Strategic Business Tips from Kim Beasley

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If you use mindmaps to develop processes or structure to your business, then you may have heard about MindMeister. Just in case you haven’t, let me share a little about MindMeister. It is a mind-mapping tool that allows you to easily manage your mind-mapping efforts.

Recently, MindMeister added their application to the list of available applications that can be added to your Google Apps account. You can find out more by visiting Google Apps – MindMeister. According to their Google Apps – MindMeister webpage…

MindMeister allows your team to be more creative and innovative by providing a shared collaboration and brainstorming environment using the proven mind mapping technique. Create mind maps for new projects and accounts, manage meetings and sketch out business plans online with your partners and colleagues, all in real time.

Also, watch the video below for more details.

Have you determined that in 2010, you are going to develop your online presence with a website? Are you a coach who needs to enhance your online presence but need assistance or guidance in doing this? If your answer is “yes”, I have a few things to share with you that will help you develop your online presence.

The image below shows a suggested process that
you can follow to enhance your online presence

Below are a few suggestions that would be good for coaches to implement to enhance their online presence during 2010:

• One of the things that you, as a coach, should implement is a membership website. With a membership website, you can create interactivity between you and those you mentor.
• Implement a social media plan that is integrating into your website. Research your industry and target market to determine which social media websites are used the most and then determine how you can incorporate social media into your business.
• Create products that you can either give away or sell to your target audience. Things you can use for products are: recorded teleseminars, blog posts, or even a PowerPoint presentation. You can use pretty much anything that allows you to share your knowledge or information.
• Setup Google alerts to monitor your online presence. Add your keywords, your name, and your business to your alerts so that you can be notified whenever they show up in search engines.
• If you have video or PowerPoint presentations that you can change into video, think about setting up a YouTube account and sharing your information there. This is a good way for you to allow your message to reach the masses along with adding viral marketing to your online presence.
• Integrate Google Analytics or monitoring code into your website so that you can always be aware of how your website traffic is trending.

Pro Membership Services is running a special for coaches to help them develop their online presence with a WordPress website or by integrating social media into their online presence. For more details, check out “WordPress Website Special for Coaches“.

Have you been experiencing overwhelm due to new projects or just that this is the first part of the New Year? Are you having problems staying focused on your projects or plans for the New Year? The New Year has started and like many, I have “new plans” for the “New Year”. Along with the new plan can come a lot of expectation to have successful and rewarding projects.

One thing that I have built into my plans for the New Year is “me time” so that I don’t get overwhelmed. If you have been experiencing “overwhelm”, I want to share a few tips to help you “overcome the overwhelm of the New Year”.

• Plan “me time” into your week where you take time to concentrate on pampering yourself.
• Use project planning software to manage your many projects. This will help you to manage your resources, staff technology, and project.
• Be open and flexible, especially if you have new projects that you have started.
• Keep in mind that you can delegate tasks to a virtual team member to alleviate some of the pressure off of you.
• Monitor your progress so that you will be able to look back to see what you have accomplished as the year proceeds.

As you overcome the overwhelm of the New Year, celebrate your successes and keep encouraging yourself. I would love to hear what you have to share on how you deal with “the overwhelm” feeling that you can get as a business owner when dealing with the New Year.

Did your business struggle to survive in 2009? Are you looking for a way to add growth to your business in 2010? Then let me suggest that you take a look into “cross marketing” with at least one other business owner.

An example of cross marketing can be seen in the picture to the left. As you can see, these are products that have been associated with the gaming system product called Wii Fit. You can see towels and a sweat band, which are things that you might need if you are using Wii Fit to workout.

So for 2010, let me help you think of ways that you can add cross marketing to your business plan. Below are a few steps that can help you get started as you determine how to find your ideal cross marketing partner.

• Create a list of the type of businesses you would like to cross market with
• Determine where you will search for your potential cross marketing partner
• Monitor your progress to determine were you are most successful
• Create an agreement with those that you identify as potential cross marketing partners.

According to CrossMarketingPartners.com,

Cross Marketing is the process of connecting with at least one other business owner and collaborating through joint ventures to help each other grow your business and market to each others customer base.

As you develop and implement your business plan for 2010, keep in mind that by adding cross marketing, you can grow your realm of connecting with potential customers.

With the New Year starting today, I decided to start a new month-long series to help business owners find different ways to grow their businesses. During this month, I will share different tips that will help you to not only grow your business but also manage its growth.

Some of the topics that I plan on covering this month are:

• Cross marketing
• Social media
• Business management
• Virtual support teams
• Blogging

As I share these tips, I want to encourage you to respond with a comment about how they have helped you with your business or share additional information of how you currently are using the chosen topic. I’m looking forward to hearing of great things for everyone.