Rabu, 16 Desember 2009

Special offer

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The best Easter deals are available on all leading networks of UK such as Virgin, Orange, T-mobile, 3 mobile, O2 and Vodafone. The special Easter offers are available on all latest handsets of famous brands like Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and LG etc. The network of UK comes with monthly phone contract deals on this Easter festival which provides a best mobile phone in very cheap price. 3mobilephonedeal.co.uk is the shop of latest mobile phone handset. All hot demanding and latest launched mobile phones are available with Ester special offers on this online shop.

The mobile lover has great opportunity to buy latest handsets like Nokia N95 8GB, LG Viewty and Sony Ericsson K850i etc with attractive free gifts through best Easter mobile deals. Buy best Nokia 6500 Classic and grab a beautiful laptop absolutely free on special Easter deals. The customers of UK can grab cheap line rental mobile phones on this Easter season. 12 months contract deals on Vodafone and Orange network provide you best Easter offer with Motorola KRZR K1. One can grab free Nintendo and free Sat Nav etc as an Easter offer with this latest Motorola handset. The mobile user can enjoy special Easter offers on the tariff plans Canary, Dolphin, Voda and Panther etc provided by networks of UK.

Buy best Nokia N80 absolutely free through the tariff dolphin provided by Orange and Vodafone networks. 18 months T-mobile contract comes with best Easter offer which provide a latest LG Shine mobile with free Xbox 360 and free movie camera. Best mobile deals are available on latest LG mobile phones with cheap Easter offer. This best deal give you cheap line rental while purchase LG Viewty mobile phone. One can enjoy 12 months free line rental and 18 months half price line rental while purchase the mobile phone on this Easter festive season. Buy LG U830 Chocolate in cheap price and grab cash back offer as an Easter special offer.

You can get free Ipod and free Xbox with Sony Ericsson W660i mobile phone through cheap deals provided by entire networks of UK. Get a beautiful laptop absolutely free on this Easter while purchase latest Nokia N80 mobile phone through Virgin 18 months contract. You can get cheap Motorola RAZR V3xx with free text and free minutes through the tariff canary provided by Orange and T-mobile networks. The customer can grab one of the best deals from 3mobilephonedeal.co.uk on Special Easter offer. This is the ideal time for customer to buy a mobile phone and enjoy exciting offers on this special Easter season.





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Why Your Business Needs a blog

Every business, regardless of its size, needs a blog. I know what you’re thinking: “But I have a professional image to uphold. How can a blog possibly attract new customers and how can it provide them with the information they need?” The answer is simple: A blog can be one of the most decisive public relations tools in your marketing and branding tool kit. Read on and I’ll educate you on the basics of blogs.

What is a blog?

The term “blog” is slang for “web log.” Wikipedia defines a blog as “a web site where entries are written in chronological order and are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.” The word can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. To get a feel for the wide use of blogs, consider the following: In September 2007, blog search engine Technorati tracked more than 106 million blogs. Some notable corporations that use blogs are HP, Google, Microsoft and ImageWorks Studio.

Myths and Facts

No doubt the last thing you need is a lecture on the latest Web 2.0 strategies. However, I should correct a few common misconceptions about blogs, as well as why web design companies use them as an effective method for reaching out to their audience.
Myths

Blogs are used only by teenagers. You need to spend many hours every day to maintain a blog. You need to know HTML and have other coding skills to blog.
Facts

Blogs allow a company to control the editorial content of the web site while restricting/blocking users’ comments. Blogs can be updated as often as you wish. But to make them more effective and valuable to your audience, update them often. Blogs require no knowledge of HTML or special coding. There are numerous blogging software packages on the market that are free. Blogs allow companies to quickly get information out to customers, unlike traditional communication methods. Blogs are an inexpensive way to effectively communicate and share information with your audience. Blogs comprise text and external links, making them search engine-friendly.
Benefits of Corporate Blogging
In January 2007, Forrester released a research study centered on “The ROI of Blogging – The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Of External Blogging Accountability” by Charlene Li and Chloe Stromberg.

