Today we begin with Mistake #1 – No Plan

Many business owners put off writing a business plan until they have no choice because their banker, investor, or potential landlord requires it. This is a huge mistake! It is easy to put off writing your plan for “someday when you have the time.” But you will never have enough time unless you make the time. The busier you are, the more you need a plan to guide and simplify your decision-making process and automate day-to-day operations. A well-thought-out plan will help you do just that.

Now start collecting all the scraps of paper, notes and ideas you have stored somewhere, and start organizing your information.   Before long you will be well on your way to a productive plan

This often overlooked element is the final part of your preparation for the show.  Finding clothes which look good on everyone from the smallest woman to the largest man is often a challenge.  Be sure to leave enough time to find something which everyone will feel good wearing.  Why?  Because when they feel good about how they look, they will be more confident in their conversations with prospects and clients!

As a writer and person, I have many interests. However, as a blogger, wishing to cultivate an audience, I need to narrow those interests and focus on a few topics to help search engines and readers find me.

So, I write about small business marketing and business planning. But some times I get tired of the same thing.  I feel as if I have written it before ( and sometimes when I update a theme, I have!)  This creates a challenge because I want to keep the content fresh and interesting, but consistent.

I have studied a number of bloggers to see how they find the balance.   And some do it better then others.  One of the best is Louis Grey.  Primarily tech focused, he gives us an inside view of what is going on in Silicon Valley, human explainations of new technology ( instead of GEEK SPEAK) and the occasoinal look inside his personal life, and the challenges of raising twins. His recent  topics have included :

• Hard But Smart Decisions: Blogger Tackles The .5% Problem
• EdgeTheory Conversations: Twitter’s New Suggestions
• Apple & Google are Primary Enemies? At What Cost?

In contrast, local Social Media Expert, Kyle Lacy has moved in a different direction.  A year ago, his blog covered a wide range of topics.  Today, as his business has become more and more focused on Social Media exclusively, so have have his posts.

• Social Media from a Generation Y Perspective
• Empower Your Employees to Win with Social Media
• Marketing Through Social Media is Not Easy. Plan Accordingly

While I miss some of his customer service rants, and general musings, when I am looking for social media content, he is my first stop.   And his strategy is helping him win search. Just type “social media Indianapolis” into your search bar and see who tops the list!

Some writers have found the balance by creating multiple blogs.  ( I have no idea how they get anything else done).  For me, the balance seems to be, writing primarily about small business marketing, but allowing myself, from time to time, to ramble off in different directions and hope my readers enjoy the detour.

But everynow and then, one new application seems to emerge as a winner.   Recently, FourSquare has emerged as a winner for me.    What is FourSquare?  It is a mobile application, which allows you to tell others where you are.

It integrates seamlessly to Twitter, and the iPhone application is easy to use.  While that is all cool, the question is, why would anyone care where you are?  The simple answer?  It is easy to find your friends, promote cool locations and events, and now Kyle Lacy tells me it can be a good business tool and interesting part of your social media and overall  internet marketing strategy as well.

While I think the badges and “mayor” status are silly, I do like being able to promote my favorite resturants, coffee shops and art exhibits.   And for some of the small business owners who are our clients we are starting to explore how they might use Foursquare to expand their connections to clients.  It has great possiblities for any retail location and I think it will become a core element of the marketing strategy of many small business.

So if you want to know where I am, you can follow me on Twitter, or check in on my at Foursquare, until the next new toy comes along, that I think will be five times as much fun as twitter!

Recently Des stopped and we talked about Coaching, and why a small business owner might turn to a coach.

Click here to listen to the Podcast.

We got to work on a fully interactive overhaul of the website. We created a new layout which included downloadable forms for patients who didn’t want the inconvenience of filling them out at the doctor’s office. We also generated an interactive map for those who need directions to the Lung Care Group’s office. Not only do we feel that the final product goes a long way in improving the Lung Care Group’s brand image, but the LCG team loves it as well.

We’ve had a blast creating a website that the Lung Care Group could be proud of. Below you’ll find before and after screen shots of the site. Make sure to visit the site and check out all the new features.

Here are just a few highlights from his presentation in which many of his remarks ran counter to “tradtional” wisdom:

People: Many people say partnerships are a bad idea.  Interestingly, Kristian’s dad told him that partnerships were a bad idea. But Kristian advocated that you need to find other people who will share the workload and will bring different perspectives and different ideas to create more potential solutions. ( I love the idea of creative collaboration) Kristian did warn about the dangers of unbalanced commitment.  Too often, one partner contributes significantly more, so if you are going to create a partnership be sure to define roles up front.

Money: When young firms are looking for loans or investors, tradional wisdom has been to try to get as much as you can on the first round because you may not be able to go back for more.  Kristian suggested just the opposite.  He reccomnends small business owners take a more conservative approach; wait as long as you can before you go for funding.  Then ask for as little as you possibly can get by with to run the business.  If you begin to get some traction, and need additional funding you will be in the position to ask for more and give away less of the business than you would in the early stage .

Product (or Service): This is the core of any business, and Kristian suggested successful products are focused, distinct and simple. Here his advice was more along tradional lines, reminding busines owners they can not be all things to all people.  Understanding the opportuniteis of the “Long Tail” and offering a product which meets the needs of a well defined niche provides a solid foundatoin for a business.  Finally, he reminded the group to keep their value proposition simple.  It has to be something you can explain in10 seconds or less.

I was thrilled Kristian could make time to start the day with us.  I know I wasn’t the only person in the room who wished he had about an hour more to visit with us.   And if you missed Kristian’s comments, but want to connect to the start up community here in Indy, check out nex month’s Incubators event, where we will have another fabulous speaker .  The meeting will be the first Tuesday morning in March at 7:30 at Loon Lake Lodge.  Hope to see you there

Jay Ehret suggest that for any small business owner, your business is like a piece of art, and the ability for consumers to interpret what you have in mind can often mean the difference between success or mediocrity. Rahter then guess what your customers think, consider conducting a survey or asking just a few simple questions to be sure.

And while we are on the subject of art …  I thought you would enjoy a few scenes from the opening of the Art from the Heartland exhibit here in Indy!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

It was nice to see a few of my friends on the list.   Congratulations to Kyle Lacy, Jennifer Ruby and Joel Russell.

Some were things I do on a regular basis, ok not always every day, but fairly often:

• Get your blog post up. Make it helpful, worthy of comments and unique.
• Comment on other people’s blog posts.
• Share other people’s blog posts.
• Comment back to people who’ve commented on your blog.

There were other things on his list which are not a part of my daily routine, but should be, such as:

• Read something not related to your market.
• Connect with five people not in your vertical or your geography.
• Reconnect with people who matter. Drop an email or call. Don’t ask for anything.

And finally there were ideas which had much broader implications.  These are things which are important, not just for my blog, but for business in general.

• Look at the map of where you think things are going for your business. Anything change?
• Read the “weather” from the blogs you follow. Anything there?
• Think about what seeds you might plant for future projects.
• Share at the farmer’s market your best yields.

When I looked at the list, I realized it is a lot to do every day.   I guess that is why farmers get up so early.

As I work with small business owners, presenting a list like this can be overwhelming.  My advice, mix it up. If blogging is not your core business, but a way of connecting with customers and bringing them to your core business, then create your own farming list, and include some of these elements every day.