The primary reason for getting into business in the first place is to move product (produce sales), not produce it.

Perhaps that's the starting point that is missed?

I like KISS – always a good lesson when starting something – stop thinking about what tools you need and get going with the most simplest of tools. If you can don't use any

Justin you are a very good marketer – remember some people just don't have the skill or knack or don't want to be great marketers – for them it pays for them to sit with a great marketer and get the hired help to do the marketing. Often these people are propeller heads – they need help marketing and we need their product.

A product is 10% done when it is finished and ready for market, the other 90% is marketing, selling and supporting.

Marketing planning, I agree that unless you know what the market needs and know it very well, don't even bother starting.

In a recession I think the people just hide better, it takes a little more ingenious marketing plans to find them.

Looking forward to the next podcast, "Making money as quickly as the on-line pay as you go gurus have told us!"

Very good food for thought about recession periods. As always insightful – keep to the basics – Thanks.

Like Justin says simple pen and paper!!!!

I have built a 50 bar company on the back of napkins and scraps of paper – the point I am impressing don't get caught up in the planning tools, just make sure you plan, often the easiest (hint, pen and paper) route is the best.

Glad you found a few valuable points, as always its a case of logic first for me

Thanks for the support.

I agree, Google should look for a 3rd world country somewhere at the tip of Africa for a remote case study!

Michelle Jayes

Enjoyed the follow through on Facebook, will keep this in mind – not there yet!

All the best!

Mentee? WTF is that even a word? Sounds like a chewy mint

This is great news – thanks and keep us posted.

KISS – is always something we should remind ourselves of, don't over complicate _anything_!

I like the question and answer on what is perceived as a good ROI.

* 80-100% ROI is acceptable
* 100 – 300% is good
* 300% + is excellent

For your own product if you work of gross marking (i.e. profit after sale)

* 100% – 200% ROI is acceptable
* 200 – 400% is good
* 400% + is excellent

But again that's my own interpretation, and it really depends on WHAT YOU are prepared to work for…

Trust that makes sense.

For example, take out an advert and have a dedicated email address or telephone number for that add so you can track the response rates etc.

You see the fact is, yes we have more options online, but its not because there are no options offline that the online model is better, its the fact that most business owners are lazy and ill advised and therefore don't as you say quantify everything.

Thanks for the post – the KISS model always works best. Coming from an accounting background this is simple enough for anyone to follow.

My only thought to ponder… Earnings for the individual should be taken into consideration, especially if you have hit the Tax bracket and need to declare earnings. Remember Tax Man will not reimburse you for not calculating correctly.

And if you are comparing the ROI against traditional investments, its crazy, for example we turn our cash every 3 months (average) and our average ROI for paid placements is around 308% – so theoretically 1200%+ return on investment…

So yes no bank or other investment comes close!

Thanks

That is also what I love about this industry – no bank will provide you with a 100% or higher return on investment…

All the points you made are very relevant. This is one area of my life that I need to seriously do more work on…Thanks for the pointers.

Look forward to the next one,

Rgs

Heath

But what you have just said is very accurate, break your actionable tasks down into small half hour segments, and also leave enough time in your day or rather allocate time in your day for stuff like reading, research, etc.

You mention planning for the day to achieve your tasks, in which you allocated time slots to each. I think you should use the phrase "Time mapping" for the daily time slots for achieving your tasks which are part of your goals.

Set the Yearly Goal, then Monthly Goal, then Weekly Goal, then each day a Daily Goal – THEN plan your tasks for the day – THEN do Time Mapping, which breaks down the tasks into bite sizes. (I like the term Rob gave "Eat the elephant one bite at a time!")

To start work with rough estimates ie. hours or half hour slots, as you get more experience with it, you should become more accurate.

A sample "Time Map" might help the listeners.

Justin – thanks for the invaluable advice on setting goals and planning to achieve them.

Cheers
Cynthia Minnaar

Thanks for the work you guys are doing!

Good to have you back and look forward to the 2010 podcasts.