According to the study, some of the benefits of corporate blogging are: Greater brand visibility in mainstream media on the Web Word-of-mouth advertising Improved brand perception Instantaneous consumer feedback Increased sales efficiency Fewer customer service-driven PR blowups
The Outcome

Consumers are better educated today because of the vast amounts of information available on the Internet. Not only will a blog convey information to your target demographic faster and cheaper than traditional means, but when coupled with search engine benefits, brand visibility, and a value-based proposition, a blog should be an essential part of your marketing platform.
For more information, please contact sales@imageworksstudio.com.

Scott C. Margenau is president of image works Studio, an award-winning website design agency, branding marketing firm specializing in online and off-line media in advertising, web development, brand development and promotion.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleKit.com/

Rabu, 02 Desember 2009

The Mission Statement

Are you interested in building a strong foundation in your new or existing organization? Do you have ethics and standards? Do you also have a crystal clear picture of what it is that you want, and where you want to go? Creating a mission statement is really the most critical first step toward insuring that your new or existing organization has a clearly defined purpose to help it succeed - and if you are going to employ people, give them every available possibility to share that purpose with you.

You may be an entrepreneur starting out or the leader of a new and successful company, you may already have a personal mission statement, but if you're planning to build an organization where many people work together to produce a product or service, shaping the identity of your company begins with its mission.

It is a company's reason for being and should embody all that your company is and all that you aspire it to be.

The mission serves to bring together your guiding principles and goals while simultaneously creating a subconscious manifestation. That is; if you think it, then it shall be so. It will also allow others to embrace your vision and, if clear - find a purpose within the organization that's much more valuable than just their working for a paycheck.

The mission is the mental picture, simply defined with words to be repeated and affirmed. I personally believe that there are two mission statements at work for the Entrepreneur - always. There is the personal statement which can be a list or a sentence or two describing how you will live your life each day. Then there is the business mission statement which can also be a list described with a sentence or two that anyone can understand, identify with and act upon.

What is a mission statement usually made up of? 1. Title 2. Keywords 3. Phrases

Interestingly enough, if we look specifically at tone setting keywords we find the following commonly used:

Best, Commitment, Communities, Customers, Employees, Environment, Growth, Leader, Mission, Quality, Service, Shareholders, Success, Team, Values.

We're unable to deny that these words do have an impact upon our thoughts... do they not?

Creating Your Mission Statement - Step-By-Step

Here is a step by step guide for the creation taken from The Mission Statement Book.

1. Decide who will write the mission statement. (a person or a group of people)

2. Agree on when you will work on it. (morning - afternoon - evening?)

3. Determine Your Target Audience. (Employees?, Customers?, Suppliers?, Stockholders?, The General Public?,) You must know who you are talking to before you can decide what it is that you want to say.

4. Decide on the "language" Consider the vision statement - value statement - principles - philosophies - ethics - and the growing consideration of environmental policies. The nature, tone, and length is of course, totally up to you.

5. Adopt a format. Will this be in the annual report? Will it be over the front door and are you going to print it on coffee mugs and flash drives to give away at Trade Shows? If you have a great mission statement, don't be shy. Tell everyone by using as many creative ways as possible to let it be known.

In the process of doing my research, I realized that there was some excellent material on this topic. I also realized that in comparison to "How to Get Rich Quick" material such as books and how to's, the amount of material available on mission statements was very small.

I have built a web site dedicated to the topic of mission statements and related topics in an effort to help people in business, managers, executives, students and consumers gain and understand the importance of "foundational knowledge." I also believe that a mission statement releases the Law of Attraction which I will cover in my next article.

For more information visit http://www.missionstudy.net.
liam@missionstudy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liam_Carolan

5 Guaranteed Business Growth Strategies You Can Use to Sustain Your Business

Every entrepreneur desire growth in his/her business. Every business need to grow, and sustained growth is the dream of every committed business owner. Starting a business is one thing, growing the business is another thing but sustaining the growth and staying ahead of competition is another game entirely.

