In the Chinese calendar, each year is marked as a year of a particular animal. Frequently, social leaders and governments will mark a year according to something important. "The Year of the Senior" was a recent one I recall, which highlighted the importance and issues of the aged. 

I never thought of it for myself until just a couple of years ago. I decided to make each year "The Year of [something]". It became my focus and passion for the year. Of course, it was always tied in to my business and my area of focus, but it served to remind me of the thing that was important for me that year.

So, what will 2010 be YOUR year for? Will it be your Year for Success? Will it be your Year of Finally Starting That Business? Will it be your Year for Cataclysmic Business Growth? Maybe it will be your Year for Getting Out of Debt, or perhaps it will be your Year of Paying Off Your Business Credit Card, or The Year of Recession Recovery.

Whatever you decide it to be, make it a big deal for you and revisit it regularly as your overarching vision for the year. You will find that it will guide you as you make business decisions and, when the going starts to get a little rough, it will re-inspire you to press on.

Hey, why not add a comment in this blog and tell us what this year will be for you!

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

This is the season in which we tend to throw our diets aside and gorge ourselves on whatever happens to be served up at the table or stuffed into our Christmas stocking. So, this article by Seth Godin may be seven months old but it is timely in its topic and in its relation to food. You should read the full article here but I'll summarize it for you below:

In his blog, Godin talks about the choices that a business has: It can remain the same, offering the same kinds of products to its current customer base (which, he says, is akin to a buffet adding two more bacon dishes to its offerings). Or, it can get deeper or wider. 

Godin says that a business that goes deeper is like a buffet that becomes a bacon-only buffet. In other words, the business becomes insanely focused on just one thing.

And, Godin says that a business that goes wider is like a buffet that offers additional foods (like tofu and vegan offerings) for people who might not be attracted to the regular buffet fare.

So, what are you doing to do this year to grow your business? According to Godin, you need to go deeper or wider. Think about how you can deepen your offering so that you are so focused, you'll become thought of as THE go-to person. Or, think about how you can widen your offering so that you become relevant to a far wider audience than you were before.

Generating revenue is a big priority for your business, and there are really two basic way that you can go about it: You can cast a wide net and generate revenue from multiple streams of income or you can focus on one area with laser precision and generate revenue from that. I've heard success stories on both sides of this argument.

Robert G. Allen is the multiple streams of income guy and he purports that your income should come from a variety of sources (increasingly passive sources) so that you can work less and make more money. The laser focus concept is akin to Jim Collins' Hedgehog concept in his book Good to Great. Neither of these authors invented their idea but their book helped to put it into the mainstream.

So which should you choose? Multiple streams of income seems like a great way to build lots of small businesses to diversify but the costs can be higher and you can spread yourself too thin. The laser focus idea seems like a great way to charge a higher rate and keep costs down but you could be putting all of your eggs into one proverbial basket. 

I think there is a middle ground here: Multiple streams of income with a laser focus. This is where you create several different revenue streams on a single topic: Let's say you're a financial advisor. You focus in like a laser on helping people achieve financial success but within that narrow field you create several streams: On the consumer side, you can offer investment advice, seminars, ebooks, a paid newsletter, and coaching. And don't forget that you can also help other financial advisors with ebooks, coaching, and more. 

You can have the best of both worlds.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

Want to make 2010 way better than 2009? There is one to-do that I recommend: Think back to all of your failed presentations (the ones that DIDN'T turn into sales) and write down the objections the customer gave that killed the sale. In fact, strive to make a list of your top 5 objections that kill sales. 

Then, spend the next week (between now and the first weekday in January) and come up with 2-3 ways to counter each objection. Maybe you need to build more value into your product. Or maybe you need to find a way to accommodate the customer's request to escalate the sales presentation to someone else. Maybe you do need to drop your price. Or, maybe you need to be presenting on a longer timeline so potential customers have a chance to build your purchase into their budget.

If you have 5 top objections and you created 3 ways to counter each one, you'll have 15 top priority to-do's that you need to put into effect right away. And when you do, you'll counter those objections like a pro and make more sales.

