Friday, April 3, 2009
6 Ideas That Will Make 2009 a Record Year
Are you looking for some inspiration for your business plan? Listed below are seven action items that will help you make 2009 a record year…
1) Make a Commitment to Business Planning
If you want to have a record year in 2009, you should make a commitment to business planning (an ongoing activity) rather than just writing a business plan (a one-time event). Business planning is a process that consists of developing, monitoring and adjusting a strategy for your business. When you enter into business planning mode, it’s like going up in a helicopter and looking down on your business. This high above view allows you to see the forest down below. Most people spend the vast majority of their time working on the tactical aspects of their business and not the strategic. Here’s a tip: make time for planning by building strategy sessions into your calendar.
2) Organize Your Team around Functions
Your business has certain core functions that must be performed (marketing, portfolio analysis, client service, etc.). When you organize around function, you are basically assigning each function to one or more individuals. This is the best way to achieve true togetherness on a team. The alternative (which is the model used by many people) is to organize around products or services (managed money, retirement plans, insurance, etc.). The biggest flaw with this model is that the people who make up the team are responsible for performing all of the core functions; this cannot be done. The end result is often a group of people who are operating their own business (ineffectively) instead of belonging to a single, cohesive practice.
3) Make Room to Grow
If you want your business to grow faster, it must have room to grow. In order to grow your business, you need to have time to market. You must also have time to process the new clients and service the ones you have. Here’s a tip: market data is more important than product data. Marketing, which is the engine that drives your business, is a function that requires you to be proactive. You create room to grow by minimizing the barriers that are keeping your business from achieving its full potential. This includes having too many clients, trying to be all things to all people, and asking the wrong people to perform certain functions. The bottom line is that you have to have some “running room” if you want to increase the growth rate of your revenue line.
4) Develop a Professional Brochure
If you want to be successful in attracting new clients, you need to position yourself as someone who is serious about serving your ideal market. The best way to do this is to invest in a professional brochure for your business. Once you have developed your brochure, the first thing you should do is get several copies into the hands of your key clients and centers of influence – anyone who is in a position to refer you the types of clients you should be working with.
5) Implement a Seminar Campaign
After all these years, seminars are still one of the most effective ways to attract new business. Keeping this in mind, you have to be creative if you want to stand out from the crowd. For starters, try calling them something else like workshops, symposiums, briefings, etc. Link your topics to target markets that you are trying to attract. Finally, select unique venues. Rather than using the same old hotel, try a local art gallery, museum or historical property. Here’s a tip: hold quarterly seminars and invite appropriate clients and prospects. Mail out wedding style invitations and use a caller to follow up. This will be much easier and more effective than straight cold calling.
6) Implement a “Four Seasons” Client Appreciation Campaign
Many people view their marketing seminars and client appreciation events as one in the same. You will achieve better results (and avoid potential conflicts of interest) if you keep them separate. A client appreciation event should be just that. This should be an event that you set up as a way to appreciate those who appreciate you. You should appreciate and thank your clients for their loyalty and trust in doing business with you. Make these appreciation events annual traditions and try, if possible, to implement an event during each of the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn. Match client invitation list to event type and encourage clients to bring friends and family.
Remember that it takes money to make money. Treat your business like a real business. If you want your business to grow faster you should plow some of your profits back into making it grow. There is probably no better investment you can make than to fund the future growth of your own business. If you don’t believe that, it may be time to retire or embark on a new career.
There is no better time to re-evaluate your current situation than the present. Jeff Moore is president of JM GetMoore Insurance & Financial Services L.L.C. He can be reached at (956) 928-1811 or by e-mail: jeff@getmooreinsurance.com
1) Make a Commitment to Business Planning
If you want to have a record year in 2009, you should make a commitment to business planning (an ongoing activity) rather than just writing a business plan (a one-time event). Business planning is a process that consists of developing, monitoring and adjusting a strategy for your business. When you enter into business planning mode, it’s like going up in a helicopter and looking down on your business. This high above view allows you to see the forest down below. Most people spend the vast majority of their time working on the tactical aspects of their business and not the strategic. Here’s a tip: make time for planning by building strategy sessions into your calendar.
2) Organize Your Team around Functions
Your business has certain core functions that must be performed (marketing, portfolio analysis, client service, etc.). When you organize around function, you are basically assigning each function to one or more individuals. This is the best way to achieve true togetherness on a team. The alternative (which is the model used by many people) is to organize around products or services (managed money, retirement plans, insurance, etc.). The biggest flaw with this model is that the people who make up the team are responsible for performing all of the core functions; this cannot be done. The end result is often a group of people who are operating their own business (ineffectively) instead of belonging to a single, cohesive practice.
3) Make Room to Grow
If you want your business to grow faster, it must have room to grow. In order to grow your business, you need to have time to market. You must also have time to process the new clients and service the ones you have. Here’s a tip: market data is more important than product data. Marketing, which is the engine that drives your business, is a function that requires you to be proactive. You create room to grow by minimizing the barriers that are keeping your business from achieving its full potential. This includes having too many clients, trying to be all things to all people, and asking the wrong people to perform certain functions. The bottom line is that you have to have some “running room” if you want to increase the growth rate of your revenue line.