Without wasting much of your time, join me as I unleash to you five business growth strategy you can apply to your business:

1. Do Your Best To Preserve Your Customer Base: You know how difficult it is to find a new customer. I am always an advocate of keeping your existing customers happy by any means necessary. You can sustain your business growth by enticing your existing customers and developing more complex relationship with them. This will make it difficult for them to switch to your competitor. I feel this is the most important business growth strategy you can employ.

2. Do All You Can To Increase Your Market Share: Always give your customers a reason to come back. Try to be the best to your customers and encourage them to tell their friends about your business. Attracting customers away from your competitors can prove to be tough, so you must apply every weapon in your arsenal to give any new customer the best you can. Offering higher value and quality service is essential at this point in time. If you want to sustain your business growth, you must strive to increase your market share.

3. Exploit Market Trends: Of all business growth strategy I am sharing today, this strategy can make or break your business. You must keep your eyes and ears open to take advantage of any available industrial trend. This can be achieved by monitoring the industry for changes in buying criteria, product or service innovations and population trends. Trend is your friend, never resist change. Instead, be quick to adapt to change. This can be a competitive advantage for you.

4. Keep Your Eyes Open For New Business Opportunities: Being an experienced entrepreneur, I can confidently tell you that you can never talk of sustained business growth without having a diversification plan. Few years ago, a mentor of mine went to replenish his stock. He actually had in mind to buy his regular goods of motor parts but on getting to the marketplace, he discovered that there was shortage of motorcycle parts. He carried out preliminary feasibility and found out that motorcycle parts scarcity was impending. Though not a motorcycle parts dealer, he invested all the money he had budgeted for his motor parts into buying motorcycle parts. He was not a motorcycle dealer, he was not experienced in that field but he took the risk and invested all he had into purchasing motorcycle parts. The business bombed and he made millions. Today, this friend of mine sits atop a conglomerate. The lesson from this story is you must keep your eyes open and be prepared for opportunities when it comes.

5. You Must Have A Diversification Plan: This is the last business growth strategy I can share with you for now and it is as important as the others. When you have made it in an industry or you feel your market is saturated or has grown too competitive. Don't hesitate to diversify. Diversifying into other industries will help sustain your business growth. When developing business growth strategies and plan, always remember to include a future diversification plan.

If the five growth strategies prove too tedious to apply, then try implementing at least three of it.
In conclusion, I wish you the best of luck as you strive to grow your business. Good Luck.

I know you have been challenged by this article. To further boost your entrepreneur spirit, i am going to reveal to you 101 underground Secrets of building a Multi Million Dollar Business from scratch. If you are ready, Go now to http://www.StrategicBusinessTeam.com

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Hustle Your Way Forward - 7 Steps to Taking Fearless Action

Hustling in business is about recognizing opportunities and assets around you and getting the absolute most from them as you act to create results. Sometimes maximizing the opportunities and assets is a matter of tactical choice. But most often it is about both strategy and tactics as you make use of what's currently available to you and influence your access to other assets all while creating value in your ever evolving world.

"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela

Fearlessness is a mindset. It is confidence and faith based on the results of prior action and learning from contained failures. It is about releasing negative thinking and fear in positive ways and then focusing on positive thinking to create options and opportunities to live a fuller potential in your endeavors. It is about finding joy and energy in transforming challenges into possibilities. All winners in life find a way to get through their fear quickly and transform that energy into confident action.

