Emerging from the Meltdown: Where Does Your Marketing Plan Fit In?

As you can see from my sparse blog entries, my business has suffered during the recession. From taking on full-time, "9 to 5" jobs, to temporarily closing our doors or even simply doing all of the work ourselves, survival has been the small business mantra for the past few months. But as we sort through the wreckage and hope for a better tomorrow, we have to ask ourselves what's happened to our marketing plan and where does it fit in this new economy?

My marketing simply fell to the wayside, in all honesty. I haven't done much marketing lately because I could not afford the time or the monetary expense. And now I'm faced with figuring out how to go back to it. With that in mind, we can remind ourselves to start small. What marketing can we do at little or no cost, both in time and money? Here are three great ways to get back in the marketing swing.

1. Update your web copy. A few pages of updated and edited copy won't cost much if you get a professional to rewrite it, especially if that professional caters to small businesses like I do. Keep your website current and fresh for a small investment.
   
2. What about sending out a simple sales letter? Again, a one-pager announcing your latest deals is not as costly as a full-blown sales package. And the one-pager can be done fairly quickly. If your brand has "slipped beneath the radar" during the murky months of the economic downturn, a nice letter reminding people that you're there and offering them a great deal on your product or service might be the way to go.
3. Postcards are also an effective way to get back into marketing. The professional that develops the card for you will probably need to be aware that your budget is small - and should be willing to accommodate a negotiation. You can buy a small mailing list from DirectMail.com or a similar provider, and even do the labels and postage yourself. This involves some manual labor after the card has been designed, bu those actions may pay off in the long run.
4. Updating your blog is probably one of the most inexpensive ways to re-enter the marketing race. A professional ghostwriter can create some entries for you and even develop an "editorial calendar" to keep you on track for the rest of the year. Think about what you would want to say to your clients and add in the offers you think will get your business back on track quickly.

Things are looking up! And all of us small business owners should emerge from the economic downturn with an affordable, "small steps" marketing plan. To find out how Blue Notebook Communications can help you with this, visit our website today.

Small Business: Why Should I Have Written Policies and Procedures?

A small business owner recently asked me this question. My gut response was, "Why not?", but this comes from a lifetime as a corporate training professional. I had to stop and think about the answer as a small business owner myself. Why would a small business want written policies and procedures, and why would they want to spend the money to have a consultant come in and write them?

First, look at the big picture. What if your small business becomes "not so small"? It's a great problem to have. If you grow, you'll want to have a written Policies and Procedures (P&P) Manual in place to ensure that everything keeps moving ahead correctly and efficiently. Plus, when your small business "grows up", you can use that written P&P as the basis for training programs in the future.

Second, as much as we want to believe we remember everything we do, I'm afraid to say we don't. Did that make sense? Sometimes the small details elude us just when we need them most. Things like who to contact for certain issues or what procedures we used to perform an uncommon task are those details that may go missing. A written P&P Manual would serve as your reference guide. Think about how much time you could save simply by looking up the detail and moving forward - instead of searching for sticky notes around the office or paging through endless emails.

Third, let's face it: turnover is going to occur in staffing. We've seen how our businesses have contracted, sighed, rolled over, or even shut down during the economic downturn. And with those maneuvers came staff changes. If your staff changes, you need to be able to point new arrivals in the right direction in terms of their responsibilities and every day operations. Your written Policies and Procedures Manual will do just that.

Keep in mind that a P&P Manual is a living, breathing work, that is, it must be maintained, updated, and changed as your business does the same. But the hardest part is facing that blank screen when it comes to writing the procedures. But don't worry, because a professional technical writer and training developer can help! This person can come into your business, observe your procedures, your systems, and your processes, and help you come up with a P&P Manual that 's easy to maintain and update. To see how Blue Notebook Communications can help you create a Policy & Procedures Manual, contact us today for a free consultation.

The ABC's of ADDIE

If you've been involved in a training project or have one coming up, you may have heard the term "ADDIE" to describe a method of training development. All of us training professionals love to use acronyms, but there's no need to fear this one. In fact, following the ADDIE model in designing a training program will keep you on track. So just who is this ADDIE? Let's find out.

