"An entrepreneur is someone you can't keep down. If they end up in the mud, they'll figure out how to make mud pies and sell them."
--Suzy Prudden

Suzy Prudden knows what she's talking about. She's a fitness guru, weight loss expert, hypnotherapist, author and speaker. She's been featured on Oprah--and she's landed in the mud, penniless and homeless. Still, she figured out how to make mud pies and came back stronger from the experience.

You might have heard of Prudden. She's been a brand in the fitness/weight-loss/personal development field since the 1960s, when--as a matter of necessity--she opened her own fitness school in her New York home at the age of 22. "I was putting my husband through school and going to have a baby," she says, "I needed income, and I couldn't do it working for someone else."

She was following in her mother's footsteps at the time. Bonnie Prudden was the catalyst behind President Eisenhower's President's Council on Youth Fitness (now the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports). Bonnie ran some of the first exercise programs in the nation and, even today at age 95, runs the Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy Institute, which specializes in a method of relieving muscle pain.

"Bonnie was my mentor and she trained me," Prudden says. "I think I got the best training in the world."

But Prudden hasn't followed anyone since then; typically, she's a couple of steps ahead. People were astonished when she started teaching fitness to toddlers in the late 1960s. She was equally ahead of her time when she started teaching mind-body connection in the 1980s. Her latest venture is a weight-loss company called Pounds Off. "It's a licensee company, so people can do it all over the country. I'm training people to be Pounds Off coaches," she says.

Prudden is relentless on the topic of fitness, weight loss and mind-body coordination. "Weight loss is the No. 1 problem in this country, and people are going about it the wrong way," she asserts. "You have to love your body; you can't hate it. And you have to treat it nicely; you can't be mean to it. You only get one--you can get parts, but only one body."

She borrowed her mother's maiden name of Prudden early in her career, which she admits "got me into many doors I would not have gotten into." After 18 years as a fitness expert, she sold Suzy Prudden Studios in 1983 and moved to California. She was at the height of her career. She had toured the country several times and written several fitness books. "I just didn't want to do it any more," she says.

Her interest at that point was body-mind integration. "I made up processes to teach people how they could understand more about their body using the power of their mind," she says.

"You can't heal the outside if you don't heal the inside," she insists. For example, she says, if you have a pain in your shoulder, ask yourself what responsibilities might be weighing you down. "You might need to lighten your load," Prudden says. When you do, "The pain in your shoulder goes away."

Having switched careers, Prudden's inclination was to stop using the name she made famous in her new business. That is, until she attended a branding workshop with her sister, who had advised her to continue using the Prudden name. When the speaker asserted that a brand has to become a household word, to be synonymous with what you do, Prudden realized her sister was right. "I gently nudged my sister and said, 'Please don't laugh too loudly when I tell you this. I am a brand.'" Her sister, predictably, "totally lost it," Prudden says.

Undaunted Drive
When Prudden gets an idea, she brushes aside obstacles and makes a business out of it. When she wanted to summer in the Hamptons, she opened a summer camp there. When she wanted to go to Europe, she created a workshop.

When she needed an audience for a workshop called Women in Change, she said, "OK, God, how do I fill the room?" And God said, "Give it away." Prudden couldn't afford to do that. After all, it costs money to put on a workshop. So she charged a minimal fee of $25, marketed it to the various networking groups she belonged to and gathered a crowd of 100 people.

Another workshop was called "Permission to Dare; Dare to Live Your Dreams." That's when Prudden realized she had to realize her own dream--a one-woman show.

Using her connections, she found a venue, booked the room and filled it with 107 people. What did she do? "I just did me," she says. "I just had all different outfits. I did me as a fitness expert. I did me as a presenter. I came out on stage in my bathrobe and I said, 'Have you ever had a day when you couldn't find anything to wear?' I proceeded to talk about negative beliefs and got the audience involved in yelling negative beliefs.

"I was on stage for an hour. I had a good time--and I made $700."

There were tough times, too. "I was not smart. I did not pay attention to my money and I spent it." She was living in Topanga, Calif., in February 1990 when her rent check bounced. That same day, she says, "every job I had lined up for the entire year called up and canceled."

Prudden says it was scary, but she took the situation as God-driven. "I remember looking up at the ceiling and saying, 'Thank you, God, you must really love me to give me this experience, for it will change my life.'" Realizing she needed a job, Prudden was grateful when an instructor hooked her up with someone who needed a personal assistant. The woman hesitated. "She said, 'Suzy, I'm not going to be comfortable asking you to get my cleaning.' I said, 'Helayne, I need a job.'" They settled on $10 an hour for three days a week of work.