"People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence." - Jack Canfield

Here are the 7 steps to taking fearless action in 5 minutes or less:

1. Acknowledge that fear is part of the process. Consider that maybe the beginning of all great action is feeling the fear. And as Dale Carnegie said, "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
2. Create margin in the most important areas of your life so that you can respond, not react. Stephen R. Covey wrote about the importance of the gap between stimulus and response twenty years ago in his best selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In the last twenty years, technology and the pace of change has made it more important than ever to make sure we have margin in the right areas to actively respond instead of reactively acting.
3. Find a productive way to release the anxiety associated with the fear. Sometimes that means talking about it to get it off your chest. Other times it might be the release you get through vigorous exercise. Whatever works for you, find it and use it.
4. Step into the fear to create options and possibilities. When you take your challenge head on with the right mindset, you can create positive energy that helps opens up options, possibilities, and opportunities.
5. Visualize success and adaption to challenges. Get a clear picture of what success will look like in facing this fear. Know that this will be your ultimate outcome. Then see yourself adapting and adjusting to meet the many inevitable challenges along the way.
6. Create a sense of confidence. Think of all the things you have accomplished in the past. Remind yourself that failure is just something to learn from when it is contained and minimize through forethought. Pretend to be 100% sure in your decision.
7. Take Action and adjust as necessary. Know that you are 100% successful at making the right decisions and making your decisions right if you are persistent and determined.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Copyright 2009 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. and Sandy Seago

About the Author:
Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D., The Champion's Coach, is a Gazelles Certified Coach who helps individuals and companies survive and thrive in tough times. Sandy Seago is an entrepreneur with 20 years of entrepreneurial success and owner of TCG Solutions.

Access Jon's FREE 21-page e-Book on "The 8 Steps to Thriving during Tough Times" and other valuable resources at http://www.ThrivingduringToughTimes.com. Stay informed on new resources and information by JOINING the "Surviving and Thriving in Tough Times" Group on LinkedIn.

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Checklist For Starting a New Business - Steps to Starting a Small Business - Step 3 Strategic Plan

There are 12 steps to starting a small business. Next on the checklist for starting a new business is step 3 Strategic Plan. Let's cover the basic points to a great Strategic Plan.

1. Mission Statement - An example of a good mission statement should come from the heart. It should be the reason, the cause that gets you up in the morning. An example of a good mission statement is the difference between a job and a passion. More importantly, it should be the reason and cause for everyone in the company. This statement is extremely important to your company because it is the life blood of the business! It is what makes the company breathe everyday. Check out Acaydia.com for an example of a good mission statement.

2. Vision Summary - One of the best parts of my business is the allowance I give myself to daydream the possibilities of what my company will become. Take a step back and look at your company in the future and describe in detail what it will look like. Sometimes its necessary to daydream at home...on the coach, in the living room, with some popcorn, and a drink...and maybe some candy m&ms... maybe in front of the Flat Screen HDTV, and if a Denver Broncos game happens to be on and everyone needs to get out of the room, then so be it because Daddy's Vision Summary is important and he needs a few hours to concentrate!

3. Business Succession Plan - Not very many entrepreneurs think this one through. You need to think of your business as an investment, and what is investment rule number 1? "Know your exit before you enter." A business succession plan is your exit strategy. Decide what happens to the business AFTER you.

4. Company Focus - There is a must read business book called Good to Great. Brilliant book written by Jim Collins. The author talks about great companies having a Hedgehog Concept. He describes a company's hedgehog concept as the one thing that they do exceptionally well every time. Your Company Focus is similar to this concept. Your Company Focus is the 'it' factor. It is the secret code of your business that propels your sales.

5. Goals - Once you've established your Company Focus, you can begin to derive goals. Believe in setting goals and then being accountable to them. We must have goals to drive the company. Goals keep you growing. Determine your end goals, and then break them down into milestones.

6. Accountability - You need accountability for results. Accountability is the discipline of getting things done. Getting things done means people meeting commitments. It is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that you need to master, and should be at the heart of your company culture. Be the company that gets it done! And now this article is done. Out.

Kevin Y. Moody, CFP® is a Business Coach with Stasis, Inc. We show our clients how to build their business into a machine that runs on its own, getting the predictable results needed to get the freedom and security they deserve. CLICK HERE and let's START building your business machine NOW.

