A One Page Business Plan is more useful than you’d think. I was a bit skeptical about writing a one page business plan until my client twisted my arm to write it. I’d wanted to write a more in- depth document or use Business Plan software to scope out the requirements. As an experiment we tried it. Here’s what I learned.

One Page Business Plan: Where’s the real benefit?

Writing a one-page business plan helps the small business owner focus on the main components that make up the company.

Difference Between One Page Business Plan and Traditional Business Plans

The difference between a one page business plan and traditional business plans (e.g. MS Word templates) is that:

• A one one-page business plan is not a replacement for your strategic planning documents.
• A one one-page business plan is not meant to provide in-depth analysis of your business model. How could it?
• A one one-page business plan is not used to seek finance, for example, from your local bank manager or investors. But, there may be exceptions…

• A one one-page business plan gives you a snapshot of the key points in your business
• A one one-page business plan is a framework upon which you can start to build a more comprehensive document outlining your Strategic Plan, Marketing Plan, Technology roadmap, and Training & Development needs, Costs, and Personnel
• A one one-page business plan provides direction for the future growth of your business. It’s a finger pointing in the right direction and

[Video] One Page Business Plan: Example of How It Works

In this video, we look at some of the differences between one-page business plans and the larger documents, for example, Business Plans in Microsoft Word format that you can format to suit your needs.

One Page Business Plan: Who Uses It

What I learned from this exercise is that – if you approach it with the right attitude – you can use this as a stepping stone for more in-depth analysis. The upside is that you get a ‘business plan document’ written in less than a day, while the downside it that it’s a snapshot and needs to be fleshed out if you decide to push ahead with the project.

So, who can benefit from this?

I can see the following benefiting from this:

• Business Units
• Cost Centers
• Cross-functional teams
• Departments
• Divisions
• Government Agencies
• Not-for-profits
• Profit Centers
• Programs
• Projects
• Startup Companies
• Subsidiaries

There are others but you get the idea.

One Page Business Plan: Why It’s Not a Plan

It’s a way to get your business planning up and running quickly and start to explore market strategies quickly.

But, it’s not a plan in the traditional sense. You can’t use this to develop a framework for your marketing plans or use it to seek funding.

There is an upside though. It does allow you to get a quick snapshot of how the business model may work and use this to refine gaps in the process or identify areas where the business plan needs more attention.

Why You Should Write a One Page Business Plan

A one one-page business plan grows with the business. As you change, so to does the business plan.

One final thing. The name of the document is irrelevant. You can call it what you want.

The real purpose of the one-page business plan is to help you navigate the choppy waters of running your business. Keep it simple. Make it useful. Keep it up to date!

What do you think?

I help clients assess Business Plans. Part of this is checking that the numbers add up but also to see if the project in question is worth investing in. How do we know that from a fifty page document? We don’t always know, of course. But, we can make certain deductions just by looking at the first ten pages. Or even the first five. To be honest, the Executive Summary is the first hurdle you need to master if you want to get investment. Let’s look at how to do it right.

Business Plan – Executive Summary

Executive Summary Checklist

Like we said above, first impressions count. For this reason, you need to pay special attention to the Executive Summary. If your clients or investors don’t get past the Executive Summary, then the rest of your document will go unread.

This also raises the question: Should you write your Executive Summary before or after you’ve written your Business Plan? Some business writers prefer to do it first, others write it after the entire document is completed. I write it at the end as I want the complete text before me. That way, I can digest the document and write the Executive Summary based on what I’ve read.

The following is one suggested approach for an Executive Summary. Change this to suit your needs. In the Executive Summary, include the following:

Introduction

• Brief description of your product or service
• Identify when, where, and how the company was established
• Provide the current status, including funding, of your organization

Problem Definition

• What problem does the solution solve?
• How important is it to users over the next [x] years?
• What is the business and/or technical road map?
• Who are the customers and their needs?

