Remember the first two steps? Reading The Art of Indexing and creating at least two rough draft indexing exercises.
Ready for more?
This next step is where it gets tricky. It is real decision time. No one can tell you which decision to make. Now is when you MUST make a Business Plan!
The Business Plan
These three words scare some folks silly! They needn't. They are actually your best friend!
A Business Plan serves as the roadmap to your success. Some folks create loose plans, others get more structured and detailed about them.
They answer the questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how of your business. It contains deadlines, how-to's, potential clients, an outline of marketing, and more. By getting a rough draft of this on paper, you will automatically see where your potential weak spots in your business are. Then you will be able to focus on those areas.
Issues that business plans address are:
An Executive Summary
--Keys to Your Success
Company Summary
--Startup Information
--Company Location and Facilities
Services
--Competitive Comparison
Marketing Strategy
--Summary
--Target Markets
--Market Definition and Segmentation
-----Target Market Segment Strategy
-----Target Market Segment Analysis
-----Demographics
-----Needs and Requirements
-----Competitive Forces
-----Communications
-----Keys to Success
--Marketing Tactics
-----Pricing Tactics
-----Distribution Tactics
-----Promotion Tactics
-----Tactics by Strategy
-----Marketing Program Summary
-----Programs Detail
-----Programs Expense Budget
-----Units Sales Forecast by Program
-----Sales Forecast
--Marketing Budget Summary
--Sales Forecast by various methods
--Marketing Organization
Management Summary
--Management Team
--Personnel
Financial Plan
--Break-even Analysis
--Projected Profit and Loss
--Projected Cash Flow
--Projected Balance Sheet
Does this sound like a lot? Yes, it is! Although you may decide to not include all of it, the fact remains that the more you answer these hard questions, the clearer your roadmap for your business will be, and the more successful you will be.
Some indexers get started and just go by "feel."
While some are truly successful using this "touchy-feely" method, for many more of us, it is simply a way of ignoring what we don't want to do. We don't want to take the time to do think about stuff like this--we just want to get down to business!
Well, fine. We'll proceed and "get down to business!"
Decisions, Decisions!
If you are completely ready after reading The Art of Indexing, and creating a couple of practice indexes, then start marketing. Simple as that. If you are ready (and you know who you are!) then you probably don't need hints on marketing, either. So you folks who are ready--go for it!
However, the vast majority of newbie indexers are not ready to market at this point.
