Maybe you don't need to find talent, maybe you need to unlock it.

The boss and the pessimist view of humanity. 

How do you get a company or organization to perform at a high level? The simple and more traditional approach has been to push performance externally usually via the boss or a boss like manager. This is why most people don't like their boss. The boss is the guy who is constantly on their back, micromanaging methods, being pushy, annoying and essentially acting like a slave driver who does not trust his peons to do their work without coercive pressure. This mentality is based on a viewpoint about human nature. Its the idea that low maturity individuals cannot be trusted with responsibility and stewardship and must be monitored and managed like parts of a machine because in the end they don't really care about the success of the business, they care about themselves. The traditional "boss" thinks to himself, "if I push them harder my business will grow." What's funny is that they are right to a certain extent. By pushing your employees you will get more performance but there is a catch. Because this model ultimately relies on one person (the boss) its growth will never go beyond him and this is why you see so many businesses that only grow as big as the owner and the people he directly pushes. It also creates a low trust culture and a environment that is unpleasant, stressful, toxic and leaves the boss wondering why he always has to be the driver behind any growth in the organization.

It is important to realize however, that the boss mentality is not entirely without merit. We don't live in a world thats all sunshine and rainbows. There are low maturity individuals out there in the world who have no ability to take responsibility unless someone is constantly riding them and there are instances where a person has to be the boss. However,  I have observed that low maturity employees are not as common as many think and employers jump to the "bad employee" conclusion way too quickly. In short, the mistake employers make is assuming that people are less capable or worthy of responsibility than they actually are. I once had a COO of a billion dollar company tell me to always first assume first that the problem is in the process, not the people. I have found this to be some of the best advice I have ever had and have found that it is true in 90% of the cases. Most people actually want to do their job well and are not trying to take advantage of their employer (please note I say "most" there are some crappy people out there). While there certainly are low maturity or downright dishonest people out there, if you are careful in who you hire these should be rare. Don't join with other "bosses" distorted view of humanity that assumes people can't be trusted. Don't say to yourself "if I could only find/afford the right people". Perhaps the right peoples are already on your team and are just waiting for you to unlock and set free their potential. Perhaps these other guys are not finding great people, perhaps they are creating them.

A leader comes from a very different paradigm than a boss. A leader sees human beings as the key, not processes. A leader realizes that human beings are a marvel and have unimaginable potential that just needs to be unlocked. I once heard a story about Steve Jobs (which may or may not be true) but someone told me that when Steve Jobs interviewed people he didn't ask them if they wanted a job he ask them if they wanted to change the world. Have you ever noticed how many extraordinarily successful business people say the key to their success was with surrounding themselves with great people. Some assume they have a magic way of finding amazing people, but perhaps they have a way of unlocking the amazing in people. The model these people seem to employ focuses on bottom up buy-in and top down service. I think it can be summed up in 3 steps.

Step 1- Create an overall vision and preach, preach, preach.

The first and most important thing a successful leader must have is vision. The organization needs to have a story, a specific purpose and real meaning. The entire organization, it's processes, it's brand and everything about it should all come back to this clearly defined purpose and vision, the first role of a leader is to be a constant preacher of this vision to the members of the organization so that they see the big picture and not only understand what they do but why they do it and why that is important. People are not as much inspired by what they do or how they do it, as they are inspired by why they do what they do. The point of this preaching is to ensure that the members of the organization have bought in, or as one of my team members said "that they have drank the kool-aid." You need to always ensure that your team are believers in what they do and why they do it. If they believe then they will care about achieving their objectives and be willing to work and sacrifice for it.

Step 2- Assign stewardships with specific objectives, not methods.

With a firm grasp and understanding of the overall mission of the business the next step is to divide up that mission into functional objectives. These large functional objectives are then entrusted to members of your team as their area of stewardship. At this point your job is to inspire in them a belief that their objective can be accomplished and the accomplishment of that objective has real significance and importance as it relates to the overall vision and mission of the organization. This should not be stupid wordplay it should be heartfelt and you should let them know that you will be there doing everything you can to help them reach that objective.

Lets imagine I promoted a new customer service manager, here is what I would say.