Market Opportunity

• What is the market size?
• What is the timing of market development?
• What are the key market drivers?
• What are the inter-dependencies of this market to other markets, businesses or the government?
• What are the supply and distribution channels?
• Has the market been validated by a customer / partner?
• What is the marketing and sales strategy?

Competitive Analysis

• Who are your competitors?
• What are your advantages and the competitive products/services?
• What business models have been successful?

Management Team

• Who are the key management personnel? Cross-reference to Appendix if necessary.
• What is their track-record?
• How will you complete the management team if all the key members are not yet identified?

Technology

• How unique is the technology?
• Can any parts be patented?
• What is the current development status of product/service?
• How will the products be tested?

Financial Analysis

• Summarize projections for revenue, cost and return on investment
• Describe funding required to achieve the next milestones

Conclusions and final writing tips

While this looks like a lot of work, the key is to select the parts that you want to highlight in the Executive Summary and move the rest to the main document.

Most Executive Summaries are one to two pages max.

With this is mind, write the text and get all the information down first. Then revise the material and see where you can refine the wording to reduce the word count, for example, by merging points together and remove filler text. Also, look for phrases that can be pruned and made shorter. For example?

Instead of

In the event of

Write

If

Instead of

We have come to the conclusion that

Write

We decided

Instead of

The purpose of this document is to

Write

This document… (The purpose of is redundant)

Look for ways to remove these fillers. You’ll sharpen the prose in the process and give your document a nice, polished tone.

What have I missed?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter at ivanwalsh.

PS: You can get the Business Plan Template from our partner Klariti.com here.

The more you sell, the more complaints. Nothing personal. Oscar Wilde remarked that, ‘the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about.’ It’s the same on the web. If you plan to run an online business, you better get ready to deal with the complaints.

We’ve sold more than $600,000 of goods in three years. On good days, we do $4,000. Most days it’s about $2,000. That’s each day, every week, every month. We’ve learnt a few things. The #1 lesson I learnt is… take real good care of your customers and they’ll come back, and come back again, and come back again. Believe me, this is much better than chasing down new customers.

Taking Care of Repeat Customers

Remember, they made the effort to get out their credit card and buy your product; now it’s your turn to help them over the finishing line. Sometimes the smallest thing can trip up the best of us.

It’s like this. The more you sell, the more complaints you’ll get. Instead of worrying, think of it as a backhand compliment. What’s important is not that you get customer complaints, but how you respond to the complaints and ensure that you can bring angry customers back into the fold.

How to Respond to Customer Complaints

A – Action

Is there’s anything worse than getting an email—reading it once, twice and a third time looking for the answer— and thinking, ‘so what do I do next, tell me?’ Give the reader a specific Call to Action.

In other words, let them know what they should do next. Don’t leave them hanging there.

B – Blame

Accept it, you’re going to get blamed. Selling digital products online is simple (in theory) but can get problematic when you factor in the issues with deliveries, returns, chargebacks, refunds, lost order and technical glitches.

We’ve had customers confuse a zip file with a virus. Their computer said ‘unknown file format’ as they had no WinZip (or equivalent extraction software) on their PC. So, they thought it was a bug… and posted the complaint on Facebook. That helped!

C- Context

Give Your Side. Help the reader understand YOUR position. For example, why your product may have malfunctioned or how they can help you understand their situation more clearly. Was it an upgrade or a new license?

D – Direct Line

Include your contact details. Make yourself available if they want to talk to you. Don’t try to screen them out by giving them the reception’s phone number. You want to do interact with your customers, right?

Include your email address, direct line number, and cell number. Don’t hide behind voice-mail or the secretary. Sends out all the wrong signals.

E – Enthusiasm

Use positive language. Be careful with your tone. This is why reading aloud makes such a difference. Use positive words and phrases to stress the key points. But tone-down over-zealous or excessively optimistic phrases. And remove all those clichés marketing phrases. Don’t talk about best practices when responding to a complaint.

F – Focus

Keep it simple. Address one topic in each paragraph. Don’t confuse the reader, or yourself, by mixing multiple topics together. Prioritize the most important points.

