and take care of the organisation in the event the other person violates the boundary}.

If you continue this behavior {a description of what steps we will take to protect the boundary that we have set}.

The need for boundary setting applies in several areas of business.

Financial transactions are an obvious area. If boundaries are not set with regard to authority levels for expenditure and expenses, then financial performance is usually impaired and financial irregularities become common.

If boundaries are not set with regard to starting jobs without a hazard analysis or policies on known, typical, industry-wide unsafe acts and unsafe conditions, then physical injury, asset loss and reputation loss are inevitable consequences.

When boundaries are not set with regard to customer greeting, sales approach and follow up, poor, or at least variable, service, poor reputation and poor sales result.

It is not enough to set boundaries. Boundaries must be adhered to. Breaching them must have a consequence. A negative consequence. If leaders give ground based on wanting to be "nice", the implications for the organisation are usually negative.

For example, allowing people to claim personal expenses which are not allowed because it is difficult to say no is a start to more serious financial irregularities.

Allowing people to perpetrate an unsafe act or work around a safety procedure to "speed things up" without immediate negative feedback is a sure start to developing a laissez fare attitude to safety.

Allowing people to greet guests with a range of casual greetings including "hello", "hi", "how are you?" and "gidday", rather than the more formal greeting we want our five star hotel to be known for, such as, "Good Morning, Sir", will create, at best, a variety of brand positions in our customers' minds. At worst, it will create the brand image of a casual social club rather than a five star establishment.

The ways in which boundaries can be set include policies and standards.

Policies are guiding principles. For example; "We will treat all customers with respect". Or, "We will provide maternity leave of thirty weeks", or ""We will report all incidents". The methods by which policies are enacted are processes, procedures or work instructions.

Policies should be simple, short and clear. They should not be buried in the middle of procedures, processes or work instructions. There should be a clear consequence for not complying with all policies. Otherwise, the effectiveness of policies as boundary settings is compromised.

Standards are outcomes which are expected. They are written as {verb}, {noun} with a measure of what is a successful action. For example; "Answer the telephone within three rings" or ""Greet the customer with "Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, Sir/Madam/Ms" There must also be a consequence for continually not meeting a standard. Otherwise standards lose their effectiveness.

Organisations which set boundaries and ensure that breaching them has a consequence, reward those people who are willing and able to strive for the organisation's goals. They also motivate those people who are unsure whether there is any benefit in being willing and developing the ability to achieve the organisation's goals.

Further, they provide a mechanism for counselling those people who remain unwilling to find another job which has requirements more suited to their ability and willingness.

About Author: Kevin Dwyer is the founder of Change Factory. Change Factory helps organisations who do do not like their business outcomes to get better outcomes by changing people's behaviour. Businesses we help have greater clarity of purpose and ability to achieve their desired business outcomes. To learn more or see more articles visit http://www.changefactory.com.au or email kevin.dwyer@changefactory.com.au ©2007 Change Factory Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, career & workplace, management

Organized To Be Your Best!

By Susan Silver

The Big Idea

One of the factors to success is the ability to manage tasks efficiently and systematically in a similarly conducive environment. Practicing time management allows you to accomplish the more important tasks on time; and helps you achieve the goals you have set for yourself.

Organized to Be Your Best! gives simple tips on how to get started and maintain good organization practices. Being productive doesn’t have to be difficult. After all, it’s supposed to make life easier for you!

How to Be Positively Organized!

Being organized goes beyond having a clutter-free office, it also involves getting your priorities in order and finding the time to do all the things you want. Another benefit of being positively organized is that you are able to create a balance between the different aspects of your life such as work and family.

In order to do this, you must first be able to identify personal and professional goals you would want to achieve. These goals help you stay on track.

Time Management: What You Really Need To Know

Time Management helps you manage the important things in your life. It is also the basis of any good organization. Time management helps you focus on tasks that are essential in reaching your goals.

Planning and Prioritizing

Planning and prioritizing are the foundations of time management. They clearly define your short-term and long-term goals; and make decision-making on a daily basis easier.

