Time2Market Business Development Coaching & Consulting

Linkedin - Can it help you build a network to support your business and professional development efforts?

I think the answer to this is, Yes!  But, as with all networking, you'll likely see better results if you make it a two-way street.  And, this site makes it easy to do that.

As you focus on your professional and business development, you may consider Linkedin one good resource to explore, with tools and functionality, for relationship building. Here are 5 main reasons why I think Linkedin can help your development efforts:

1. It’s easy to find and invite others to join your network - get back in touch, and reach out to new contacts.  And, if you are concerned about the privacy of your network, you can keep contacts hidden.
2. Referral functions help you explore new career and business connections faster.
3. Question/answer features can facilitate your knowledge and network build faster.
4. Changes in your network can be viewed daily, so you can stay up-to-date easily (if that feature is enabled by those in your network)
5. You can move your information out to others quickly, with forwarding, pdf, and messaging capabilities. Or, others can find you as a professional match with key word searches, and communicate quickly as well ....

10 Business Building Strategies - Grow

Looking to build your business in the New Year? Here are 10 strategies to grow your business in the next 12 months:

1. Expand the number of locations
2. Franchise
3. License your products
4. Form an alliance or partnership
5. Diversify your offering
6. Target new business markets (i.e., consumer, business, government, etc.)
7. Target new customer segments
8. Buy a new business or merge
9. Expand your business footprint internationally
10. Build your online presence

Time2Market’s business development coaching and consulting services focus on these very things, but this list is from Karen Spaeder, who wrote 10 Ways to Grow Your Biz for Entrepreneur.com. My terminology here is slightly different, but it's a great list and article to share.  Contact us to help.

Start up and Small Business Tips - Lessons Learned

9 small business owners share what they would have done differently starting their businesses today and the following tips result:

• create a marketing plan to promote e-commerce and build your customer base faster
• focus time and money on search engine optimization, especially if you are in a competitive market that is closely tied to on-line shopping and/or information gathering
• emphasize employee commissions as incentives to drive more business
• seize multicultural product offering and/or marketing opportunities
• consult your board of directors to sound out ideas for growth
• have a marketing and PR budget
• create a local, scalable, sales development program/model
• have a partner to work with
• get help/staff to support the business and pick up some of the work

Check out the article from Entrepreneur.com, which highlights e-commerce, real estate, health-care management, restaurant, hair care, catering, video game, and apparel retail businesses.  And, contact us, if you need to move forward fast with tips above for business growth.

International expansion – Are you prepared?

If your business is expanding internationally, look closely before you leap.  Both large and small companies sometimes underestimate the requirements and difficulty of expanding operations abroad.  Recently noted examples in the press include Google’s experiences with Orkut in Brazil, as well as the experiences of smaller firms.

Apart from understanding the business environment from a marketing perspective (e.g., business/consumer demographics, competition, etc.), examine key areas, such as:

• country specific practices and regulations relevant to your business operations and industry
• cross-border, as well as, local taxes and duties
• labor laws and practices
• foreign currency, in the context of local and global economic trends

You can read about how these factors have impacted some large and small businesses by clicking the links above.  Be sure you are prepared to create detailed market analyses and entrance plans for growth.  And, find a dedicated local person, or firm, to help establish your local presence in target markets before launch.

Build your Business - Sign up Now for August 14th Women's Leadership Exchange Event

If you've got a business to build and products or services to move to market, don't miss this one day event to work on doing it fast! Please join us and e-mail me if you would like to meet there in person.

In one day, the Women's Leadership Exchange Conference offers women business owners:

• Acclaimed facilitated networking sessions which allow you to connect with successful business owners, professionals and top executives that will have an impact on your business going forward.
• QVC Quick Product Review (!!!)
• Workshops from top experts
• Speed coaching 

I am pleased to again invite you to this unique one-day conference for women in business and offer you a special rate! Women's Leadership Exchange is committed to supporting the growth of women-led businesses in all sectors through the sharing of knowledge, resources and contacts.  Their conference is an investment with an invaluable return.  You have to see it to believe it!!

For details, see below or visit www.womensleadershipexchange.com. Please register for the conference at www.womensleadershipexchange.com and use my Source Code: AMBASS07 for $25 off.  Also, note if you are a member of a listed Supporting Organization, you receive an additional $25.00 off!