"Jim our customers are our most important resource, without them our business dies and all the people in our teams families will be affected. I am having you be our new customer service manager because I have seen how well you treat our customers as a sales rep and I trust that you will do an amazing job of coming up with ways to keep our existing customers happy. Ultimately, your objective and stewardship will be to ensure that any customer that has an issue has it resolved quickly and professionally so they are retained as a life long customer who trusts us. You will have full authority to do whatever you think is best to accomplish this objective. Tomorrow, I will show you the resources available to you and how I would do things if I were running it, but in the end I want you to know that this is your baby and I am putting my trust in you to make judgement calls to accomplish this objective. Also tomorrow, we will collaborate on some specific metrics that you will report on a monthly basis so we can measure performance"

You may notice that beside just giving an objective you also will have to give guidelines. CAUTION! Give as little guidelines possible. This is where people go wrong. They don't just give an objective and a few guidelines, they give an objective and then basically tell the person exactly HOW to accomplish it. The key is to be a resource, not a commander. I usually let the person know how I would do it if I were trying to accomplish the objective but let them make the final call and let them know I want them to try and constantly find ways to make it better and that they have full authority to make changes because I trust they have good ideas to.

Lastly, you will notice that Jim was made accountable. I love the phrase "Trust... but verify". Show people trust but then have in place a method to objectively measure performance. Get them involved in this process. Ask them what metrics should be used to see if the objective is being accomplished. Ask them what goals they think are realistic. If in time you both find out those are not realistic goals then readjust them month after month. What I do with my key people is work together to come up with specific measurable metrics. They determine their goals for those metrics. We brainstorm ways to accomplish those monthly goals and then when they feel sufficiently empowered, I walk away for a month and trust they are doing everything they can to reach their goals and accomplish the objective. Then we review what happened next month, we discuss challenges, we revamp the goals and we repeat the process- "Trust... but verify". If performance is good then I don't get very involved. If performance is not good I get more and more involved in helping the person come up with ways to overcome challenges in order to accomplish the objective and ensure they still believe it can be accomplished.

Step 3- Serve and empower. 

After an employee has been given their objective and you believe that they want to accomplish that objective, your job is to serve and empower them in accomplishing that objective. Your primary role will be to provide tools, training, financial compensation, non financial compensation, recognition and occasionally a little kick in the pants like a good coach does from to time to time. You will need to do everything possible so that your team believes their objectives are realistic and worth their time and efforts. As a Christian and member of the LDS church I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ who said, "he who is greatest among you will be thy servant." What you may not realize is that this is great business advice. Your team exists to serve your customers, you exist to serve your team. Your team needs to know (and in their hearts believe) that you are an extremely valuable resource and fully available to help them when they run into challenges and roadblocks to their objectives. They should know that you are willing to jump into the trenches and help them accomplish their goals.

If human history teaches you anything it should teach you that human beings are amazing. When you don't feel like you can trust people around you just keep in mind that you are not responsible for all of the amazing things in our modern world. It was largely created by ordinary people like the ones in your organization. The amazing movements and organizations came about not because someone found the perfect team but more likely because certain leaders were able to unlock the creativity, capacity and talents of others. If you feel like your organization depends entirely on you, you probably are right and you should take steps to change that. You should get the point where you are managing objectives, not methods. This is not an easy transition and it requires trust but if you want your business to grow beyond you I don't know of any other way. Entrepreneurs take chances, take a chance on your people and they just might surprise you.

Making Money is Actually Pretty Simple.

Financial Success

We live in a world obsessed with success. To be successful means to have accomplished what you set out to. So being successful does not mean to be rich, unless riches are what you were seeking as your goal. Sadly, when people talk about being "successful" we generally assume they are talking about financial success because we live in cultural paradigm that attaches the idea of success to the money in your bank account.

Now this is not to say financial success is not important- quite the contrary. Everyone has some level of financial success they want to achieve, even if their financial goals are just to keep food on the table. Still, we live in a world that is largely ignorant of economics and seems to think that making a lot of money is a direct result of hard work, education or luck. While all of these are factors contributing to economic success they don't get to the real KEY to financial success.  

The Simple Key to Financial Success. 