When Prudden arrived on her first day, the office was a mess. The secretary asked Prudden, "Do you know how to organize an office?" When Prudden said yes, the secretary asked how much she would charge. Prudden decided on $25 an hour. "So the first day, I got a raise," she says.

In May, the job and her lease both ended. But companies had begun hiring her again for seminars and workshops. So a booking at Sharp Hospital in San Diego, Calif., came complete with an all-expense-paid stay at the Hyatt. And several other bookings materialized, each with lodging for a number of days. She spent three months in a friend's loft, and eight months overall before she dug herself out of the hole.

Prudden admits she was arrogant, and she explains why: "I was famous at 26. That does something to you. So I learned how unimportant I was."

She counts it as a major turning point in her life, and she shares some of the things she learned:

1. How to trust
2. How to look at others differently. "If someone were driving a car that I thought was 'less than,' I thought they were 'less than.' So I had to learn that it wasn't the car you drove, it wasn't the neighborhood you lived in, it wasn't your bank account. Because I ended up driving a truck, and I had no money in my bank. It was an amazing experience."
3. How to listen to other people
4. How to let go of judgment
5. How to be kinder
6. How to have compassion

Prudden also has advice for would-be entrepreneurs. "Where I'm speaking from is the mistakes that I've made. I could have had an easier time if I'd done it differently," she says.

1. Have a business plan: "I actually for the first time ever have a business plan," she says. "I've never had one before. I just had an idea and did it."
   
   She's now working with business coach Bobbie Leonard. "She looks at all the things I've done and she said she doesn't understand why I'm not more successful in the world."
   
   Prudden knows why: "It's because I don't plan, I just do."
    
2. Find people to help you. "Getting a business coach is paramount," she says. "A lot of us think we have to do it ourselves. We think we have to know everything. We don't know everything. There are people who know much more than we do, and we need to get hold of them."
    
3. Make sure you have money. "I suggest people keep their day job or make sure they have some kind of income. If you don't have money, it's too hard."
    
4. Go for it. "Now is the best time to start a business because everybody's a mess. The playing field is more even. And if you can make a business successful at a time like now, then you've got it made when things start turning around."
    
5. Make sure you fill a need. "When you start a business, you have to look at what is needed, not necessarily what you want to do. People get a good idea, and they think everyone wants it. You've got to find out if they want it before you take it out there."
   
   Says Prudden, "It has not been an easy road; it's been a fascinating road. There are times that have been very, very scary. What I've learned and what I try to teach others is that you're not falling off the planet; you can fix this. Everything is an opportunity."

You've survived the tough economy. You enjoy a good salary and lifestyle. You have a great team, and you've seen steady growth over the years. You know where your business is heading, and it's working beautifully. Now what?

I love watching Madonna because she's constantly reinventing her business. Michael Jackson did the same. There are only seven notes in music, and only a few basic ballet and jazz moves. But along with Madonna, Michael Jackson mixed the combinations and spun them so differently. The brand names they've created and the loyalty both receive from their followers are super strong. They've never been afraid to try new combinations, and they've always adapted quickly based on the response from their followers. You, too, have followers; you call them clients or customers.

If you've been in business for a while, you're on the top of the mountain you've created. You're standing there looking into the future through the economic fog. Either you see a clear path to help you get to the next mountain you're creating, or you don't.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with the principal of a management evaluation software firm, and it was easy to see that her business model is not clear.

What's a business model? It's what your business does, what resources you have to do that and how you make money from doing so.

Do you revisit your business model each year the way you do your sales projections? You need to do so because things change along the way. You have to make changes as well, just the way Madonna reinvents herself regularly.

So many of the business owners I talk to are stuck. The way to get unstuck is to revisit your business model.

My criteria for crafting a business model are:

• What you are passionate about or your purpose (what your business does)
• What you are best in the world at (what resources you have)
• The economic engine (how do you make money from the above?)

Let's take a look at the business model of the management evaluation software firm. We'll call the owner Julie.

• Julie is passionate about helping businesses assess their operational effectiveness.
• Julie is best in the world at creating a testing lab that allows business owners to take a "blood test" of their business and connect with specialized "physicians" (advisors such as consulting firms, CPAs, attorneys, etc.) in each tested area to provide recommendations.
• Julie's economic engine is the testing fee and advertising fee.