Of course, you will face other objections – no one is denying that. But this isn't a situation that you can create a magic bullet for. You just deal with the top ones and move on. In fact, it might be a good idea to schedule an "objection review" at the end of each quarter where you work to solve the top objection you faced in that quarter. Over time, your prospect's objections will become weaker and weaker as your sales skills and ability to handle their objections becomes stronger and stronger.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

Because of the economic situation, 2009 was not a good year for a lot of people but now that we're nearing the end, 2010 is looking potentially brighter and more hopeful. That is not necessarily the case for Tiger Woods. 

Tiger Woods has a billion dollar brand and although his investments may have dipped through the year – on paper – he was still worth a small fortune because of his golfing prowess. However, Woods had a good year until the end of November when he crashed into a tree and he had to be extricated from his car by his wife who used a golf club to smash out the back windows and pull him to safety. Suddenly EVERYBODY turned against him.

At first, things seemed mysterious when he wouldn't make an appearance when police called on him for more information. He was certainly within his legal rights but it did look strange and the silence from his camp was deafening.

Then, his mother-in-law visited and was rushed to the hospital. While her health issue seems to have been minor, and completely coincidental to the rest of Woods' situation, the weirdness of the situation didn't help his media mentions.

And, of course, a whole bunch of allegations of infidelity exploded from the shadows, too. We're reserving judgment on these because, at the time of this writing, the only proof we have is Woods' vague admission of unfaithfulness; so we're certainly not going to believe that ALL of these women were actually linked to Woods over the years. (Media has an unfortunate ability to attract less-than-desirable spotlight-hungry people).

It hasn't even been a month and Woods' life is basically destroyed. Yes, he still has a fortune that he can retire comfortably on but his reputation as a great golfer will now forever be marred by the headlines from these past weeks. As a result, Woods' sponsors are pulling away; he is taking time off from golf; his family life seems shaky; and mentions of him in business books as an ultimate business machine now seem ironic.

This situation provides a lesson in branding for all businesses:

• Sometimes the media supports you (as they supported Woods for years, helping to promote him as the greatest golfer in the world). Sometimes the media turns against you.

• If there is the potential for bad media, you need to proactively address it and own the story before it owns you. In Tiger's case, his post-accident silence may have been legally appropriate but it didn't help. He could have made a clear, light-hearted statement and owned the story but, like a snowball, it built up as it rolled and by the time he did say something it was too big to control.

• It doesn’t take long for a small breeze to turn into the perfect storm. In less than a month, the greatest golfer in the world – who just happened to have an accident, which happens to us all – is now on shaky ground with business and family prospects that are starting to crumble. And the one thing that he knows really well and actually receives good media about – his golfing ability – is on hold. 

Woods may be making the right decision to cash out and focus on his family at this time. Unfortunately, if he ever wants to make a come-back to golf, and redeploy his powerhouse brand, he'll have an uphill battle to be successful.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

With 2010 approaching, business owners are turning their thoughts to what the next year will bring and what they need to do to be more successful. In the midst of these thoughts there is the inevitable consideration: What do I need to be investing in for my business?

Investing in business is essential for a business to grow and become successful. There are all kinds of investments you might consider making in order to have a more successful business:

* Invest in marketing in order to get a greater return on investment of prospects

* Invest in better copy and sales material in order to get a return on investment of more closed deals.

* Invest in your own education in order to get a return on investment of more proficiency or an extension of services.

* Invest in writing ebooks and other products to get a return on investment of more passive income products.

* Invest in time management software in order to get a return on investment of better and more profitable use of your time.

Preparing to invest in the business requires some considerations to help you determine whether the investment you're thinking of is worth it. The considerations you need to think of in advance are:

* What is the required investment? It will be some combination of time, effort, and money and depending on your business, these will all be different. Perhaps you have lots of time and no money; your investment will look very different than someone who has lots of money and no time.

* What is the expected outcome? This is the "return on investment" (Commonly referred to as "ROI"). In other words, after you've put in a specific amount of time, a specific amount of effort, and a specific amount of money, what are you hoping to get out of it? 

* What is your time horizon? Most businesses want a return that is fairly close on the time horizon. It wouldn't make sense to invest heavily in your business with an expectation of a return 2 or 3 decades in the future. While you should invest for the long term, if you don't ALSO invest for the near term then your business might not be around long enough to invest for the long term.

* What are the contingencies? Not everything works as planned and every good investment should be made with contingencies in mind: What happens if the outcome is worse than expected? What happens if the outcome is better than expected? How much more are you willing to spend to get an increase in return (i.e. if the outcome is worse and you try to fix it)?