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Creating a Strategic Business Value Ladder

The number one goal in any business is to provide outstanding value to your customers. To achieve and develop value for customers a business needs to plan a strategic business value ladder where customer satisfaction for value in product and service is priority number one. Too many entrepreneurs focus on making money fast rather than building a business value ladder where the product and service value grows while customers become a long-term customer. Here is a quick example to illustrate my point. Customers will buy the same content at different prices depending on the way the content is packaged.

You could find a website where you could purchase an eBook for $19.97. That same company could package the same book on a CD for $29.97 since some eager customers would gladly purchase the same content because they could listen to the CD while they are driving to work. Okay, what does the business value ladder look like? Ladder level I can often be a beginning entry level product consisting of a text formatted item of either a PDF file, an eBook or a hard copy book. This item may be a free or low cost PDF eBook or hard covered book. This item will cost you the least time and effort in writing and publishing it in PDF format.

Level II can then be a creative audio CD. You can deliver the same content, however people will pay a bit more because they can listen while performing other tasks. Jumping up from a book to a CD course allows more depth to the teaching, and one can sell these courses from $47 to $597 depending whether it is one-CD or 15-CD teaching lessons.

The next step is to provide the content in video or a power point slides with audio. Here the customer can receive a DVD where they watch specific examples in video. To increase the value even more, one can provide the content in text as well because some clients dislike taking notes and they're willing to pay more for text included. At this point the next step involves seminars a live setting where customers can receive instruction and ask questions, and you have the opportunity to explain things in the clear and open format. You are creating greater value because you can interact personally with the customer.

From group training through a seminar the next step can involve live one-on-one coaching. The customer has the opportunity for a one-on-one access to ask strategic questions related to their specific business and asking the coach for deeper insight to the development of their business. Again greater value specific to the customers' business and a again coming with a higher value price. Continuing on upwards a customer can include a business partner with other colleagues where the skill of all benefits a whole team. At this point you want to make sure each member succeeds because when each has a stake in making money for the whole team.

At this step the customer has developed a team of skilled individuals with a common mission to earn money and build a business. Beyond the local area a business can create franchising which provides the opportunity for people to duplicate the company's mission in other cities. Again, the value to the customer increases and likewise so does the purchase cost increase. This creates a powerful win-win scenario for the marketer and the customer. As one provides more and more value along this strategic business value ladder the potential for the customer is for them to climb higher. The better value the customer receives the better profit you will receive. I encourage you to start today building the steps to creating a Strategic Business Value Ladder.

Hi, I'm a retired High School Math instructor living on the Canadian Prairies in Edmonton, Alberta, home of the Edmonton Oilers Hockey team and the Edmonton Eskimos Football team. We live 4.5 hours from either Banff National Park or Jasper National Park, two of Alberta's year round prized recreational parks in the Canada.After 30 successful years of teaching I now enjoy assisting individuals creating wealth online from home with a program that is the best I've seen. Check my blog at http://buildretirementwealth.wordpress.com.

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Simplicity in Strategic Planning Stretches Dollars, Creates Sustainability and Improves Execution

Jay Galbriath over 3 decades ago created a simple business model for organizational performance improvement. This amazingly comprehensive yet relatively uncomplicated model helped to explain why there are performance gaps. Additionally through the utilization of a star graphic, he was able to establish a schematic flow process. Bottom line what this approach yielded was improved execution, increased sustainability and stretched dollars as well as other limited resources of time, energy and emotions.

Take a moment to draw a 5 point star. From the top point and moving clockwise, label each point as follows:

* Strategy
* Structure
* Processes/systems
* Rewards
* People

In the center of the star write the word Customers or Results.

All 5 areas are linked to each other and both circle around and connect to the center. When each area is not in alignment, gaps happen between areas and thus reduce the ability to build customers along with revenue.

