In “Pendulum” by Roy Williams and Michael Drew, societal trends throughout history repeat themselves.  The historical perspective is fascinating and thoughts on how to apply this theory are even better.

“Pulling people into a positive relationship through positive attraction as opposed to pushing them” towards into a decision through analysis and justification is a better approach.

Society is driving the transparent information gathering that is being fostered by Google, Facebook and Wikipedia.  Giving up your privacy in exchange for information is all the rage.

So then how does a business owner apply this knowledge of “pull marketing” to create better customer relationships and the related increase in sales?  By understanding your audience well enough to create a messaging strategy that’s relevant to them and transparent in a way that reveals both your strengths and weaknesses.  This can also be stated as the complete and unbiased truth.  This is who we are, this is who we are not.

Are you interested in reviewing your marketing and messaging strategy to position your company for the next upswing into the “We” period that will shape our history and your customer relationships?  Contact me to schedule a time to talk.  We are positioned to help you gain a competitive advantage by building better customer relationships.  We are not an expensive ad agency with lots of overhead and inexperience.  We’re a marketing firm that is focused on helping small business owners increase sales.

To stay current with the fast changing marketplace, innovation leads to evolution and the need to update marketing information including branded product and service brochures and websites.  Both are dynamic in their ability to connect with target market audiences.  I am excited to announce that a new website for The Business Source LLC is forthcoming with help from our partner Cedar Creek Web Design.  I’m also excited about our new brochure and sales communications tools designed by Matt Schaser and The Business Source team.  It’s an exciting time for small businesses forging ahead in the new economy.  Watch for our new website and brochures soon!  Happy New Year!

It always amazes me how everyone shuts down for the holidays.   It’s great to spend time with the family and take in all the holidays offer.   Then the first Monday after January 1st, business takes off like a rocket.  Everyone races to get back in the game.  Every business owner should be finalizing goals for the year to come and implementing specific action plans that can be measured.  However,  it doesn’t always work that way.  In fact some companies don’t get a game plan until after the first quarter.  By then their competitors are moving aggressively into the market and after your customers.

It’s not too late.  Take some time right now and ramp up a plan for January.  Fast starts are what it’s all about.

Living in the Midwest means that we have to adopt to seasonal change 4 or  more times per year.  I say 4 or more, because our climate can go back and forth between seasons on an ongoing basis.  Yesterday the temperature reached 60 degrees in our area.  The forecast for next week is projecting temperatures in the mid-40′s.  Snow is in the forecast also.

How is this relevant to business?  With seasonal change comes a shift in both consumer and business behavior.  This is the time to review the current years business performance.  This is also the time of year to begin serious conversations about what direction you want your business to go in 2011.  I’m amazed that many business owners do little strategic planning or wait until they are well into the new year before they start to think about their operational performance and sales strategies for the year ahead.

Now is the time to review your business performance.  Now is the time to begin scheduling meetings with your key business advisors to start the planning process for next year.  You’ll appreciate it, your staff will appreciate it and most important of all, your customers will appreciate the clarity and operational alignment of your business when they arrive to do business with you.

Today I met with my Art Director, Matt Schaser to brainstorm.  One of the keys to creativity is open ended discussions to identify how your marketing strategy will affect the 5 senses of your audience.  Learn more about this by reading Mark Fox’s book, Da Vinci and The 40 Answers. (http://www.amazon.com/Da-Vinci-Answers-Mark-Fox/dp/193222663X.)

As we discussed the process we re-focused the message we want people to take away when they think of The Business Source LLC.

1.  Single Source Solutions

2.  Innovative Marketing Applications including Social Media and Video

3.  Team of Experts

Now is the time to invest in your marketing and customer development process.  It’s been proved throughout history that companies that invest in their marketing and customer development process during a recession, experience larger sales increases and market share into the future as the economy continues to stabilize for future growth.

We all know that our path to success with our businesses will be determined by our ability to plan into the future and design new ways to achieve greater levels of competitive advantage and stronger points of differentiation that resonate and are relevant to the needs of our future customers.

John

Recently I was honored to be invited to the 30^th Anniversary celebration of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Network in conjunction with the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Network.  This was a great event to celebrate the service and support that the Small Business Development centers provide for startups and entrepreneurs across Wisconsin.

Three years ago I applied for and was accepted into the Entrepreneurial Training Program at UW Madison.  A large part of my success can be attributed to my involvement with the Small Business Development Center.  The process allowed me to work with professionals to strategize, research and write my business plan.  I recommend the SBDC to anyone interested in starting a business.

In 2009 the Small Business Development Center here in Madison, Wisconsin counseled 628 clients interested in learning about starting or strengthening local companies.  Of those 628, 22% are in-business now and 13% are start ups.  Statewide, the SBDC Network counseled 4,952 entrepreneurs.  Overall this effort leads to over $22 million in capital infusion.

I plan to get more involved with the SBDC Network to help others who have a dream, who are inspired, who know that the idea that stokes their desire to provide a better product, a better service, a better way, find the right resources, counsel and support that is required to successfully launch a new business or strengthen an existing small company.

To get involved with the UW Small Business Development Center Network click http://sbdc.wisc.edu.

November and December are critical months for sales people and companies in terms of conducting a business review.  This real-time post performance analysis also begins the process and sets the tone for planning for the New Year.  Do you recall the goals you set for yourself or your company for the current year?  Did you write them down and organize your business plan so you could review progress to goals monthly, quarterly and now annually?

If you feel remiss in tracking your progress to goal for the year, now is a great time to review your achievements this year.  Many professionals set deadlines for achieving goals and there are times when specific and measurable goal setting is required.  If you’ve failed to achieve your goal within the timeline you set, reset your timeline.  You only fail if you judge your performance based on whether or not you completed the goal by a specific date.  Change the date and revitalize your commitment to reaching your goal.  Every time you progress towards your goal, you achieve milestones, each step leading you closer to your achievement.

There are different perspectives on annual reviews and evaluating progress to goals.  I believe that even incremental movement daily keeps you on your way to your goal.  Keep your commitment alive and watch the passion to reinvigorate yourself come alive.

If you need some assistance getting on track towards reviewing your progress to goal and resetting your action plan, give me a call or drop me an email and we’ll get you moving in the right direction.