G – Grateful

Show some appreciation for effort the person took to write you, especially if they have already written to you more than once. These may be long-standing customers and it makes sense to keep their business.

H – Headings

Separate your letter into logical sections. This also makes it easier to scan the key points. Most of us read only the sections that interest us, the rest we filter out. Using headings to help people find the relevant information fast.

I – Information

Don’t be a fault-finder (you know, that type of attitude) but see if the person made any mistakes that need to be addressed. For example, if they saw they couldn’t download the product, ask why?

• Was it a technical issue?
• Are they behind a firewall?
• Did the zip file give an error message?

Sometimes, people won’t get you the information up front, so you have to gently coax it out of them. I knew someone, (Business Consultant was their job title) who couldn’t open a zip file. He didn’t know about right-click. So, we showed him and then it worked…

J – Jargon.

Remove all jargon, clichés and phrases that have crept into your email. Instead, improve your writing by using direct, clear communications. Clichés smack of laziness and reflect poorly on your abilities to respond. It also implies that you’re unable to communicate with any confidence. Why? Because you have to resort to clichés to describe the product.

K – Keyboard

Learn to use your keyboard so you can type your emails (and letters) faster. I took a touch typing course in my teens and it’s stood to me ever since. I knew a woman in San Diego who could touch type 100 words in a minute; pretty impressive to see her running over the keyboard. I’m not nearly there but can type at a good rate, especially before lunch. After that, my energy goes down.

L – Lists

Use bullet lists. Identify the key points. Use short sentences. Number the steps if you want the reader to perform actions in a sequence, for example, when opening a bank account or doing something online.

M – Mix

Vary the length of your sentences and paragraphs. Alternate long and short sentences. Then read it aloud and see how it sounds.

N – Needs

Address their needs. Discuss their problem (i.e. the root of the problem) rather than your products. Don’t ramble on about your ‘commitment to quality’ and customer service. This winds them up even more. Get to the point. Explain how you can – and will – fix their problem.

O – Opinion

Ask a reliable friend to read your response to the complaint. You’re not looking for compliments! Ask them, ‘what are the three things they dislike most? The third thing is usually what they really don’t like. The first two were the sugar-coating, but watch out for the third one…, that’s usually the problem.

P – Positive

Be Positive. Open the letter with a short, positive introduction. Strike the right note from the start. Don’t over-do it. Work on getting the right balance.

Q – Quick

Give yourself a target for responding to customer queries. For example, I respond to every email within 24 hours. Auto-responders don’t count. Though I do have an auto-responder, it’s to acknowledge that I got their email and to give them other ways to contact me if it’s an emergency.

R – Refund

If you offer a 30 day refund on your site, and a person requests the refund, just give it. You’ve made the promise, now honor it. I know there’s nothing wrong with it and their taking advantage of your refund policy… that’s part of business. Move on. One suggestion though. If you notice that one specific product is always getting complaints, then look into it immediately. Maybe the problem is on your site.

S – Shoes

Put Yourself in Their Shoes. Don’t be aggressive, especially if they sent you a nasty letter. Stay calm. Be sympathetic to their situation, acknowledge their frustration and refer to any previous queries they may have made. Don’t start writing letter without mentioning any correspondence they’ve sent you or conversations you’ve had in relation to this business matter.

T – Tables

Use tables to represent data. Balance the ‘text to images’ ratio. Provide labels for each table. Using alternating stripes to add a dash of color to the document, but don’t over-do it.

U – Users

No one wants to be called a User. This term creeps into many IT letters and emails. Don’t refer to the reader as a ‘user’. It’s a horrible phrase. No-one wants to be called a user. In technical documentation, it may be acceptable but in business letters, avoid it. Refer to them by their name, where possible.

V – Verbal

Avoid using condescending language or adopting a patronizing manner. This will infuriate the reader even more. Avoid hackneyed phrases such as, “As I’m sure you’re aware…” or “As you must know…” Once again, put yourself in the reader’s shoes.