Analysis. A training analysis can be a very complicated information gathering exercise, but there are a few basics which can help you through it. First, you must know who the audience is. Are they front line associates? Are they all accountants? Do they have the same educational and professional backgrounds, or do they vary? Is your audience technologically savvy or might they use a mouse like a sewing machine pedal? These may seem like easy questions, but they will point you in the right direction. In regard to analyzing for content, it's a best practice to understand what the audience is not doing or what the problem may be. If there is no identified problem, be sure that someone can explain what the expected outcome of training is. Does the audience need to learn a new process, a new system, a customer service protocol, or how to sell a new product? In addition to content, the analysis period is when you'll need to determine timelines and learning parameters. For instance, are you going to have to design classroom training that only lasts three hours, must be delivered in various locations, and needs to be completed within six months? Once you've taken the time to analyze, you're ready to move to the next step.

Design. In this phase, you'll need to determine your instructional strategy. Is the classroom course strictly a lecture format, or do you need to have group breakouts, activities, and case studies? Is the course going to be delivered online? Will you have a "tell, show, do" format for a technically-based course? You already know what the general outcome is supposed to be due to your analysis, but now is the time to break that outcome down into performance-based, measurable objectives. As you develop objectives, you'll also begin to strategize the testing format for each one: is this a live test, a written evaluation, a case study, or a demonstration? The overall look of course materials will begin to take shape here, also. If the course is to be delivered via online learning, designers will create a prototype for the course "look and feel" and will begin gathering visuals to accompany the content.

Development. This is the heavy work phase of the ADDIE process. Here, you'll start meeting with Subject Matter Experts, researching, and writing content. For online learning, the content will begin to appear in storyboards, or templates, from the design phase. Online designers may begin programming course features as the content is turned over to them. And of course, editing, proofing, and revising occur pretty regularly during this phase. You'll even need to write test materials, procedures, and standards during this phase.

Implementation. Before the actual rollout of the course to its target audience, you'll set up training for facilitators. It's not a good idea to simply start giving the course without preparation for the trainers, so the course designers and trainers should meet, talk about the course, and "teach" the course to each other. If the training is online, you'll probably want to have a small target group take the course and take the tests to make sure they function properly and make sense in the online environment. You'll also take the time to make sure that supplies, classrooms, computer systems, and A/V equipment are available and ready for delivery.

Evaluation. There are essentially two types of evaluation. Formative evaluation occurs throughout the ADDIE process in the form of revisions, reviews, train-the-trainer sessions, and prototype rollouts. In fact, you may want to consider not only rolling out online training to a "test market" but also classroom courses. Pull in highly experienced members of the target audience along with less experienced members of that audience. In addition, bring in your subject matter experts to attend class. Let them evaluate the course but also open up a roundtable discussion once the course is completed. Summative evaluation is also a continuous process. This evaluation occurs every time someone is tested and provides feedback on the course - but you have to know how to use the data you see. For example, if a large number of participants are answering a particular test question incorrectly, that's an indication to go back and look at the question and the content of the course. If course evaluations show any trends, this is also an indication to re-examine content, delivery, and testing.

Now that you know ADDIE, you can employ each step to build effective training programs.

Developing training programs is quite a task, especially in a troubled economy! Are you ready to outsource your training needs? Visit Blue Notebook Communications today for an assessment.

Your Marketing Package

Marketing your small business is certainly no small task. First, think about the physical collateral you'll need, such as brochures, postcards, flyers, newsletters, white papers...all right, take a breath and let's go back to the basics. Let's say you need a brochure and some dynamic web copy. Great. But this marketing package is not useful unless it accurately conveys three important things.

1. Benefits, benefits, benefits. It's easy to talk about what we do. It's also easy to explain our processes and show a potential client how we get from the first step to the last step. But what we often forget is how what we do benefits our clients. What does the client have to gain by choosing our services? Will they bring in new clients, add to the bottom line, expand their product line, or increase retention through better trained employees? Your marketing collateral must include the benefits of choosing your product or service.
2. Information. This is a no-brainer, but you must give an introduction to your products or services in your marketing collateral. Think about a beautiful, crisp brochure tucked inside a folder, along with a press release and a page of testimonials. But what if this stuff says nothing about your actual products? The potential client may have a good feeling, but they may not know why! Talk briefly about your products and services in your collateral.
3. USP. Having worked in the banking industry for fifteen years, I'm not a huge fan of acronyms. But this one is a good one - and it's easy to remember. The USP is simply your Unique Selling Proposition, or, what sets you apart from all of your competition. Let's face it: many of us provide products and services that are provided by many others. But just as you talk about benefits, you should talk about what makes you different from that competition. Do you offer a dedicated account representative? Is your experience more luxurious than your competition? Do you have the best talent working for you? Are you an expert in a certain niche or field? Think about what makes you different and capitalize on it within your marketing collateral.

