I had such a great time creating my business Christmas card this year! I used Picnik.com to do some fun photo manipulation, and the result is a banner I love. You can see the finished product here: http://bit.ly/sSA2zb.

I not only wanted to express my appreciation for the opportunity to serve, but to also share some ideas for helping people in your community. While some folks have had a good year, 2011 has been difficult for many others. Sometimes it's the little touches that make such a difference in other's lives.

If you're looking for a way to bring a little life into someone's life this year, here are a few thoughts to get you started:

• Pick up a big handful of travel sized lotions, hand sanitizer or lip balm. Pop them in a cheery gift bag and stop by your local senior center or retirement home to drop them off.
• Don't have children at home? Your local child care center can always use a few extra boxes of tissues or rolls of paper towels. (Feeling generous? Bring a case!)
• Many local high schools offer season passes to a wide range of sporting events and activities. Buy a pair for someone you know would love to attend.
• Did you upgrade to a tablet or e-reader recently? Bundle up your books on CD and drop them off at a rehabilitation or dialysis center.
• Many local churches have "angel" or "giving" trees. Pick up a tag or two and buy some gits for the child or teen listed (gifts always needed for teens). I saw a giving tree at a local McDonald's recently!
• We often give small gifts to teachers - maybe this year the counselor, secretary or front office assistant deserves a coffee card "thank you" for their help.
• A time honored tradition when I was little? Taking homemade Christmas cookies to the local fire station on Christmas Day. It's a great time to say "thanks" for their dedication.

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season ~

I've been working with Mindy Geraets of hush Therapeutic Massage for the last year or so on a marketing strategic plan, and associated writing/PR projects. Last Sunday, October 23, 2011, Mindy scored a nice hit in one of our local dailies - the Pioneer Press. They do a column every Sunday focusing on a small business still in the start-up stage.

Mindy had the opportunity to answer questions about her business, as well as have photos taken of her at work with a client. This wasn't her first exposure to publicity. A few months ago she had the chance to appear on-camera during a local morning news program.

In a conversation the other day, Mindy made several important observations that would benefit any small business owner or professional services consultant.

First - she credits the strategic planning we did with helping her focus on the needs of her select target markets (marathon runner and triathletes, people dealing with chronic pain, and moms in need of recharging their batteries). It's easy as a small business person to get so caught up in the day-to-day work, and the financial pressures of pursuing clients (any clients, right?) to lose focus on the big picture.

Marketing strategic planning makes sense for businesses of all sizes - especially smaller ones. It lets you take a step back and ask important questions about where your business is going. It's also nice to just take some time for yourself (and your team). Instead of the bustle of client projects and exceeding expectations...you have a small window to sit back and reflect. This helps you gather energy for the next big push.

Once the plan is in place - it's fluid. Circumstances drive change, but at least you have a starting point. A "north star" if you will. You can always drop back to the plan and measure your proposed marketing expenditure against your goals and objectives. Will the effort and expense bring the desired results?

Second - Mindy learned about the importance of taking control of the message and the moment. Instead of letting a reporter, photographer...or client...dictate the terms of engagement, she is able to keep the focus on her message.

Publicity can be a two-edged sword. You want to be responsive to the needs of the news organization (that's why they're interviewing you), but at the same time you need a clear message. If they decide at the last minute they need a "dog whisperer" instead of a specialist in canine diseases...you need to determine if going forward will help or hurt you more. There are many, many opportunities to gain publicity for your business. Doing an interview that takes the focus off your primary business probably won't benefit you in the long run.

Again, congratulations to Mindy of hush Therapeutic Massage for the nice press, and lessons that will benefit all small business owners.

I sent out my July newsletter the other day, and wrote about my experience with a recent marketing consulting prospect.

This is a common experience for small business owners. You're so busy keeping the doors open that marketing often gets relegated to whatever floats along in a free moment. In addition, I often find certain business owners (*cough* men *cough*) more susceptable to the Shotgun Approach, particularly if something was mentioned over the weekend on the golf course!

I had a wonderful opportunity to do a marketing strategy session with a client the other day, and in preparation I sent her a set of questions to get her creative ideas flowing.

One of the questions is "who do you NOT want to market to in 2011?" She loved the question, and answering it helped to reinforce what she doesn't want to do more of going forward.

Sometimes we really need to take a step back and analyze our current business flow. It's easy to get so busy that we don't stop to look around and look at our business with fresh eyes.