BUSINESS PLANNING MADE EASY

BUSINESS PLANNING MADE EASY 3 Easy Steps: WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? Created by Linda Joseph for Best of Nancy Members

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About the Author Linda Joseph is an Internet business consultant and educator with twelve years of experience in the corporate world managing projects, organizing teams, developing products, setting goals and developing business plans. For the last five years she has been has developed on online consulting business for small businesses. Linda started out teaching HTML and web design to entrepreneurs which led to her setting up a membership site for newbies. She has video tutorials, guides, checklists and audios that show you how to begin and build your Internet business. Here are just a few of the topics covered: Web Site Design; Blogging; WordPress Blogs, List Building, Search Engine Optimization, Article Marketing, Video Marketing, Driving Traffic and much, much more. Local business owners have used her training to create and develop their online presence and grow their customer base. The beauty of Linda s membership site is the flexibility to customize the training for your unique needs. Whether you have a niche business, have an offline business or just want to learn how to get started, this site will help you get started and then build your business. Follow Linda on: Twitter: http://twitter.com/linda_joseph LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lindajoseph Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lindajjoseph Friendfeed.com http://friendfeed.com/myinternettutor Please send Linda an email telling her how this ebook helped your business and she will give you a trial membership at My Internet Tutor. Send the email to: Linda@MyInternetTutor.com, Subject: Business Planning Made Easy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 6 Where Are You Today... 9 PRODUCTS... 9 CUSTOMERS... 10 MARKETING... 11 Where Do You Want To Be?... 12 Overview... 12 PRODUCTS... 13 CUSTOMERS... 16 MARKETING... 18 BUSINESS PLANNING WORKBOOK... 20 Where Are You Today - Product... 20 Where Are You Today - Customer... 23 Where Are You Today - Marketing... 25 Where Do You Want To Be - Product... 28 Where Do You Want To Be - Customer... 33 Where Do You Want To Be - Marketing... 37 What Can You Do To Get There?... 41 Workbook Pages... 44 Core Business Exercise... 49 Identify Goals... 49 Market/Keyword Research... 50 Validate... 51 Group & Prioritize... 51 Details for Implementation... 52

Repeat... 53 Quick Start Guide to Step 3 If You Are Just Starting... 54 Business Planning Made Easy Summary Sheet... 55 APPENDIX... 56

INTRODUCTION WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? PRODUCT CUSTOMER MARKETING

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? PRODUCT CUSTOMER MARKETING

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? PRODUCT CUSTOMER MARKETING

WHERE ARE YOU TODAY PRODUCTS WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? PRODUCT Answer these questions regarding your current products/services: What products are you currently making? What products are you currently selling? (If you are selling any services, please list them as well.) If multiple products, which one(s) sell the best? Where are you selling? (Please list both offline and online points of sale.) Are you making money? (Sale price cost of goods = Profit) What is your hourly rate based on your profit? What was your sales revenue for the last two years? What were your expense dollars for the same last two years?

CUSTOMERS WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? CUSTOMER Answer these questions regarding your current customers: Who are your current customers? Describe your typical customer: o Male or Female o Age o Occupation o Where do they hang out? o How did they find you? o What are they interested in? o Why did they buy from you?

Do you have a customer list? Do you know which product(s) they have bought? Do you have customers that are repeat buyers? Do you contact them? If yes, how often do you contact them? MARKETING WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? MARKETING Answer these questions regarding your current marketing: Have you researched your market? Do you have keywords you are targeting? Do you have a website? Do you have a blog? Is the website or the blog SEO d? (Search Engine Optimized) List the URL for your website and/or blog How do you track visitors? What statistics do you track and how do you use that information? What are your top three traffic sources?

Do you collect visitor name and email? (If yes, what is your list size?) (If yes, what is your mailing strategy?) Do you sell from your website or blog? (If yes, do you know your conversion rate?) Do you advertise? How much do you spend on advertising? (Do you track the advertising results?) What is your marketing plan for increasing the number of visitors? What is your marketing plan for increasing your conversions? What is your marketing plan for selling more to existing customers? WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? OVERVIEW WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? PRODUCT

CUSTOMER MARKETING PRODUCTS WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? PRODUCT CURRENT PRODUCT Do you want to sell more of your current product? How can you expand your current products? Can you reduce costs? Can you automate? How can you enhance your best selling product?

SPIN-OFF PRODUCT Can you hit different markets? How can you tweak your product to create a new product? Can you hit a new market by changing? Take your best selling product what spin-offs could your customers use? NEW PRODUCTS What new products do you want to create? Are these for new markets or your current market(s)? SERVICES Are there services related to your products you can offer? Are there new services you could offer? RE-PURPOSE Can you re-purpose any of your content or creations? List possible ways to re-purpose what you have already developed or re-purpose new products or services. NOTE: For example, if you create an e-book you can create an audio of the book or a video of the book contents (like a power point) or a live action of the book. Another way to re-purpose that content is to turn digital into physical. ADDITIONAL IDEAS New ideas you will have based on completing the next two sections Products that will help your customers How can you increase your hourly profit? INCOME GOALS

What is your income goal for the next couple of years?