Strategy is the beginning. A thoughtful pre-determined course of action must be undertaken before any real actions are taken. The earliest origins of this word strategy mean for a general to deceive his enemies. In business today what that means is for you to out think your competitors.

Structure speaks to how the business is organized. This organization is both physical such as in buildings or departments and intangible such as hierarchy of executives. In many cases the intangible structure is far more detrimental than what is tangible. Peter Drucker is quoted as saying "Structure follows strategy." What this means if the structure does not support the structure, then the structure must be changed.

Processes or systems are how the organization does its tasks to produce its products or services. Within the organization, the processes may range from hiring someone, answering the phone, processing orders, manufacturing actual products to follow up specific to customers' requests.

Rewards address compensation or incentives to compensate performance for both internal and external customers. For employees, rewards include salaries, benefits both tangible and intangible as well as promotions. Incentives for customers might be reward programs to donations for customers' events.

People are those responsible for executing the strategy. For many organizations, this means employees. However for other organizations it might be all shareholders or stakeholders.

This performance model by its simplicity helps to quickly identify where the execution gaps exist. As you look to your strategic planning process, including this model will enhance the outcomes of that process. This may help you secure greater consistency as you execute your strategic action plan. Given that execution still is a significant challenge, finding a repetitive solution to that challenge is always far easier than attempting to reinvent the wheel.

Considering engaging in strategic business planning? Get this free strategic plan check list.

Executive and Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith understands you have limited time, but really want to take your business to that next level. If you are willing to commit to 4 hours, you can create your own business action plan. Remember, indecision is a decision and do you truly want to be in the same place this time next

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Create a Business Plan to Reach Your Goals

Business plans are for those who plan to go in to business or are in a business already. Starting a new business also needs planning, time management, scheduling and organizing to make it a success. Business plans are made so that there is some direction to your work and you don't go "off track"; get bogged down with details that can wait etc.

A business plan gives you a plan of action that you can use to meet your requirements. Creating a business plan involves a lot of points that must be factored in. There are some things that are common to almost all business plans like projecting cash flow, marketing plans etc. But each business is different and so is each business plan. What suits one may not suit the other. There is no master plan that one can use. A good business plan is like a good outfit that highlights your best features.

Before you create a business plan you have to plan the plan. The plan has to take in to account your goals and objectives, where you want to be, say, 3 years from now, what steps have you thought of to get to that goal etc. This is more so if you are starting a new business. There are many decisions to be made like your business strategy down to the color of the paper. You will be accountable to the business plan you present so you have to be very clear about what your plan is going to say and how.

Basically there are four types of plans, the mini plan, the electronic plan, the working plan and the presentation plan. Each has their own pros and cons. Key issues have to be addressed in all types of plans and these would consist of

• A business concept,
• Specific financing needs,
• A marketing plan and
• Important financial statements, especially regarding cash flow, income projection and balance sheet.

Your business plan would depend on the type of business you have decided to do. You have to consider issues like

• Is there going to be a partner or investor?
• Any employees?
• Your own role... hands-on manager or just supervisory
• Financing... what kind?
• Is your product a niche market product or a broad spectrum service?
• Are you considering expansion?

These are some issues; there are others which would depend on your individual requirement. Your plan also has to tell you what you intend the plan to do like

• Is the plan going to help you raise money?
• Will it help bring in talented employees?
• Will it double as a presentation plan which you show to suppliers or prospective clients?

After these issues are addressed one will get an idea whether the business venture you have decided on is going to be viable or not. It is not unknown for a business to end at the planning stage because the assumptions were not up to the mark.

Carrie Langstroth is an Internet Marketing Success Coach. She is a retired CFO in the Corporate Business world so brings strong leadership skills in owning and operating businesses. She coaches and mentors people to empower themselves improving quality of life, personal development and financial position. Learn more about this revolutionary business that can change your life.