These three elements will make your marketing package stand out from the others - and close the deal for your potential clients. Try thinking through each of these elements, and your marketing package will take shape.

Want to know more? Visit Blue Notebook Communications today.

On Creative Writing

I'm often asked about the entire process of writing "creatively". As a published novelist, I feel I can speak on the subject, although I speak only to my own creative process and certainly not that of anyone else. Of course, quite a bit of commercial writing must be creative in order to engage the audience and communicate the right message appropriately, so the term "creative writing" stretches through several ballparks for me and others like me. But when it comes to creative writing such as novels, short stories, essays, or prose, there are a few pieces of advice I can give which will help your creative process.

1. "Writing" is an active process. Simple, but true. So remember that in order to start, you've got to just get it out on the page. If you have an idea, go with it and worry about cohesion, editing, and grammar after it's done. If you're a novelist or short story writer, write the scene that's in your head. Often we block our creative process by thinking too much in a straight line, that is, we think we have to write scenes and dialogues in chronological order. Don't worry about it. If you've got a great idea, write it. I've been known to write entire chapters and then remove them, placing them in a file somewhere until they're needed (or not!).
   
2. Write about what you know. This is also a simple, oft-repeated piece of writing advice, but it stands true. Some writers, both non-fiction and fiction, are adept at doing research and including the information in their pieces. And I'm not saying you shouldn't aspire to that. But to really get the juices flowing, think about your story ideas in terms of the things you're most familiar with. The trick is to take those things, integrate them into the story, and above all else, make them interesting enough to set your piece apart from the rest.
3. Become the "constant researcher". This is one of my tips that always needs an explanation. As a writer, turn yourself into a detective. Always be on the lookout for the details that other people may not catch. Descriptions of these things, people, actions, etc. will be some of the elements that engage your readers. Why do writers tend to congregate at Starbucks? On the TV show Family Guy there was a little sketch about writers doing their thing in public; the long and short of it (and funny as usual) was that writers just want people to see them writing. Although that made me laugh, I tend to disagree. Writers are observing humans interacting in everyday situations: how do they act, what do they say, what little quirks do they have that make them interesting? The members of my creative writing group always laugh at me because every once in a while, they come across a detail that can be traced directly back to me, the author.
4. Use a writing prompt. A writing prompt is simply a little nugget that gets you going into a story or a scene. Magazines like Writer's Digest include a monthly prompt - along with a story contest. There are numerous books out there, too, which are written strictly for the purpose of providing a prompt (try The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood). You may find that a writing exercise turns into an entire story.
5. Keep a reporter's notebook. Notice I didn't say a journal. The reporter notebook and a journal are two different things. A journal is a great idea and many writers keep one, recording thoughts, observations, and activities. A reporter's notebook is portable enough to keep in a briefcase, purse, or messenger bag - and nimble enough to yank out, write down an idea, and put back at any time. I personally keep a vertical, flip-up, held-by-an-elastic-band reporter's notebook that you may have seen in an old Hollywood flick. Hemingway carried the exact model, made by Moleskine. The notebook is a fun way to remind yourself that you're a writer, and a great receptacle for all those tidbits you pick up during one day. You can buy one at www.modoemodo.com.

Again, these are tips that I have found helpful in my own creative process. I would imagine that not everything here is going to work for each individual, so experiment with these ideas and find the ones that work for you. You'll be writing creatively in no time.

Check out Chris Amisano's novel, An Imperfect Arrangement, at www.chrisamisano.com.

Six Ways to Increase E-learning Usage and Completion

Sometimes the training department ends up playing the role of "cop", that is, trying to make sure everyone finishes assigned courses within the prescribed time periods and success levels. When you add e-learning to the mix, you've got more real estate to "police" - and sometimes the online pieces fall to the bottom of the list. After all, the online courses are supposed to be "self service", right? Instead of patrolling completion, here are six ways to increase usage and encourage associates to finish online courses, as well.