CUSTOMERS WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? CURRENT CUSTOMERS CUSTOMER How can you sell more to your current customers? Do you know what will help them the most? Review their problems where can you provide a solution? What are you doing to keep them engaged? OLD CUSTOMERS How can you take past customers who haven t bought from you in a year or more and get their attention? What do you know about them that would enable you to reach out to them in a new and fresh way? NEW CUSTOMERS How do you reach new customers? Where do they hang out? What avenues are you going to try? (social media, advertising, website, blog) NOTE: Just list, we will talk about specifics in part 3

MARKETING WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? MARKETING Do you want to research your market? Do you want to target keywords? Do you want to market with a website? Do you want to market with a blog? Do you want to utilize social media in your marketing? NOTE: This includes, but is not limited to, Facebook, YouTube, article marketing, bookmarking, etc. Do you want to track visitors? If yes, any thoughts on how? Would you like to collect name/email of visitors? Do you want to get free search engine traffic? Do you want to advertise? If yes, any thoughts on where you would like to advertise? Do you want a plan for increasing the number of visitors to your products/services? Do you want to increase current conversions? Do you want to sell more to existing customers? How much would you be willing to spend on marketing?

BUSINESS PLANNING WORKBOOK WHERE ARE YOU TODAY PRODUCT BUSINESS PLANNING MADE EASY WORKBOOK WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? (TODAY Worksheets) PRODUCT (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) What products are you currently making? What products are you currently selling? (If you are selling any services, please list them as well.)

If multiple products, which one(s) sell the best? Where are you selling? (Please list both offline and online points of sale.) Are you making money? (Sale price cost of goods = Profit) What is your hourly rate based on your profit? What was your sales revenue for the last two years? What were your expense dollars for the same last two years?

WHERE ARE YOU TODAY CUSTOMER WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? CUSTOMER (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) Who are your current customers? Describe your typical customer: o Male or Female o Age o Occupation o Where do they hang out? o How did they find you? o What are they interested in?

o Why did they buy from you? Do you have a customer list? Do you know which product(s) they have bought? Do you have customers that are repeat buyers? Do you contact them? If yes, how often do you contact them? Do you use an autoresponder service for your customer list? (If yes, which one do you use?)

WHERE ARE YOU TODAY MARKETING WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? MARKETING (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) Have you researched your market? Do you have keywords you are targeting? Do you have a website? Do you have a blog? Is the website or the blog SEO d? (Search Engine Optimized) List the URL for your website and/or blog

How do you track visitors? What statistics do you track and how do you use that information? What are your top three traffic sources? Do you collect visitor name and email? (If yes, what is your list size?) (If yes, what is your mailing strategy?) Do you sell from your website or blog? (If yes, do you know your conversion rate?) Do you advertise?

(If yes, where do you advertise?) How much do you spend on advertising? (Do you track the advertising results?) What is your marketing plan for increasing the number of visitors? What is your marketing plan for increasing your conversions? What is your marketing plan for selling more to existing customers?

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE PRODUCT WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? (TOMORROW Worksheets) PRODUCT (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) CURRENT PRODUCT(S) How much are you selling now and how much do you want to sell? (Write product name and 2010 sales and project 2011/2012 sales. One line per product.) What new products could you create by tweaking your current product(s)? (If you are selling any services, please list them as well.)

Take your best-selling product can you tweak it? Can you reduce costs? (Please list how.) SPIN-OFF PRODUCT List possible spin-off products. (Make a note if this is geared for a new market.) NEW PRODUCTS

List new products you would like to create. Please make note of whether they are for a current market or a new market. SERVICES List new services related to your products you can offer. List new services you could offer that may not be related to your current market. Please note why this service would be beneficial to your business. RE-PURPOSE

List ways you can re-purpose any of your content or creations. List possible ways to re-purpose new products or services you listed in the New Products ADDITIONAL IDEAS List new ideas that came to mind.

List ways to reduce your costs. Can you automate? (Please list how.)

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE CUSTOMER WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? CUSTOMER (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) CURRENT CUSTOMERS How can you sell help your current customers? List their problems where can you provide a solution?

List ideas how you can keep them engaged. OLD CUSTOMERS List ideas how you might re-engage old customers. List things you know about them that would enable you to reach out to them in a new and fresh way. NEW CUSTOMERS

List how do you reach new customers. List where do they hang out. List the resources you would like to use to reach new customers.what avenues (social media, advertising, website, blog)

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE MARKETING WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE? MARKETING (Please answer what you can; you will not have answers for every question!) List ways to research your market. List phrases you think you would like to target. Describe the type of website you like to have, if you want one.

