NEW YEAR - SAME RESULTS?
NEW YEAR - SAME RESULTS?
We ve all heard the definition of insanity " Doing the same thing, over and over again, expecting different results! As the New Year approaches what are you going to do differently to improve your top line sales and/or your bottom line profits? How can you better train your Sales Team? How can you increase your web sales? Are your special sections getting smaller?
We all face similar challenges. The question is - what can we do to improve our chances of success? If your strategy is simply hoping that the change from 2010 to 2011 will mean a 5% increase in your sales " you might want to re-think your strategy.
This is a great time of year to take a time-out and really reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of your business and be brutally honest with yourself about where you need to improve. Ask yourself the tough questions and then come up with a plan to address your areas of weakness/opportunity. Ask those same tough questions of your managers and employees. Ask them for their ideas and input. You d be surprised to find they often times have some good feedback.
Here are a few ideas for you to consider this December:
QUIET TIME: Set aside some quiet time with a blank page to brainstorm and jot down the things you think are areas of opportunity & weakness for your company. Don t hold back! Write down everything that comes to mind.
SURVEY: Formally ask your employees or managers to fill out a brief survey about what they think are the strengths & weakness & opportunities for the company. (SWOT)
NETWORK: Pick up the phone and call some other IFPA publishers or local business professionals in your area and ask them what s working for them? You can find a complete list of IFPA members at www.IFPA.com/MemberDirectory
CONSULTANTS: Sometimes we can t see the forest through the trees. Hire a consultant on a temporary basis to help you with some new ideas that are probably right in front of you that you just aren t recognizing.
PARTICIPATE! In my opinion, IFPA offers you all of the things above for a very small investment. But it does you absolutely no good if you don t PARTICIPATE!!!! Our attendance at our recent IFPA conferences, etc. has been very strong. But when you look at the % of members who actually show up the number is surprising. Yeah, I know it cost a little bit to travel to the conferences, etc. But I only takes 1 good idea to pay for that investment 10 times over!
Speaking of participating " our next big event is the PUBLISHER SUMMIT. Once again, we will be going back to sunny Miami Florida at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Friday & Saturday, February 25 & 26. If you're looking for new ideas to grow your business then reserve your space RIGHT NOW! This event has sold out the last several years that IFPA has been hosting it and we expect this year to be no different so go to www.IFPA.com to book your spot now.
I hope you have a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Dan Buendo - Reminder Publications
IFPA President
PS. There are 3 main events you should plan for in 2011 " The Publisher/Manager Summit in February 25th (Miami), the Sales Revenue Summit in July (Chicago), and the Fall Conference Sept. 28 " Oct. 1st (Reno, NV).
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