In a market based economy VALUE is the key to your financial success- that simple. In the workplace when someone gives you money it is because they are exchanging that money in return for some value you are giving to them. In my business we hand over money to our employees because they provide us with the labor and that labor is valuable to us because without it we would have to do everything ourselves and our customers would not be taken care of. The best employees (the ones who provide the most value to us) get higher pay. The economic value of something is determined by supply and demand. The higher the demand for something and the lower the supply- the higher its value. Bill Gates has billions of dollars because he created a product of so much value that millions of people have been handing him bags of money to get his products for the last couple decades. So again, if you want to be financially successful CREATE FINANCIAL VALUE FOR OTHERS and you will find people willing to give you money to have it. 

High level employees are paid more because (according to those cutting the paychecks) they provide more economic value to the organization.  This is because the skills they have tend to be in higher demand when compared to the supply of people that have those skills. 

Know Who Your Customer Is. 

Another important factor to consider is who you are creating financial value for. Ultimately that is the person who cuts your paycheck. Everyone has a customer. An employee usually has one customer, the owner of the company. The employee's financial success is based on how much economic value the employee brings to his customer (the owner of the company) and how well the employee is able to negotiate with the company owner to get paid for the value he creates. The company owner has many customers (essentially the customer is the boss for the owner of a company). The business owner's success is how well he provides value to his customers and how well he can negotiate with them pay for the value he adds. 

Let's Change The Rhetoric

This concept is not very novel, it's basic economics. The reason I write this is because when people talk about achieving financial success they talk about things like work hard, get education, wake up early, never give up. All of these things are great, but they all are just means to the end of making you of value to others. We now live in a world where, because of the "work hard and get education" rhetoric people feel entitled when they work hard and get educated. The problem is that just because you worked really hard to get that degree in underwater basket weaving does not mean your skills are of much financial value to society even if your skills are of great absolute value. Nearly always in a market based economy like the U.S, people are paid according to the value they bring to the table. So, if you want to be financially successful then learn to create financial value for others and they will exchange their money in order to get it.

1-2-3 Communication is actually really simple, and we still suck at it.

Ok, I have to confess something, I have a communication problem. Anyone who knows me probably knows what it is and if you don't you could just look into my high school yearbook and see I was voted "most talkative" in my class (true story). Not best personality, not most likely to succeed...most talkative. To temper this a little bit I am not one of those over the top people who are so talkative you don't want to be around them, I just am someone who is outgoing and rambles more than I should.

As I have got older I have come to find that when I right I am much less of a rambler because writing slows me down and allows me to think clearly and get my point across without all the extra junk. For example, a person could read this blog in a few minutes, but if they were sitting with me it would probably be a 15 minute conversation. Because of this I have used writing as my preferred method of important communication and have come to realize that communication can seem complex but it is stunningly simple. Every, time you open your mouth to speak or begin to write a sentence you are always only doing one of three things.

1) Conveying Information.

This is the most common thing you do and it is part of communication that I am terrible at it because ramblers like me share more information than is needed. My english teacher in high school was once asked how long the essay he assigned should be, he said "Anything you write should be like a skirt, long enough to cover the subject matter but short enough to keep it interesting". As Shakespeare said "brevity is the soul of whit".  When conveying information keep it short, clear and concise. The listener usually only wants enough information and nothing more.

2) Requesting Information. (aka ask a question)

Questions are an art form that few people know how to use effectively (I am not great at it either) and much can be said about the many uses of questions. One of the most common mistakes people make when writing or speaking is not asking a question but conveying information and then being quiet and expecting a response. Women are notorious for this (though men certainly do it too). Imagine a girlfriend sitting at dinner with her boyfriend conveying information about her day then ending with the following.

"So then then my sister said how immature I was acting yesterday just because I would not drop what I was doing to help her with the kids....<pause awaiting response>"

Notice above no information or response was requested (it was merely implied that he was supposed to react to what she said with a response of his own). Now this is ok and people do communicate this way (especially women in a group). However, it can sometimes be confusing (especially for men) because they may not know how to respond or what the implied question is. The boyfriend might respond "Man, your sister is a total jerk", when really what she wants is validation that her actions were justified. Wouldn't is be simpler to simply add in a clear question at the end.

"So then then my sister said how immature I was acting yesterday just because I would not drop what I was doing to help her with the kids. Do you think that I was being immature?"

Simple requests for information from another person are polite and helpful to the listener as it clarifies the situation for them and directly communicates your desire for their participation. The norms of communication usually expect the listener to be polite to the a speaker should also be polite to the listener by being clear in their methods of communication. If you want a response from someone you can  "What are your thoughts on XYZ? or "Do you think X is Y?" etc. Never leave a person guessing if you want a response or not. Implied communication is unclear, inefficient and can easily lead to miscommunication.

