Energize Growth Now E-Book

Lisa Nirell

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 280

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

A strategy and marketing guide for growth companies Growth at any price can be exhausting for B-2-B companies and professional service providers who want to win more clients. Many entrepreneurs watch their bank accounts grow, but sacrifice too much in the process. Since 2001, wealth has taken on a whole new meaning. In this tell-all marketing guidebook, Lisa Nirell reveals a contemporary, contrarian, and field-tested view of marketing and planning. Successful growth and exit planning aren't about maximizing revenues or launching Internet marketing campaigns. Instead, they're about creating a compelling vision of the future, winning clients' hearts and minds, and defining the "wealth quotient" in a holistic way. This practical, real-world guide shows readers how to develop a strategic marketing plan that really works-and avoid the attitudes that sabotage great ideas.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Plug In

DISCLAIMER

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Accolades and Gratitude

CHAPTER 1 - Running on Empty

CHAPTER 2 - Brains, Beliefs, and Growth Blunders

1. VALUES

2. BELIEFS

3. ATTITUDES

4. MEMORIES

5. DECISIONS

6. LANGUAGE

7. META PROGRAMS OR THOUGHT PATTERNS

STEPS TO MASTERING YOUR MINDSET

CHAPTER 3 - Say No to the Good, and Yes to the Great

CALCULATE THE ROI FROM YOUR HEDGEHOG

HEDGEHOGS SIMPLIFY SEGMENTATION

CHAPTER 4 - Increase Your Wealth Quotient

HOW WE DEFINE WEALTHY COMPANIES

WHAT’S YOUR WEALTH QUOTIENT?

WHEN IS IT TIME TO EXIT?

CHAPTER 5 - The Path to Planning

WHY AVOID PLANNING?

STEP 1. STRATEGIC MARKET IMPERATIVES

STEP 2. THE CONSEQUENCES AND IMPACT

STEP 3. THE ULTIMATE RESULT AND UNIQUE VALUE FACTOR

STEP 4. IDEAL CLIENT

STEP 5. ELEVATOR STATEMENT

CHAPTER 6 - The Inside Job

STEP 6. YOUR VIVID VISION

STEP 7: YOUR COMPANY VALUES

STEP 8: TOP GROWTH OBJECTIVES

STEP 9. THE GAPS THAT STOP YOU FROM DELIVERING ON THIS VALUE

STEP 10: YOUR STOP DOING LIST

STEP 11: MEASURES OF SUCCESS

CHAPTER 7 - What’s on Your Dashboard?

CHAPTER 8 - Design Your Dashboard

WHY DASHBOARDS BREAK

CHAPTER 9 - Plan Your Brand

HOW TO WASTE MONEY ON BRANDING

NINE QUESTIONS TO ENERGIZE YOUR BRAND

BRANDING IN ACTION

CHAPTER 10 - More Revenues, Fewer Clients

DEMONSTRATE YOUR VALUE NOW: 16 WAYS TO GENERATE MORE REVENUES FROM FEWER CLIENTS

CHAPTER 11 - Future Energy Sources: How to Grow Your Wealth Quotient with ...

11 STEPS TO ENERGIZE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

APPENDIX A - Sample EnergizeGrowth® Plan

APPENDIX B - Sample ProfitCents Report

References

About the Author

Index

Praise for EnergizeGrowth®Now

“Effective, timely, balanced—this book captures the critical steps for growing a business the ‘right way’ and avoiding the usual pitfalls of a poor growth strategy.”

—Stephen R. Covey, authorThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Leader in Me

“Much like my experience at Apple, you will need to know when it’s time to stop acting like a bootstrapper and start operating like a growth company. This book is a great resource to ease the transition. By applying these core principles and time-tested planning guides, you will have changed the world for the better.”

—Guy Kawasaki, authorReality Check and The Art of the Start, and cofounder, Alltop.com

“I wish I’d had access to this book’s wisdom in the past. It’s a well-spring of invaluable marketing ideas and wealth-building strategies business owners and management teams can—and should—use to take their companies where they need to go. There’s no obtuse theory or hard-to-understand doublespeak here. Just actionable plans anyone can literally start using tomorrow. That makes Lisa Nirell the growth strategy guru for sustainable businesses.”

—Jeffrey HollenderPresident and Chief Inspired Protagonist, Seventh Generation

“EnergizeGrowth®NOW appears at an ideal time to provide small business owners with their rightful wealth, life balance, and peace of mind through great advice, easily applied. Lisa Nirell’s advice is more important than any business plan you now have in place.”

—Alan Weiss, PhD, authorMillion Dollar Consulting

“EnergizeGrowth®NOW is simply a fantastic how-to guide for building a great company. Try the ideas in this book and not only will your business grow, but so will you!”

—Marshall GoldsmithNew York Times and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling author of What Got You There Won’t Get You There and Succession: Are You Ready?