W – White space

Avoid large, dense paragraphs. No-one likes large blocks of text. Use white space to emphasize the key points in a document and help it to breathe.

X – Xenophobia

You don’t know who’s on the other side of the email. Before you start blaming the outsource dept, remember the person you’re dealing with may have ties to that part of the world. Keep it professional. Don’t include ‘jokes’ that you and your buddies thought funny. What’s funny to you may be very offensive to someone else.

Y – Yell

Don’t shout at the customer. Writing in UPPERCAPS to get your point across is a red flag to a bull. Don’t do it EVER! I know I broke the rule, but you get the idea. This is a sure-fire way to start a flame war.

Z – Zen

Your letter is meant to answer a question. Don’t fudge things and get all zen-like and mystical. I’ve sent complaint letters to companies and received very cryptic, obscure answers that sounded like a riddle from Harry Potter.

Do you know what error message D5152 means? Well, that’s two of us.

Four More Takeaways

1. Read it aloud. You’ll ‘see’ the mistakes when you read it aloud. Improve the text until it sounds natural and easy on the ear.
2. Use the Active voice. Avoid using the Passive voice. Use the Active voice as it makes your letters sounds more confidence and helps avoid ambiguity.
3. Stay on track. When revising your letter, remove all extraneous information. Small words of warning, though — don’t be too curt. If you perform too much surgery on your letter, you may inadvertently cut out its heart! Carefully do it. Study the masters. Look at how Bob Bly, Brian Clark and Seth Godin do it. Try to get a balance.
4. Remember who you’re writing to – Always write with the reader in mind. I have a photo next to my PC of customers I’ve dealt with over the years. Your customers are real people – flesh and blood just like you – and deserve to be treated as such.

You don’t need to follow all twenty-six of these points when responding to customer complaints. But, knowing when, where and how has helped me immensely.

Which is the most important point? … ok, here’s my secret.

Imagine the customer in your mind’s eye. They tried to buy something from your site and it didn’t work. Something went wrong, maybe on the last page. Now, they’re upset, tired and angry with themselves. They did their best and it didn’t work.

Ok, can you see them sitting there, waiting for your answer?

They are decent people like you and me. Al they want is a little help. Hit Reply and start helping them out!

One last thing: give them the benefit of the doubt. If they say it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Work with them to find out why.

What are your thoughts?

What’s the first thing you do when you get an angry letter from a customer? Do you have a system you follow? Do you use a checklist? I know I missed something. Please share it below.

About the Author

Ivan Walsh develops web businesses that generate long-term returns. Subscribe to his free newsletter before you go! You’ll be glad you did!

This article shows you can increase your Google AdSense earnings by at least 12%. I’ve started to use video-based ads in Adsense (not the text ads) and the results have been impressive.  Split testing showed us that websites with video ads 1) keep viewers onsite longer, 2) increase repeat visits and 3) generate significantly higher AdSense payments than standard plain text ads. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to setup AdSense video, look at different sizes and formats, test the ads, examine the risks and benefits, and also show you how it increased our earnings.

Why Use Google AdSense Videos Format

The first benefit that videos offer is that they increase Google Adsense payments. In our tests, it increased earnings by more than 12%.  When you’re designing your site layout, consider dropping the text ads and insert one large video ad instead. Do some split testing and check the results. Video ads, or video units as Google likes to call them, lets you enrich your site with relevant video content, which can be embedded in a customizable player.

What is Google AdSense Video?

Google AdSense videos are user initiated ads that run on sites that are part of the Google content network. These ad formats provide users with a rich and engaging advertising experience.

How to get Adsense Videos

Sign in to your AdSense account and open the AdSense Setup tab. Click the video units link and setup up your video unit. Add it to you site and see if it compliments your content.