3) Issuing a Command

Some people are scared of the word "command", if thats the case call it a request. Essentially, you are asking someone to do something and are usually expected to do that in a very polite manner. So in conjunction with #2, there are two ways you can request information. You can either ask a question (What do you think Bob?) or you can issue a command (Bob, let me know what you think). Regardless, commands should be clear, polite and stated rather than implied.

For some reason people (including myself) have a tendency to want to spend all our time conveying information. However, we have to realize the listener only wants as much information as needed and they want to know what they need to do about it which comes from your question or a command. Usually miscommunications happen because people fail to issue clear commands or to ask clear questions.


A Simple Email Template. 

I have found the following email format works really well for me in effectively and efficiently communicating with people.

Hello Bob < note: The email clearly is addressed to someone specifically>
Yesterday after the meeting Mark and I discussed the contract. He was concerned about the terms that included initial finance charges. I worry we might lose the deal if we try to charge him up front. <note: Paragraph 1 conveys information as clearly and to the point as possible>

Please let me know if I can waive the fee for him. <note: put the question or command in a separate line at the end>

- Jacob <note: I put my name...always include your name. Auto signatures are great>

Questions to ponder.

Do I issue clear commands/request?
Do I ask specific questions if something is unclear or if I want information from other person?
When do I usually imply commands or questions?, How can I avoid that?
Do I give just enough information as is needed, or do I give to much?

The Miracle of Google Docs Comments

Most people are very familiar with google docs/drive. The ability to share and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and slideshows is great but most people don't know about how useful the comments function is. Its a way to cut WAY back on emails and also allows you to have entire meetings and collaborations remotely and on your own time! Here is how it works.

Start with any google Doc or spreadsheet. Share it with whom every you need by clicking the share button and adding people to the document.

After adding in your content highlight content you want to comment on and right click. Then select comment.



At this point a comment box will appear where you can write a comment. Use the @ symbol to tag people's email in the comment. This sends that person an email notifying them they were mentioned in a comment. 

A conversation can then go back and forth using the comments. When the issue being commented on is resolved you simply click the "resolve" button. And you are done. This same functionality can be used with google spreadsheets by right clicking a cell and then clicking comment.

This is an amazing functionality that saves time, allows you to have remote meetings on your own time and prevents your email from filling up.

Don't Suck at Email.

In the modern business world email is probably the number 1 communication tool. However, it is extremely easy for email to turn into a mess that sucks up too much time. I have worked remotely for nearly a decade and in that time I have learned (and am still learning) that like any tool email is only as good as the person using it. Different people have different expectations when it comes to email and it needs to be used differently depending on the situation (especially when emailing clients or suppliers). Still I have compiled below a few email rules I have found really important when emailing co-workers and others within your company.

Rule #1 "Reply All" should be you default method of reply.
If someone sends you an email and CC's another person on it they are probably trying to start a group conversation (as if you were all in a room together). Therefore you should respond to everyone in the discussion unless there is a specific reason not to. Its very frustrating to try and start a group discussion then to get a bunch of individual responses.

Rule #2 Create group discussions
I can't tell you how often people have said "I told Jane to do this yesterday, I will check with her and get back to you". Why not just CC Jane on the reply and say. "I told Jane to do this yesterday. Jane, did you have a chance to get this done".  See how much more efficient that is? Look to do this every chance you get. It is totally fine to address two people in an email and kill two birds with one stone. See Below...

Hi guys,
Jane, were you able to call the supplier. Bob, after she calls the supplier and gets confirmation don't forget the order has to go out by 5pm.
- Jacob

Rule #3 Don't Go CC crazy. If you don't specifically name someone in an email then you probably should NOT cc them. Also if you do CC them you should issue to them a specific command or question. You should not just CC someone to "make them aware" unless there is a really good reason to do so - even then you probably should mention them saying something like "Jacob what are your thoughts?". If in doubt don't CC a person if you don't mention them in the email.


Rule #4 Emails are a way to get on the to do list. 
Most people are very busy and have a lot to remember already. Email is a way to have things written down so you don't forget. If a person tells me "send me that report tomorrow" by phone or in person there is a higher likelihood it will be forgotten. A quick email is much better as it does not require the mental energy to remember.