If you look closely at Julie's business model, you can see that Julie's economic engine can't sustain her business. Unless she has a huge volume, a small testing fee can't sustain her. To help Julie make this model effective, let's revisit my last column, "Are You Leveraging Pull Marketing Yet?" Julie needs to identify her market makers--companies that already have meaningful relationships with the clients Julie's looking for. One possible revenue source would be referral fees from the specialized physicians. The other possible "best" is to focus on selling the tool to the specialized physicians, who will be her market makers. Remember, she is best at creating software as a testing lab.

Communicate with your advisors about your business model. They can help you come up with ways to move your business forward. Most important, this will help you create the underlying value of your business. If you can see clearly how your business's economic engine works, so will your buyer. Make your business more like Madonna's.

As the business world continues to embrace telecommuting and virtual work, more companies are grappling with the best way to support this flexible work option and still maintain culture, IT support and security. According to the WorldatWork Telework Trendlines 2009 data from the Dieringer Research Group Inc., the number of Americans who worked from home remotely at least one day per month for their employer increased from approximately 12.4 million in 2006 to 17.2 million in 2008. The rise in the number of telecommuters represents a two-year increase of 39 percent and an increase of 74 percent since 2005, when just 9.9 million employees worked from home or remotely at least one day per month. This trend is becoming increasingly popular considering the positive impact on the environment as well as the cost, sanity and recession savings involved.

So how can you ensure that your virtual workforce is successful? With more than 12 years' experience managing my company this way, I've amassed some best practices for making yourself--and/or your team--as productive, resourceful and effective as possible.

1. Know what you're getting into. The virtual workplace really isn't for everybody. It requires self-motivation, self-discipline and a willingness to collaborate with others on an entirely new level. Be realistic about your own temperament before taking the plunge.
    
2. Refrain from offering too much information. Even though you have the luxury of wearing your gym clothes or PJs to work, leave these personal details out of your work-related conversations if you want to be taken seriously. Virtual workers must always put their most professional foot forward and avoid offering too much information when it comes to personal work habits that may not fit the traditional mold.
    
3. Virtual does not mean invisible. When dealing with clients in brick-and-mortar offices, we can become a disembodied voice on the conference call. Draw attention to the person behind the speakerphone by stepping up your efforts to be a team player, smile when you speak (it works) and articulate clearly, with energy. Over-communicate through multiple vehicles, such as an e-mail followed by a phone call.
    
4. Embrace technology. This may seem like a no-brainer, but technology is your friend, especially in a virtual work environment. Utilizing the latest technology is useful in collaborating with virtual colleagues and customers. Whether using instant messenger, online document storage such as Sosius and eFax or online conferencing tools such as Skype or Dimdim, a plethora of services at your disposal can add convenience to your life and still prove cost-effective. Online software creates a virtual but central place where your staff can connect and use the same applications and files simultaneously and securely. Available products include QuickBooks Online for accounting, Cornerstone on Demand for HR/training and SalesGenius for business development and lead-generation campaigns.
    
5. Jump into social media. With the advent of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Whrrl, connecting with co-workers and customers is not only easy, but also a bit more personal. Through a steady stream of text, video, photo or news link updates, you can showcase your work quickly while avoiding the high cost of website designers, print production costs or mailings. Sign up, sign in and start conversing with your audiences. Consider creating a Twitter page for yourself or your company, a Facebook Fan page or sharing a YouTube video of a customer interview you created using your own Flip camera. This will help further engage your customers with your brand and encourage positive dialogue in the communities most relevant to your industry.
    
6. Don't forget that culture matters. Put elements in place immediately that help new team members not only get acquainted with the work, but that also help them understand your processes and expectations. For example, create an employee welcome package that provides an overview of all the technologies available or recommended, and a "virtual mantra" that outlines what virtual work does--and does not--mean. Some of our mantras include "virtual work does not mean alone," and "virtual work does not mean invisible." Set expectations for workers ahead of time by lending immediate guidance. You can also include more general office tips for traditional office operational practices, such as file backups, recycling, ordering supplies and useful websites to sign up for.
    
7. Remember why you joined the virtual work force in the first place. Free from long hours of commuting, you can be more effective at your job. You can spend the hours you used to spend on the road with family, friends or doing the things you love to do. At the end of the workday, be sure to embrace the opportunity you have: "Close the office" and enjoy your new and improved work/life balance.

Christine Perkett is founder and president of PerkettPR, an integrated PR, digital production and social media marketing agency. She won the Stevie Award in 2008 for Best Communications, Investor Relations or PR Executive.She speaks often on the subject of PR and social marketing. Connect with Perkett on Twitter (@missusP) or at her blog, perkettprsuasion.com.