See you at the 5th ANNUAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE!
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
from 7:30am–7:30pm

Long Beach Convention Center
300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA

5 Key Areas of Focus for Building Business

While you plan and grow your business via build, buy and/or partnering strategies, it is useful to review these five areas and to monitor them frequently. You will more readily identify business weaknesses in areas such as finance, marketing and sales, and operations and be able to strengthen your business development and growth along the way. Study what did and did not work for your business and others, then develop steps you can take that will see you through to your goals. 

We talk about 5 Key Areas of Focus for Building Business here and all 6 in our monthly newsletter. So, sign up!

Is Business Blogging for you?

Business leaders take note - an increasing number of people, from the C-level executive to staff employee, are engaging in business and personal blogging, as well as other social media activity.  This affects your business development efforts in a number of ways. It's time to plan how business blogging and social media interaction can be used for effective business development in your business. I explored this topic at the Blogher.org conference in New York this week.

WOW Experts

E-mail or call us for wireless insights. This is what others are saying about the 3GSM report...

"Excellent summary, as always. Mind if I pass it around BEA??" - Eric Burger, Deputy CTO, BEA

"Thanks for sending me another great report! You save me the wear and tear of a trip to Barcelona each year!" - Hugh Bradlow, CTO Telstra Group

"Insightful analysis, as always." - Simeon Simeonov, General Partner, Polaris Ventures

Time2Market’s TMT industry expert discussions are by appointment only. E-mail or call us at (212) 372-3256 to schedule your time for views on: the digital divide, mobile broadband evolution short and long-term, device market outlook, next generation networks and services, or emerging companies.

More excellent reviews TMT experts received...

2007 TMT Wireless Update following 3GSM

TMT Investors, Entrepreneurs and Business Management – Where will you play?

Tremendous transformation is how I would describe the wireless services market in the past 15+ years.  My work in the early to mid-90’s, for AirTouch Communications (now part of Vodafone and Verizon Wireless), included compiling the first comprehensive world market studies for the emerging company to pursue its international expansion vision.  In less then a decade, that company became a dominant world player, offering leading wireless products and services worldwide, as it successfully navigated significant change in the technology, regulatory, consumer, and competitive landscapes.

Every year we watch this and witness the ongoing evolution of the industry.  For Time2Market Telecom, Media and Technology clientele, The TMT Experts' Report is in from 3GSM in Barcelona with the 2006-2007 update, so you can understand the state of the worldwide wireless telecommunications and technology market. This update provides meaningful competitive intelligence for your product and service development, as well as market positioning. E-mail or call us to arrange a time to speak.  In the meantime, highlights from the TMT Experts' Report:
- Mobile subscribers reached 2.7 billion worldwide, year-end 2006
- 480 million new subscribers are expected in 2007, 80% of growth will be from developing markets
- 3G/WCDMA networks, 130 commercial networks operational, in 60+ countries, approx. 100 million subs
- HSDPA, 93 networks commercially launched in 51 countries
- WiMax interactive video emerging
- Mobile VoIP and SIP-based video calling making headway
- Less hype on IMS, more focus on services with or without IMS
- Ongoing debates in the walled garden pave the way for new service delivery platforms
- Mobile content, more location-based services and smartphone apps emerging, and consolidation in select mobile media spaces
- Mobile handset sales expected to exceed 1 billion in 2007 for the first time
- Interoperable IM services making progress
- Voice SMS is growing in developing markets
- Mobile TV less hype and more reality, 2006 pilots phasing into 2007 commercial deployments, DRM remains a major issue for mobile content growth.

Time2Market’s TMT industry expert discussions are by appointment only. E-mail or call us at (212)372-3256 to schedule your time for views on: the digital divide, mobile broadband evolution short and long-term, device market outlook, and next generation networks and services, or emerging companies.

Click here to view testimonials

If you did not...

get to 3GSM in Barcelona this week, some of our experts did.  If your company is operating in the telecom, media, and technology space, and you're focused on mobile communications and/or digital media, you'll need information on emerging companies, local and international competition and technology developments. E-mail or call us to schedule a time for key insights.