Rule #5 Keep it concise and focus on the command, or question.
Business emails should be concise. Nearly all emails are written to do one of the following...

1. Issue a command (aka ask/tell someone to do something)
2. Get information (aka ask a question)
3. Convey information (aka "FYI").

When reading an email you usually want to know what you need to do with it. Conveying information should be done as briefly as possible and the focus of the email should be on the command or question. A real pro will put the command or question at the bottom in a line of its own. Here is how.

Hi Bob,

Yesterday the supplier charged the wrong card and it caused a delay in the shipment. We have 4 customers waiting on orders. I worry we might lose them.

Can I proceed with shipping the material without payment?

Notice the first paragraph, the one with the backstory is short. Short and to the point is best. Teammates don't need a life story they need just enough info and then to know what action they need to take. Then the command or question is at the bottom where the reader can quickly find it.

Rule #6 Avoid FYI's
Any email that does not contain a question or a command is merely informational (an FYI). These should be limited as much as possible. Usually, if a person wants information they will ask for it (IE "Please let me know when you get those new advertisements up")

Rule #7 No need for meaningless replies. (unless asked for)
Sometimes people will email back "Thanks" or "Got it". While these are polite gestures they are not really needed. A sender should assume the recipient got and understands the email. If it is important the sender should put a command like "Let me know if you understand" or "Let me know when you get this".

Rule #8 Don't call or talk if you can email
Calling someone interrupts them. It is a way of barging into their world and saying I need you at this moment. Sometimes you might need them and it is important but if it can wait a 6-24 hours just email them.

Rule #9 Text if its urgent, but simple.
If you need to know the password to the wifi and are sitting waiting for it just text. Text is a way to say this is urgent but it can be taken care of quickly. Email would take too long and a phone call is not really needed for such a simple question.

Rule #10 Call if its urgent and complex 
Lets say you have a decision that needs to be made regarding an upset client that will require some brainstorming and figuring out from a manager and the decision needs to be made in the next hour or 2. This is the time for a phone call. Phone calls should be used to handle time sensitive matters that can't be resolved with a quick text message.

Rule #11 Use alternative methods of communication. 
There are some awesome tools out there to cut down the amount of emails you use.  Personally I love google docs/drive and their "comments" function. You can have amazing brainstorm sessions, meetings, and document collaboration without sending a million emails back and forth, completely remotely and on your own time.  

Rule #12 Don't read too much into tone.
When dating a person will read WAY to much into every word sent to them. In business try to avoid this. If I just say "yes" or "no" or fail to include a "Best wishes" at the bottom of my email I am not trying to be rude, I am trying to be efficient. Politeness should be exercised as much as possible but please realize that often when dealing with sometimes hundreds of emails you don't have time to write "best wishes" 100 times. 

I want more customers, Part 1: Marketing Step by Step.

In business the lingo can sometimes be a little unclear and considering this post is about Marketing I want to define what is it and what it isn't when I talk about it. Simply put, marketing is any action that is designed to generate interest in your product or service. It's goal is simply to get people in the front door who want to know more. It is not sales, which are the actions that take leads (those people who came to your door wanting to learn more) and gets a purchase commitment. The two should be divided as the tactics used are very different (for more on sales tactics <Click here>).

Marketing 101 will usually teach you the tools of marketing are the 4 P's,

Product- (Making a product/or service that is appealing and offers value)
Price- (Adjusting price according to how you want to position your product/service in the market)
Promotion- (Creating your message, brand, style and content promoting your product/service)
Place - (Putting your promotion in places where your market will see it)

These are very important tools but they are not exactly a plan of action. After working with others who have a track record of marketing success, studying the topic myself and doing marketing work on teams in several different businesses, I have come to see a general pattern/process that yields success for getting interested people in the front door, calling, or emailing you and it happens step by step.

Step 1: Create your brand: know yourself first. 

Usually when we think about marketing we think about going "outward" but the first place to start is to look "inward". Crafting your brand needs to go deeper than just creating some nice looking flyers and business cards with catchy phrases and colors. Its about creating and believing in your UNIQUE identity as a business. Ultimately, a lot of people probably do what you do, so they wont remember what you do, they will remember who you are. You need to understand who you are, what you have to offer and why you are different from the other options out there.

