Time Management: To Do Lists

When I was young my friends and I would use a magnifying glass to catch the sunlight to start camp fires. We would prepare a bed of grass with small wood chips on top, and then would use the magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto it. Within a short period of time the intense light would start the grass smoldering, and with continued effort the grass would catch fire.

In our daily tasks we have much to do in our business. One way to help catch things "on fire" is to increase our focus on the tasks at hand. We each have 24 hours in a given day. How we use it is determined by our situation and desires.

I have found with the busy daily activities I have greater success when I focus on a list of "to do" items. I compile this list the day before or early in the morning. The list has three areas of focus. The first is headed: critical. The second: needs to happen. The third: to get started.

Under each heading I develop a list of priorities for that day, and throughout the day I work on the items. Many days I may only get one or two items under each heading finished. The ones not checked off on a given day I carry forward to the next day.

This simple approach is not perfect, but I have achieved greater focus and better time management. Try it! It may well work for you.

Is your product or service a solution?

What are you going to do for the consumer?

While everyone likes to hear the word “FREE,” it isn’t always a priority.

If free is easy, the response will always be greater—especially, if free is also immediate.

But, the response may still be minimal because consumers generally don’t care what you’re offering.

They want to know what it’s going to do for them. Knowing what the consumer should value about your company is the place to begin building your brand.

A successful brand is frequent and visual.

There are so many other things grabbing attention, the consumer is in a state of hyper-stimulation and things take repetition to really stick. In order to combat this problem, it is necessary to build a budget that can support a campaign with a frequency of at least 100 gross rating impressions per week.

These impressions can come from the billboards, radio, television, print, etc. The most important factor to the whole equation, though, is patience.

Building your name is going to take some time. So, while you wait for the people to beat a path to your door, focus your efforts on providing the best service possible: help new customers become loyal customers. A satisfied shopper, on average, will tell two people. A dissatisfied shopper will tell ten.

Advertising, Marketing or Branding

Entering any market or forum, there will obviously be competition, so to start, make sure your message is creative, hard-hitting, memorable, clear, and informative.

Identify the best part of your product and develop around it. But, be careful to avoid making promises that you cannot keep. A consumer who is disappointed with the product, may feel betrayed when the product fails to live up to the hype.

Creating an appropriate message, placing it in the appropriate media, with the appropriate audience, at the appropriate time, is the most vital thing your advertising campaign has to do for your business.

A clear campaign will build a brand recognizable by slogan, logo, and message. Branding reinforces all of the good qualities your business has to offer. It is a promise that will be upheld.

To be effective, a branding campaign must stay mindful of the budget, while being well-targeted, integrated with tactical issues like public relations, involve new and traditional media, and have a solid method for tracking return on investment.

Branding is an instant identifier: the better the brand message, the greater the recognition.
(to be continued in our next post...Content Provided by Bonnie Green)

Year - End Tax Planning

It is hard to believe 2007 is winding down. We now enter a busy time of the year for most business owners and managers. Wrapping up the financial side of the business and getting ready for a new year to start.

In addition to everyday close out of one year and starting a new one, comes the dread of the tax man. Payroll, State and Federal Taxes will occupy much of time at year end and the start of the new year. If you have employees the month of January can become extremely busy trying to get out W-2's, not to mention vendor 1099's.

Take time over the next few weeks to review your financial records. Are they up to date? Need to start or perhaps they are lagging a bit.

With the new year, you might need to evaluate your record keeping methods. Is your software current for the new year? Will you need to get an update or perhaps switch to a new business software package?

Once you review your records and their status. Make an appointment with your tax preparer, accountant, attorney or consultant to consider the decisions for spending, delaying spending, delaying income to minimize the tax bite. Many options may need to be considered based on your cash or accrual accounting.

Time spent reviewing your financial records situation with professionals, may well minimize the bite of the tax man come 2008. Money spent with professionals now can yield dividends in the months to come.