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How To Increase The Bottom Line With This Big Shift In Planning

If you fail to plan your business will wither up and die.

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Are you fed up with going into a new year hoping for the best? If so, the little-known information in this article comes at just the right time for you. You will learn exactly how to put a solid executable business plan in place to end your frustration once and for all.

As a mentor and coach to small to medium-sized business owners, I have seen the results of having a solid plan in place to kick off a new year. I will tell about some of those results in a bit.

BONUS — But first, if you are in a hurry to get started, get the planning checklist I have used for years. You may find it useful as you read this article as well.

You might think you know how difficult it is to plan and about all the excuses that people use to avoid planning. The truth is, most people are pretty good at planning when it comes to things like vacations and parties. Think about your own experience.

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What Do We Know About The Risk Of Not Developing Your Business Marketing Strategy?

Why waiting for things to develop on their own is such a bad idea.

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Many people want to know precisely what is a marketing plan and why they should have one at all. There are various definitions out there, but simply put, it’s how you get people or prospective clients intrigued in your business, your product or your service. How to position your brand, create messaging and establish your organization’s promotional goals all contribution to supporting your endeavor to interest people. How you participate with or pursue your audience is what defines your business marketing strategy. A marketing program is the foundation for which you are able to judge whether your plan is successful. You can from that plan determine if you’re meeting the objectives set out and defined in the strategy.

Developing an Effective Marketing Strategy

The advertising or promotional program is actually the cornerstone of every marketing effort and acts like a springboard for all future efforts. Some company owners sometimes get so hung up in the finite details of creating, developing and testing a product, they don’t spend the requisite time to figure out who the audience is, what the item should say and why people will be interested. Without paying attention to a marketing plan a product launch could be hurried and not be as successful as a promoted by a marketing plan to guide it in the market.

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What’s Stopping You From Getting Better Results Every Single Time?

How to maximize the performance of your team over the long term

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The most recent quarter just ended and every publicly traded company in the world is scrambling to post stellar quarterly results. Why? Simply because the better the quarterly results as compared to the analyst’s projections the more likely your stock price is to increase. That’s not at all the case if you own a private company. Quarter to quarter results don’t matter very much. Even annual results don’t matter very much. You’re in it for the long haul. And, the way you measure better results as net positive cash flow and, if possible, less effort on your part.

A cornerstone of my work at Business Mastery revolves around the concept of Execution. This is the fine art of getting the right things done on a consistent basis. Essentially, the concept is converting your vision and your strategy to positive and consistent cash flow. This is a very important concept to internalize and it’s vital in these very tumultuous times.

I was reminded of this while reading a fine book by Stephen R. Covey and his colleague Bob Whitman called Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times. One of the key points they make is to “Execute Priorities with Excellence” and they continue to list how to do so.

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How To Solve Almost Anything In 5 Steps

The 5 Whys methodology is a great problem-solving technique that anyone can employ.

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Almost nothing goes according to plan. Almost everything takes a path we did not expect and… Sometimes we have to figure out what went wrong so we don’t do it again. Not many of us are going to install the full-blown Toyota Production System anytime soon. But, there is one aspect of it that has wide applicability for all of us.

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The 5 Whys methodology is a great problem-solving technique that anyone can employ.

Although it’s not intended to be the end all and cure all, it is a technique I suggest you use to help solve the very next problem you face. It involves asking “why” over and over again until you get to the root of the reason the problem happened. Once you know the root cause, the solution is often much more clear.

By the way, if you have a young child nearby, you don’t really have to read this article. Just ask them why they are always asking “why” and you will know the secret.

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Is A Position Description The Same As A Job Description Or Not?

Everyone needs to know exactly what is expected of them.

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Position descriptions and job descriptions are slightly different. Let me explain. A position description reflects the duties, goals, compensation, reporting structure, and other matters relating to a specific position. There is no person connected with a position description.

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A job description relates to the duties performed by an individual person. Think about this way. Many of us have small businesses. When you are running a lean and mean organization many people are expected to hold down one, two or even more positions.

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What Is The Best Way To Handle Business Problems?

Three Steps To Solve Big Issues On Your Own

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I don’t like dealing with business problems any more than anyone else. If I had my way completely, I would simply dispose of them, but that’s kind of messy. Besides not all obstacles can be extirpated. Some are best dealt with in more subtle ways using a little finesse.

Do Not Always Use The Same Approach

I think my dad told me…

“If I can’t solve a problem directly, I try to go around it, and if I can’t go around it, I try to get under it, and if I can’t get under it, I try to go over it, and if I can’t go over it, I just plow right through it.”

That’s the philosophy I like to use and here is how to do it:

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Unrequested Advice Is Unwelcome Criticism

How to reduce the unproductive chatter of "Quickdraw Critics"

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Are you excited about getting unwelcome criticism? Most probably you aren’t. Unfortunately, there are several people around you that are extremely ready to offer you some.

The way in which it works is like this. Somebody says something negative to you. Maybe it is your appearance, your work product, or maybe just some random comment you made. It might be something similar to, “You know those shoes don’t go with that outfit?” Maybe in a meeting it’s a straightforward “That will never work” statement without any farther clarification or amplification.

They spout out something negative and move on or just sit there with a goofy smile on their face.

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Poor At Delegation? You Are Not Alone

Do you want to work less and have more time? Listen up!

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You surely know that delegating work to others is a excellent and suitable way to save bunches of time, prioritize your own agenda and to concentrate on what are the “vitals” of what you should be doing. Knowing when and the way to delegate well is the secret to being successful at it.

Delegation Concept

First, what does it mean to delegate? It is when you temporarily allow another to assume an area of your own responsibility. Note, it is a temporary assignment not a permanent one.

Next, are you successful at delegating roles in your life and work? If not, what gets in the way of successful delegation?

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Want To Know How To Get Ahead? Stop Working So Hard.

The key to continuous personal growth

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Most of us would like to think of ourselves as able to do more. To have a job with more responsibilities. To make more money. To be able to be more of service in the community. In short, to grow…to get ahead in life and in career.

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However, in my experience most people are not going to realize any of those things, They haven’t done a very good job in positioning themselves to take advantage of the opportunities that they say they want.

You might be saying, “Wait a minute that doesn’t apply to me. I work my fingers to the bone every day. I’m the one that’s first in the door every morning. I’m the one that’s last to leave it every night. I’m the person is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

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Steps To Create A Culture Of Winning

Most of the time it simply evolves over time—Design it instead

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Every company has a culture. Most of the time it simply evolves over time. That is to say, it is a default culture. If you are lucky, that default culture will be the one you want, or at least can live with.

Winning is Not An AccidentA much better strategy is to determine the culture you want and then take specific steps to make it a reality.

But I imagine that you, like any business owner, know it is much easier said than done. How do you get great outcomes and results while also creating an environment people actually want to work in?