Recent Posts

Chart Your Success: Plan Your Sales for 2009Be positive. Be realistic. Be successful. Plan now to set goals for the year ahead.

Sales forecasting is fun–really. This is the time where you look at the opportunities for your business. There are always opportunities, even in a down economy. Okay, so 2009 may not be your best sales year ever. That makes it even more important to set realistic sales goals to help you plan. Revenue is the lifeblood of your business. Keep expenses in check. Identify your 2009 sales projections.

Here are some resources to help:

Follow this link to Download 12-Month Sales Forecast
Find Customers & Deliver the Goods, online workshop.
A mentor can be a sounding board. Ask SCORE online.

If you expect each quarter to be vastly different, set quarterly goals. When you have targets, it’s so much easier to chart a path to success.

Christine Banning, SCORE
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web 2.0 marketing

Web 2.0 marketing is messy, inefficient, slow, and sometimes painful. It requires lots of typing, some self revelation, and a vastly expanded playing field.  On top of that, when you get a bunch of customers together, you can’t focus on selling them.

Yesterday’s article in the Wall Street Journal describes “The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World.” They provide the standard outline of how it’s done, and how it’s working.  I’m now going to tell you why it’s hard.

As a SCORE counselor, I see many startups and small businesses struggling to figure out how to market online.  So I decided to take 2008 and try these new techniques myself to market on behalf of our chapter, SCORE Chicago. By standing in the clients shoes, I thought I could provide more practical advice.

I started blogging, I podcasted, I joined Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.  I created Flickr and YouTube accounts.  I created online press releases and set up social networks.  And I wrote a series of blog posts which gather how-two links on web 2.0 marketing techniques in my Online Marketing Series. I’ve written 18 posts on How to Start a Social Networking Website.

So people say to me, “I’m now on Linkedin.  I’ve set up a business profile on Facebook.  Nothing happens.  What’s going on?”

Here’s the problem, the challenge. All this requires an uncomfortable shift of mindset and focus. Take it from one who’s been drinking the web 2.0 Kool Aid and trying to adapt. more…