June 2010 SBL

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Small Business Leader
Marian Banker, MBA, Business Leadership Coach, and creator of the Business
Success System.
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"Lead Your Business to Success"
ISSUE #129
June 2010

In This Issue

BizLeaders Network
One Page Marketing Plan
Feature Article
Success Tip
About The Publisher & Feedback

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Greetings,

If you follow the stock or commodities market you probably already know that gold hit an all time high recently, thanks to the nervousness of our national and global economy. Gold is often used as a hedge in times when economic conditions are unstable. The same principle applies in business. To help keep your business
stable in uncertain times, go for the gold.

In this month's feature article, "Three Keys to Finding the Gold in Your Business",
you'll learn steps you can take right now to increase the gold factor.
As many of you know I often work with business partnerships and family businesses. I recently started working with a business where both are involved: a husband and wife partnership that sells home furnishings primarily
through the web.
They came to me asking for help in improving their communications, as they often had serious disagreements and stalemates when making critical decisions. Read the first episode in my blog.
Our videographer, Pattie Stone, just finished a brief
video from the Small Business Summit 2010. Click on the image to the right to view it. We'll be adding more over the summer and will keep you posted as they become available. We'll also be involving you in our planning for Small Business Summit 2011.
Are you known as a business leader in your community and your industry? Are you publicly recognized for your leadership? Are you the go-to person for other business leaders? If so, you'll find a community of your peers at BizLeaders
Network (BLN).
Do check it out.

To your success!

Marian Banker

Publisher
Small Business Leader

P.S.
- I recently introduced my Prime Strategies Facebook fan page where I'm offering tips, events and connections. You're invited to join and contribute or comment, http://companies.to/primestrategies/

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BizLeaders Network

Join Now! BizLeaders Network
Join BizLeaders Network, to stay up with what today's small business leaders are doing and thinking. BLN's mission is to provide its members with visibility, recognition, knowledge, connections and community. We offer a virtual meeting place where
today's business leaders can showcase their expertise, exchange ideas, discuss challenges, enjoy moral support, be guided by those with specific experience -- and do business together.

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Partner Event

12 Hours of Tech for Growing Businesses

Smallbiztechnology.com hosts a full day of educational sessions, Friday, June 11, 2010 (8 a.m. - 6 p.m.)
with tech companies and experts presenting some of the hottest technology toolsfor growing companies, followed by an evening reception from 6 - 8 p.m.

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One Page Marketing Plan

Everything you need to create a Marketing Plan specific and timely to your business. You'll be amazed at how easy it is when you know the exact steps to follow. It's more than an e-book; it's a "system"; based on the same take command principles used in all the Business Success System materials.
Read
more...

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Feature Article

Three Keys to Finding the Gold in Your Business
By Marian Banker

Gold is certainly a hot commodity in today's economy. Any gold you have is worth more today than it was a year ago. I'll bet you have some gold you're not even aware of, right there in your own business. Let's see if we can find it. If you could make twice the income in half the time, would that be as good as gold to you?
Would that increase the value of your business? Sounds like a marketing rant, doesn't it? Well, there are three basic underlying truths that, once learned and applied, will allow you to make more money while you work less. Here they are.

Simplify

Spend more time on goal-oriented activities, less on non-essentials. You want your daily activities to be adding value to your business and taking you closer to your goals. Block out specific time on your calendar for these activities and make sure they get done first. E-mail, telephone and personal interruptions steal a lot of time. Dedicate specific time to these tasks also; just work
hard to keep them from interfering with your goal-directed actions and time.
Tasks get simpler when they're broken down into "baby" steps. When approaching a big or long term project, break it down into small segments that can be worked on and completed within a short time period (a few hours). You'll gain satisfaction from completing the small task, and will be prepared to take the next step forward.

Tip: One of my clients says it's much better to start with the easiest step first. That makes the next step seem easy too. Working through from easiest to most difficult prepares him for the level of thinking required at that point.
He said "I used to start with the hardest first, but that didn't work very well because I was overwhelmed immediately. I had a tendency to put off working on such a project. Now I just do what's easiest and get started."

Assignment: Identify at least 3 activities that you know are stealing your time or are non-essential. Plan to allot X amount of time each day (30 minutes to 2 hours) to handle low-priority activities. Focus and schedule your time on activities that lead to your goals. Break them down into tasks that can be accomplished in a short period of time.

Standardize

Standardize repetitive tasks so that much of the work is already done before you start.You use standardized accounting
systems, computer operating systems and communication systems. It makes sense that the rest of your business can apply these same principles also. Let's say you want to reduce the time you spend preparing a report for clients, which frequently can take you 5 to 7 hours. What are the underlying consistencies that you do each time you complete this task? What interchangeable modules
are appropriate for different circumstances? For each report you'll start with the basic template and simply apply your thinking and your material where appropriate.
Any function which is repeated frequently can be simplified by identifying its core elements and organizing them to expedite the process. Same money; less time spent. What would it be worth to save 2 or 3 hours of your time on every project?

Assignment: Identify all the "routine" tasks in your business. Determine how you can standardize these tasks so that part of the work is already done each time. Templates, forms and worksheets are a good way to organize and standardize actions. They also help provide assurance that nothing gets lost or dropped.

Systematize

Approach your business as an overall operating system.Is it working at its most efficient or are there bottlenecks and gaps
that steal time and money? Consider the operating systems of your business: marketing, sales, production, delivery, communication (internal and external), customer service/support. What are the core elements in each of these? What is repeated consistently? These core elements (when refined and applied) are the real value of your business. It's what keeps your business functioning and doing its job. When the systems are working properly you can go on vacation
and know that the work is getting done. It's what a potential investor or buyer will value. The simpler and more streamlined the process, the faster and less expensive to achieve the result. More for you in less time.

Assignment: Identify which systems in your business are working well? Which could use some attention and refinement? Take those random ideas and actions that happen on a regular basis in your business; corral them, organize them and put them to work in one of your operating systems.

Apply these three principles to your business and I'll bet this time next
year your business will be worth a whole lot more and your satisfaction level
will be much greater. You'll know you've found gold.

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Success Tip

For more tips on simplifying, standardizing and systematizing view this 5 minute video from our Small Business Summit 2010, where Ellen DePasquale, the Software Revitalist, shares her secrets on how to "Stop
Doing Things the Hard Way".

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Small Business Marketplace

Generating Leads and Increasing Sales with Social Media

Join Elyse Tager, Social Media Strategist for her f*r*e*e teleclass, Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 1 p.m., Pacific time (4 p.m. Eastern)

"I highly recommend Elyse's classes to any business that needs detailed information using social media to build their business." - Teresa Mason, CPA & Owner - Collins, Mason, and Company LLP

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About The Publisher & Feedback

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER:

Marian Banker has been publishing Small Business Leader since January, 1999.
Her focus is on bringing to the busy entrepreneur a quick look into the current
world of small business from the perspective she's gained through coaching,
consulting and training entrepreneurs in both service and product based businesses.

Marian offers individual coaching, business support groups, seminars and workshops
on topics of critical interest to small business owners. Her monthly Brain
Exchange Roundtable has proven to be a popular way for business owners to come
together around a specific business topic. See notice about this month's topic
in the content above.

To learn more about her services, visit http://primestrategies.com.

FEEDBACK:

Your feedback is always appreciated. Please write to marian@primestrategies.com.
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A publication of Prime Strategies, 333 East 23rd St., New York, NY 10010

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