How to Handle Too Much to Do in Too Little Time

Control Interruptions at Work

Interruptions often hinder you from finishing your work. These interruptions are either things that you cannot control, such as mail delivery or incoming calls, or events that can be controlled because you initiate them.

Delegate Your Way to Success

Delegation is dividing work among those who can accomplish it at a faster rate or even better than you can. In order to delegate successfully, you must learn to first organize yourself. You also have to train the people to whom you delegate the tasks to. Once you have trained them, entrust them with the activity and make sure to follow-up and evaluate their performance. Provide constructive criticisms when necessary and praise a job well done.

For Collectors Only: How, When, and What to Save

Some people have careers that require them to collect documents, records, or other resources. Other people just have the habit of being packrats. Either way, you must be able to become smart about collecting.

The Sorting Process

Once you’ve determined what you‘re going to save, it’s time to begin the sorting process. Schedule a time for the sorting process and stick to it. Start with one area and plan out categories under which you will classify them.

Work Space Basics: Enhancing Your Physical Working Environment

When evaluating the location of your office, examine its proximity to your home, as well as to your clients and suppliers. How is the traffic flow? Is it in a noisy part of town? Consider the logistics of your workspace. Is it near your colleagues?

Remember that adequate work and storage space is important. The general rule is to minimize clutter. Practice the accessibility principle by keeping the things you use frequently closer to you.

Powerful Computing: PC File Organization, Housekeeping, and Backup

Your personal computer is one of the most important tools you can use. Thus, it is important to regularly ensure proper maintenance.

PC File Organization Strategies

If your hard drive is big, it is always a good idea to partition the drive or divide it into sections. Partitioning your hard drive makes backing up files easier.

Back It Up!

Backing up files helps you keep important files without clogging up or slowing down your PC. Remember to keep a hard copy and a soft copy of your back-up log so you can keep track of your files.

Working with Others

Aside from organizing yourself in order to reach your goals, getting others involved can also garner favorable results. Interaction with people at the workplace – with special attention towards customers – can make your organization more profitable and give you a competitive edge.

Communicate with Internal and External Customers

Communication should be clear and concise between your internal customers and your external customers.

Actively Involve Employees

Involving employees in the decision-making process fosters teamwork. Begin with ingraining the mission-vision of your company by putting it where everyone can see it or giving copies to employees. From there, encourage the practice of putting the mission-vision statement to work.

Using Computers and Technology to Improve Communications and Quality

Changes in technology may make communicating with others easier, but there are several downsides. For example, emails may relay important information quickly but they can also accumulate at the same rate or relay a false sense of urgency. There are also several security and privacy issues that need to be addressed.

Surfing the Net: Search Tips, Tools, Shortcuts, and Safety.

The internet is a handy form of communication, so you have to learn how to use it properly and effectively. To prevent people from hacking into your PC or sending you viruses, install an anti-virus program. You must also turn your firewall settings on, and you must passwords.

Positively Organized! In Action

Being positively organized is all about taking these concepts into action. Learning to manage time, space, and information can help you reach your goals, maximize your full potential, and make your company more effective. Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, career & workplace, Organized to Be Your Best, Susan Silver

Research indicates that Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) – how we handle ourselves and our relationships – can determine success more than I.Q. In fact, E.I. may determine as much as 80% of a person's life success. Cognitive ability or what we call I.Q. is only about 20%. Quality leadership training is a combination of E.I. and cognitive ability.

More specifically, Daniel Goleman (along with two E.I. researchers: Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee) explains the role of E.I. in leadership in Primal Leadership, Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence (2002). They found the most effective leadership and management styles work through emotions which evolve from the limbic system in the brain.

The limbic system is responsible for sending information to the prefrontal lobes for analysis and decisions. This system is an open-loop design which means other people can and do change our physiology by altering our hormone levels, cardiovascular function, sleep rhythms and immune function. A leader's primary task is to drive emotions in a direction which has positive impact on motivation, strategy and productivity.

