How the results are used: The report provides you with specific information about your organization for each step of your strategic plan.

Who should use it: CEOs, directors, business owners and department managers. This assessment is a single-user survey.

Cost: Free to paid subscribers.

How to take it: As a subscriber, you will receive the full results of your Business Report Card survey within 2 business days after you have completed the assessment. One full-results survey is included with annual subscription. Additional surveys are available for $79.

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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:

• RecessionHacks
• Howto Make a Recession Plan for your Business
• BusinessContinuity Planning: Your Plan B

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

You may also be interested in:

• “Painting Your Grass Green” Revisited! It pays- literally- to be creative in a recession. If...
• Green Thumbs Cash In On Green Trend The trusted business planning tool called the SWOT (for Strengths,...
• Voice of the Customer – Balanced Scorecard Approach at the Grass-Roots Level Watch a recorded video of the latest Strategy Huddle (September...

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.

• www.linkedin.com
• www.plaxo.com

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.

• www.digg.com
• www.stumbleupon.com
• www.delicious.com

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.

• www.facebook.com
• www.myspace.com
• www.twitter.com

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:

• Strategies for Better Strategizing; Reaching the $1 Million Mark; The Service Economy
• Recessions Don’t Have to Suck for Employees
• Recession Hacks
• The Do’s and Dont’s of Cost Cutting

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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• Just Found – The 4 E’s of Marketing Most everyone is familiar with the 4 P’s of Markting,...
• Are You Ready… for Anything? Written by Chris Champayne Ready for anything? Most people aren’t,...

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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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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• 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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• Recession Planning Advice from Business Week: Learn from the Cold War Recently, Business Week posted an article on recession planning from...
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As a followup to our post about Employee Recognition, here are 7 different resources filled with ideas you can implement immediately. In addition, we’ve got resources for tons more ideas as well.

This is NOT a list of ways to patronize your employees with empty forms of recognition- these are ideas for helping make their jobs more fulfilling. Ideas focus on things that managers don’t always think about, but that make a big difference without costing money, like:

• Making work more interesting
• Bringing attention to a job well done
• Providing more autonomy
• Sitting down and providing feedback
• Helping employees chart a path to reach their own goals
• Soliciting feedback from employees about important decisions

It doesn’t cost a lot to make someone’s job more fulfilling. Sure, employees have their jobs in order to make money, but while they’re doing their jobs all week they also crave quality of life- things that remind them their jobs make a difference.

Employee Loyalty on a Shoestring: 7 Resources to Help you Keep your Best People Happy

• 25 Ways to Reward Employees Without Spending a Dime (HR World)
• 10 Great Ways to Recognize Employees (TG & Associates)
• Top 10 Ways to Recognize Employees at Year-End on a Bupkus Budget (managesmarter.com)
  
• 4 Ways to Reward, Motivate Employees (Microsoft Small Business Center)
• 10 Ideas About What Employees Want From Work (about.com)
• Five Tips for Effective Employee Recognition (about.com)
• Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation to Employees (about.com)

The best thing about the current recession is that it’s making all of us do more with less. If you’re looking for better performance from your people, start with this list- if anything, it’ll make your organization a better place, and most likely it’ll make you a better manager.

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• Employee Engagement Stats from Harvard Harvard Business Publishing recently posted the results of an...
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With all the news this past year about the changing economic and political climates, there’s a good chance that most of us have been focused more on news about the elections or a looming recession, and less focused on the future of our organizations. In times like these, it’s easy to fall back into “working in the trenches,” rather than keeping a long-term strategic focus.

Does this sound like you?

Well, not to worry. In the words of the poet Horace, “he has the deed half done who has made a beginning.” If the task of updating your strategic plan or creating one where a plan is absent seems daunting, think of the benefits to strategic planning. Just by sitting down this week and getting started you can:

• Develop your strategic thinking skills
• Identify new opportunities in your external environment
• Re-energize your staff with an inspiring view of their future
• Become more determined and confident about your future

The list of immediate benefits from strategic planning go on, but you get the picture. If you haven’t gotten completely prepared for every recession-related threat, or solved every operational issue your organization faces in one sitting, that’s ok. The important thing as that you get started now- because it’ll be 2010 before we know it.

You may also be interested in:

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• A “Questionable” Strategic Plan Example Despite Recession, James Cameron Believes in Costly 3-D Movies From...

From CNBC:

Cameron believes that despite the high costs coming at the wrong time, 3-D will prevail, and it will be key to the future of the movie industry.

Check it out.

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