Do you want to market with a blog? What social media option do you want to use in your marketing? NOTE: This includes, but is not limited to, Facebook, YouTube, article marketing, bookmarking, etc. Do you want to track visitors? If yes, any thoughts on how? Would you like to collect name/email of visitors?

Do you want to get free search engine traffic? Do you want to advertise? If yes, any thoughts on where you would like to advertise? Do you want a plan for increasing the number of visitors to your products/services? Do you want to increase current conversions? Do you want to sell more to existing customers? How much would you be willing to spend on marketing? Think about the answer to this question. You can learn to do a lot of these things but in order to build a business you have to invest in it. This is not a commitment but

an opportunity for you to consider how much you can or want to invest to start your business. This also is key to phase 3 which with the action plan. ADDITIONAL NOTES

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? This is the third step of our 3 part series in Business Planning Made Easy. Step 3, What Can I Do To Get There, is all about putting together a strategy and plan for your business for the next year to two years. This will guide will step you through the process that will result in you figuring out how to schedule your time and where you focus your efforts. I have separated this section from the Steps 1 and 2 for a very specific reason: This is very difficult to do on your own! It is not impossible but it is a tremendous help to have someone walk you through this process. Secondly, this step is not as cookie cutter as the first two parts. I can give you some ideas and guidelines but this step is very dependent on the person, their products/services and their market. When I work directly with a business owner, I typically go through this sequence: First I look where you are today. Then I help you clarify where you want to be. Next I help you prioritize your goals. This is critical because life will always upset your plans. If you understand your priorities, you know where to make sure you never lose focus. This is crucial for success in business. As with Steps 1 and 2, we are going to start by looking at step 3 in terms of Products, Customers and Marketing. Then we will combine strategies as needed. There are usually several iterations to pulling together the strategy.

This step will require you to focus on what you really want to do with your business and will provide the framework for your strategy and your work schedule. Your work schedule will help you stay on track and not get as distracted by areas of interest. As I mentioned before, this plan is not in concrete! It is fluid and dynamic to meet your business needs. You will learn more about product/service development and how to structure that time. You will learn more about who your ideal customer is and who you really want to market to. Through that process you will learn better and more efficient marketing strategies. I recommend that you take the last two weeks of December or the first two weeks of January to really focus on your business and where you want to go. (Use this course and workbook as a guide.) Then every quarter review what you have accomplished the last quarter, what you need to revise and list the priorities for the next quarter. Here are the steps you will take for Step 3: 1. Fill in the workbook pages that follow. 2. Complete the core business exercise 3. Identify Goals that are a part of your core business 4. Market and Keyword Research 5. Validate core business, keywords and goals 6. Group products/services by similarities and prioritize 7. Top Priority Products/Service a. List steps to launch and then add notes and time b. Layout on a timeline or calendar c. List what solution and benefits this provides to your customer d. Where do think you should market this product and prioritize e. List what steps to reach customers via top priority marketing avenues f. Layout on timeline or calendar 8. Repeat this process for each group of products/services. 9. Create a summary page Let s get started!

WORKBOOK PAGES 1. Step 3 Workbook Pages In the following chart you will see the following labels: Today (Part 1) In this column you will write in the key elements from your Step 1 worksheet. If you were wordy in the workbook try to summarize your inputs. Goal (Part 2) Here you will input the key elements from your Step 2 worksheet. NOTE: The workbook has two pages for products, one page for customers and one page for marketing. If you need more, there are blank sheets in the Appendix.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? (HOW Worksheets) TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) PRODUCTS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) PRODUCTS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) CUSTOMERS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) MARKETING

CORE BUSINESS EXERCISE 2. Core Business Exercise In this exercise you are going to start the process of grouping and systematizing your goals. What is your core business? You probably have several business ideas that you want to implement but you have one primary core business. This is the business that makes you the most money or has the potential to make you the most money. It may be the business that you are most passionate about. Here are a couple of questions you can ask yourself: Is your core business making physical products? Is your core business creating digital products? Is your core business training or teaching? Is your core business changing from one form of product to another? Write down, as concisely as possible, what you think your core business is. IDENTIFY GOALS 3. Identify Goals that are a part of your core business. a) Now look at the HOW Worksheets you filled out for Step 3. Circle each goal that is part of your core business. Now look over each area and evaluate what is circled. Is it a lot or a little? Are the goals not circled part of your passion? Now take a look at the items that aren t circled to determine if you need to consider changing your core business.

