How to move your business forward
By Janeen Detrick
Step 1: Ask yourself, “What do I want my business to do, or to teach, or to accomplish?
Brainstorm and itemize them!
For Example, one of my students wants to have a business preparing people for the end of their life. She may list:
1. Teach the End of Life 5s
2. Teach Dying with Dignity
3. Teach Five Wishes
4. Teach grieving
5. Offer a resource guide for finding Hospice organizations
6. Teach them about their medical Choices
7. Teach about Living Wills, and offer a resource guide for finding and preparing them.
8. Teach about Wills & Trusts, and offer a resource guide
Step 2: Ask yourself, “What Action steps do I need to take to do this?”
You will answer this question for each of the items you wrote down in step one.
Using the example above, her Action Steps for End of Life 5s may include:
1. Write a curriculum about it.
2. Record a video for posting on YouTube.
3. Schedule and Organize Symposiums with guests & me as moderator to be held at
Temples, Churches, Assisted Living, Condos, Clubs, Agencies.
Step 3: Ask yourself, “What relationships do I need to build?”
You will answer this question for each of the items you wrote down in step one.
The answers may sound something like this:
1. Affiliate relationships with mortuaries.
2. Affiliate relationships with financial planners.
3. Introduce my business to all attorneys in town.
4. Introduce myself to the owners of all assisted living centers.
5. Attend a meeting of the local Ministerial Alliance, and introduce my business.
6. Join Chamber of Commerce.
7. Join the Senior Center
Step 4: Ask yourself, “What method of marketing can I use to disseminate the information?”
You will answer this question for each of the items you wrote down in step one.
The answers may sound like this:
1. Tele-seminar/Webinar with guest speaker & power point presentation (gotomeeting.com, livehuddle.com)
2. Have a Radio Show! (blogspotradio.com, or voiceamerica.com)
3. Social Networks-face book, twitter, linkedin
4.Set up a blog.
5. Write E-books
6. Are there any public domain books on my subjects that I could make commentary about, and republish?
7. Workshops
8. Parlor Party/Gathering
9. Flyer/brochure/posters
10. Video for U-tube
11. Write Magazine Articles (ezine.com)
12. E-mail marketing service (constantcontact.com)
13. Write a book; maybe hire a ghost writer?
14. Start a meetup group on meetup.com
Step 5: Ask yourself, “What skills do I need to acquire?”
You will answer this question for each of the items you wrote down in step one.
Your answers may include:
1. Take a class at the community college on using excel and powerpoint.
2. Learn how to use skype.
Step 6: Ask yourself, “What Business Systems should I look into?”
1. A book keeping system? Quicken, quickbooks? Hire a Pilipino for cheap! (Google it!)
2. To accept credit card payments through my cell phone, try www.squareup.com
3. Backup my “stuff”: carbonite.com
4. Pay roll systems through the internet or through my bank?
5. Postage Scale?
6. Open a Skype account.
7. Open a Paypal account.
And last but certainly not least: Never underestimate the value of contacting someone who is already successful in the type of business you are doing, and take them to lunch and ask them for tips! People actually DO love to help!
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