Help Me Build the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
August 30, 2007
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Yes, this is the new home of Business Performance Coaching of sbishere.com Thanks for visiting!
I have been thinking of the ‘ecosystem’ that supports the entrepreneurial community.
This mind map represents my first attempt at categorization of the many different people, companies, and services that make up the ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’.
The Start of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
I have created a database using an online service from Dabble DB. It allows me to design a database and embed objects in a web page. In Web 2.0 speak its called a mashup.
Help Me Build the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
If you would like to add a web site/blog to this database, enter the information by using the form on this page. No spam please.
Celebration: Big Design, Domain Change, A Little Help Please
August 30, 2007
If you are reading this via your feed reader and it has been awhile since you visited my blog, I recommend you click through to take a look.
I have condensed three blogs into one, brand new fresh logo and blog design, and totally reorganized and reorganized 800+ articles by hand (including 200 podcasts audio and video. Other noteworthy changes? A new domain: www.smallbusinesstransitions.com is the new home of all this content and I have closed (redirected) three domains.
Please update your bookmarks and RSS feedsso you can keep up-to-date.
A Celebration
Since Tim suggested that the new blog deserves some celebration, it got me thinking, and now I am asking you what would that look like? I would appreciate some feedback and ideas from you my dear reader, therefore let me ask you:
What kind of a celebration would you like to see or be a part of?
Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
August 29, 2007
Here is a wake up call…
“The most expensive piece of real estate is the six inches between your right and left ear. It’s what you create in that area that determines your wealth. We are only really limited by our mind.” — Dr. Dolf de Roos: Authority on real estate investment Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
A Professors Outstanding Presentation Skills
August 29, 2007
The presentation and visualization methods you will see in this video casts a new light on the value and use of statistics. You can read more about the non-profit, Gapminder that Hans Roslings founded. First watch this video, I think you will be amazed. I know I was.
Marketing to the Affluent Baby Boomers
August 29, 2007
Marketers are beginning to recognize the spending power of affluent baby boomers (estimated to control $2 trillion in spending power) and everyone seems to want a piece of the pie.
Accounting for nearly 30% of the U.S. population, the Baby Boomer generation is important not only because of its size, but also because it represents the wealthiest generation in the U.S., with an estimated annual spending power of over $2 trillion. Via Research & Markets
Before you throw yourself head long into the fray of companies Read more
101+ Marketing Tools, Tactics, and Strategies
August 28, 2007
When marketing is executed elegantly, the prospect will be motivated to investigate further and/or acquire the item or service.
Accomplishing this objective will involve the use of numerous tools and strategies. When coaching my clients, I recommend that they have at least 10 marketing strategies working all the time.
Here is my list of more than 101 marketing tools in 15 categories:
- Marketing calendar/plan: A 12-month marketing calendar with projects, tactics, dates, and costs recorded.
- Identify customer needs: Conduct focus groups surveys, and person-on-the-street interviews; interview customers; shop your competitors.
- Back-end, up sell: Add new, complimentary products and services, create back-end products including CDs, DVDs, product of the month.
- Media: Includes television advertising, infomercials, radio advertising, on-hold messages, billboards, and cable channel advertising.
- Internet marketing: Your own Web site, search engine marketing, pay-per-click advertising, pay-per-call lead generation, video cast, podcast, Weblog, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) article distribution, e-zine subscriptions and distribution, e-mail marketing, auto responders, social book marking, and online networks.
- Branding: Packaging your company; name of company, USP/slogan, consistent and congruent logo, testimonials, features, history, guarantees, awards, press releases/public relations, brochures, business cards, letterhead, community and sports team sponsorships, uniforms. Read more
No Matter the Label Marketing is Marketing
August 28, 2007
I have been thinking a lot these days about the topic of “Internet Marketing” and my message is simple, Internet marketing is well, just, marketing. The Internet and your web site are simply newer marketing tools. Your “Internet” marketing should compliment and support the goals of your overall marketing plan.
Internet is Simply A Tool
It has come a long way, but Internet marketing (IM) tends to be more technical than conceptual. I suppose that could be said of any marketing tool whether it be direct mail, word-of-mouth, or Internet marketing. Unfortunately, in the early days IM promoted it as a “game changing technology” - I tend to see IM as just another ‘marketing tool’ - albeit a very effective, measurable, and accountable marketing tool.
Marketing Still is the Discipline to Master
When I say IM is simply a tool - my goal is to demystify IM and reshape your perceptions and view it as simply a new set of tools in your marketing quiver. Just like any marketing discipline/tool there is a certain amount of “technical” [read how-to-do-it] knowledge or experience to execute really well.
Majority of Small Businesses Recruiting Older More Experienced Workers
August 27, 2007
In a survey of 5,800 businesses Administaff released their findings with a clear majority actively recruiting older and more experienced workers.
Half of the survey’s respondents also said they were hiring additional full-time employees, while 13 percent were hiring part-timers to fill in work force gaps. Forty-one percent were making do with existing staff. The survey also found that 61 percent were attempting to attract older, more experienced workers. Via Survey: Most small bizs on the grow
Article Series - Hiring Great Employees
- Recruiting & Interview Techniques
- The Secret To Hiring Sales People!