Here's the scenario. You have an underperforming employee. You counsel her. She acknowledges her shortcomings and commits to change. Nothing, or not enough, happens.

You counsel again. And again. Until finally, you decide to part ways.

If this hasn't happened to you yet, you haven't been in a leadership position long enough. Failure to get employees to change is one of the most common complaints managers have.

Several years ago, after a particularly frustrating employee incident, I asked a colleague a pointed question: Why don't people change even when they say they will? This particular colleague is also an accomplished leadership coach and psychologist. He knows a thing or two about behavioral change.

He introduced the concept to me of "competing commitments," a theory explained in this article from the Harvard Business Review, "Real Reason People Won't Change." The idea is that underneath someone's commitment to you to change, she has an underlying, even stronger commitment to something else. For example, someone who says outwardly that she wants a promotion avoids the tougher assignments required because she's fearful of not measuring up. Often the person isn't even fully conscious of this competing commitment; therefore, it's up to the leader to help her figure it out so it can be addressed. Only then will the desired change occur.

This is helpful to understand when your frustration level as a manager rises. But what happens when the someone who fails to change is you?

I come back to this competing commitment concept often, both in regard to managing others and to managing myself. After all, the same principle applies. Almost all of us have some personal change we'd like to make, yet we just don't follow though--healthier lifestyle, anyone? More focus on networking? Time management?

Recently, I read Marcus Buckingham's new book for women, Find Your Strongest Life, and these concepts just slammed into each other. (This book is a must-read for working mothers. It has good points for anyone, but he really targets this group.)

Buckingham cites significant research that women's happiness levels are going down, both as a generation and over the course of individual lives. In other words, we start off less happy than we used to be, and it only goes downhill from there. He gives a lot of reasons for it, including the fact that the myriad of options women have these days takes a toll. We have higher expectations of ourselves and plenty of room for second-guessing.

As with Buckingham's previous research, this book posits that we find more happiness when we play to our strengths. Instead of trying to do everything, we focus on what makes us feel stronger. Rather than perfect balance, we should strive for strategic imbalance.

Buckingham interviews many women who cite changes they know they need to make in their lives. The stories are powerful. For so many women, something's got to give. Yet, women seem stuck. They tell powerful stories of why they resist change even when they believe it will make them happier and more successful. Seems like an awful lot of competing commitments flying around. And as I mentioned earlier, if the competing commitments aren't unearthed and addressed head-on, change is unlikely to occur.

It's my belief that women entrepreneurs often suffer from this dilemma. We have many options, which can be paralyzing. We strive so hard for balance, and it stresses us out with its fleeting attainability. We say we want growth, yet we fear risking what we have. We are strategic, so we recognize the change that should happen, and then we're extra hard on ourselves when we fail to achieve it. And we often suffer from a predisposition to take on more than we should, stripping the joy from the activities we used to love.

If you want to change yourself or help someone else change, you need to know what your competing commitment is. Try reflecting on these questions to start:

1. What change do you know you need to make?
2. What gives you energy? What zaps you of it?
3. What positive reinforcement (either external or internal) do you get from maintaining the status quo?
4. What's the price of the status quo?
5.  If you already knew this change would work out well for you, what one step would you take today?
   
6. If not now, when?

Going back to my column "Grant Employees Permission to Think," people need to figure out and embrace change for themselves, and do it on their own terms. Determining the answers to these questions can help you figure out why you are really resisting change, and what it will take to get you moving forward.

Have you ever woken up in a hotel room in a strange city and couldn't figure out where you were? That feeling of disorientation is common to those of us who received classic training in the art of marketing. Here we were, going along with our messaging matrices, marketing mixes, communication strategies and media plans when--Pow!--Web 2.0 and social media came along and changed the landscape, practically overnight.

Suddenly, traditional approaches to branding and marketing aren't as effective. People aren't looking for products anymore; they are seeking experiences, ways to engage and be engaged with, to be heard. This changes the marketing game from a one-way dissemination of information to a multi-directional dialogue that seeks to build relationships--where sales may be one outcome, but certainly not the only one.

In this confusing world, your brand is more important than ever. That's because the best brands already know they deliver a unique customer experience, which is what customers are looking for. The good news is that there are many more ways to engage with customers and prospects (and their social networks) online. The not-so-good news is that you have to manage your brand even more carefully as a result. It's now about building an online experience that supports your offline brand efforts while creating an environment for ongoing listening, conversation and engagement with your audiences.