1. Develop an e-culture. It's great to roll out e-learning, but be sure that the organization's culture is ready for it. If not, roll it out slowly using email or intranet campaigns. Put out tutorials that help associates log in to courses, navigate them, and know what to expect when the courses are completed. Another e-culture piece could be a blog or online discussion threads to help associates discuss content and online course usage. The biggest mistake is to just put e-learning out there and expect the organization to adapt to it right away, with no "priming".
2. Hold managers accountable. With any training program, we sometimes forget that others can be held accountable for each person's attendance or completion. With e-learning, you add the variable of people working on courses from their desks or workspaces. Without management help, some of them won't know how and when to schedule their learning. By holding managers accountable, you're helping the learning process. Managers will be more likely to create schedules and encourage associates to complete their online learning. You're also adding to a culture that values learning.
3. Add a "social" aspect to e-learning. Many online courses simply require an associate to log on and take a course. But some courses can be developed to create online discussions or pre-work with other course participants and even an instructor or "coach". This type of intervention is especially useful with geographically diverse learning populations, where associates from different parts of the country or even the world can interact in a virtual classroom. Not only does a social aspect encourage completion, it also creates an opportunity for networking.
4. Reward and certify. If you're offering a "core" of online courses, make it into a certification. Better yet, online learning cores can be used to "career path" associates in various job groups. With this arrangement, you can certify associates and offer an entrance into a talent pool or even a bonus or increase for completing a certain number of courses. Just be sure that completion leads somewhere, i.e. to consideration for promotion or a into a new job group.
5. Track completion. This may be redundant to add, but don't be surprised if you come across organizations that just don't track e-learning completion. If you're running a Learning Management System (LMS), you should have tracking as part of the e-learning platform. If you've developed your own LMS, be sure to add tracking. When you track, associates have a clear record of accomplishment, as do their managers. Associates who are looking for mobility or promotion can use their course completion record as further proof that they are ready to move forward. 
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate. The best online learning systems and interventions are not worth much if no one knows about them. Even developing an e-culture won't last if you don't continue to communicate the courses, the rewards, the accountabilities, etc. And this type of communication is not just informative - it's marketing! Create communications that make associates want to log in and take courses, showing them the benefits of doing so. Create an online learning communications plan - and stick to it.

E-learning is a fantastic way to reach diverse populations and encourage the self-direction of adult learners. But remember that you must help e-learning along, and these six items can get you started.

Learn more about e-learning development, design, and communications at Blue Notebook Communications.

Formalized Training Programs: So What's the Big Deal?

Why is it necessary to create formal training and development programs, instead of going with the status quo and training where it's necessary? This question comes up sometimes and is even more powerful given the fact that organizations are trimming their budgets and staffs. Aside from the additional fact that  a formal training program, even in a small company, puts a training framework and culture in place for future growth, formal programs provide other benefits that may not be immediately recognizable.

1. Your program will prove that the organization values knowledge - and the retention that comes with it. I've seen organizations that train new employees on the job, even in the same job groups but in different locations. When these employees discover that they are doing things differently than other people in the same job, they get frustrated. If they find they don't have resources, like "quick reference guides" or tutorials, they get frustrated. This frustration can quickly show itself in a letter of resignation before you've even recouped the cost of training in the first place. Train and retain. It costs less in the short and long runs.
2. A formal training program creates a career path both within job groups and from one job group to another. This is one of those hidden benefits that may show up even without a formal "career path". When associates know they can train for mobility, it gives them something to focus on - and they are more likely to stick around. 
3. Formal training fills the talent pool. This is the organizational equivalent of #2 above. As associates become knowledgeable in other job areas, management begins to see how they can fill key positions in the event of a promotion, resignation, or termination. This succession planning is necessary for growth, retention, and as a way to attract high quality job candidates at every level.
4. From the operations angle, a formal training program documents processes and procedures - and how they should be taught. Some organizations begin a training program before they get around to written policies and procedures. Some use the written policies and procedures as the basis for training. Either way, the formal training program creates a dual documentation that can be used as a cross check at any point.
5. A formal training program aligns the organization with the overall mission and strategy. Internal communications are always a good way to point everyone to the mission and strategy, but the training program ensures that associates are taught their jobs in a way that directly impacts the organization's ability to move forward.

The budget you spend on formal training will pay off in retention, mobility, and succession planning, not to mention the ability to focus on the organization's mission and strategy. 

Find out more about creating your formalized training program at Blue Notebook Communications.