You need to have a COMPELLING STORY to tell that you have ready to go when someone asks you to tell them about your business or asks the proverbial question "so what do you do". You need to be able to tell that story in 1 minute, 3 minutes or 10 minutes and it needs to be a story that sets you apart from others. Think about it, practice it, write it down. Before you begin telling other people about your business you need to deeply understand who you are as a business, what you offer, your mission, your values, your tag line, your look, your logo and you should be consistent across all these things. Usually you want to have a basic website, business cards, flyers, a phone number, a business email, etc as soon as possible and all these things should be consistent with your identity and brand.  It starts with having a clear vision of your self before you begin looking to others. Also if you want to be successful in the long run you have to ensure you control who you are and revisit your identity regularly and ensure all aspects of your business are consistent with your mission, values, look and story.

I can't stress enough the importance of being unique in some way. If you are not different in some meaningful/interesting way to your target market, why they use you over the other guy? This is why you have to do all you can to make yourself stand out in some way from others and generate a competitive differential advantage. This is not always easy and sometimes it takes a lot of creativity (work with a mentor if you have trouble coming up with a way to be different). Here is a recent seminar I attended on this topic that was very insightful.
 

Step 2- Target your market, not everyone. 

The next step is figuring out who your product/service is designed for. If you say "everyone" that is generally not a good thing and marketing to "everyone" is usually not a good strategy. You need to try and be more specific if possible. The Marketing guru Seth Godin elaborates on this and many other great marketing principles in his talk below.

 In any marketing class you are going to hear a lot about market segmentation. This is where you break up "everyone" who might purchase your product or service into different groups by demographics. Focusing on one or a few particular strategically picked groups is generally considered much more effective than going after everyone. You should try and know how your target market thinks, what they look like, what they do for fun, what they like, what they hate, what they want now, what they will want tomorrow and anything else you can find out. Then you should try to deeply understand why your product or service will matter to them.


Step 3 - Craft your message. 

With a clear understanding of 1-3 target groups you then work on creating and continually improving your message to communicate what problem your product or service solves/why its valuable to them. Most people make most purchase decisions to solve either an overt problem (like a broke down car) or an internal problem (like hunger or boredom). Your message should communicate...

1) How you solve that problem better, faster or cheaper than alternatives.
2) Who you are and why you are more competent and trustworthy than other options.

Point #2 is very important and sometimes overlooked. There is a reason people buy from their friends and family and it usually has more to do with #2. However it's important that you "sell the sizzle not the steak". What this means is that you need to focus on BENEFITS not features. Apple understands this. They are arguably the greatest marketing company in the world. Watch the ad below and notice they don't mention anything about processing speed, nothing about HD displays, nothing technical at all. They simply, without a single word, show EACH MARKET SEGMENT the benefit of having their device in an incredibly compelling and simple way.

Keep in mind. You are not apple and you don't have to be. However,  focus your messaging to specific target groups and you can craft messages that focus on benefits, on credibility and why you are different than other options in a meaningful way. Is it easy? No. Will it take some time and creativity? yes. This is also an area where mentors can be helpful.   

Step 4- Decide how much time and/or money will be invested.  

In the end you only have 2 things you can invest into marketing time or money. Early on a business owner has little money so they invest their time into marketing. Small business owners all remember the early days when they were out "hustling up business" by telling everyone they knew about their company. Eventually they got customers and began to get business on the fulfillment side of the business. Suddenly they began to invest less and less time into marketing and many don't really invest money either and so their business flatlines.

Its important for a business owner to have a plan in place for what percentage of total sales will be invested back into marketing. The following are some suggested amounts to invest in marketing depending on an owners level of time investment into marketing activities and how quickly you want to grow.

Financial investment in marketing if owner time investment is HIGH.
0%- Weak growth
3%- Moderate growth
5%- Aggressive Growth.

Financial investment in marketing if owner time investment is MODERATE. 
1%- Weak growth
2%- Moderate growth
4%- Aggressive Growth.

Financial investment in marketing if owner time investment is LOW. 
3%- Weak growth
5%- Moderate growth
8%- Aggressive Growth.