The place to start is with your website. Make it the online hub for your brand because, after all, it's now your front door. Everything you do online--advertising, e-mail marketing, social networking, social media engagement--should include the call to action to go to your website so you can control the experience and move visitors up the engagement scale. Once the visitors arrive, you need to pay off the promise. To do this, you must stop looking at your website as an online brochure and start looking at it as an experience you want people to have with you, your products, your people--your brand. What do you want them to do when they are there? How do you want them to feel? What do you want them to say to their friends about it?

Developing an online experience that engages and builds relationships starts with a well-informed strategy. First, you need to understand your users and the value you bring to them. One part is knowing who they are, what their goals are, what motivates them, what needs they have and how they behave online. The other part is really understanding why they would choose you--what do they truly value about you? When you understand these things implicitly, you can map out what kind of experience they want to have with you online and then design toward it.

We call this "experience mapping." It looks at each of your unique user groups and maps out where they are online (what sites, what search engines, what social networks, etc.), what paths they would take to get to your site, what they would do there and the choices they would make as they navigate through the site. This is a key step in developing your strategy because it points to all of the important components of online experience design: your social media presence, your online marketing presence, your keyword buys and your website. Someone who has done this step many times will be able to create an experience map quickly; but you can do it yourself if you understand your audiences well.

Your online strategy helps to inform the navigation style you choose, your content strategy, the language you use on your site, the design aesthetic you employ, the interactive features and more. When you design with your users and their needs and values in mind, your online brand becomes a destination and a useful tool in their lives--just where you want to be to build strong relationships with them, the kind that drive sales over the long term.

Experiences are what make brands. That doesn't change whether you are providing that experience on the phone, in your store, on your website or via Facebook. The more seamless you make that experience, the stronger your relationships will be.

Jennifer Gault-Varner creates turnkey online retail stores stocked with merchandise, sells them to brand-new entrepreneurs--and provides 40 hours worth of consulting to help the newbies on their way to success.

Gault-Varner, founder of Pure-eCommerce.com, says she would still own her first business, BellaBluMaternity.com, if she'd had the kind of assistance she now offers to her clients.

Bella Blu Maternity was the quintessential overnight success. It brought in $7,000 in sales its first month and $100,000 by the end of the first year. Sales topped $1.5 million by the second year, but the economics weren't working out.

Gault-Varner was spending a fortune on pay-per-click advertising. "I worked very hard on creating a brand, defining my concept, having a very clear target market and offering products within that target market," she says. And she marketed "viciously," mainly through pay-per-click advertising.

PPC turned out to be Gault-Varner's downfall. "Pay-per-click was the vehicle that grew my company very fast, but it was also the same vehicle that almost made me lose my company."

The problem, she says: "I didn't have a clear idea of how pay-per-click campaigns work." She didn't realize how much she was paying to bring a customer into her store. "I didn't understand how to figure out the statistics. And I didn't have time to look into that because I grew so fast."

She sold Bella Blu, then went back online and created a pajama store. It took only a couple of weeks for her to realize that she was tired of retail sales. She sold the site, Pure Pajamas, to Melinda Felton, a stay-at-home mom who had never run an e-commerce site before.

"She needed a lot of help," Garner-Vault says. "That's when I developed this very methodical, step-by-step [consulting] process. I knew the steps we needed to go through to get her up and running the quickest. So she had this foundation of a great-looking site, a great domain name, great products and somebody to mentor her through the process."

That's when the light bulb turned on. "That's brilliant," Gault-Varner thought to herself. "That's what everyone needs who's going to go online and has never owned an e-commerce site before."

Says Gault-Varner: "Your barrier of entry to get online is so easy. It's easy to acquire vendors, design a site and pop it up. But the actual running of an e-commerce store is quite difficult. And if you don't educate yourself as to what needs to be done--and go do it--you'll fail."

Gault-Varner says the intent of her 14-step consulting process is to touch every area an entrepreneur has to know about to run a successful online business. "If you don't know these areas, you'll make the same mistakes that I made and that so many others make--and that tend to result in you going out of business."

Those mistakes include:

1. Failure to understand search engine optimization. "If you don't know what search engine optimization is, you shouldn't be running an e-commerce business," Gault-Varner says. "What you do today for SEO is where you're going to be in the search engines three months from now. So you have to make that part of the daily running of your business."
    
2. Not understanding how to run an effective PPC campaign. "If you want to pop up a site and you want traffic tomorrow--and you're ready for that traffic--and you can afford it, then pay-per-click is a great way to go while you're working on building up your rankings in the search engines," Gault-Varner advises. She notes that it take three months to six months for a business to show up on Google and Yahoo through SEO. "PPC allows you to start bringing in instant traffic. But you want to make the most valuable use of those dollars, so you need to educate yourself as to how PPC works."
    