Modify your core business statement as needed based on your observation of the goals that relate to your core business: MARKET/KEYWORD RESEARCH 4. Market/Keyword Research In this section you want to work on defining who your customer is and how they might find you. This process does take some work and some brainstorming. Look over what you have written down about your ideal customer. Summarize below what you know about your customer. List the primary search terms your ideal customer would type in a search engine to find you: Now list additional terms. These terms may have your primary term plus another word or two. For example: If you primary term is custom wreath a few additional terms might be:

Custom baby wreath Custom Christmas wreath Take this list and use the free Google keyword tool to find other possible terms. Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/keywordtoolexternal a) Copy your terms to the Word or Phrase box. Make sure you have one term per line. b) Type in the captcha and click search c) Google will give you results below d) Look through the results and add to your list above any new ideas for keywords. e) Click the download button to download this list to your computer. VALIDATE 5. Validate core business, keywords and goals You have a written core business, your keywords and goals. Do they seem consistent and logical? If yes, then go to the next step. If not, iterate through the first four steps until you have some consistency. GROUP & PRIORITIZE 6. Group products/services by similarities and prioritize Go back to the HOW Worksheets you filled out for Step 3 and look at the products and services you circled. If any of these are similar then group them together. (I use a different color marker for each group.) Don t forget to look at your customer and marketing goals. You may have a goal there that is critical for your business that you want to prioritize. For example, if you don t have a subscriber list, then want to get started creating one. Prioritize these groups. Which is the most critical to your business and write a #1 next to it. Label your #2 and #3 priority groups as well.

DETAILS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 7. Top Priority Products/Service a) List steps to launch and then add notes and time and implementer Let s say that one of products you want to create is an ebook. List the key elements in developing a book: ebook topic (1 day) (you) outline of contents (4 days) (you) fill in outline (2 weeks) (you) create e-cover (1 week) (outsource) create sales page (2-3 weeks) (outsource?) create payment links/download links (2 days) (?) pre-sell book (2-3 weeks) (you) b) Layout on a timeline or calendar I do this step on paper. (In fact I usually use scratch paper.) I typically use one page for each topic group. As you layout your project over time you are usually the gating factor. Using a pencil, sketch in your timeline. Now add the outsource items that can overlap your time. c) List what solution and benefits this provides to your customer This is a critical step. You need to be able to articulate the value to your customers. Knowing the solution you are providing as well the benefits will be used for your sales letter. d) Where do think you should market this product and prioritize If you have built up a reputation on any of the online options, like ebay or Etsy, then you will want to use these. You may want to use your website if you have one. Facebook is another great place market if you have an account.

e) List what steps to reach customers via top priority marketing avenues Let s say that you want to start using Etsy. Here are some of the steps you need to take. Setup an account Create a profile Create a store List your item Interact with other sellers Advertise your items f) Layout on timeline or calendar Add these tasks to your timeline or calendar. REPEAT 8. Repeat this process for each group of products/services. 9. Create a summary page The purpose of the summary page is to provide a quick reminder of your business goals and focus. I like to take this page and slip it into a clear plastic protector and place it by my computer to constantly remind me of my priorities. I have added the sheet below. Now get moving forward on your business.

QUICK START GUIDE TO STEP 3 IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING If you are wanting to start a business selling something you love making then follow these simple steps. 1. Is the product I want to sell, selling online? 2. What terms would potential customers type into a search engine to find your product? 3. What problem are you trying to solve for your customer? 4. What are three benefits for your customers if they buy your product? 5. What 3 places do you want to sell your product in the next 6-12 months? 6. How are you going to create a list of buyers? 7. What information can you send to your buyers once a month? If your type of product is not selling online now, then you need to do a serious evaluation of what you are wanting to sell. Is it something people want? Are businesses advertising this type of product. Once you have established that people want and buy this type of product online, you need to research the terms that potential customers would use to find your product. It is important to find 1-3 terms that customers would use. These terms should have some search volume and medium to low competition. Articulating the problem you are solving and the benefits to the customer will help you a great deal in the content you put on your website, web stores and auction sites. This should also show why you are unique in what you offer customers. If you haven t sold on sites like ebay or Etsy, you are going to want to start there first. You can start building a customer list as well as test pricing and listing content. You will want to think about setting up a website around your primary keyword term. On you website you will want to add content regularly as well as list the items that you have for sale. Now you can direct your customer list to your website. They will keep coming back because of the good content you provide as well the excellent buying experience they had with you. Next you can set up a Facebook Fan page for your business. This will extend you reach on the Internet and bring in more customers. Fill in the Summary Sheet below.

BUSINESS PLANNING MADE EASY SUMMARY SHEET Business Name: Your Name: Date: CORE BUSINESS: PRIMARY KEYWORD PHRASE: SECONDARY KEYWORD PHRASES: TOP FIVE GOALS ( withtarget Completion Date) :.

APPENDIX Blank Planning Sheets Resources: Coming Soon Videos: Members Area

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) PRODUCTS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) CUSTOMERS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THERE? TODAY(Part 1) GOAL (Part 2) MARKETING