North San Diego Business@Large

On Friday, June 6th Barbara Eldridge, Mind Masters was my special guest in Conquering Digital Divide, presenting "Strategic Planning for Your Business, Part One".

Take a listen and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Visit The Digital Divide page for upcoming Free Friday webinars.

On Tuesday, April 15th Microsoft held "Vision to Venture", an event bringing together women from all over San Diego County to share ideas about starting and growing your small business.

Microsoft introduced their Office Live Small Business service for budding entrepreneurs, or solopreneurs as I like to refer to us! There were four excellent speakers. The first speaker was Susan Wilson Solovic, SBTV.com, who spoke about building a million dollar business. She’s the author of "The Girls’ Guide To Building A Million Dollar Business." What an energetic woman and an inspiration to all.

Additionally, she moderated a panel of three entrepreneurs who shared their experiences while answering questions from the audience. The panel was made up of: Lisa Baker, Lisa Confetti; Holli Door, Hollister Construction Company; and Ramona Russell, Uptown Liz.

This is the interview I did with Susan about the conference and SBTV.com

The second speaker, Rich Sloan of Startupnation.com, spoke about the seven overlooked secrets to starting up a business. He’s incredibly knowledgeable about the small business community and the co-author of "StartupNation: America’s Leading Entrepreneurial Experts Reveal the Secrets to Building a Blockbuster Business." He was gracious enough to sit down with me for a few minutes to share information about Startupnation and being a solopreneur.

Karen Dayan, Microsoft’s Digital Media Expert, spoke about taking your business and promoting it online in an easy and affordable way using Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business service. She also served as the Master of Ceremony during the day.

Microsoft is also offering an "on demand webcast" of the Vision to Venture event and it will be available later in May. Visit the Vision to Venture page to sign up for an e-mail alert as to when the webcast will be available.

Here’s my interview with Karen.

John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing, wowed the audience with the 5-step conversational marketing plan. He share how to create an education-based, information-rich branding strategy. I’ve been following John for a couple of years now, as a subscriber to his blog and a fellow tweeter on twitter. I was delighted when he agreed to an interview. I hope you’ll enjoy all these interviews as much as I enjoyed speaking with these four delightful and insightful professionals. Here’s my interview with John.

Their Books
Girls Guide To Building A Million Dollar Business	Duct Tape Marketing

Customers make the heart of your business beat with their desire to choose products, services and experiences that meet their needs, fit their values, engage their emotions and respond to their desires. Your role is to transform prospects into customers and customers into fiercely loyal advocates. As your own marketer you have to be heard over the marketing noise that is everywhere, (TV, newspapers, on every street corner, now even at the movies). You then have to overcome the skepticism of the more sophisticated consumer.

Many of you have taken one of our "Personal Branding" workshops to learn more about standing out, creating interest so that people take action. It is important to understand that all of this starts with what you say about who you are, what you do, but most importantly what is the outcome you deliver that satisfies someone’s desire to buy.

I would like to suggest you start by asking yourself some questions that can flush out the things you need to know about your customer, and what your customer needs to know about you. If you have targeted a market, what is their challenge, issue or problem. The better prepared you are to answer that question the better prepared you will be to know what your customer needs to know about you.

What is the value of your product or service in terms of saving customers time and effort? Does what you offer add value by offering an enhancement – beauty, status, advancement or guarantees? Can you demonstrate that your product or service is not a cost but an investment? How about your competition, why do people buy from you rather than your competition? What makes you different? What do your customers tell each other about your product or service?

Amazon.com and eBay have capitalized on this by giving buyers a chance to comment and/or review what they purchased and in the case of eBay how well the seller fulfilled what he sold. You need to be able to tell the stories and quote the testimonials of happy customers so others can see how you are different.

Few products or services are unique, you make them unique by looking at your strengths to create your competitive edge. What strengths do you have that you can effectively capitalize on? When you have answers to the questions that apply to you, you must be able to deliver that information verbally and in all your written and hand out materials. Remember people want to know "what’s in it for them." So what is the outcome and value you deliver; this is not the how, but the what, that will keep them coming back over and over again.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

According to Alan Kay from Disney’s R&D Department: "When you … offer unique value your competition cannot, then you … make headway by giving your ideas away."

You can expand your visibility by disseminating information as one of your prime marketing tactics. Don’t make the same mistakes most small business people do, and think that the knowledge and experience you have is widely known, on the contrary, you are the owner of a capital asset that others do not possess and have no easy way of possessing it.

There are many avenues available to you to present what you know. Trade association journals and newsletters are always looking for articles. What organizations are you associated with? Approach them with a suggested topic.

On staying current with your clients, you need to create information tools such as newsletters or e-mail newsletters that will give you consistent visibility. Clients start to see you as a valuable resource.

Seminars, workshops and talks to groups and organizations put you out ahead of the competition. Your exposure to your market place helps you to build credibility.

