Strategic Planning Template logo

1.  The important thing about planning is that you keep your eye on both the immediate and the long term and make room for each in your schedule.
2. For me, it is important that I can see my whole weekly schedule at a glance.  I need to see the “gaps” between appointments and sessions so I can plan uninterrupted work time.  It is important that time to work ON your business gets scheduled and doesn’t get constantly moved around.
3. Here is an appointment with myself I routinely keep:  Every Friday afternoon I set aside time, offsite,  to look at what I accomplished this past week, what needs to get moved over to next week, and what is coming up on my calendar that needs preparation.  My clients and I use a form for this weekly strategic planning I developed that easily captures things that need to be done, people who need to be called, and steps that need to be taken to work on long term projects.  It also captures a small amount of data every week that is absolutely crucial in telling you where you are spending your time and what results that is bringing in.
4. Studies have shown that setting a few key goals for each week keep a person from running from one fire to the next all week long or getting lost amongst the “trees” while overlooking the “forest.”  The key is asking yourself, “What do I absolutely want to have accomplished by the end of next week” and committing that list to paper.
5. The day-to-day process is similar:  consult your list of things to do for the week.  What needs to be ontoday’s to do list?  What’s coming up in the next few days that needs preparation?   Applying the “how do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time” approach to big, overwhelming, long-term projects.  Get at least one step accomplished every week and sooner or later that website is up and running.  Your schedule is full of speaking engagements.  Your social marketing is running smoothly and  bringing in results.

Develop these three forms and use them:

1. The list of my long term goals and projects
2. The list of things I want to have accomplished by the end of next week
3. The things I want to have done by the end of tomorrow

Then watch how much you get done and your business grows as you check those things off!

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Constant Contact logo

Okay! Its the morning after I sent out an invitation to unsubscribe. Here’s what happened:

1019 e-mails were sent out

Bounced = 24.9% (254) – after two years of non-use 1/4 of my subscribers are now “lost in action.”

Opt outs = 39 subscribers, not as bad as it could have been!

Opens = 31.8% (243),  Yea!

Click Throughs = 4.1% (10)  These people clicked through to see this blog or my website

Forwards = 0,  not surprising

Social Media shares = 0,  not surprising here either

This is the one that surprised me:  Spam Reports = 3  Despite the fact that was inviting people (who had opted onto my mailing list in the past) the opportunity to opt out, three people decided to report my e-mail as “spam.” Needless to say, I am glad these people are no longer on my list.  This is one category, by the way, where Constant Contact keeps names private.)

Whether you are starting up a business or “re”-starting a business one of the first things you should do is contact the people you know, let them know what you are up to, and ask if they want to hear from you some more.

Most Marketing Introverts fear this first step considerably.  They dread the possibility that NO ONE will want to hear from them and then what!!!  I have to say that in all my years of business consulting I have never seen this happen to a client, but if it did, the next thing a person would do is work on meeting new people!

So today I down currently from 1019 subscribers to 980 people who want to hear from me.  Good!

Tomorrow:  How to plan a first e-marketing campaign!

Best regards!

Dhyan

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If you would like to receive these blog posts in your e-mail box…

Today I sent out an e-mail to my entire e-mail marketing contact list inviting them to “unsubscribe.”  Why in the world would I do such a thing?

I am about to do a major re-launch of my business.  My website is updated.  My pricing is new.  I have new consulting packages. I have scheduled classes for October through December.

I want to send out announcements of all these great changes ONLY to people who want to receive them.  All of the people on my list were current and willing to receive e-mail from me when I went on my sabbatical two years ago – I don’t know if they are still willing.  Now I’m going to find out the best way a person can – I asked them personally.

Remember this when it comes to your own e-mail marketing lists:  Contact Lists are only as good as the interest of the people on them!  Today I have over 1000 people on my e-mail list.  Tune in tomorrow and I’ll tell you how many have remained.  And boy are they going to get some good deals starting next week!

If YOU would like to be on my e-mail marketing list, go to my home page www.TheFiveEssentialSkills.com and click on the subscribe button.

Dhyan

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There is nothing like starting a business to bring you face-to-face with your limitations, fears, and all the areas you’d just plain like to avoid – but can’t – if you are going to have a successful business.

As I said yesterday, outlining a plan for your day, your week, your month can help a lot…. especially if you set reasonable goals for yourself.  This morning I took a refresher look at my goals for September and found one “OOPS!” item.   Fortunately, I have three more days, counting today, to get that one completed.

As you continue to practice strategic planning you are going to discover where you carry the ball all the time and where you let it drop consistently. Rather than using this recognition as a reason to beat yourself up, this can be really great information.  A problem recognized is well on its way to being a problem solved!