- 15 Performance Evaluation Tips & Interview Questions
- Avoid Bad Hiring Decisions
- How Incentives Become the Lightning Bolt to Performance
- Keeping your top employees - create a captivating corporate culture!
- Generational Values Shift Spells Workplace Change
- Gen Y Asking: Why Bother with Corporate America?
- Majority of Small Businesses Recruiting Older More Experienced Workers
Back in the Saddle
August 27, 2007
I was away last week on a brief vacation. I am back and will resume my regular posting schedule. I should have posted something to let you know, I had plans to post but my plans changed when the o ky wireless access was via the local coffee shop.
Here is an article I posted last week:
“No matter how long you have been in business you can easily get caught in this trap. If you do get caught in the “Star Employee” syndrome it could easily impair your judgement and set you and the new employee up for failure.” Via Avoid Getting Caught in the “Star Employee” Trap
Avoid Getting Caught in the “Star Employee” Trap
August 23, 2007
No matter how long you have been in business you can easily get caught in this trap. If you do get caught in the “Star Employee” syndrome it could easily impair your judgement and set you and the new employee up for failure.
Relief and Gratitude
You are just so happy to have such a well qualified, capable employee that you find yourself continually impressed. Soon you begin to imagine how much this is going to make your life easier.
Soon you start to make a mental note of all the things you want to delegate to them or a future, more senior position. Be careful, their level of professionalism, knowledge, and potential is a powerful elixir that will cloud your judgment if you are not careful. Remember, the very qualities and behavior you are enjoying is the reason you hired them in the first place.
The fact that you have noticed these behaviors and qualities simply means that they have “met your expectations” - so far. Temper your enthusiasm with the brutal reality of answering the following question:
What specific, tangible results have they actually created?
You hire for character, integrity, and how they will fit into your team.
They earn their paycheck and keep their job based on Read more
What’s on your radar?
August 17, 2007
Over at The Remote Control CEO I have written about a new tool I am developing called CEO Radar: Read more
CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
August 16, 2007
As I mentioned the other day, I registered CEOradar.com. Between preparing for my upcoming Mentoring Program, developing the Small Business Transitions member site I have not had much time to write much in the last week or so. The good news is I am going to give you a sneak peek at my upcoming CEO Radar 360 service.
The 360 Radar Questionnaire
It all starts with the 360 self-scoring questionnaire including work/life balance, leadership, financial management, profit margins, business system, human resources, customer service, sales, and marketing. The image on the right shows a sample of the financial management questions.
Zero In: The Radar Chart
Once the Radar Questionnaire is complete you get a number of reports including the Radar Chart, Financial Ratios, and Report Card.
The Radar Chart provides a visualization of your strengths and areas that need more attention, focus, and investment in your business and personal life.
Back to School: The Report Card
Next up is a 360 Report Card based upon your answers to the 360 Radar Questionnaire using the same methodology used when you went to school. As you can see Read more
Article Series - The Remote Control CEO
- What is a Remote Control CEO?
- Six Inches of the Most Expensive Real Estate In the World
- Outsourcing: Hire Your Customers
- New Employee Indoctrination and Training for a Small Business
- CEO Radar: A 360 Degree View
- Experience Flow
- IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States
- How Irrepressible Entrepreneurs Transform Their Business and Life
- World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO
- What Are Your Business Goals
- Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance
- Have a dream? Get The Mindset of a Champion
- Listen To Your Heart and Soul by Eliminating Noise
- Budget for Thinking Time
PC and Mac
August 16, 2007
I ran a poll recently and was surprised to see the results. My intention in running the poll was to learn more about my readers.
I compared the results from the poll to my server statistics and can say that the PC percentage is much higher than that indicated by the poll. Exactly how much different is hard to say due to the limitation of Urchins’ stats.
I have been a proud Mac user since 1995 when I purchased a Macintosh PowerPC 66 - thats 66Mhz folks. In those days it was quick, interesting how much things change and evolve.
A year ago I purchased an 1.9 GHz G5 iMac and a few months later a 15″ MacBookPro 2.33 GHz and I can say that the MacBookPro is more than twice as fast due to the Core 2 Duo.
What happens when three blogs are merged?
August 15, 2007
Now that I have merged the content from Daily Thoughts for Business, Buying a Business, and Business Performance Coaching here, I thought you might find it interesting to know how the content here is distributed across the six phases in the transitions life cycle of business.
As you can see by the chart most of my writing has been in the Starting, Building, Coping, and Fortifying. I have begun work on the Exiting and Retiring phases. I am planning to develop more content for the Exiting and Retiring phases.
With the sheer number of articles and the limitations of categorization within blogs getting to the content you need could be a challenge. I have been thinking of writing a guide for each of the six phases and/or each transition period. I tested a Mind Map approach and got only one response.
Which would you prefer? Do you have other suggestions or recommendations for organizing this content?
Gen Y Asking: Why Bother with Corporate America?
August 14, 2007
As I mentioned in Gen Y Marketing = Experiential & Event Marketing Strategy, I mused, “the reason [experiential marketing] works so well with the Gen Y market is because they are savvy, curious, intelligent, focused, willing to adapt to change, self reliant and confident. They know what they want when they experience it.”