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Five Minutes to Understand Marketing With the Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver Communications Model

A hitchhiker makes a sign to passing cars. He doesn't stand in a park, or stick his thumb out in a mall. His message is aimed directly at his target audience: the people in cars traveling down the highway in the direction he wants to go. Your messages must be clearly directed to audiences with the greatest potential for positive response.

The Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver Communications model can help you visualize the process of communications. A model is a representation, not reality. Communications doesn't work exactly like this, but it does give us a way to talk about the different steps of the communications process, and a way to explore how to direct our messages in the most effective ways.

Briefly, the Sender is the person creating a message. The Message are his ideas, the words he says (or writes, or draws). The Channel is the means of communication -- the telephone, sign, or website. The Receiver is the person who gets the message -- the listener or the reader.

In telephone terms, the Sender initiates a call. He speaks his Message. The telephone is the Channel (including the phones at both ends, and the wires and the switching stations between them). The Receiver is the person who picks up the phone and listens.

This model was developed to analyze problems with telephone communications. Researchers wanted to pinpoint sources of Channel Noise (like static) in order to reduce or eliminate it. We can use these concepts to keep our messages on track.

This model works great for telephony, but it misses some important aspects of communications. For instance, what the Sender says and what the Receiver thinks the Sender means may be two different things. Messages aren't communicated exactly: they depend on the shared knowledge of the two communicators; a shared vocabulary, experience, and world view.

Then there's the problem of Channel Noise. The phone may have static, or the listener could have the television on. The print job on the advertisement could be so bad it can't be read, or the website features small grey lettering on a black background.

Another problem with this model is it leaves out Feedback. When we talk with people in person, they constantly reassure us of their attention and understanding, by nodding their heads, making encouraging sounds, or even asking questions.

In our mediated communications we can look for feedback in other ways. For example, feedback can take the form of orders. We can test a message by changing it in a small way, then noting a change in the response.

We can test every part of the communications process by measuring changes in response. For example, by sending the same message to two different audiences and comparing the responses, we'll know it's the target audience that makes the difference, all other things being equal. Or we can test the Message - say, with a sales offer, or a different headline - and see if orders go up.

Getting Started with SMCR

So how to get started crafting a successful marketing campaign? Getting back to the hitch-hiker analogy, as marketers we want to send our messages to those with the most likelihood of responding. We choose our Receivers. As potential customers, we'll call these Receivers our Target Audiences.

The Target Audience is composed of the type (or types) of people we think are most likely to respond. Cooks read Cookbooks, so if we're selling cookbooks we look for Cooks. What do they want? These are the Benefits we feature, the problems the product solves. Where do we find them? What Channels reach them? Cooking magazines, bulletin boards in supermarkets, mailing lists of people who have bought fancy saucepans. We may have more then one channel for each potential audience.

What will convince each audience to respond the way you want, with an order? You'll send them different information; you'll also try to psych out the particular need your product will satisfy, and create a message that appeals to this need.

We do this in various ways. One method of crafting Messages is to think in terms of Persuasive Appeals. Ask yourself why one type of person would want your product. You're focusing on different Receivers or Target Audiences. Who are they? What need will you satisfy? What starts as one Audience can become several. A single woman may want to create a romantic meal; a mom wants a nutritious one; a working mom a quick one; a football fan wants to give a party and not be in the kitchen. So you use different Channels to reach each one.

Obviously, the appeal will be different in each. You'll present a solution to each problem, satisfy their need to impress, to nurture, to sell. So the Message may be different for each Audience, too.

See the article "How to Write Your Marketing Plan" for the next step. Read more articles, sign up for a free newsletter, and learn about Good Cause Marketing services at http://www.goodcausemarketing.com. We provide words, pictures, and websites for people making a difference in the world.

Copyright Robert Gluckson, M.A., 2008, a consultant with Good Cause Marketing. Permission is granted to republish this article complete with the copyright and referral paragraphs.