Since emotions are at the heart of effective leadership, the key to being an effective leader lies in learning to handle yourself and your relationships in a positive manner. Emotional Intelligence competencies include:

• Self-awareness • Self-management • Social awareness – empathy • Relationship management

Important new research clearly indicates that we rely on connections with others for our emotional stability and motivation. Who is the most likely person employees will be watching? The leader of a group has the strongest impact because people take emotional cues from the top which ripple throughout the organization's emotional climate. In addition, it is not just what another does but how it is done that registers in our limbic system.

Our emotions automatically shift to match the person we are with, even if the contact is nonverbal. This is called "entrainment" and can take place in a couple of minutes in some situations. The more cohesive the group, the more likely moods will be shared – positive or negative.

A Yale study on moods found that moods influence how effectively people work. A primary factor in how well an organization functions depends on how the leaders manage their moods. We know upbeat moods increase cooperation, fairness and business performance. Cooperative and harmonious groups reflect a higher expression of every person's best effort and ability.

Furthermore, how people feel about working at an organization (the climate) can influence productivity. Low morale and lack of cooperation predict high turnover and lower productivity. In addition, distress and worry decrease mental abilities and E.I. This makes it difficult to read the emotions of other people accurately – a skill necessary for empathy.

In addition, research indicates that the emotional state and actions of leaders set the climate. They create the conditions that determine the employees' ability to work well. In general, leaders need to be more supportive and empathetic as work becomes more emotionally demanding. When leaders are negative and unmotivated, there is anxiety and dissonance which undermines morale. When leaders are out of touch with the feelings of employees, they create dissonance. This causes people to feel off-balance, be easily distracted, and perform poorly.

In contrast, emotionally intelligent leaders create resonance or harmony. Resonant leaders rally people around a worthy goal. They are self-aware, in touch with the truth about themselves and their feelings. They use self-management to express emotions appropriately and are able to empathize with others. Without empathy, resonant leadership is impossible. When leaders are energetic and enthusiastic, an organization thrives.

The most effective leadership and management style will use a combination of Emotional Intelligence and cognitive ability. While cognitive ability tends to be set, E.I. is learned through practice, feedback and repetition over time. Although learning to improve Emotional Intelligence is self-directed, it cannot be done in isolation.

Coaching is an ideal way to provide a safe context for change to occur and to better prepare people to be resonant leaders. Some leaders find it difficult to get honest feedback as they are promoted into management positions because employees instinctively want to please their boss and are hesitant to give negative feedback. This can decrease self-awareness and effective leadership development. The coaching process provides essential feedback for continued awareness and skill building.

In summary, to effectively lead and manage relationships, leaders must continue to:

• be self-aware • manage themselves appropriately • have empathy with their employees

Leaders need a safe space for learning and feedback which is focused on emotional and intellectual learning. Change occurs through a process which affects individuals, teams and the organization's culture. Coaching supports and enriches the process.

Copyright (c) 2007 Maurine Patten

About Author: Maurine Patten, Ed.D., CMC, Maximize Your Possibilities http://www.PattenCoaching.com More free information, assessment and ezine subscription at http://www.PattenCoaching.com/EI.html Mailto:mdpcoach@pattencoaching.com Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, leadership, emotional intelligence

You may be aware that diamonds are graded by 4 C's: Cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Suppose marketing, too, had its 4 C's. We call them Commitment, Consistency, Connection, and Change.

And they apply whether you own a retail shoe store; are a professional such as a financial advisor, attorney or consultant; have an internet business selling coat hangers; offer a service for laser welding; or provide voice-overs for commercials.

#1 Marketing C – Commitment

Marketing isn't a once-in-awhile, take-it-or-leave-it activity, but a continual commitment. Business owners and professionals who are serious about growing their businesses may invest as much as one-third of their time in marketing. To them, marketing is an ongoing process to:

- Gather the information they need,

- develop a plan,

- invest resources to carry out their plan, and

- learn from the outcomes.