Risks of Using Video Ad Formats

• Risk #1 – the ads may not compliment your product offerings
• Risk #2 – the ads may be too slow when downloading (not everyone has broadband), which will leave the reader with nothing to see but a blank space, i.e. where the ad should be
• Risk #3 – your AdSense earnings will drop. In our tests, they don’t but your experience may be different.
• Risk #4 – while using video ads should lead to increased sales, especially in the short term, web users may try the video ads and then reject the regular text ads resulting in lower sales.
• Risk #5 – video ads may have a negative impact on your Adsense earnings if do not match your sites look and feel, i.e. the overall color scheme. You can’t control the appearance of video ads as you can with text ads.

Which Video Ad Formats are available?

Video ads are currently available in several ad formats:

• 336 x 280 (Large Rectangle)
• 300 x 250 (Medium Rectangle)
• 250 x 250 (Square)
• 200 x 200 (Small Square)
• 728 x 90 (Leaderboard)
• 120 x 600 (Skyscraper)
• 160 x 600 (Wide Skyscraper)

How to Get Started

To display video ads on your site, make sure you are using one of these supported formats and that you are opted in to image ads for that ad unit. If not, the video option will not be displayed.

How to Enable Image Ads

There are two ways to enable image ads. You can:

1. Enable image and text advertising for all of your pages or
2. Enable image ads for individual pages

Warning - Enabling image ads for individual pages overrides account-wide level selections.

To enable image ads across your account:

1. Sign in to your account at https://www.google.com/adsense
2. Click the My Account tab
3. Click the edit links next to the Ad Type Preference header
4. Select Display text and image ads in all ad units

If you’ve already generated the code, you can change the ad type of your AdSense unit using the ad management feature:

1. Log in to your account at https://www.google.com/adsense
2. Click the AdSense Setup tab.
3. Select the Manage Ads sub-tab.
4. Click Edit settings for the ad unit you’d like to update.
5. Under Format pick your desired ad type.
6. Click Save settings.

Adding YouTube Ads – How it works

If you’ve embedded video from YouTube into your site before, you’ll know what to do. Once you’ve configured the options in Adsense, embed the code as per usual, which display the relevant YouTube content to your site. When selecting content, you can:

1. Choose video categories to target to your site or blog
2. Select content from individual YouTube partners
3. Get video targeted to your site content

Configuration options allow you to blend the YouTube player into your site, customize the color scheme and layout, and choose different player sizes.

How to Test Video Ads on Your Blog

You can test the ad from inside AdSense as follows:

• Enter the URL of a page where this ad unit currently appears to see what the ad unit that you have designed will look like.
• Click Preview on this page
• The test add appears and you can see what it looks like. Pretty impressive!

Tip: If you enter a URL that does not display the code for this ad unit, you will not see any ads in the preview.

Why Can’t I See Video Ads on my Site?

You might not see video ads for a number of reasons.

1. Are you using one of the ad formats that support video ads?
2. Have you opted in to image ads for that ad format - otherwise, your ad unit will not display video ads.
3. Even if you are using supported ad formats, and you are opted in to image ads, video ads may not be targeted to your content for the time being.

Make sure that you are opted in to both text and image ads for these ad units to maximize competition for your ad space.

Split Testing & How Video Increases Your AdSense Earnings

This table shows the AdSense earnings before I added the videos units. Note that 210 clicks generated $77. This is an average for the site performance in March 2010.

Page Impressions – 99,219
Clicks Page 210
CTR – 0.23%
Page eCPM – €0.77
Estimated earnings – €77.14

This is $77 per day across all of March, which is approx $2,310 for the month.

Google AdSense – Search Earnings Without Video ads

This shows the AdSense Search results before I added the videos. Search always pay better. We had 80 clicks which generated $20. Again, this is the average return for the site in March 2010. The eCPM is $26.

Queries – 830
Clicks – 80
CTR – 9.64%
eCPM – €26.51
Estimated earnings – €20.20

This is $20 per day for each day in March, which is approx $600 for the month. Google AdSense earnings for both Page Impressions and Search was $2,900 approx. We also had some small payments from the RSS feeds, but not much.

Google AdSense – Page Impressions Earnings With Video ads

We added the video ads formats across three sites in April. So, these figures are for the first 15 days of the month. Earnings increased by 12%.