“In EnergizeGrowth®NOW, Lisa Nirell has written a smart, concise guide for business leaders looking to navigate growth successfully. The book provides valuable tips on how companies can grow better as well as bigger, and how leaders can create the kind of vibrant culture that’s critical now more than ever.”

—Ray Davis, CEOUmpqua Bank, and author, Leading for Growth

“Lisa Nirell has captured the essence of what it takes to grow an entrepreneurial venture into a successful, sustainable enterprise.”

—Jerry Andres, CEOJELD-WEN Communities, and Chairman of the Board Clear Choice Health Plans

“What’s uniquely cool about Lisa’s book is the way she interweaves values with financial success. Making big bucks without values smells. Having high values go unrewarded ultimately destroys beliefs. She keeps ’em together.”

—Gary Sutton, authorThe Six Month Fix and Corporate Canaries

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Nirell, Lisa, 1961-

EnergizeGrowth® NOW : the marketing guide to a wealthy company / Lisa Nirell.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-49369-4

1. Business planning. 2. Branding (Marketing) 3. Business enterprises—Management. I. Title.

HD30.28.N57 2009

658.8’02—dc22

2009000831

Dedicated to Ed Lizotte, my “Dear Old Dad”

Foreword

Implementation, not ideation, is the essence of entrepreneurship. Thus, the bad news is that soon after the start-up phase, all hell breaks loose. Your initial passion and desire has waned. You have achieved material success, yet you feel empty. You are pulled in multiple directions and are resource constrained—again. Your sales team is struggling to meet demand. Inefficiencies in your business abound. Cash flow is tight—it reminds you of your start-up days. Except this time, you have many more mouths to feed, a real budget to manage, and board members to satisfy.

Whatever happened to the excitement, romance, and glory of the start-up phase when you sat around coming up with ideas? Can you ever rekindle that feeling again?

It’s perfectly normal to lose that enthusiasm. When I worked in the Macintosh division of Apple, the shine eventually wore off. Once we achieved great traction and industry accolades, I was ready to move on. That job opportunity was like being paid to go to Disneyland. But don’t get me wrong—it was difficult to evangelize a new operating system.

Much like my experience at Apple, you will need to know when it’s time to stop acting like a bootstrapper and start operating like a growth company. This book is a great resource to ease the transition.

I met Lisa Nirell during one of my keynote talks in San Diego, California. She then joined my book review team for The Art of the Start. Here is what I know about Lisa: She is not some professor who wants to test out the newest 2 × 2 matrix on your dime. She has been selling and marketing high value products and services for nearly three decades. She’s a practical, no bull-shiitake, and seasoned marketing evangelist with hundreds of relevant stories to share. Many of them are in this book.

You will benefit from several key principles in this book that business builders face routinely:

• If you have survived the initial start-up phase of your business, it’s easy to abdicate positioning and planning to others so that you can keep pursuing new projects (or businesses). Planning cramps your style, right? Don’t fall prey to this temptation.

• You can only do so much to position your products and services, so come to grips with the fact that you are not in total control of your positioning. It’s okay to position what you offer in a certain way, but ultimately the customers will do it for you. Use the practical positioning tools in this book to get you started, and then see how customers react.

• Now that you’re growing rapidly, it’s easier to hire a bunch of consultants because you don’t think you have the bandwidth to do it all yourself. You’ll regret this decision later.

• Nobody can evangelize your company as well as you can. Stay connected to customers, your vision, your pricing model, and your business partners—no matter how busy you are.

• You cannot serve everyone. Don’t even try. Avoid distractions and use this field guide to help you focus.

• Finally, Lisa’s book reminds us of another effective way to drive your competition crazy: making good by doing good. If you are engaging in activities that do not bring harm to your people or the planet, and you want to make true meaning in the world, you will be increasing your Wealth Quotient or WQ. You’ll be doing positive things in the world and ultimately reinforcing your values, your value, and your brand promise.

Use this book to get clear on what wealth and market success really mean to you. Then dive into the 11 planning steps. Validate your information through your customers. Select the right social media strategy. You will save yourself from committing a typical growth company “bozosity”—such as hosting an expensive offsite planning session at the nearest five-star resort.

By applying these core principles and time-tested planning guides, you will have changed the world for the better.

GUY KAWASAKI Author of Reality Check and The Art of the Startand cofounder of Alltop.com.

Plug In

The pursuit of growth at any cost has a price. The demise of companies like Adelphia, Enron, and WorldCom prove that growth has its limits and boundaries. Many firms have ceased to exist due to greed, arrogance, and poor planning. In fact, some small business experts estimate that at least two-thirds of the new businesses you know today will never reach their five-year anniversary.

The past decade has been unforgiving for many business owners. It is not uncommon to know at least one CEO who has simultaneously witnessed a growing bank account and declining health. Much to my surprise, one of my former clients was imprisoned for ethical violations. Another client nearly died from stress and exhaustion at age forty-four. These examples collectively fueled my mission to help business leaders create a positive, lasting impact on the world.