2010 is just around the corner and this could be the year of opportunity for your business if you invest wisely.

Just Google the name of a favorite business and the words "hate" or "sucks" and your search will reveal the dark underbelly of online feedback.

Businesses want to make customers happy and we all know that you can't please everyone. But what happens when you not only fail to satisfy a customer but you end up creating a monster – someone who adopts it as their mission in life to destroy your reputation?

In the MarkeingProfs article "I Love How I Hate You" , the MarketingProfs blogger summarizes a book called When Customer Love Turns into Lasting Hate: The Effects of Relationship Strength and Time on Customer Revenge and Avoidance by Yany Grégoire, Thomas M. Tripp and Renaud Legoux.

While businesses can face negative criticism online, the "what to do about it" is not always adequately answered. We believe in freedom of speech (as long as it isn't libelous) but we also want to manage our company brands. I've seen businesses go to great lengths to protect their identities online. The blog correctly highlights an important factor not considered when you're faced with negative criticism. They don't necessarily deal with the "how to do it" factor, but rather "how to know when to address it." In other words, this blog gives you the question you need to ask yourself to know whether or not you should fix the situation.

The blogger points out that negative criticism from a great customer who is fully engaged should be addressed immediately. And if it isn't, the consequences could be disastrous for your online reputation because unhappy customers adopt a desire for revenge that the internet helps them to vent.

The blogger also points out, though, that negative criticism from a marginal customer isn't worth doing anything about. They will always be marginal customers and the money you invest in them won't be earned back by them.

So, what options can you take when bad feedback appears online? The MarketingProfs blog doesn't address anything specific but I'd recommend two courses of action:

First, decide how serious it is and perhaps address it. If it is libelous then you may want to consider legal action. If it is truthful (or fuzzy at best) then you may want to tell your side of the story. This isn't always advisable since you're opening yourself up to further attacks, but you may want to consider it.

Second, ramp up your marketing. The best defense is a good offense and more marketing – particularly online marketing that might bump the negative feedback from a first page search result – is the best step to take. You'll be generating a positive body of work while mitigating the impact of the negative feedback.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

When I got my first fresh-out-of-college job at a big faceless corporation, they handed me an operations manual for my position. The name "operations manual" sounds boring but it wasn't bad. I read it, applied it, and did well at my job.

When I was promoted through the ranks to become branch manager, I opted for a crappy, failing branch that was about to be shut down. When I got there, one of the first things I did was to put together an operations manual. That was a contributing factor in fixing how the business ran and the renewed branch became a model for others, earning me a promotion to higher heights in the company.

Now, as an entrepreneur, I still believe in the power of the operations manual and I recommend that other business owners put one together, even if they are sole proprietors and don't think they'll hire anyone anytime soon.

Yes, operations manuals offer a number of benefits for business owners, even "one-person shows". 

* They help you to articulate what you do, day-to-day. This is huge and its value should not be underestimated. When you first start out you might focus on a few things and do them well but as you grow you will soon find that new challenges and opportunities pop up and you'll need to navigate them. Additionally, your services and products may become more complex (and at the very least, they will probably become more sophisticated). Creating an operations manual will help you to identify your processes at a granular level and allow you to innovate to create better systems.

* An operations manual can help you to be more profitable. As you periodically review what you do and how you do it, you may find ways to do it better while also identifying those activities that are too costly or time consuming for you to do.

* An operations manual can help you in case you do hire someone. Sure, you might not hire a full-time employee to replace you, but you might start with a part time virtual assistant who can take on some of your work for you. Having an operations manual ready to go means that your virtual assistant can get started right away.

How do you start? It's easy. Get a piece of paper and divide it into columns – the same number of columns as you have unique tasks for the day (i.e. if you do 5 sales calls, some work on Twitter, and one coaching webinar, you have 3 unique tasks and therefore should have 3 columns). When it comes time to do one of the tasks, just write down what you do in the order that you do it. Keep it specific and granular (Step 1. Open Tweetdeck. Step 2. Review columns. Step 3. Find someone to retweet, etc.). After a week or two of this, you'll have created and refined a really useful operations manual that you can review and revise from time to time.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

Although my blogging style is frequently conceptual and (hopefully) practical, from time to time I like to report on business success stories from which business owners an draw out lessons to incorporate into their businesses. So when I read about Digg as a success story, I was eager to post it here.