Recently, a friend of ours quit her job of 12 years to become a consultant. In her new role, her former employer offered her all the work she could handle…and more. The company wanted her for two projects — each one would give her three days of work every week for several months. She, however, wasn't tempted by the lure of all those billable hours.

She realized that the way to grow her business and to expand her capabilities was to keep time free each week to make plans for working in new areas and to attract new clients. She saved time to thoughtfully explore the different directions she would like to take her business (especially leveraging her expertise and experience) and to initiate marketing methods to make this happen.

#2 Marketing C – Consistency

Think of it this way. If you want to lose weight, you can add 2 flights of stairs to your normal physical activity each day. Just by doing that simple thing — consistently — you will lose about 12 pounds a year. What if you added to your business the marketing equivalent of 2 flights of stairs every day? How much new business do you think you will attract?

Consultant Paul Fraser found himself with just a few small jobs one year. He knew why. As a result of the profitable marketing he had done previously to start his consulting practice, he became "almost too busy" the prior year. He didn't set aside time to invest in marketing. As a result, he sacrificed future clients, stability, and growth to present busyness and income.

So more than halfway through the next year he still experienced a painful lesson. He knew what to do about his marketing (and he had plenty of time to act on his strategies), but the big jobs he needed weren't appearing overnight.

#3 Marketing C– Connection

Apply creativity to make vital connections. The ones we are talking about are connections with your ideal market — to gain more of the type of customers and clients you really want to attract.

First, it is essential to define your Ideal Customers with clarity. They may be ones who come back again and again to purchase what you offer. They may give you the least hassle. They may be a fountain of referrals. Or they may be early adapters leading you to a promising new area of business. Be sure you know exactly who they are and where you will find them.

And, then, through your marketing, connect with them by speaking vigorously and in a straightforward manner directly to their wants and needs. That's where true creativity in marketing lies.

Also, remember, marketing is more than keeping in touch with new prospects. Connect to your current customers and clients. They will make a valuable contribution to your future — for more purchases and fees and for referrals.

The more deeply you connect the more opportunities you open to gain the marketing results you’re after.

#4 Marketing C – Change

The biggest barrier to making a change is…you. At the same time, the only lever for change is within you. If you want to bolster your marketing results, then the 4 C's show you how. Breakthroughs can happen in as little as 30 minutes a day when you practice high-gain activities. Be Committed to marketing, Consistent in your efforts, and Connect with the right people with a welcome message.

You’ll see lasting results from Changing to the 4 C’s approach.

Shirley Hanson is a direct marketer who specializes in helping financial advisors break through to the next level of production. You’ll find her free report “7 Client-Attraction Secrets of Highly Successful Financial Advisors” at http://www.marketingplanfinancialadvisor.com

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You’ve heard many times how important it is to have a plan for WHO to market to, an ideal client profile or target audience. In my book, it’s one of the most crucial things to put in place for attracting all the clients you want because if you don’t know specifically who you’re talking to, you won’t know what to say, and you won’t know where to market. Basically, if you aren’t sure WHO your target audience is specifically, it becomes an uphill battle when it doesn’t need to be.

That said, have you ever asked yourself the question, “Have I chosen a viable target audience?” Which means, is it actually worthwhile to market to these people, or am I wasting my time? I find that most people think about this in passing, but don’t really sit down and evaluate it like a serious aspect of the business. And it is.

Listen, you can have all the focus, drive, and good intentions to market to a group of people, but if they’re not easily reached in large numbers and inexpensively, if they don’t congregate often or they’re too difficult to locate, it’s going to make your Client Attraction attempts much more difficult.

This is one of the very first things I work on with the majority of my clients because it’s one of the most important. Here are some questions to ask yourself (be a hard grader):

• Can you find them easily?
• Can you pull them in easily?
• Is there a “list” of these people somewhere—an association of them, support groups, others already talking to them in large numbers?
• Are there enough of them? Even if your target audience is small in the grand scheme of the population, there still needs to be a massive number of these people for you to stay in business.
• Do they have a problem worth solving?
• Does this problem hurt enough for them to want to fix it?
• Do they have the ability to pay for your services?

Don’t worry if it’s a small niche of a large population. As long as the numbers are vast. For me, solo practitioners who want more clients might seem like a really small slice of the entire business coaching universe available, but that’s fine, because there are so many millions of them already out there, and more and more entering the segment every single day. And they will pay for learning how to attract clients systematically and get out of their own way.

Your Assignment:

Your turn. Once you’ve gotten clear on a target audience or a niche, ask yourself the hard questions listed above. Take out a sheet of paper and really answer these. If the answers are repeatedly “no,” then consider looking for another niche. It’ll make the whole Client Attraction process much easier in the long run.

About Author: Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Expert, is founder of the Client Attraction Systemâ„¢, the proven step-by-step program to help you attract more clients, in record time and consistently.

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The Big Idea

Bestselling author Steve Chandler and lawyer Scott Richardson show readers how to get the best results from their people. They show how leaders must motivate from the top down in order to be effective.

“100 Ways to Motivate Others” is the result of many years of experience in successful leadership coaching and training. The book shares with readers practical methods that can inspire and encourage others.

Key Ideas

1. Know Where Motivation Comes From.

2. Teach Self-Discipline.

3. Tune In Before You Turn On.

4. Be the Cause, Not the Effect.

5. Stop Criticizing Upper Management.

6. Do the One Thing.

7. Keep Giving Feedback.

8. Get Input from Your People.

9. Accelerate Change.

10. Know Your Owners and Victims.

11. Lead from the Front.

12. Preach the Role of Thought.

13. Tell the Truth Quickly.

14. Don't Confuse Stressing Out with Caring.

15. Manage Your Own Superiors.

16. Put Your Hose Away.

17. Get the Picture.

18. Manage Agreements, Not People.

19. Focus On the Result, Not the Excuse.

20. Coach the Outcome.

21. Create a Game.

22. Know Your Purpose.

23. See What's Possible.

24. Enjoy the A.R.T. of Confrontation.

25. Feed Your Healthy Ego.

26. Hire the Motivated.

27. Stop Talking.

28. Refuse to Buy their Limitation.

29. Play Both Good Cop and Bad Cop.

30. Don't Go Crazy.

31. Stop Cuddling Up.

32. Do the Worst First.

33. Learn to Experiment.

34. Communicate Consciously.

35. Score the Performance.

36. Manage the Fundamentals First.

37. Motivate by Doing.

38. Know Your People's Strengths.

39. Debate Yourself.

40. Lead With Language.

41. Use Positive Reinforcement.

42. Teach Your People "No" Power.

43. Keep Your People Thinking Friendly Customer Thoughts.

44. Use Your Best Time for Your Biggest Challenge.

45. Use 10 Minutes Well.

46. Know What You Want to Grow.

47. Soften Your Heart.

48. Coach Your People to Complete.

49. Do The Math On Your Approach.

50. Count Yourself In.

51. To Motivate Your People, First Just Relax.

52. Don't Throw the Quit Switch.

53. Lead with Enthusiasm.

54. Encourage Your People to Concentrate.

55. Inspire Inner Stability.

56. Give Up Being Right.

57. Wake Yourself Up.

58. Always Show Them.

59. Focus Like a Camera

60. Think of Management as Easy.

61. Cultivate the Power of Reassurance.

62. Phase Out Disagreement.

63. Keep Learning.

64. Learn What Leadership Is Not.

65. Hear Your People Out.

66. Play It Lightly.

67. Keep All Your Smallest Promises.

68. Give Power to the Other Person.

69. Don't Forget to Breathe.

70. Know You've Got the Time.

71. Use the Power of Deadlines.

72. Translate Worry into Concern.

73. Let Your Mind Rule Your Heart.

74. Build a Culture of Acknowledgement.

75. Seize Responsibility.

76. Get Some Coaching Yourself.

77. Make It Happen Today.

78. Learn the Inner Thing.

79. Forget about Failure.

80. Follow Consulting with Action.

81. Create a Vision.

82. Stop Looking Over Your Shoulder.

83. Lead by Selling.

84. Hold On to Principle.

85. Create Your Relationships.

86. Don't Be Afraid to Make Requests.

87. Don't Change Yourself.

88. Pump Up Your E-mails.

89. Stop Pushing.

90. Become Conscious.

91. Come From The Future.

92. Teach Them to Teach Themselves.

93. Stop Apologizing for Change.

94. Let People Find It.

95. Be a Ruthless Optimist.