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How Strategic Planning is Very Much Like an Orchestra Playing a Composer's Masterpiece

Strategic planning involves many people and many talents in creating this doable flight plan. Unfortunately, the end result in many cases is non-functional courses of action because the structure to create the plan failed to work with the overall thought processes.

Take a moment to think about an orchestra and how it plays the music of the composer. Everything works together and barring some last minute hiccup the execution of the musical presentation to the public is perfect to almost perfect. However, to get to this point requires a lot of practice between orchestra members with the conductor guiding everyone to the desired end results. The actual musical composition allows the music to come forth from which the orchestra plays.

Within the strategic planning process, the plan is very much like the sheets of music from which the orchestra can play. From a value standpoint, this probably represents around 10% because until the musicians take action, the potential musical notes are never heard. The real value of teamwork, give and take and the overall process to take those handwritten notes and make the sounds fill the orchestra hall is the other 90%.

Many involved within this critical business endeavor fail to understand the 10-90 value of the overall process. In some instances from my experience, the focus shifts to just one person such as the CEO who does not lead, but rather dictates the discussion because he envisions a 90-10 value where 90% is the plan and 10% are the contributions. When this happens certain factions emerge where one group wants to be heard over the other. The music generated from these interactions is not pleasant and is usually disruptive to getting to the desired results.

If you truly wish to have an executable strategic plan, then it makes sense to understand the 10-90 value of the entire planning process. Additionally, it also might make sense to have the conductor hired from outside of the orchestra and not a member of the orchestra. When you consider this perspective, you just may find far greater success in securing your desired business results.

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Executive and Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith understands you have limited time, but really want to take your business to that next level. If you are willing to commit to 4 hours, you can create your own business action plan. Remember, indecision is a decision and do you truly want to be in the same place this time next year?

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Good Plan For Good Results

To be successful, you've got to have a plan. This is true for anything in life, but especially in your career as a personal trainer. In the end if you don't have a good plan, then how can your clients achieve their fitness goals, and how will you get what you want out of your business?

One of the biggest and quickest ways to fail is to not have a plan. What bride reserves a church and simply shows up the day of her wedding expecting it to all be ready for the perfect ceremony? Even something as seemingly small as a children's party starts with planning. It's simple: you do not get the results you want unless you work toward them. Therefore, decide what you really want and make a plan for it.

What is the difference between wishful thinking and a solid plan?

Start by looking ahead. What do you want and where do you want to go with it? Knowing where you want to go will make planning a lot easier.

You've also got to know where you are right now, so you have a starting point from which to plan.

Once you know where you are and where you want to go, you can more clearly define any possible obstacles that might pop up in between. Know why you want what you do, because having a reason will make it more meaningful and easier to work toward. Sometimes this question will alter the goal itself. For instance, if someone has a goal of losing 20 pounds, but doesn't have a workout or meal plan to make it happen, the goal is worthless. If that person targets a 50-pound loss in preparation for something in the future, you can guide him or her towards that goal because you know how to set up a plan for it.

Whether you are planning your personal training business or helping plan a regimen for a client, write your plan of action down. When you put your plan on paper, it makes it become something real, a tangible product.

Don't think you're done once you've written out your plan. Examine it and identify potential barriers that can hamper progress. Take note of those and think about how you can deal with them. By doing this, you are developing your "plan B".Don't forget to prepare other options for yourself, as sometimes the first plan doesn't quite work out.

Keep in mind that those who do not plan ahead are bound to trip up. Put it down on writing in order for you to clearly see your path towards your goals. Don't be so stuck on your plan that you cannot change with unforeseen situations that might arise. Don't just have a plan; have a "plan B," too.

Casey Kaldal is a leading expert in helping Personal Trainers build their business, attract more customers, and earn more money in less time.

He teaches fitness instructors how to become fitness Rockstars and snag incredible Personal Trainer Jobs on his leading fitness marketing blog.

Casey is dedicated to the success of Personal Trainers looking to improve their skills and knowledge and provides excellent Fitness Marketing Tips to help your business thrive.

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