During the big, bold, golden years of the internet – when the economy was in full bloom – tech start-ups adopted the "get big fast" model in which they'd ramp up production and audience share as quickly as possible (without regard to cash flow or profitability) with the hopes of being bought out by a larger player. It's not a bad model… if you get bought out, of course. But in 2009, the recession gave a shake to lots of businesses that were hoping for this to happen.

Digg was one of them. Digg is the hot social bookmarking site that allows users to find, promote, vote, and comment on news and links. Digg CEO Jay Adelson had about 70 employees and was looking to "get big fast" and reach 150 employees… until the recession hit. That's when he needed to revise his ideas of success.

You can read the full article at Money.CNN.com but here's the short story: Adelson realized that he can still do great things with fewer than 100 employees. In other words, "get big fast" is no longer in his business plan. Instead, Digg is focusing on sustainable success for the long haul.

That's smart for your business, too.

It can be tempting for entrepreneurs to see dollar signs from the promise of massive success and they may make unwise sacrifices to get big fast in the hopes of achieving that success. (How many among us haven't heard a colleague talk about their hopes of slapping an ebook online and retiring in 3 months?)

Good business growth over the long term requires wise, sustainable decisions now. But it doesn't always happen. That's because sustainable business growth can be hard work with entrepreneurs forced to learn about metrics and financial statements and bookkeeping – none of which seem very exciting when you have dreams of retiring on a Caribbean beach. We see this kind of unsustainable short-term thinking when business owners look for the cheapest option to build websites, marketing their company, and add content.

A view of sustainable, long-term profitability accepts that businesses are stronger when the owner takes small steps forward instead of trying to jump the line. It really is the difference between a spark that flashes for a moment and dies versus a long fuse that burns.

How does this change your day to day activity?

* Start by thinking about your marketing. Are you engaging your customers and building long term relationships or are you focused on an immediate sale?

* Consider your marketing. Does it add value to your business or is it a short-term-view keyword friendly (but reader unfriendly) article?

* Think about your follow-up. Are you thinking about the first sale to a customer or are you making the first sale and thinking about the tenth sale you could get from them down the road?

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's the time of year that we put aside our diet and our family squabbles and we get together to eat more turkey and drink more wine than we should. Here are four business lessons that Thanksgiving reminds us of:

Thanksgiving Lesson #1. Everyone loves Thanksgiving… except the turkey

You need a target market. Your target market WILL exclude some people and that's okay. Not everyone will like it and you might even get some vocal opponents who would prefer to complain about your price or post negative comments about you. That's the way it goes. Just focus on your market and do the very best you can for them and you'll be head and shoulders above the competition.

Thanksgiving Lesson #2. Everything is an investment of something

If we want something, we need to "spend" something else to get it. It's an investment with an expected ROI. If we want to enjoy Thanksgiving with our family, we need to "spend" something – we need to give up our diet, eat a lot, and then fight fatigue and a big pile of dirty dishes. But millions of people do it every year because the "expense" is worth the benefit. If you want your business to succeed, you need to invest in it – a combination of time, effort and money. And if you want people to buy from you, give them enough value to invest their money for your product or service.

Thanksgiving Lesson #3. People willingly spend money for the experience

You don't show up to grandma's house five minutes before supper, stuff your face, then leave again five minutes after. No, Thanksgiving is an experience. You show up hours ahead of time; you sit in the livingroom and catch up with relatives; you gather around the table to eat; you talk and play football and clean-up after; you go out for Black Friday the next day. Likewise, in business, people buy for the experience. Apple can charge higher prices because people buy into the entire lifestyle of Apple. BMW can charge higher prices because people buy into the entire lifestyle of BMW. Can you turn your product or service into an experience?

Thanksgiving Lesson #4. You'll do it again next year

Thanksgiving is a lot of work. It's not all pleasant (you don’t like ALL of your relatives, you eat so much you feel sick, you hate cleaning up, and all those leftovers are nauseating). But you'll do it again next year. And you might even get together soon than that. (Christmas is just around the corner). In business, repeat customers are highly profitable customers. They buy from you again and again without a lot of convincing. If you don’t have repeat customers, investigate what you need to change to turn at least 25% of your customers into ones who will buy again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

@ContemporaryVA on Twitter.  Follow the team to stay updated on business resources we deliver that cover strategies and tips, social media and more!