When you make your information available to your market place, you position yourself as an expert. Experts produce and sell information. This lets clients sample your information and expands your market to people who can’t hire you. Products can be given away or can bring you significant incremental revenue.

The market place of today wants concise information, whether you record it or put it in print, it will create a definite advantage over your competition. Where do you want to be in the market place? You must put yourself there. The next time a client asks you a question, make note of it - others want that answer too.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

One of the questions I often get from my members is, "when is the right time to incorporate"? The answer is often the question of liability that one needs to take into consideration before deciding which entity best suits ones business needs. Do you have employees that put you at risk driving your business vehicle or dealing with customers? Each business entity has its advantages and drawbacks, benefits and tax consequences.

Picture a situation where an employee is driving with you in your vehicle and you are in an accident. The accident is not your fault but your employee gets injured. You are now in a position where the employee’s lawyer decides they need to sue you too. What kind of protection do you have?

Most small businesses are started as sole proprietorships to allow an individual the independence, flexibility and minimum government red tape giving him/her absolute control. Taxes are filed on a regular 1040 form with a schedule C attached. Employee benefit premiums are deductible. However, Linda Harris of Harris Insurance and Financial Services says that the disadvantages of the sole proprietor are so profound that I will quote her explanation.

"The sole proprietorship is limited by the personal financial resources of the owner and the ability to obtain credit and borrow money. The sole proprietorship is also limited in terms of business talent and ability and the success of the business generally is tied to the ingenuity, initiative, resourcefulness and managerial abilities of the sole owner. "

Without proper planning the employee in the above scenario could wind up owning the assets of the business and other personal assets as well. Creditors may attach personal resources (home, bank accounts, retirement accounts, etc) in the event of a business failure. Also what happens to a sole proprietorship upon the death of the owner? In general, state laws provide that all of a sole proprietor’s business activities cease at the owner’s death.

Without getting over my head in legalities, let’s look at the General Corporation advantages that could offset the sole proprietorship disadvantages. There is limited liability as all responsibility for debt and liability fall on the corporation. That means creditors cannot attach personal assets of the share holders. Financing is generally more easily secured, as corporations have a more stable appearance, whether or not it is true. Unless there is a restriction on the transfer of stock, shareholder’s interests are freely transferable. As a separate legal entity, a corporation enjoys perpetual existence.

Often small business owners fail to value their sole proprietorships and do not adequately plan for its security or continuance. It is important to review all of the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating with your attorney, CPA and financial planner so you understand the financial impact on the business and your family.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

Here we are in the second month of the year, are you already finding yourself coming and going, wondering how to get done all the things your business demands of you? Is it more like being in a batting cage with things coming at you, rather then in the game playing to win? Over the years I have experienced my clients suffering through those long lists of "got to get done" things, but what I have come to understand is most of those "things" are not focused, nor do they consistently support the things that really matter, your dreams and goals.

But, you ask, when the list is so long what does really matter? That sounds more like you are striking out instead of scoring. So let’s think about your game - how many up at bats have you skipped this week? This month? Managing the high priority, high pay off areas of the business means first having a clear focus on the mission and goals of the business. Anything that distracts you from realizing those goals is likely producing inconsistent results. The question to ask yourself to stay focused is, "is this activity helping me reach my goal?"

Weekly you must carefully define your work and break it down to essential tasks which will give you a game plan. Growing a business means having consistent up at bats, i.e. activities that produce high pay off results, that means prospecting for new clients, calling for appointments and having face to face encounters with them. In addition it means staying in touch with your "centers of influence" who recommend you.

Paul J. Meyer, Founder of Success Motivation Institute once wrote "There is a world of difference between mere action and constructive action." So instead of just adding to that "to do" list, take time to plan a week of constructive action, focusing on the things that hit the mark consistently. I recommend that you break your activities down to Business Development, Contract Fulfillment/Work to be Completed, Follow up, Personal/Home, and Administration. When you have your goals in front of you it is easier to see what needs to be done.

Challenge: Take one half hour each week to review your accomplishments and plan for the next growth steps for your business.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

On February 5th at the Handlery Hotel, businesses can learn some new and progressive management strategies. We’re  always looking for profitable strategies. One huge investment for any small business is the hiring, training and development of good employees. Yet, what kind of atmosphere do you provide for your employees? Here’s a management style to think about…kindness!

The Management Initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote business success through a kinder leadership style and is offering a one day workshop to share these strategies with small business owners. Endless research supports the fact that a kind working environment means better business results…and yet something is missing.

What they aren’t telling you is that it requires very specific management skills and the right marketing, strategic, and legal efforts to support that kind environment. Only about 3% of decision makers know what these skills are, but Reut Schwartz-Hebron and The Management Initiative do and they want to spread those skills like a virus.

You’ll learn what those very successful 3% know about combining a kind business style with outstanding business results, so you can start enjoying financial security without giving up on being the person you want to be.