For today, join me in taking ONE minute – only one! – to think about what you wanted to accomplish in September and finding ONE, and only one, thing you can finish in the next couple of days!

I’ll be keeping you updated here in my blog on the things I experience and rediscover as I revitalize my business .  Hopefully these brief tips and topics will be of help to you too!

Best regards,

Dhyan

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The truth is I started out as a “strategic planning avoid-er” but have fallen in love with it the more I have done.  Why?  Because I get more done, with less effort, and see more results if I take a few minutes, on a regular basis, to plan the next steps for my business.  There is something heady about crossing things off a “to do list” and watching results come in more quickly.  The truth is, I spend 5 to 10 minutes a day, and 15-20 minutes a week on my strategic planning and get more done than I ever have.  Here’s how…

1.  The important thing about planning is that you keep your eye on both the immediate and the long term and make room for each in your schedule.
2. For me, it is important that I can see my whole weekly schedule at a glance.  I need to see the “gaps” between appointments and sessions so I can plan uninterrupted work time.  It is important that time to work ON your business gets scheduled and doesn’t get constantly moved around.
3. Here is an appointment with myself I routinely keep:  Every Friday afternoon I set aside time, offsite,  to look at what I accomplished this past week, what needs to get moved over to next week, and what is coming up on my calendar that needs preparation.  My clients and I use a form for this weekly strategic planning I developed that easily captures things that need to be done, people who need to be called, and steps that need to be taken to work on long term projects.  It also captures a small amount of data every week that is absolutely crucial in telling you where you are spending your time and what results that is bringing in.
4. Studies have shown that setting a few key goals for each week keep a person from running from one fire to the next all week long or getting lost amongst the “trees” while overlooking the “forest.”  The key is asking yourself, “What do I absolutely want to have accomplished by the end of next week” and committing that list to paper.
5. The day-to-day process is similar:  consult your list of things to do for the week.  What needs to be on today’s to do list?  What’s coming up in the next few days that needs preparation?   Applying the “how do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time” approach to big, overwhelming, long-term projects.  Get at least one step accomplished every week and sooner or later that website is up and running.  Your schedule is full of speaking engagements.  Your social marketing is running smoothly and  bringing in results.

Develop these three forms and use them:

1. The list of my long term goals and projects
2. The list of things I want to have accomplished by the end of next week
3. The things I want to have done by the end of tomorrow

Then watch how much you get done and your business grows as you check those things off!

Blogging!

It happens even to business marketing consultants…

In 2009, when the economy crashed, my business did too.  As it happened I had just had a very difficult 12 months prior to the crash.  One of my best friends died of extremely aggressive leukemia.  My mother died of old age and congestive heart failure.  Another of my friends died suddenly of pancreatic cancer, and then my beloved little cat died of a condition connected to a birth defect.  When my business died I didn’t have the heart to ‘fight’ for it; I just didn’t have the energy.

But I did a good thing while working my way through the deep grieving.  I got two part time jobs and kept myself busy amongst new and interesting people.  One of my jobs was working at the University of Colorado-Boulder in the Department of Linguistics first doing some website work for one of the professors and then spending 18 months helping her and a team of wonderful, intelligent, creative people put together a month-long Linguistics Institute which (at last!) took place in July of 2011.  I met interesting graduate students, interesting professors from all over the world and helped bring 400 Linguistics grad students to Boulder for a successful conference.  I had a great time!

For my other job, I helped a family around the corner take care of their “Irish Triplets” – three precious little boys (one was 12 months old when I started, plus two newborn twins) who were born so close together they share the same age 5 days out of every year!

During the past two years I have still taught a few classes and worked with clients as they came to me from time to time … but I didn’t do much, if any, marketing.

So now the two temporary jobs are over and suddenly, out of the blue, I find my business is beginning to pick up all by itself.  When I got my first set of 12 week business intensive clients in two years the full force of my pleasure in working with and helping small business owners get their businesses up and running came back to me.  I would still like to have “some” work at the university because I found I enjoyed being out of the house part of the week and I also soooo enjoyed working in that academic environment, but in the meantime I am also reviving my business.

This month I will be updating and upgrading my whole website.  Look for new offerings and upcoming classes!

I will also be working on re-writing my 12 Week Business Intensive materials so that they can be offered as a “self-study” course… with or without coaching to go along with it.

As I have been working in my home office again, I have rediscovered my love of working from home and, much to my delight, I am finding that the missing heart and energy have returned.  I am happy in the morning!  And I am eager to work as a consultant again.

I decided this would be an ideal opportunity to start blogging about what it is like to ‘start a business” (or “restart” one) so look for blog posts that talk about this process as I re-experience it first hand.  Hopefully, it will tickle your fancy and give you a few ideas that can help you in your own business.

See you soon!

Dhyan

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Best regards!

Dhyan

Dhyan Atkinson
Satisfaction By Design, LLC
303-415-0243 – Boulder, CO
Dhyan@SatisfactionByDesign.com
www.TheFiveEssentialSkills.com

Business Blog: http://www.TheFiveEssentialSkills.com/blog

JOIN ME ON:
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DhyanAtkinson
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dhyanatkinson
Google Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/DhyanAtkinson

Providing business skills training, consulting and business coaching to English-speaking small business owners around the world. Learn the business skills you need to be successful and get help using them out in the real world to find new clients!

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Overkill, right? I should blush when I look at myself in the mirror, yes?

There are several things I have to say about including “everything” in your autosignature.

1. If you announce it, you better keep it up to date! For example, I have made a commitment to staying current on my business blog, Facebook and Linked In. People will also not go to one of my blog and find that I haven’t written any posts in the last six months. Keeping current with the links and blogs you announce is a critical part of maintaining the professionalism your auto-signature implies.
2. An auto-signature IS effective. I have had my friends, clients, and business colleagues forward my auto-signature to people they are referring to me and my business. By the time the person actually calls me, they have usually clicked on every link to take a look! The fact that they have continued the process by calling me immeasurably shortens the selling process. They are already more than half way there to hiring me!
3. You don’t have to use your full auto-signature on every e-mail.  My auto-signature can easily be deleted between the tagline at the bottom and my e-mail address when I e-mail a friend or someone who hears from me all the time.
4. Even if you think someone HAS your contact information it is a good idea to include it with every e-mail you send out.  Make it VERY easy for people to contact you without having to look your contact information up.  I don’t know how many times I have gone to e-mail first hoping that it will be a shortcut to contacting a client or friend only to find they didn’t bother to include their contact information because “I know them.”

FOR OUTLOOK USERS: I use Outlook as my e-mail provider. I can’t speak for all the other options, but in Outlook you set up an auto-signature by going to the “Tools Menu,” clicking on “Options” and then selecting the “Mail Format” tab. Then select “Signatures” on that drop down menu and off you go! One more tip: Unlike Microsoft Word the links will not automatically “go live” when you type them. Select your e-mail address or url; click on the little “chain links over the world” icon, click “existing file or web page,” click “ok,” and the link will go live.

All of the activities in the following list involve writing and can help potential clients find you: keeping your website optimized and up to date, sending out e-newsletters, blogging, posting on Facebook and Twitter, keeping your Linkedin or Google profiles current, keeping abreast of your favorite listserv or community bulletin board, submitting articles to online article directories.

The trick is, business writing is not effective marketing unless what you write is spot-on to catch the attention of your ideal target clients!

Let’s briefly look at ways in which you can optimize your writing by organizing your writing goals for each month and then modifying your writing for use  in multiple venues.  Here are six tips to help you get the most from your business writing:

If you are smart, your 30 Second Commercial will be 1/3 about you and 2/3 about your target clients!

10 Seconds about YOU:  include …

1. Your name:
2. Your company name OR what you do
3. A BRIEF description, in plain English, that any person on the street can understand, about what you do. ONE to TWO sentences!
   1. Do not be esoteric here!  The #1 mistake I hear small business owners make is to list a BENEFIT here instead of saying specifically what they offer.  For example, a nutritionist I once worked with started out saying she provided “health and wellness” to her clients – before she even mentioned she was a nutritionist!
   2. Be really clear:  If you do individual and small group coaching, say so. If you provide quality health care supplements, say so. If you write personal histories, say so.

18 Seconds about YOUR TARGET CLIENTS:

1. Paint a vivid picture of the people you work with (or your customers) and the reasons they want your product or service.
2. Use very vivid words: “frustrated by, overwhelmed about, struggling to, absolutely committed to, strongly value…” like that!
3. EITHER create three bullet points for a single type of target client, or list three different target clients.
4. Introduce this part of your 30 Second Commercial by saying something like: “Typically the people I work with….” or “Some of my clients/ others of my clients” or “Often the people I work with….”

2 Second “Rising Statement”

• Often it is nice to “cap” the end of your 30 Second Commercial with something positive that tells people you really have solutions for them or that you work “together” to solve their problems.

EXAMPLE:

My name is Dhyan Atkinson.
My company is “The Five Essential Skills.”
I provide step-by-step Business Skills Training, Consulting, and Coaching for small business owners!

Typically the business people I work with:

• Have found work they love but are struggling to meet monthly financial goals
• Many are first time business owners responsible for every aspect of growing a business for the first time

My programs teach the essential skills small business owners need and help them use those skills out in the real world to find more clients!