So how much time should an owner invest into marketing? Its also important for a business owner to know what they prefer doing and what they are good at. Do they enjoy sales and marketing or do they enjoy working on fulfillment for customers that have made a purchase decision? If a business owner sales and marketing they should put a focus outsourcing fulfillment duties and then reinvest their time back into marketing. If they enjoy fulfillment they should do that and outsource marketing to outside vendors. HOWEVER, (and this is a big however) just throwing money at marketing does not mean you will get results. Owners must be monitoring ROI's on a monthly basis, consult with mentors or outside experts and constantly adapt marketing investments to those which produce the best ROI.

Step 5: Identify, list and prioritize your marketing channels

Many rookies jump right to this step without thinking about and executing the previous steps. The problem with this is that choosing the right place to push your message is no good if you don't have a great message and you can't have a great message if you don't understand in detail who you are and who specifically you are trying to reach. Also if you don't have a plan and a system for how much will be invested in time or money into these efforts you also will likely see sub par results.

Marketing channels are all the ways you can get your message in front of people either directly or indirectly. While serving as a missionary for my church we always were looking for people to teach. We would knock doors, we would get referrals from members, we would seek out part member families, we would teach english, we would do service, we would sing carols at Christmas, we would organize soccer matches, we would visit other churches and all sorts of other things. What most experienced missionaries found was that the best way to find people to teach was, all of the above. Sure some things were more effective in general than others but it seemed that by constantly trying various things we would end up finding people to teach and no one method was the silver bullet.  Below is a list of the marketing channel categories that usually are available to a business owner. The key is having the right marketing mix (aka marketing portfolio) that uses channels that produce the best results.

Phase 1- Free/Super Low Cost Marketing. 

1) Networking / Cold contacting/ Referral Programs. 
2) Email blasting (Press Releases, Newsletters, New Features, Education).
3) Basic social media to existing networks.
4) Free services.

Phase 2- Basic marketing. (Total marketing budget $200-500 a month)

4) Listing and Advertising Websites (Google Places, Yelp, Yellow Pages etc).
5) Small Scale Promo Products/ Branding.

Phase 3- Online Marketing (Total marketing budget $500-$3500 a month.) 

6) Google Pay Per Click PPC and Online Ads. 
7) Getting Ranked on Google. (SEO Search engine optimization).
8) Social Media Advertising and Social Pay Per Click.

Phase 4- Going Beyond Internet. (Total marketing budget $4000+ a month.)

9) Mailers
10) Mass Media
11) Billboards/ Large Scale Promo Products/ Branding.

For more details about marketing channels above see the following blog. Marketing Channels Blog.

Please note that there is no perfect formula for every business on which channels to use or exactly how to use them. It takes time and some trial and error to try and figure out which marketing channels will produce the best bang for the buck. It is recommended that you also put include in your marketing budget (perhaps 10-20% of your marketing budget) funds for experimenting with new marketing ideas. This is also where mentors are VERY valuable. Mentors with industry (or similar industry) experience can help you decide which channels worked best for them. Every industry has its own marketing channels that have been proven successful and often by just learning where others in the industry are doing marketing is a great starting point.

Another thing to remember is the difference between direct marketing activities and brand awareness activities. Direct marketing are things like yellow page ads where a person will see the ad and call because of the ad. Brand awareness is best summed up with an example of from my Dads plumbing company. People often call his company using the number on his yellow page ad or website, but they did not call because of the yellow page ad or website. They called because they saw his trucks around town and recognized his name because he is a political figure in the area. They only used the yellow pages to find his number. His name acted as his brand and his trucks and political work created brand awareness. When people thought about plumbers, his name popped into their head. You do the same thing all the time. You don't look up something on google if you already have a brand in your head for that product or service. Is your brand in anyones head for your product or service category? How did it get there? How can you get into more peoples heads and stay there as long as possible? These are branding/ brand awareness activities.  Both direct marketing (like getting listed on google) and brand awareness are important but brand awareness is much harder to measure accurately and usually doesn't produce quick results.

Step 4: Execute like a farmer and don't forget to evaluate and adapt.  

Diligent and energetic execution of your marketing portfolio is the heart of your business; this is the grind, the battle that you have to fight very hard in the early days of the business to get it off the ground and the ongoing lifeblood of people knocking on your door that will keep your business afloat. Still you need to work smart. You need to evaluate your marketing channels and identify which ones actually produce a return. Measure how much time and money you invest into each channel and the results on at least a monthly basis. Some channels are easier to get clean data on others are a little more challenging. Mentors can sometimes help you find ways to accurately measure your ROI. Over time this data will help you know if your marketing effort is sustainable and/or justifiable.  

