Plan As You Go

Nancy Duarte on Slide:ology

Tim Berry — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:29:30 +0000

The book is Slide:ology, and this five-minute video on bnet (a Harvard Business School site) is a great summary.

If you can’t get the video off of this site, click here for the source video on bnet.

Great Marketing Lists and Resources

Tim Berry — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:36:52 +0000

Here’s a great resource for you, or a collection of resources, as you think through the marketing, identity, and focus factors that make up the heart of your plan.

It’s almost too big, but at least it’s divided into subsections, and it’s a great list. Thanks to Spotlight ID for this list of 250 top blog posts on advertising, marketing, media, and PR.

I got the tip on that list from Seth Godin’s blog post of last week, which started with that list, and then highlighted his top 20 favorites from his blog. He’s a clear winner in the top 250, and for good reason. You’ll find him referenced frequently in the plan-as-you-go approach (this site, and the book).

Add Duct Tape Marketing to that list (because I’ve referenced that in this site and the book too) and you have a lot of really good food for thought about your core marketing strategy.

Number One

Tim Berry — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:25:38 +0000

These things go up and down, but I’m proud to share that — at least as I write this — The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan is the number one ranking for business plan books at Amazon.com.

New Attitude Adjustment Video Summary

Tim Berry — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:19:28 +0000

I’ve just finished a 12-minute online video (presentation, slides, with me talking) summary of Chapter 2, Attitude Adjustment. Click here for that … it does require Flash Player and Java on your system, and the window has to be about 860 pixels wide to show the whole thing.

Why This Approach?

Tim Berry — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:25:37 +0000

Installing the Business Plan Pro Add-on

Tim Berry — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:14:07 +0000

I’ve finished a nine-minute video showing you how to download and install the free add-on, available on this site (in the resources tab), to implement a default plan-as-you-go business plan outline as an add-on to Business Plan Pro.

If for any reason you don’t see the video here then you can click here for the youtube version of the same thing.

This video shows you how to download the add-on, install it into Business Plan Pro, and then use it to create a plan-as-you-go plan. Then it shows you a bit about how to use that customized outline within the software.

And, just as a reminder, there’s also this video showing you how to just still with the standard default Business Plan Pro, and also use the plan-as-you-go approach. And for that first one as well there’s a youtube alternative in case the flash player doesn’t work for you.

Attitude Adjustment (Presentation)

Tim Berry — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:52:15 +0000

This is a twelve minute slide presentation summarizing the key points in Chapter 2, ‘Attitude Adjustment.’

If for any reason you don’t see the youtube video player in this post, you can also click here to go to the source on youtube directly.

The Secret Sauce

Tim Berry — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:57:25 +0000

Where’s my discussion of the secret sauce? Chelle Parmele from the BIG (business in general) blog asked me that a couple days ago, expecting it to be in this book. I was embarrassed. I talk about the secret sauce a lot, in my seminars and in my class, at the office. It’s definitively another view of the same reality I’m calling the heart of the plan. So that’s one thing to add for the next edition.

The secret sauce is the magic, also called (boring) differentiators, and sometimes competitive edge; Guy Kawasaki calls it “underlying magic” and recommends that it be one of the 10 (or so) slides is a pitch presentation. You can google it and see how people are writing about it, using it to define what’s new or different about some businesses. (You’ll also see some items on McDonalds’ secret sauce for the big mac, and some cooking stuff, but you’ll see what I mean).

This idea of the secret sauce is a good way to explain how you’re different from your competitors. What sets you apart?

Examples? Apple Computer’s secret sauce is design, for example. Michelin tires’ branding tries (in my opinion) to emulate Volve, the safety angle. My favorite restaurant in Eugene, Poppi’s Anatolia, has an extremely spicy version of vindaloo chicken. Whole Foods’ secret sauce is its having established the brand for healthy and organic foods. In cars, just look at the mini-cooper or the Honda Element or the Toyota Prius and you see secret sauce immediately.

Plan as you Go and Business Plan Pro

Tim Berry — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:37:52 +0000

This is a flash video, set for 800×600 dimensions, which will require that you install Flash on your system if you don’t already have it. just click this link … Planning as you go with Business Plan Pro … it should open up a new window with a media player showing, and an obvious arrow to click.

The source file was set up at 800 x 600 resolution, so you might want to resize the window to show the resolution at its best. If the window you use to watch this is too big, then it looks fuzzy.

And here, below, is a flash player version of the same thing (I hope) …

If this doesn’t work for you, it might be a matter of Internet band width or compatibility with flash. I’d like to know, so leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

The Book is Out

Tim Berry — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:07:15 +0000

A tip of the hat to the team at Entrepreneur Press, because the book was barely finished in May and it’s already available now — July 25 as I write this, but it’s been a couple of weeks. You can order it now at amazon.com, it should be on the shelves at Barnes & Noble stores and is available online at the Barnes & Noble website; and you can order it online at Borders. From what I’ve been told about orders, you’re likely to find it at the Barnes and Noble stores, but not so much at Borders stores — although it’s available online at all three places.