The Management Initiative wants to give you some of the new skills you’ll need to promote your business success with the intention of modeling a new set of excellence standards in the most influential part of society. You get accessibility to top expert skills, tools, and keys for outstanding business results and we all take another step toward a better future.

I recently met Reut Schwartz-Hebron, international speaker, an author and a trainer. She is the founder of the Managzement Initiative Project, the president of the Kind-Excellence Institute and the owner of MetaConsulting Solutions. Reut is the author of "Outswim the Sharks" and is personally dedicated to training executives in using Kind Excellence management skills. Over the past 12 years, Reut supported organizations of all sectors and sizes to increase their overall productivity.

Reut and I sat down for an interview about her vision and the passion behind sharing why kindness is your strongest ally and how to make it lead to more income than any other business style. She’s holding a one day event on February 5th here in San Diego on The Management Initiative. To get more information, or register for the event visit The Management Initiative.

As always, I invite you to share your theories on management strategies by commenting! Enjoy the interview.

You, Inc., The Art Of Selling Yourself by Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith is an easy read. I took it on our holiday road trip to Mom’s house. I was able to finish it within a few days. However, being an easy read doesn’t mean it wasn’t full of valuable info for running a small business.

What I loved best about You, Inc. is that in short stories and examples you discover strategies for selling, planning, relationships (which we are hearing so much about these days), and attitudes. They also reinforce the need for integrity in what you do.

One of the things I struggle with is remembering names. There are a couple of great examples of how to develop the ability to put a face and name together. I also enjoyed learning how to strengthen my relationships, and why our relationships are so important to our business success.

I like little books.  Little books that I can keep within reach for that moment of inspiration or motivation that these books offer. This is one of those little books that will always be within reach to help me move past any obstacles that might come my way. Check it out. If you’ve read it, offer up a comment!

Your success in business comes down to the difference between managing your work or letting your work manage you. What’s it going to be? The biggest contributors to clutter are those good old fashion letters, junk mail, memos, e-mail printouts and sticky notes, So how do you sort through all the junk and all the distractions and concentrate only on the things that are important to you and your business? In business ownership and management, as in war and other activities, you are only as good as your last success. Just as you always have to be on the lookout for the next opportunity, you also have to be on the alert for the next crisis. That is what being organized is all about. You don’t want to waste your time on useless trivia when important issues that have significant impact on your customers or your organization deserve your attention.

Delegation is an ideal way that allows you to work on important tasks. As your business grows, your functional responsibilities normally grow past the point where you can cope with all the duties which must be handled. As this process of growth occurs, you must begin to delegate specific duties to insure that all necessary tasks are carried out. This means hiring someone on a full or part time basis and properly training them. It is important to have performance guidelines with proper follow up procedures for the delegated assignments. In some instances people who do outside services can take up the slack.

Remember, a well managed business achieves results. Good management requires passing down the authority to get the job done and allows you to get on with the high priority, high payoff activities of your business.

One of the most important steps in the success of your business is planning. A business plan requires an action plan that will have specific and measurable results. Here is a suggested proven planning method that if you are truly committed to improving your management skills you can become a planning master overnight. What would it mean to you if you planned every business day on paper prior to the day starting?

• Block 30 minutes each week to review the week and your Quarterly plan and determine the actions you will need to take that week to achieve those results.
• Block 10-14 minutes daily to plan the day. No cell phone, no e-mail, no distractions, just planning.
• With your goals in front of you ask yourself if the activities you listed will help you achieve those goals.
• Prioritize your action items for the day. Put an asterisk next to your 5 most important (valuable) action items.

I challenge you to prepare for business growth through better organization, delegation and time management. Remember as a business owner setting a standard of consistent behaviors leads you to achieve results that carry over to all areas of your life.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

A New Year, new goals, new opportunities! Now that you have things sorted out and put together, put last year behind you, scrap the old plans and get ready for a new start. New things require new strategies, new tactics and new plans. There’s an old saying – if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Einstein may have put it better when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results.

Over the last 15 years as I have worked with business owners who had dreams and big ideas, many would set out ignoring the previous year’s sales and profitability results. Success in anything means you have overcome the obstacles, made adjustments to the plan and strategized a new focus.

I’m suggesting that you take time now to review, revise or better yet create a new plan of action. Outline some new tools and tactics for managing, marketing, financing and leading your business and how you are going to balance your time to handle it all.

Investing the time to reflect on which strategies worked and which didn’t last year, and then carefully mapping out your next actions based on this information, will pay dividends. Be realistic about your time, define the roles that you play along with action steps in order to plan your time reasonably. But remember to give yourself the boundless encouragement, kindly patience and unqualified support that you give to others. Much success in 2008, make it a GREAT Year!!!!

The Challenge: Stop! Take some time now and review the plans and action steps that truly answer the question, how can I achieve that goal?

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams.