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Archive for April, 2009

Think Your Organization Can’t Take Advantage of Stimulus Money? Think Again.

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

As we’ve been watching the stimulus money start making it’s way from Washington to the various corporate and governmental entities who will directly receive it, I’ve heard from people across all industries who shake it off and say “well, that’s for someone else- it won’t be helping my business.”

This is false thinking.

It doesn’t take much creativity to see where nearly everyone will be affected by the $787 Billion entering into our economy.

First, there will be the primary beneficiaries:

  • State Departments. Each state is configured differently but yours, for example, may include some of the following
    • Department of Housing may receive money to weatherize homes
    • Department of Energy may receive money to fund clean energy projects
    • Department of Education may receive money to train workers for renewable energy related jobs

Secondary Beneficiaries

  • Grantees: these are organizations who may receive money to fund projects, or could be distributing funds to sub-grantees
    • The Dept of Housing could dispense money to an organization that is taxed with administering the funds to run weatherization initiatives

Tertiary Beneficiaries

  • Sub Grantees: These are organizations that grantees distribute funds to, for example
    • An organization that is heading up the housing weatherization project needs to screen and manage contractors to weatherize homes

Quaternary Beneficiaries (doesn’t that sound weird?)

  • Contractors: these are the individual companies contracted to complete the jobs
    • Caulking
    • Insulation
    • HVAC

Quinary Beneficiaries (even weirder!)

  • Suppliers: Local home supply stores will see an increase in sales, possibly leading to increased staffing
  • Employees of contractors: more labor will need to be hired in order to meet the demands of all of the jobs

This is just one example, but you can see that the effects will continue. The newly employed workforce will be purchasing more goods, and creating more jobs as a result.

What can you do?

As a business owner, now is the time to find out where your organization could fit in the matrix. What departments in your state will be receiving stimulus funding? What initiatives have those departments been tasked with leading in order to best stimulate your state’s economy? If you get creative, you can probably find a spot where your organization can help, as either a supplier or servicer.

Next time you hear someone say they won’t see any stimulus money, remember- you will. It’s up to you whether it will be as a beneficiary that you can pronounce.

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Do You Fear Failure? 2009 May Be What You’ve Always Needed

Friday, April 17th, 2009

One thing that I keep running up against when talking to business people lately is a sense of fear. It’s not necessarily an irrational fear- there’s a lot to be concerned about- but it’s also not grounded in a complete sense of reality.

What I mean is that 2009 has been a wake up call, no doubt. We’ve all been affected by the economic downturn in one way or another. Businesses are having to lay people off. Companies are cutting benefits. Government is racking up massive debt. BUT, if you’re afraid about the future, ask yourself this: is my fear coming from a clear assessment of my company’s current situation and an analysis of my external environment, or does it come from flat out uncertainty?

I’ve found that when speaking to experienced businesspeople- those who have run businesses during and out of previous recessions- I’ve found most often that they are concerned, and have taken steps to secure their businesses. They’ve analyzed their current positions and responded accordingly. They’re concerned but not terrified.

Where I’ve found frightened responses has been in businesses where people haven’t braved storms similar to the one currently bearing down upon us. Here, we’re most likely finding folks who haven’t completed any external assessments- they may not even be completely aware of how bad it is, because they’re afraid to even look. Where 6 months ago they were content to be ignorant of their position and just hope for the best, hope has now given way to a sense of doom.

If you’re afraid of where things are headed, what steps have you taken to secure your position? A few years ago I had the chance to spend a year living on a tropical Island. While many aspects of living there were sublime: coconuts in your back yard, white sand beaches surrounding you and t-shirt weather 365 days a year- each typhoon season brought a sense of concern. A typhoon could bring massive destruction, knocking out power and water for days or even weeks- bringing the entire island to a stand-still.

And while Typhoon warnings brought a threat of danger, the Island was used to preparing for the storms. Rather than ignoring the threat and just hoping for the best, everyone listened and watched to assess their situation. When the time came they each would stock up on supplies, and go to their businesses and homes and secure them as planned- and then they’d wait it out. What I witnessed was an entire community who knew the power of the incoming storm, but was strengthened by knowing they had survived previous ones.

If you’ve never been through a storm like the one that’s coming, this may be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Right now, though, is not the time to lose hope- it’s time to make a clear assessment of your situation. It’s time to seek advice from those who have been in your shoes and weathered the storm. And it’s time to create a solid plan for how to secure your organization from the wind and rain of a down-turned economy.

For more advice, we have prepared Strategy on a Shoestring, our own recession planning toolkit, packed with tips and tools for making it through this storm. This will help you begin to “batten down the hatches.” Many people have been in your shoes and seen the dark clouds gathering- those who have faced their fears, planned, implemented and survived have come though better for it. If you do the same, then years from now you may be telling someone else how they can weather a storm just like the one in 2009.

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Jim Collins on How to Thrive in 2009

Friday, April 17th, 2009

This April 15th newsletter contains nothing bout getting your taxes in on time. You can thank us later.

Recently, Jim Collins, renowned author of the classic business books Built to Last and Good to Great, was interviewed by Inc. Magazine and had some great advice for companies weathering the current financial crisis.

If you read the entire article, you may find that Collins has some potentially scary words for businesses in today’s climate. Collins spends a good deal of the interview discussing the similarities of the bursting of the tech bubble nearly 10 years ago, and says that we’re in for an era marked by turbulence.

Business People in this Crisis are Mountain Climbers

It hit me that we’re all heading up there, whether we like it or not. We’re heading into a world characterized by big events, big forces, massive storms. We’re going to be vulnerable little specks high on the mountain when the storm hits out of nowhere. And if we’re not prepared, we’re going to die up there. Or we’re going to be in real serious trouble.

But Collins doesn’t just speak of woe and trouble. His advice surrounds staying sharp and maintaining your skills in this ever-changing world of business. He may not be painting the rosiest picture of the economic future, but he’s far from pessimistic.

Stand Strong in the Face of Ambiguity

It is only in times like these that you get a chance to show your strength. In the end, I think we need to have absolute faith in our ability to deal with whatever is thrown at us. And we need to have a complete, realistic paranoia that a lot can be thrown at us. It’s our ability to put those two contradictory ideas together: We need to be prepared for what we can’t predict and, at the same time, have this total, unwavering faith that we will find a way to deal with all of it. And I believe we will. I don’t believe the world will treat us well, but we will figure out how to do very well.

Right now, everyone could use some of Collins’ quoted “unwavering faith.” If you are staring into the rest of 2009 and beginning do doubt your organization’s ability to ride it out, take a minute to check whether it’s just that realistic paranoia that he says we should all have, or whether you need a dose of faith. If you find that’s the case, we always say that good strategic planning is a great source of faith! The entire article can be found at Inc.com.

M3 HONORED AGAIN! VOTE AND WIN!

We were honored that one of our products, MyStrategicPlan, was awarded the Best New Product at the Stevie Awards in January. Thank you – our clients, partners, and friends -  for being part of our success. Just this week, we learned we’ve been nominated for the People’s Choice Stevie Award for Best New Product – Favorite Software.

Votes will be accepted until April 30th, so don’t miss out- Because the American Business Awards knows time is money, your vote could win YOU a $1,000 Amazon.com gift card. If you have the time, vote today.

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How Shovel-Ready Are You?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Originally sent out April 2, 2009

Stimulus money. It’s the talk of everyone in business right now. With the US Government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, hundreds of billions of dollars are being allocated towards tax cuts and investments into the nation’s infrastructure.  Industries like energy and housing will see large amounts of stimulus aid, intended to create jobs and infrastructure that will help pull the nation out of economic distress and prepare us to compete in the future.

With all of this money being allocated, distribution will go to those ready for it. The buzz phrase that many are using for such projects is “Shovel-Ready,” meaning something that has been planned and thought through, where the resources are all ready to move but still in need of funding.

Which brings us to the question, how Shovel Ready is your business?

As many energy-related start ups and established organizations all vie for stimulus funding, many are finding that they need to scramble to meet the requirements to apply for funding. They may have good ideas and great intentions, but grant submission is a formal process and the government must takes steps to ensure those receiving money will be accountable.

For this reason, these companies have to submit applications that detail how they will use the money, including such things as their strategic plans. If you’re an organization without a plan, it will be impossible to compete for the money. It’s one thing to hatch an idea, but it’s another to work through how it will become a reality.

Would you be ready for stimulus money? How would your organization handle a large infusion of money?

It’s a sobering thing to think of what a small business would do with, say, a few million dollars. That’s a a few million extra things to be accountable for.

  • How would your vision change if you got 30 million dollars?
  • Would your mission remain the same? Would it expand?
  • Could your current infrastructure grow or break?
  • What new positions would you need filled?
  • With the stimulus act’s focus on job creation, would you be able to find the staff you needed?
  • Could your current vendors/suppliers handle the increase in demand?
  • How would this change your distribution channels?
  • Could you manage such a huge change in your organization, or would such a thing be too overwhelming?

Image of Strategic Plan ReportFor existing organizations within industries receiving money, these are issues they will need to tackle, and do it fast. Some will be able to make the case for stimulus money, and some won’t be ready in time.

For those who are competing for stimulus money, MyStategicPlan has prepared a special discount plan for only $125 that includes the following:

  • An award-winning online system for developing your fully customizable, quick strategic plan that you can edit online
  • Special weekly webinars hosted by Erica Olsen, author of Strategic Planning For Dummies to answer any and all of your questions and help you develop a winning strategic plan.
  • How-to tutorials, videos and articles to guide your plan development An immediately downloadable plan that you can add to your grant proposal or any Word Document!

Need more help getting Shovel Ready? You may like these other articles from MSP’s resource library.

Structured strategic planning isn’t just something more todo; it’s a better way of doing something already being done.

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Painting the Grass Green, Revisited

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Originally sent out March 20, 2009

Last year, when M3 Planning first published our recession-planning toolkit (now titled Strategy on a Shoestring), we began the volume with an article titled Recession Survival: Find a way to Paint the Grass Green. The article, focused on finding opportunities that present themselves in a recession, mentioned a company based in Sacramento, CA that began painting foreclosed -on homes’ lawns green so that they would be more attractive to new buyers.

We found the story so inspiring that since then we’ve used the term “painting your grass green” to describe the concept of discovering opportunities. Just two days ago, the Associated Press announced that that company has been contracted by an entire city to “paint their grass green” as well!

PERRIS, Calif. (AP) — A town is going green to combat foreclosure blight: A contractor has been hired to spray-paint lawn bald spots. Perris spokesman Joe Vargo said contractor Dave Milligan uses an environmentally friendly dye that lasts up to six months and is harmless to people and pets. The city hopes the foreclosed properties are purchased and occupied before the lawn needs a touchup.

It costs about $550 to spray-paint a lawn. The city, some 70 milessoutheast of Los Angeles, has set aside $2 million in an effort to stabilize foreclosure-fraught neighborhoods.

When we first reported on Milligan’s initial successes in Northern California, we found his novel idea extremely interesting. There was someone who’s industry (Construction and Landscaping) was facing some of the worst stagnation in the country, and yet he had discovered a surprising opportunity- while less homes were paying for landscaping, there were even worse-off yards laying all around the city; these were the neglected front yards of foreclosed homes. As their grass turned green, Milligan hatched an idea that has proved very lucrative.

Painting the dead brown grass green using an environmentally friendly dye has helped sell the foreclosed homes faster, and has no-doubt improved the outlook for local neighborhoods that once contained these eye-sores. Images of lawns treated with this process can be found here.

During a down economy, there are always individuals who identify unique opportunities and capitalize on them. Will you be one of those who look at challenges facing your organization and find a way to “paint your grass green?”

Did you enjoy this newsletter? We have a wealth of recession-related articles in our Strategy on a Shoestring toolkit. In addition, we’ve listed a few articles from our resources section that you may also enjoy:

Structured strategic planning isn’t just something more todo; it’s a better way of doing something already being done.

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Recession-Ready Marketing Opportunities on the Web

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Three things make the web the best place to market in a downturn:  the virtually unlimited flow of instant information, the almost non-existing barriers to entry, and it’s just really, really, cool. Because of these factors, the last few years have seen a massive explosion of online companies solving problems and breaking down the walls between people across the globe. Now, it’s possible online to connect, for free, with your customers in ways we never would have conceived just a year or two ago.

With the rise of what has been called Web 2.0, users have come to demand two things: that web applications increase their ability to communicate and connect, and that they be (at least mostly) free. That’s why we’ve dubbed this the “Free Market(ing) Society.” There’s a mind-boggling bevy of tools on the web that are created just for marketing yourself- and you can start using them right away.

Actually, free may be a little misleading- you do need to invest time and energy into performing these actions and staying on top of new opportunities that arise, BUT when compared to the costs of paid advertising or managing a sales force, well, you get the picture. We’ve rounded up three “free” marketing areas that you can’t afford to miss.

Blogs: Customer Conversations and Internet Exposure for “Free”

In the last few years, we’ve seen blog usage grow exponentially. One impact that this has had on commerce is that people now expect businesses to communicate and connect with them online. Gone are the days that you could ignore the internet- now people want somewhere they can talk to you and hear what’s going on.

If that’s not enough to convince you to blog, know this: bloggers are influencers. What they say matters, and the best way to have them talk about you is to have a blog yourself. They cost nothing or next to nothing to get started with and only take your time, but the benefits can be astounding. Besides giving you a mode of contact, by collecting all that you say about your business and industry, blogs become a repository of useful information that’s packed with your relevant keywords- thus improving both the search friendliness of your site and its usefulness.

The best advice we have is just to get started. Everyone’s got advice on the subject of blogging, but you won’t really know if you have the time and passion to maintain one unless you set one up and start writing. Free blogging sources like www.wordpress.org and www.blogger.com are easy to set up and customize, and if you need design work done the web is teeming with resources. Great sites for info on how to blog are www.problogger.com and www.copyblogger.com.

Social Media: Free Marketing with Wild Potential

The rise of social media has been covered extensively in the news, but many businesses still haven’t utilized them. This makes no sense- these sites are not only completely free advertising and conduits for engaging your customer base, but if used correctly can manage to bring tens of thousands of visitors to your site.

These days, the list of social media sites that you could use is about as long as your imagination, but here are a few.

Professional Resources

These are sites where individuals can build a professional profile and connect with others, ask questions and basically build a network.

Bookmarking and News

These sites list important or interesting links. By producing content on your site that their users find interesting, companies can see tremendous amounts of visitors. To begin, just set up a profile and find out what the community finds interesting.

Social Sites

These sites may not seem like professional spaces for your company to be navigating, but your customers may be on them just waiting to be engaged. Build a profile and give them a place to find you.

Forums

  • These are industry specific in most cases, but by participating on forums that are relevant to your business you can connect with your customers, hear their opinions and concerns and build their trust and affinity for your organization.

For an extensive list, check out 50 Social Sites that Every Business Needs a Presence On

The down economy doesn’t need to get you down- get free exposure for your organization today! If you found this helpful, you may also be interested in these other articles from our Resources Section:

Structured strategic planning isn’t just something more to do; it’s a better way of doing something already being done.

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Putting Planning into Action

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Original sent out January 28, 2009

In this final article of our “strategy on a shoestring” series, we are focusing on activities that you can use to get your plan going without breaking the bank. In the same way that we have addressed how to “make strategy a habit,” “be surgical in your decision-making,” “evaluate your opportunities strategically”, “identify common risks and threats you might face,” “create momentum in your life,” and “lead successful meetings,” we are tackling how to make the most of your resources in uncertain economic times by applying what we have previously discussed and putting pen to paper in order to plan for 2009.

Even if you’re navigating these waters yourself without the guidance of a strategic planning professional, you can start the ball rolling by picking even one activity that’s essential to moving your organization forward and implementing it. We encourage you to start with the following and put your plan into action today!

  • Drive your organization with a big vision. Forming a strategic vision should provide long-term direction, delineate what kind of enterprise your organization is trying to become, and infuse the organization with a sense of purposeful action. Vision serves as a unifying focal point for everyone in the organization – like a North Star. In fact, your vision statement needs to be something you can achieve at some point in the future. Visions are also referred to as big, hairy, audacious goals or BHAGs.
  • Establish big goals. A big vision is achieved through accomplishing big objectives and goals. That’s all execution really is – your organization’s ability to achieve goals. Clearly communicate your objectives and goals, assign responsibility to someone with measures and targets, and regularly review and hold people accountable.
  • Celebrate wins. Publicly share big accomplishments, milestones, project completions, and revenue goals. In this way, you will help motivate people and fuel enthusiasm for further growth while also creating a team atmosphere.
  • Seek out new ideas. Invite left and right-brained people into your organization to create a complete brain trust of skills and competencies. Left-brained folks bring the analytical perspective to the table, and right-brained people focus more on creativity.
  • Ignore distractions. In tandem with new ideas, you also must maintain focus. In an increasingly competitive environment, growth comes from being great at one thing at a time. Succeed at one thing that you know people need. That takes focus on the customer and focus on what you choose to do better than anybody else.
  • Empower through ownership. Taking ownership is similar to accountability. Empower your people by assigning ownership. Recognition is the number one motivator. Give ownership of key business metrics, and then give that individual or team the autonomy and authority to drive that revenue past the forecast!
  • Be passionate. If you’re motivated and excited about what you’re doing, people will follow, and your organization will grow because positive attitudes and energy are contagious. Having and showing passion about your work may be the most important elements because there’s true spirit behind growth.

Success isn’t a matter of chance but rather a matter of choice. Planning will help you navigate turbulent times and help pave your way to success. We encourage you to choose success and start planning today!

Check out our newsletter archives to review the “Strategy on a Shoestring” series of articles and more. Structured strategic planning isn’t just something more to do; it’s a better way of doing something already being done.

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Your Guide to Leading Successful Meetings

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Original sent out January 14, 2009

The focus of our recent columns here has been about “strategy on a shoestring” and making the most of your resources in the face of economic uncertainties. In keeping with that theme, we offer the following guide for maximizing the quality and effectiveness of your meetings in the New Year.

Keep the following in mind for your next meeting and reap the rewards of powerful communication.

  • Prepare an agenda in advance. Productive meetings don’t just happen; they require preparation. Laying out an agenda in advance will help attendees prepare for your meeting, focus on the topic(s) at hand, and serve as a reminder after the meeting once associated tasks may have been assigned. Communicating a clear purpose statement as part of your agenda will also help guide your meeting, maintain focus, and help achieve desired results.
  • Encourage team discussion. Meetings are often taken hostage by people who either participate too much or not at all. Neither scenario is advisable. Successful meetings require appropriate participation from everyone on the subject(s) at hand. Allot each attendee an equal amount of time (i.e. 3-5 minutes) to discuss what they have been working on and also what they will be doing next.
  • Outline specific issues, special topics. Issues to be addressed at your meeting should be outlined in advance and may be included in the agenda to encourage preparation by attendees. The outline should identify why the issue is important, any implications that may result from it not being addressed, and other relevant details especially if it is complicated or complex.
  • Ask questions. Once your meeting has started and the issue is presented, be sure to allow time for qualifying questions or prompt further discussion yourself if necessary. While it is important to stay on topic, there should also be complete understanding of the issue by everyone in attendance.
  • Solicit solutions. Keep the conversation on track by next asking attendees for a one-sentence solution to the issue at hand, and allow each attendee time to give his or her recommendation. Remember to include everyone and keep the discussion on topic.
  • Establish next steps. You can wrap up discussion on an issue by determining next actions to be taken. This is a great way to signal a close to the meeting or discussion and keep everyone on the same page without doubt as to what happens next.

What we’re reading: Fierce conversations by Susan Scott

Positive change is possible with powerful communication.

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Vote for MyStrategicPlan and enter to win $1,000!

Monday, April 13th, 2009

People's Choice Logo

Want a big pile of stuff from Amazon.com? We’ve been given an other nomination- and you have a chance to win a one thousand dollar gift card!

Back in December, MyStrategicPlan was honored with a Stevie Award for Best New Product of the Year. The Stevies, awarded by The International Business Awards, serve to “honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and business people worldwide.”

This last week we were informed that MSP has also been nominated for another award- the People’s Choice Stevie Award for Best New Product – Favorite Software!

If you’ve enjoyed using MSP to build and monitor your organization’s strategic plan and would like to support us, you have until April 30th to cast your vote and enter to win something for yourself-  a $1,000 Amazon.com gift card!

In order to vote for MSP just follow this link to the Stevie Awards. It only takes a moment and you could end up with a sweet shopping spree! Thanks!

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Advice for Strategic Planners making their way through the current economic crisis

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Scanning for Strategic Planning articles on the web, I came across a recent article from mckinseyquarterly.com, titled Strategic planning: Three tips for 2009. The article is written mainly to strategists, so our consultants reading this blog should definitely check it out, but the information in it is relevant to anyone in business. The basic gist of it is that times are changing rapidly, mostly due to the current financial crisis- and all this uncertainty makes  the strategic planning process tougher. The 3 main sections of the post are as follows:

  • Be realistic about scenario planning
  • Intensify monitoring
  • Look beyond the crisis

What I appreciate about it is that the authors included specific examples and a lot of practical advice. Now, more than ever, strategic planning is essential to any business, and those who are called to strategize and monitor their organization’s strategy are going to need to respond to the changes the business world is going through. What worked in 2008 may not work in 2009, but that doesn’t mean that you can do nothing- your plan must lead to action.

Another fantastic piece was the section on looking beyond the crisis. I was actually somewhat surprised at first to see that McDonald’s was an example of a company who’s taking innovative steps to respond to the current crisis, but after reading the article’s synopsis I plan to dig even further- there are some great concepts to take to heart:

One company that’s staying the course is McDonald’s, which has profited in the downturn from its low-cost menu items and is enjoying its most robust same-store sales growth in years. Meanwhile, senior management has remained focused on longer-term strategies involving expensive store renovations, operational overhauls, high-end coffee products, and healthful menu options. Managers elsewhere can learn valuable lessons from the company’s efforts to benefit from the current circumstances while sticking to longer-term strategies and the underlying trends (such as healthier lifestyles) that they reflect.

If you have time, read the entire article. 2009 has been an eye-opener for anyone, especially for those in the planning business. The tools necessicary for survival, though, aren’t very different but they do require strength, agility and persistance- all qualities that will help managers during any season.

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Ten Tips to Creating Momentum in Your Life

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Originally sent out December 17, 2008.

MyStrategicPlan

Creating momentum in your life takes increasing the things that move you forward and decreasing those that hold you back. Sounds like a snap, but we all know that living the life we desire is not always easy to achieve. We have habits and cycles to overcome. But by creating momentum, we can move past those and toward the life we want. Momentum, by its nature, requires a lot of upfront push to get the ball rolling. Here are ten tips to jumpstart the momentum in your life:

Create your picture of success and make it a reality. It’s true – if you can’t see your vision of success, you’ll never get there. So what does success look like for you day to day? How do you want to spend your time? How do you want to define success for yourself this year? Write your vision down and post it somewhere you will see it every day.

Pick a BHAG. What is that big, hairy, audacious goal you want to achieve this year that will help you step into your vision of success? Write it down along with the one thing you can do today to make it happen. Here is an example of the power of a written goal: A study was conducted among a graduating class at Harvard to see how many had concrete goals around how much money they wanted to make. Only 3% had written their goals down. Ten years later, that 3% were making more than the other 97% combined. Now that is power!

Eliminate your energy drains and recharge yourself. Energy drains are those things that drag you down. Things that recharge your energy can be anything that inspires you and puts you in a good mood, like a room in your house, a place to relax, an activity, or a person. Spend more time doing the things that give you energy and stick a post-it note next to each drain you identify with an idea for getting rid of it.

Remove your fears. The greatest source of procrastination is often a deep-seeded fear – fear of success, change, failure, ridicule, the unknown. Take a daily step to remove your fears by asking yourself every day, “What would I do today if I were not afraid?”

Take control of your finances. Do you feel like you are on a treadmill, working more to pay for ever increasing bills? It seems like the more we work, the more we spend to do the things we don’t have time to do while we are working (housekeeper, take-out food, dry cleaner, etc). Spend a little less here and there and stop hemorrhaging money. Make sure what you purchase is in line with your values. Run a QuickBooks report to see exactly how you are spending your money. What if you decreased every category (except maybe your mortgage and other loan payments) by 10%? Use your money to fuel your dreams instead of feeding the treadmill.

Create a braintrust. Identify a handful of people in your life who can help you move your life forward. Consider pulling from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, experiences, and opinions. Sometimes those who are most critical provide the best insights. Call on them together or individually to help you move past any roadblocks and keep the momentum going.

Find the time. One of the biggest challenges to having the life we want is finding the time to do all we want to do. Track how you spend your time for a week. At the end, tally up the time spent on each thing – such as sleeping, eating, shopping, checking email, etc. Look at each category. What things can you do to cut time in each area? Be creative and find the time to do what you love to do instead of what you have to do.

Let things evolve. When the flywheel of momentum starts to turn, you should pay attention to clues, connections, and opportunities that are presented. Allow your future to unfold and change in ways you might not have been able to imagine when you started dreaming.

Commit to your dreams. Creating momentum starts with commitment. Commit to doing one of the ideas above that will move you closer to your dreams.

We all know that life is short. So, shouldn’t we all live the best life we possibly can? Absolutely! Because remember – how we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

-Wishing you a joyful holiday season! The M3 Planning Team

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States, Cities Scrambling to Secure and Allocate Stimulus Money

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Wow. Lots of money is barreling our of Washington as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. So much so, that all kinds of governmental entities are hurriedly positioning themselves to distribute and track the funds, and even teach organizations how to ask for it.

chainAnd why? Because the government doesn’t pump billions of stimulus money into the economy every day. Neither the Federal Government, nor the states, or much less our cities and towns have infrastructure or procedure in place to dispense such a huge amount of money like this. No one knows how exactly to do it, so we’re seeing more and more resources popping up to facilitate the process, as evidenced by the following chain of websites in California, aimed at localizing these efforts.

www.recovery.gov

The Federal government set up their own website for providing information about the stimulus. Recovery.gov is chock full of data. The US Government says their intention with the site is three-fold:

  • Education: Explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act;
  • Transparency: Show how, when, and where the money is spent;
  • Accountability: Provide data that will allow citizens to evaluate the Act’s progress and provide feedback.

recovery.ca.gov

Drilling down, California’s own recovery site states that with potentially $85million being dispensed in the coming years, their goal is to “track those dollars, seize as much as possible, use the funding effectively and ensure that spending is done with transparency and accountability.”

recoverySF.org

On a local level, even the city of San Francisco has developed it’s own resource to lead the efforts of attracting and tracking. With a video introduction and graphs showing what’s already been allocated to the city’s organizations, the site promises to be a clearinghouse of everything stimulus that’s related to San Francisco.

What does all of this tell us?

  • State and local governments are competing heavily for funds
  • People are looking to be reassured that things will get better where they live
  • Transparency is key here- everyone will be held accountable
  • Nothing is set in stone, the structure right now is still ad-hoc

What does this mean?

  • Now is the time to act. If your organization could be elligable, you should be finding out
  • Competition will be fierce- it’s best to make sure your in the best position you can be in
  • Someone should be fighting for you. Go here see your own state’s recover site,

If you need help

  • Grants.gov is the government’s own grant writing resource site
  • Mystrategicplan has developed our own tool for adding a solid, competitive strategic plan to your grant proposal here

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MyStrategicPlan just developed a new product aimed to help companies compete for stimulus money

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

In response to requests from MSP customers and other companies that we are close to, we have unveiled a new product. Many companies as well as hopeful start-ups are currently scrambling to compete for money that is being distributed by the US government as part of the recently passed stimulus act.

One obstacle that many organizations have run into is that many government grants require strategic plans. While, strategic plans are extremely important to maintain, we at MSP don’t want to see an organization’s lack of a plan stand in the way of applying for federal grant money.

Organizations must move fast

strategic plan for grant proposal

With the fierce competition in rabidly changing industries like renewable energy and others, organizations applying for money will need comprehensive plans set up immediately. This will encourage government entities that the money will be used correctly and efficiently, by those organizations with viable futures.

Our response has been to create a Stimulus Plan Special. For a limited time, you can sign up to create a fully customizable strategic plan at more than a 50% discount. The stimulus special will output a strategic plan that is customized for Microsoft word- perfect to set as an attachment for your grant proposal.

  • An award-winning online system for developing your fully customizable, quick strategic plan that you can edit online
  • Special weekly webinars hosted by Erica Olsen, author of Strategic Planning For Dummies to answer any and all of your questions and help you develop a winning strategic plan.
  • How-to tutorials, videos and articles to guide your plan development
  • An immediately downloadable plan that you can add to your grant proposal or any Word Document

You can either visit our stimulus package page to learn more, or purchase your plan today by clicking the button below.

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