Page Impressions (15 days)- 46,986
Clicks Page 118
CTR – 0.24%
Page eCPM – €0.79
Estimated earnings – €43.01

Google AdSense – Search Earnings With Video ads

This shows the AdSense Search results after I added the videos. Its earnings increased by approx 10%.

Queries – 410
Clicks – 39
CTR – 9.84%
eCPM – €27.15
Estimated earnings – €11.88

Conclusions

There are a few things to note. Adding the video formats to Google AdSense made no difference to traffic or at least not yet. We didn’t expect it would. It did increase the earnings though, but about 12%.

1. Page Impression earnings increased by 15%~.
2. Two ads formats performed very well. The first was the Skyscraper video down the right side of the page. However, we also placed Google Ads (with video) embedded inside the article near the top-left. Looking at the heatmaps, it’s clear that visitors ‘enjoyed’ these ads as they clicked on more of them as the month progressed. More testing over the next 6 weeks should give us better feedback.
3. Search earnings increased by 7-10%~. This increase may be related to the close proximity of the video ads to the search box.
4. The Search box is placed in two places on the site. At the top right of the page and also in the Footer. Tests have shown that many users scroll to the end of the page (seeking more information, perhaps) and use this Search box to look for the information rather than scroll back up to the top or hit the Back button.
5. Total earnings for both page impressions and Search increased by 12% approx. Is this good enough? Well, our tests were for a 15-days period in April. As we use video more, our earnings should improve
6. 12% over twelve months should generate an extra $4,000 revenue, which isn’t a bad return for 30 minutes work!

Over to you.

Have you tried the AdSense video formats? If so, what results did you see? If you didn’t, what was the obstacle or issue that stopped you for using video? Let us know below.

PS – Remember to sign up for our free newsletter and give us a Tweet!

Guest article by Shannon Suetos from Resource Nation

When implementing any type of marketing campaign it is wise to first take a step back and decide how to develop your campaign. Many companies are have made the executive decision to go forward with social media—they just aren’t so sure what to do.

Decide where your target audience is engaging

Tackling a social media campaign is much like, if not exactly like a traditional marketing campaigning. The first order of action is to decide where your target audience is. You could have the latest and greatest product or services in the world, but if your core audience isn’t hearing the message there is no benefit to your company.

According to a study conducted by Chitika (a full service online advertising network) broke down the users of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Digg.com. This study concluded that:

1. 47% of Twitter users are there for news
2. 52% of Myspace users are there for video games or celebrity/entertainment
3. Digg was spread out between news, tech, and video games

Once you have decided on where your target audience is, you can then go to develop strategies for each site that best fits your company.

Social Tone

The tone of your campaign should be less formal, and more conversational. This is not to say you should throw out all social etiquette—but rather a “business casual” approach. People like talking, especially about themselves, but make sure in your campaign you provide information not only about your services, but current events or even industry news.

Staying away from topics such as religion and politics is a good idea as well—especially if you have many clients from diverse backgrounds. Staying neutral will keep your clients happy and keep you out of hot water.

Define Goals and Measuring Results

Going back to traditional marketing tactics, you need to have a clear objective and measurable goals in your social marketing campaign. Knowing how effective your tactics are can also help you determine your social media ROI and help you decide what tactics work and which don’t for your company.

TwitterFriends determines what they call a conversion quotient, which measures how effective your tweets are on Twitter by looking at how many @ replies you receive as well as re-tweets. The goal of Twitter for business owners should be to get as many @ replies (gains you exposure) and re-tweets (helps get your link/links exposed). Once you know how effective your efforts are you will be able to decide on the best social media outlets for your business.

Another great tool to use has been developed by Email Data Source. This tool will allow marketers to measure Twitter’s impact on the traditional brand marketing perspectives of reach, frequency and effectiveness. This tool seems similar to TwitterFriends in the sense it will help you understand what type of people are re-tweeting you, but explains it in a more traditional marketing way. This is a great tool for marketers who aren’t familiar with Twitter yet.