USA Today points to research by Pew Research Center that asserts corporate America has been slow to adapt to the needs of this generation:
They’ve got the smarts and the confidence to get a job, but increasing numbers of the millennial generation — those in their mid-20s and younger — are deciding corporate America just doesn’t fit their needs.
So armed with a hefty dose of optimism, moxie and self-esteem, they are becoming entrepreneurs.
“People are realizing they don’t have to go to work in suits and ties and don’t have to talk about budgets every day,” says Ben Kaufman, 20, founder of a company that makes iPod accessories. “They can have a job they like. They can create a job for themselves.” Via USA Today
It’s not like employers have not been warned:
Struggling to hire 17-29 year olds (echo boomers)? Business owners and entrepreneurs better wake up and smell the coffee, times have changed and the youth of today do not think like you would expect. Via Gen Y: These Young People Know What They Want
In the USA Today article:
“You’ve got a generation that has clearly seen the corporate culture not be loyal to their employees,” says David Finney, president of Champlain College, which this fall launched a new program to lure enterprising undergraduates already in business for themselves. “This generation understands that the burden of taking care of themselves rests with them and not some company. Via USA Today
If ever there was a time to really make a strategy to Attract Talent, Develop Leaders and Create a Corporate Mystique now is the time.
Article Series - Hiring Great Employees
- Recruiting & Interview Techniques
- The Secret To Hiring Sales People!
- 15 Performance Evaluation Tips & Interview Questions
- Avoid Bad Hiring Decisions
- How Incentives Become the Lightning Bolt to Performance
- Keeping your top employees - create a captivating corporate culture!
- Generational Values Shift Spells Workplace Change
- Gen Y Asking: Why Bother with Corporate America?
- Majority of Small Businesses Recruiting Older More Experienced Workers
CEO Radar
August 14, 2007
What does the term CEO Radar mean to you?
I had an amazing meeting with one of the web’s most brilliant and relatively unknown, creative thinkers, Reg Cheramy from web2.0central.com
Reg lives in Edmonton, the same city where I live but in a different part of town. Towards the end of our meeting he suggested that I purchase CEOradar.com which I did (thanks Reg).
Meaning to You
When you think of CEO Radar, what does it say to you? What meaning, feeling, or service/content would you expect to see on a website by that name?
Can you help me out?
How is your radar?
August 14, 2007
I had an amazing meeting with one of the web’s most brilliant and relatively unknown, creative thinkers, Reg Cheramy from web2.0central.com
Reg lives in Edmonton, the same city where I live but in a different part of town. Towards the end of our meeting he suggested that I purchase ceoradar.com which I did (thanks Reg).
Meaning to You
When you think of CEO Radar, what does it say to you? What meaning, feeling, or service/content would you expect to see on a website by that name?
Live Large!
Personal Success Vision
August 12, 2007
This seven minute video introduces a new management philosophy, the Three C’s. Cooperation, Collaboration, and Connection.
The Secret to Business Success: Diligence
August 12, 2007
Everyone enters into self employment for different reasons. It is a tough but rewarding road to travel. There are numerous challenges along the way. If you have ever written a business plan or run a business for a long time, you know there are days that are just plain depressing. Do not lose heart! There is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, you will need a full measure of entrepreneurial strength and diligence.The Merriam - Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that diligence is the attention and care legally expected or required of a person (as a party to a contract)
No doubt you will enter into a number of contracts over the life of your business, so this is an important concept. I have to admit that there are days when I do not ‘feel diligent’ and it is tempting to take a short cut. I have found that the shortcuts are really the longest trips, sometimes.
The above definition states ‘the attention and care legally expected or required’ which infers compliance with a set of standards of corporate behavior. Here is a short list of areas that have an expectation of diligence from business owners: Read more
The Right Price: Develop a Market Price Strategy
August 12, 2007
If your price is too high, you may not be able to achieve adequate market share and lose important sales and profits. If your price is too low you may be leaving money on the table and you might not have enough profit to sustain your operations.
The purpose of this article is to outline an approach you can use to develop a Market Price Strategy and avoid killing a marketing or advertising campaign. Which is central to the overall development of a successful marketing strategy.
Price objections can kill your business. Generally, the less personal interaction you will have with a customer the more accurate you need to be about your pricing strategy. Before we get started lets review the Definition of Marketing. A process by which:
Information about a product or service designed to meet a need - real or otherwise - is presented or communicated to those who have the need. The process can take place in the spur of the moment or be planned. However, the goal is always the same. To get people to consider the merits of whatever is being marketed.
Remember, marketing is communicating the benefits of a product or service. If your price is too high or low, your prospects/customers may not take you seriously or dismiss your proposition outright. The entire purpose of marketing is to communicate and create a perception of value!
Choosing the correct price is essential to creating the right perception of value - this is where developing a market price strategy comes into the picture.
A Market Price Strategy is the art of balancing the role of price as a means to attracting customers and keeping customers. Read more
-
Getting the Price Right
-
My Books on Amazon