4) Develop a Professional Brochure
If you want to be successful in attracting new clients, you need to position yourself as someone who is serious about serving your ideal market. The best way to do this is to invest in a professional brochure for your business. Once you have developed your brochure, the first thing you should do is get several copies into the hands of your key clients and centers of influence – anyone who is in a position to refer you the types of clients you should be working with.
5) Implement a Seminar Campaign
After all these years, seminars are still one of the most effective ways to attract new business. Keeping this in mind, you have to be creative if you want to stand out from the crowd. For starters, try calling them something else like workshops, symposiums, briefings, etc. Link your topics to target markets that you are trying to attract. Finally, select unique venues. Rather than using the same old hotel, try a local art gallery, museum or historical property. Here’s a tip: hold quarterly seminars and invite appropriate clients and prospects. Mail out wedding style invitations and use a caller to follow up. This will be much easier and more effective than straight cold calling.
6) Implement a “Four Seasons” Client Appreciation Campaign
Many people view their marketing seminars and client appreciation events as one in the same. You will achieve better results (and avoid potential conflicts of interest) if you keep them separate. A client appreciation event should be just that. This should be an event that you set up as a way to appreciate those who appreciate you. You should appreciate and thank your clients for their loyalty and trust in doing business with you. Make these appreciation events annual traditions and try, if possible, to implement an event during each of the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn. Match client invitation list to event type and encourage clients to bring friends and family.
Remember that it takes money to make money. Treat your business like a real business. If you want your business to grow faster you should plow some of your profits back into making it grow. There is probably no better investment you can make than to fund the future growth of your own business. If you don’t believe that, it may be time to retire or embark on a new career.
There is no better time to re-evaluate your current situation than the present. Jeff Moore is president of JM GetMoore Insurance & Financial Services L.L.C. He can be reached at (956) 928-1811 or by e-mail: jeff@getmooreinsurance.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Survival of the Fittest
The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature. But, the fittest are rarely the strong.
The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation,
the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable
and to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.
Dave E. Smalley
Things We Can't Control
Things We Can't Control
The idea of trusting the universe is a popular one these days, but many of us don’t know what this really means and we often have a hard time doing it. This is partly because the story of humankind is most often presented as a story about struggle, control, and survival, instead of one of trust and collaboration with the universe. Yet, in truth, we need to adhere to both ideas in this life.
On the one hand, there is much to be said about exerting control over our environment. We created shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. We hunted for animals and invented agriculture to feed ourselves. We built social infrastructures to protect ourselves and create community. This is how we survive and grow as a civilization. However, it is also clear that there are plenty of things that we cannot control, no matter how hard we try, and we often receive support from an unseen force – a universe that provides us with what we cannot provide for ourselves.
It is a good idea to take responsibility for the things in life that we can control or create. We work so we can feed, clothe, and shelter our loved ones and ourselves. We manifest our dreams and visions in physical form with hard work and forethought. But at a certain point, when have done all that we can, we must let go and allow the universe to take over. This requires trust. It requires a trust that runs deeper than just expecting things to turn out the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. We develop equanimity and grace as we learn to trust that, with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should. We are engaged in an ongoing relationship with a universe that responds to our thoughts and actions.
The Greater Cause
The Greater Cause
Some Good Reasons for Doing Good
With all that takes place in our lives, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the fact that we’re part of something greater than ourselves—a collective consciousness, the Universe, a greater cause. Because of our tendency to forget this, we might make decisions in our lives that don’t reflect that responsibility that comes with this belonging. All too often, we focus just on the short-term, tangible gain to ourselves without worrying about its consequences. Other times, we may discard the greater cause because it seems like “hard work.” The challenge is to expand our minds so that we transcend the distinction between self and others, so we are aware of how our choices and actions can impact a greater cause.
Contributing to the greater cause doesn’t have to be all about self-sacrifice. For example, if you plant a tree in a community space, its shelter will cool and protect you as well as your neighbors. Or, your reward might be in the form of the beauty that you now see in that space or the sincere smiles of appreciation from neighbors. When you serve the greater cause you also serve your greater good. There is nothing that you cannot do for your highest good that will not benefit the good of all. For example, saying no to a relationship that isn’t right for you not only benefits you but serves the greater good of the other person that you are honoring with your honesty. Saying yes to your dream job not only fulfills you but also serves the people that will benefit from your enthusiasm and productivity.
When you know you are serving a greater cause, there is little room for fear and doubt. You know that what you do will benefit others, so there is no way the universe is not going to support your efforts - even if sometimes it may not look that way. Serving the greater cause allows you to live from the space of your greatness. When you know that what you do can serve a greater cause, you are aware of your power and ability to influence and create change in this world.
Email me: jeff@getmooreinsurance.com or visit my website: http://www.getmooreinsurance.com
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