Getting Creative

This is always the fun part of any marketing campaign. There are many types of tactics out there that are useful for brand awareness and fun for the customer as well. Many companies are using quizzes to do this.

Jennifer Stolte, marketing director for Celestial Seasonings (who implemented a Facebook quiz earlier this year) says, “Social media is something that’s really growing. So many people are online, especially on Facebook, so we’re excited to step into the water.”

Another company doing social media right is Dunkin Donuts. Jesse Greco, founder of PRBreakfast Club says, “It’s the small things that they [Dunkin Donuts] truly excel at. They know how to keep consumers engaged and interested on a daily basis and they have a way of making you feel like you’re special, even as just one of their millions of consumers.”

In the end it is up to you how you are going to run your campaign. The main things to remember is research and use measurable means for your tactics. The world of Internet marketing is evolving fast, and it is up to you to keep up.

Shannon Suetos is a writer based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as payroll services & small business services at Resource Nation.

Guest article by Shannon Suetos from Resource Nation

The terms social media and social networking have been tossed around for quite some time now, but businesses are struggling with how to implement these strategies in their budgets.  How much is too much, how much is too little?  There are many factors on how to plan a budget, and the same goes for social media.

A study done by Econsultancy and bigmouthmedia has found that of the, “companies (86%) [they] surveyed plan to spend more money on social media in 2010, and a further 13% are planning to keep the same level of budget.”  With that being said, it seems the biggest struggle for companies is not that they don’t want to spend the money, but they don’t know what to spend it on.

Credit: TW Collins

The good news is many social media outlets are free.  Yes, there are programs you can purchase to help manage your accounts and are necessary for some social networking efforts, but for the most part it’s free to sign up on these sites.

Time

The main cost is how much time you are going to dedicate to your social media campaign.  Someone has to put into action your ideas, and they most likely aren’t going to work for free.  When writing up your budget make sure you take into account the time your employee(s) are going to be dedicating to this new project.

You also need to take into account if you need to hire someone to run your social media efforts.  With the social media industry becoming more popular, there are many people out there claiming to be social media gurus.  There are plenty of quality people in the industry who know what they are doing, but make sure you are getting someone with enough background in social media that makes you comfortable.

Monitoring

Once you have set up who and how much time will be spent on social media, the next step is to decide how you are going to monitor everything.  These analytical tools come in all shapes and sizes and the cost varies from application to application—and in some circumstances are free.

If you are just getting your feet wet, it is a good idea to start small and then grow.  See how effective your efforts are before going full blast.  You need to know where your target audience is engaging.  If your customers are mostly on Twitter and you aren’t there how will they get your message?  Play around with the different social networking sites and figure out which sites are best for your company.

Time will tell

Once you have done some research and dabbled in the different social networking you should be able to get a feel of what tactics work for your company and what don’t.  After you get a better feeling for where your key audience is participating with you, you can then focus your efforts and better know how to manage your time and money.

Shannon Suetos is a writer based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as postage meters & postage scales at Resource Nation.

Action Plan Template – Responsibility Matrix

Originally uploaded by Tech Writer Boy

Anyone looking for an Action Plan template might be interested in this tutorial and template pack.

An Action Plan is a summary of what you are going to accomplish in your business over a specified period of time.

Use this template to:

1. Scope the big picture - Outline what you want to accomplish with objectives, budget, time and tie each deliverable to an action step.

2. Break out smaller tasks – Assign tasks to team members. Consider the deadlines in terms of allocating resources.

3. Create a list of action steps - For each task, prepare a list of to-dos ranked in sequential order.

4. Prioritize – Some steps are more important that others. Prioritize steps based on deadline, task, and the number of steps remaining.

5. Communicate - Circulate the plan to team members that have been assigned tasks.

6. Complete deadlines on time - Estimate when tasks will be finish based on the rate of action step completion.

7. Track results – Evaluate performance and implement continuous monitoring procedures to ensure the project stays on track.

More at www.mysoftwaretemplates.com/2009/06/action-plan-template/