3. Carrying inventory. Gault-Varner learned this lesson from her own experience with Bella Blu, which had a warehouse with inventory. She goes a different route today: "All of the businesses that we sell at Pure e-Commerce are drop ship," she says. That means the business owner doesn't keep any inventory. When she gets an order, it goes to the manufacturer, who sends the product directly to the customer. "Had I known that at the time, I probably would have stayed smaller and leaner and more profitable," Gault-Varner says today. "And at the same time, I wouldn't have had to worry about this incredible overhead of inventory that I had."

So how does Pure eCommerce work? The company creates businesses in a range of industries, including baby, children, pets, home décor, furniture and eco-friendly organic products. "I come up with a great domain name, design the site, establish relationships with vendors and load up all the products." When the site is purchased, the consulting process begins. Clients also have the option of coming to Pure eCommerce with their own idea or concept. "We'll build them a turnkey business based on what they need," she says.

Gault-Varner says it typically takes about a year for people to get a site up and running on their own. It takes Pure eCommerce about three months to build a site.

She has about 15 to 20 sites available for sale at a time, ranging in price from $4,000 to $10,000. Each has a project manager who is responsible for building the site, establishing vendor relationships and loading the products. If the site doesn't sell immediately, Pure eCommerce will run the site until it's sold.

It's a self-limiting business. Gault-Varner can only take on a certain number of clients at a time. "As great of a concept as it is, it's a very time-consuming concept if you're going to provide very personal and valuable service to the client. You can't have 20 clients at one time."

But Gault-Varner isn't after a mega business. She appreciates being able to be home with her three children (a fourth is on the way), live a comfortable lifestyle and help other women start their own businesses--all while doing something she loves.

Gault-Varner says that success requires a lot of hard work and an inability to accept anything but success. "It's not a get-rich-quick scheme," she tells clients. "If you're not willing to work your behind off, you shouldn't be an entrepreneur.

"So many people go online, think they're going to pop up a site, sit back and the money rolls in. And that is a mistake."

Her advice to would-be entrepreneurs:

1. Run your idea by other people. Make sure it's a viable idea. Too many people go into business based on an idea that they think is fantastic, Gault-Varner says. But they don't do any research; they don't search financials and reach out and discover who their target market would be.
    
2. Have an open mind. "I find a lot of people sell things based on what they like, which is such a mistake. If you pop open a store based on what you like, you've really cut off your nose to spite your face. Because you're hoping that your target market is somebody that is exactly like you. The reality is, that's not going to happen.
   
   "When I had my first company, I chose to sell some items I thought were unattractive. But I wanted to test them because I saw my competition selling them. And those unattractive items turned out to be some of the top-selling items.
   
   "You have to keep your mind open. Don't assume that your way is the only way."
    
3. Pick a business you like. You don't have to have experience selling a certain type of item. But try to pick an area of trade that you're going to have a personal connection to, that you're really going to enjoy selling, that you're going to be excited about selling. That's going to encourage your level of creativity when it comes to marketing.
   
   "You're going to have low points. So if you believe in what you're selling and are personally connected to it, that's going to help you get through those low points. When you think about giving up, it's a whole lot easier to give up when you're selling something you can't stand vs. selling something you really believe passionately about, but that just hasn't taken off yet."

You may or may not be where you expected to be in your business by this time. Typically, success takes most business owners longer and costs more money than anticipated. Sure, you knew that it takes three to four years to begin showing a profit. But somehow you expected it to be different for you.

This is a good time to take a look at where you are, where you want to be and how you're going to get there.

Where Are You Now?
Begin goal planning with an honest self-evaluation of where your business is. Ask yourself the tough questions:

• Where do I stand financially?
• What is my market share?
• How much money do I owe?
• How many clients do I have?
• How much income is past due/bad debt?
• Does any single customer account for a large volume of business?
• What would happen if I lost that client?
• What skills do I most need to develop or hire out?
• Am I still excited about doing this?
• How many hours a week am I working? Is this acceptable?
• Do I have a mentoring relationship that is beneficial?
• What industry trends am I following/ignoring?
• What is my greatest achievement to date? Greatest failure?

Where Do You Want to Go?
Writing down your goals makes them more powerful. It gives them definition and provides a focal point toward which you can direct your energies. Begin by writing down your business goals. Make them specific. Don't just say you want to increase sales in five years; write down that you want to increase sales by 2 percent every quarter for the next two years. Imagine your goal as a measuring stick and the incremental goals as the dividing lines.