Marketing is not easy and it can be a emotional roller coaster as you invest your heart and money into these efforts to get people in the door but when they do come in, and keep coming in it becomes so worth it! However, this also is the reason many businesses plateau too early. Though marketing is important it does not press on you and often when things start getting busy many businesses stop doing marketing or stop focusing on it. This not only stunts business growth it leads to a scramble when things slow down and they try to jumpstart their marketing. Unfortunately, good marketing is like farming, you can't really "jumpstart" it. You have to work day in and day out planting seeds, tilling, fertilizing the ground and doing all you can, then slowly sprouts begin to pop up. Some may die but others will grow and over time through that steady diligent effort your field will begin to flourish. Think like a farmer and keep planting.

 Questions for reflection
- Do I have a specific target market?
- Have I segmented my market into smaller groups that I understand deeply?
- Does my brand and message speak in terms and emotions that are meaningful to them?
- Does my brand have a real identity, style and value system that sets it apart?
- Is my brand and message remarkable/interesting in some way?
- In what way is my product/service unique when compared to the competition?
- ^ Does my competitor say the same thing about their product or service?
- When people think of my industry, does my brand pop into their head?
- What are the ways I can build brand awareness?
- Have I listed and prioritized all my marketing channels?
- What are the marketing channels others in the industry are using?
- Am I consistent and diligent in my marketing efforts? (think like a farmer)
- Do I have specific time set aside to do marketing tasks?

I used to hate working in groups until...

I remember being put in teams while in school and hating it. Usually, a group composed of a couple people doing all the work and a few other freeloaders putting in minimal effort. I then would attend lectures by experts saying how important teams were and how they were essential to success. There was a serious disconnect between what the experts were saying and what I was experiencing. It wasn't until I got out of school that I realized what was going on.

I think the best team analogy I have ever heard is a band. In school a group was a set of people clumped together randomly. On the other hand, a band is composed of  carefully selected individuals with different skill sets.  In a band the diversity of instruments and talents when properly coordinated produces the music of the band. The key is getting the right players in the band and coordinating those differences in a way that produces something beautiful. Each member has their own instrument that they are responsible for playing. It makes no sense to have a band of 6 lead guitarists. It also makes no sense to have band members who all like different kinds of music and have different ideas about what kind of music to play. The same can be said of any organization. Diversity and teamwork are only useful when you have the right team members with diverse skill sets all focused on a common goal.

I remember hearing people talk about mentors when I was in school and again naively thinking very little of it. What a fool I was! A mentor should be the first member of your team but not just any hyped-up pep talker will do. A mentor should be someone who has already walked the path your are about to go down. People starting out generally have a lot of drive, ambition and work ethic, but they should be honest with themselves and realize they probably don't have a lot of experience. This is where the mentor can help. You bring the drive, they bring the experience. The more closely they have walked the path the better they will be able to help you. Hopefully this person will have extensive industry specific knowledge to impart and will help you know about the things you don't know that you don't know. A mentor will be able to help you avoid the pain they experienced when they went down the road you are on. The best thing about mentors is they usually are free. Still, one should not blindly follow a mentor. Mentors are a great resource but with the rapidly changing world we live in you will have to gauge the mentors advice against the changing business world you live in, so be prudent.

I have come to realize that really successful business people are often very humble. Not humble in the weak or unambitious sense but they are very honest about the things they know, and the things they don't know. Henry Ford is credited as saying that he was not very smart, but that he surrounded himself with smart people. Being a "know it all" gets you no where because nobody knows it all. However, if you get people who fill in the gaps in areas where you are weak then suddenly the business or organization becomes bigger than you, greater than the sum of its parts and has the ability to exceed you expectations.

Questions for reflection

- Are you honest about the areas where you lack expertise or ability?
- Do you find and accommodate people who can fill those gaps?
- Does your team all have aligned incentives and commitment to reach a common goal?
- Does your team have clearly defined roles and skill-sets they are responsible for?
- Are you unwilling to get the wrong people off the team?
- Are you trying to build a team or trying to do everything yourself?
- Do you trust others competence?