The TMPEP Formula for Building Your Business

Up on EONS where I manage a group for virtual companies I just had another inquiry about helping a member of our group build their business. I figure lots of you in the blogosphere could use this exercise.

Here are a few general questions/pointers based on my TMPEP formula -- time, money, passion, energy and patience:

How much time do you have to build your business? Time equals money

How much money do you have to spend on the business, or do you need to ramp up sales, clients, etc . . . TODAY

Where is your passion? No matter how good an idea is, it will flounder without passion

How much energy do you have? You need to modulate efforts to match your energy level to avoid burn out

Are you an impatient or patient person? Sometimes you need to wade through lots of muck and alligators before seeing results

For those seeking help, answer those questions.

Then make a wish list that isn't bound to any reality about time, money, etc . . .

Finally, see which parts of your wish list could generate you income at the rate you need.

Once you've done this exercise I'll be happy to guide you further.

Gearing Up That Virtual Summer Marketing Campaign

Hitting the summer doldrums? Those days you booked to work (and you really need the revenue), but every project feels like it's on hold?
Some years for me there are no doldrums. I barge through the summer months top-speed. But other times the doldrums hit as early as June and it feels like it's pulling teeth to get things rolling until Labor Day.
What can feel very frustrating is actually a perfect time to launch that marketing campaign you've been avoiding. Maybe you hate cold calling. Maybe you don't really know how to develop a lead list so you can cut new business territory. For me it's just getting myself to focus, as I'm one of those strange people who actually enjoy marketing, at least when I can turn it into an adventure.
Now that this blog is launched, I've been really curious how far the bricks and mortar world has become aware of the doings of the virtual world. And with 76 million baby boomers out there who could join us in virtual business land over the next two decades, there has to be some impact. But where? How?
Last winter, over dinner with my buddy Jon Reed (my former co-chair of Hidden-Tech, www.hidden-tech.net and a recruiting/publishing expert), we sorted out some categories that could be feeling the change. Think construction (all those retirement homes and condos) and recruiting/staffing (as the boomers leave their jobs they may want to seek alternatives).
As my strength is in media placement -- or getting articles placed in various publications in print or online -- I called up a researcher friend in Berkeley and asked him to do a rough cut of publications in those fields. With that list assembled, I brought in my top researcher in Amherst and got him rolling on cold calling editors.
In a matter of weeks, we nabbed five publications interested in content relating to the virtual world and the boomers. Some of the articles are heading to publication and others are in the making. In the process, I've met some amazing people like Bill Vick and Jeff Taylor (founder of Monster.com and Eons.com) and we're talking about ways we might serve the virtual work place.
No money is rolling in from this venture, but ideas are sprouting. And, as always, articles that are unpaid and lead to those with pricetags and possible consulting down the line. And whatever beats the summer doldrums is worthwhile in my book.
Write to me and tell me aobut your summer marketing campaign.