Prioritize them. What matters most to you short-term and long-term? Your goals may range from "get this done by Friday" to "in 10 years I want to be reporting $10 million in sales."

Set a time frame in which to accomplish them. Separate your goals from dreams or fantasies. It's essential that your time frame be realistic.

For example:

• I want three new clients in the next month.
• I want to have a new office space by the end of the year.
• I'll have two new talented and reliable contractors working with me in two months.

What Will it Take to Get There?
Your goals will not happen by magic. They need to be so ingrained in your business activities that you can evaluate next steps by determining whether they are in alignment with your overall goals. Keep a copy of your goals near your nightstand and in your wallet. You'll also want to distribute them among trusted members of your personal and professional network, so they can empathize with and support you along the way.

Incorporate business planning into your activities as a regular event, as well as honest evaluations about where you are. That will help you determine when something isn't working. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Something better will turn up if you give it room to grow.

As you'll soon find out (if you haven't already), there's no way one entrepreneur--you--has all the answers. Or all the skills. Or all of the time to single-handedly get your venture running smoothly.

If you want your business to expand, you'll need the advice and foresight of people who have traveled that road before you--and done so successfully. You need a team. Usually, that comes in the form of outside advisors, like attorneys, accountants, bankers and insurance brokers. You may also have thought of forming an advisory board. Before you get started, be aware that advisory boards are not designed for stroking your ego. Your advisors aren't cheerleaders; they'll tell the truth about your business, good or bad.

However, if having access to "wisdom of the elders" has any value to you, here are five tips on using your advisory board effectively:

1. Know why you need your board and how you want its members to help. If you've chosen your advisory board members carefully, you're asking busy, successful people to carve even more time out of their schedule to help you. You'll show your gratitude by providing clear guidelines about the assistance you're looking for. For example, are you looking for help launching a specific product line or overall advice about business growth? Are you seeking insight into trends or particular aspects of your business? (If the latter, make sure to have a confidentiality agreement handy for them to sign.) Know what you need--you'll then be able to better determine exactly whose expertise will benefit you.
    
2. Determine the kind of commitment you'll need. Once you figure out what you need, you'll have a sense of the kind of commitment you'll want your board members to make. Is this a short-term gig, ending with the product launch? A year-long commitment? Will you want the board members to meet regularly, or will other forms of communication suffice (such as a monthly coffee with individual members, or telephone/e-mail contact)? Bear in mind that if you want out-of-state members on your board, you'll foot the travel expenses for regular, face-to-face board meetings.
    
3. Give to get. If your advisory board members are giving generously of their time and expertise, give them something back. What's the "something?" It may be as simple as paying for the swanky lunch you'll have as you discuss business matters. It could be as involved as stock options. It could include access to other high-level people on your board (although two to three members are often sufficient for a smaller company). Whatever you choose--or your board members ask for--make that clear in your expectations of each other.
    
4. Respect their time. Few experiences are more annoying than attending a poorly run meeting where the speaker is unprepared, rambles and drags matters on for an hour longer than expected. Don't let that be you. Prepare in advance. Circulate an agenda well ahead of time. Make sure the meeting is facilitated well so that concrete action steps, deadlines and assignments result. Have someone take notes so that decisions and action steps can be recorded.
    
5. Keep your board in the loop. People will agree to sit on your advisory board because they're excited about your company prospects. They genuinely care about your success, even if the "tough love" can be hard to swallow. Keep in touch with them between meetings. They'll want to hear from you--and to help you if a problem arises. Let them know what's going on so that the agenda topics aren't a complete surprise.

Your advisory board can serve as an especially valuable management resource. Members provide a useful mirror so that you can see your company as it really is (and not as you've glossed it over). As long as you look in that mirror with eyes wide open, you'll be able to see the true possibilities for your business growth.

For more information about creating an advisory team, sign up for my Entrepreneur's Business Law Primer, which includes an MP3 audio lesson on "How to Create an Advisory Team."

You may or may not be where you expected to be in your business by this time. Typically, success takes most business owners longer and costs more money than anticipated. Sure, you knew that it takes three to four years to begin showing a profit. But somehow you expected it to be different for you.

This is a good time to take a look at where you are, where you want to be and how you're going to get there.

Where Are You Now?
Begin goal planning with an honest self-evaluation of where your business is. Ask yourself the tough questions:

• Where do I stand financially?
• What is my market share?
• How much money do I owe?
• How many clients do I have?
• How much income is past due/bad debt?
• Does any single customer account for a large volume of business?
• What would happen if I lost that client?
• What skills do I most need to develop or hire out?
• Am I still excited about doing this?
• How many hours a week am I working? Is this acceptable?
• Do I have a mentoring relationship that is beneficial?
• What industry trends am I following/ignoring?
• What is my greatest achievement to date? Greatest failure?