96. Pay Attention.

97. Create a Routine.

98. Deliver the Reward.

99. Slow Down.

100. Decide to Be Great.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, management, leadership, 100 Ways To Motivate Others, Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson

Do clever, memorable marketing campaigns increase sales? It’s an important question for you to answer in a time when every marketing dollar has to get results. Del Taco, a fast food chain specializing in Mexican dishes, had to grapple with this question recently. They announced that their commercials would no longer feature the character Dan. Dan was a Del Taco manager whose ideas for promoting the product usually ended up in disaster.

Recently Del Taco announced that they were changing their advertising focus. Instead of featuring Dan’s antics, Del Taco said their new campaign would focus on the great taste of their food.

Dan’s commercials were popular. They were funny. They were, in a word, clever. But were they effective? That’s tough to answer. Del Taco executives said that his character contributed to the brand. Did the Dan commercials increase sales? No one can say. What Del Taco does know is that it’s time for them to focus more attention on their food.

Clever advertising can be effective in building brand awareness. Clearly, people connected with the Dan character. But is that enough to get people to buy a product? Those of us with limited marketing budgets need to have a different goal than mere brand awareness. We must make sure our advertising does two things: connect with the consumer, and drive them to purchase our products.

How do we accomplish these 2 goals? Keep these truths in mind as you develop your next marketing plan.

1. There is one thing that is true of everyone in your target audience: they all have problems. If you can figure out the problems that plague your audience, you will make an instant connection. For example, a Del Taco radio commercial might target hungry men driving home from work. An effective opening line may say something like, “Worked hard? Hungry? Can’t wait ‘til you get home? Del Taco’s half-pound combo burrito…” An ad like that shows that the company understands who their customers are, and what they need. That makes an instant connection.

2. Once you establish that you know what your target audience needs, show them how you can solve that problem. I know this sounds simple, but simple can be very effective in reaching people. The radio commercial might continue by describing the benefits of stopping at the nearest Del Taco: the fresh, hot, tasty food, the refreshing sodas, the cheap prices. It might even include the addresses of several local locations. The commercial positions the restaurant as the solution to the listeners’ hunger.

Is this formula too simple to work? Not at all! Many effective ads consist of nothing more than the announcement of a sale. “Maytag washers, 20 per cent off through Saturday.” This ad implicitly identifies a problem, namely that you need a washer. The solution? This store has Maytag washers, and at a great price, too.

Certainly, many marketing campaigns are more complex than that. Your target audience may have several problems that need to be addressed. There may be multiple layers of decision-makers, each with their own concerns. But if you keep in mind the problem/solution perspective, you can establish your company as the one who understands your audience, and can solve their problems. Establishing that reputation will enhance your bottom line faster than even the most clever marketing campaign.

About Author: Richard Jarman helps companies who experience frustration in getting their message across to their customers. He assists companies in crafting marketing materials that highlight their unique strengths and abilities. His goal is for all of his clients to have sales and marketing materials that work for them, that increase profits and build customer loyalty. See what he can do for your business by going to his website. While you're there, sign up for his semi-monthly e-zine, The Next Step. It's filled with tips and articles designed to inspire and improve your business. Sign up today and get a FREE copy of his special report, Essential Keys to Successfully Marketing to Business.

Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement, marketing, advertising