Where Do You Want to Go?
Writing down your goals makes them more powerful. It gives them definition and provides a focal point toward which you can direct your energies. Begin by writing down your business goals. Make them specific. Don't just say you want to increase sales in five years; write down that you want to increase sales by 2 percent every quarter for the next two years. Imagine your goal as a measuring stick and the incremental goals as the dividing lines.

Prioritize them. What matters most to you short-term and long-term? Your goals may range from "get this done by Friday" to "in 10 years I want to be reporting $10 million in sales."

Set a time frame in which to accomplish them. Separate your goals from dreams or fantasies. It's essential that your time frame be realistic.

For example:

• I want three new clients in the next month.
• I want to have a new office space by the end of the year.
• I'll have two new talented and reliable contractors working with me in two months.

What Will it Take to Get There?
Your goals will not happen by magic. They need to be so ingrained in your business activities that you can evaluate next steps by determining whether they are in alignment with your overall goals. Keep a copy of your goals near your nightstand and in your wallet. You'll also want to distribute them among trusted members of your personal and professional network, so they can empathize with and support you along the way.

Incorporate business planning into your activities as a regular event, as well as honest evaluations about where you are. That will help you determine when something isn't working. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Something better will turn up if you give it room to grow.

As you'll soon find out (if you haven't already), there's no way one entrepreneur--you--has all the answers. Or all the skills. Or all of the time to single-handedly get your venture running smoothly.

If you want your business to expand, you'll need the advice and foresight of people who have traveled that road before you--and done so successfully. You need a team. Usually, that comes in the form of outside advisors, like attorneys, accountants, bankers and insurance brokers. You may also have thought of forming an advisory board. Before you get started, be aware that advisory boards are not designed for stroking your ego. Your advisors aren't cheerleaders; they'll tell the truth about your business, good or bad.

However, if having access to "wisdom of the elders" has any value to you, here are five tips on using your advisory board effectively:

1. Know why you need your board and how you want its members to help. If you've chosen your advisory board members carefully, you're asking busy, successful people to carve even more time out of their schedule to help you. You'll show your gratitude by providing clear guidelines about the assistance you're looking for. For example, are you looking for help launching a specific product line or overall advice about business growth? Are you seeking insight into trends or particular aspects of your business? (If the latter, make sure to have a confidentiality agreement handy for them to sign.) Know what you need--you'll then be able to better determine exactly whose expertise will benefit you.
    
2. Determine the kind of commitment you'll need. Once you figure out what you need, you'll have a sense of the kind of commitment you'll want your board members to make. Is this a short-term gig, ending with the product launch? A year-long commitment? Will you want the board members to meet regularly, or will other forms of communication suffice (such as a monthly coffee with individual members, or telephone/e-mail contact)? Bear in mind that if you want out-of-state members on your board, you'll foot the travel expenses for regular, face-to-face board meetings.
    
3. Give to get. If your advisory board members are giving generously of their time and expertise, give them something back. What's the "something?" It may be as simple as paying for the swanky lunch you'll have as you discuss business matters. It could be as involved as stock options. It could include access to other high-level people on your board (although two to three members are often sufficient for a smaller company). Whatever you choose--or your board members ask for--make that clear in your expectations of each other.
    
4. Respect their time. Few experiences are more annoying than attending a poorly run meeting where the speaker is unprepared, rambles and drags matters on for an hour longer than expected. Don't let that be you. Prepare in advance. Circulate an agenda well ahead of time. Make sure the meeting is facilitated well so that concrete action steps, deadlines and assignments result. Have someone take notes so that decisions and action steps can be recorded.
    
5. Keep your board in the loop. People will agree to sit on your advisory board because they're excited about your company prospects. They genuinely care about your success, even if the "tough love" can be hard to swallow. Keep in touch with them between meetings. They'll want to hear from you--and to help you if a problem arises. Let them know what's going on so that the agenda topics aren't a complete surprise.

Your advisory board can serve as an especially valuable management resource. Members provide a useful mirror so that you can see your company as it really is (and not as you've glossed it over). As long as you look in that mirror with eyes wide open, you'll be able to see the true possibilities for your business growth.

For more information about creating an advisory team, sign up for my Entrepreneur's Business Law Primer, which includes an MP3 audio lesson on "How to Create an Advisory Team."