How to Think About and Write Your Business Plan

In this interview with Dave Lavinsky, of BusinessPlanVictory.com, we discuss the ins-and-outs of writing a business plan. We also cover many of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make when writing their business plan.

If you have the good fortune to get your plan in front of a high powered investor or banker, don't screw it up! It just takes one little mistake to disqualify you...

Don't be a casualty... listen to this interview and prepare your business plan the right way, the first time!

Including:

• Who needs a business plan, and who doesn't. (Learn what kind of business plan you should build - for YOUR business needs.)
• How to simplify the process of writing your plan. Most people spend weeks writing their plan, but you can write it in just a couple days.
• The NUMBER 1, MOST IMPORTANT THING to keep in mind when writing your business plan.
• The tools and techniques you can use for researching your plan, writing your plan, and getting it out into the world.
• How to strike the perfect balance between past accomplishments and current opportunity. (And what to do if you don't have past accomplishments to brag on...)
• How to get your plan in front of investors who will give you money.

And so much more!

You can listen to this interview right from here, or download it to your computer.

Common Business Plan Mistakes with Dave Lavinsky (1 hour 14 minutes)

• Download the MP3 Audio
• Transcript coming soon
• Listen in Streaming Audio Now (Below):

  Get Flash to see this player.

Dave's business plan template has helped entrepreneurs raise over $1 BILLION in funding!

I've arranged a very special discount, only for my listeners. For a short time, get the $97 business plan template product for just $1. Click here for details:

Business Plan Victory.com.

A hard-core, eagle-eyed, "been-there-done-that" investor WILL NOT FUND YOUR IDEA.

** He will only fund YOU. **

Today, I'm going to give you a FREE investor cheat sheet, called "10 rules investors use to bet the jockey". This cheat sheet is super-valuable, and only available for a very short period of time...

This FREE PDF Cheat sheet will only be available until Monday - at which time I will remove the link for downoad. If you're interested, get it now:

[link removed - sorry!]

Soon, I'm re-launching the Startup Victory training. This cheat sheet, along with the complete interview with Mr. Rose is only available as a bonus for members.

I'm super proud of the content coming out of this training... so proud that I'm putting my own money on the line.

I guarantee that if you complete the simple weekly assignments, at the end of the training you will own a business with at least enough monthly profit to replace your current paycheck - or I'll give you 250% of your course tuition back.

Travis

PS: If you are a current Startup Victory subscriber, you'll get all the new bonuses for free... and there are a lot.

The Principles and Mindset of Launching a Successful New Business - with a senior ambassador from SCORE - the government-funded non-profit helping entrepreneurs with business startup.

In this interview with SCORE's Carl Woodard, we cover the principles of launching a new business from scratch, including:

• How to discover a potentially profitable market, and what criteria should be considered before running with any idea you may have for a business
• What one thing you should do prior to writing a business plan
• How to greatly increase your odds of startup success
• What financeers and banks expect from a business plan, and which ones they actually fund!
• Are you going to be a good entrepreneur? Learn the skills and traits that most successful entrepreneurs possess.
• The 3 most important areas of knowledge you must have to run a business.
• How bank finance managers choose what business to fund, and which ones to ditch. (HINT: It is NOT necessarily the one with the 100 page business plan...)
• How much money you should raise prior to beginning serious operation.
• How to get help writing your business plan, funding your company, researching your market, and more.
• How to hire your team - an important lesson that every entrepreneur who wants success needs to learn.

Carl Woodard is a wealth of small business knowledge. This interview is worth hundreds of dollars of value - yours for free today.

Business Victory Club members receive valuable interviews like this on a regular basis, along with a weekly business building lesson. Learn more about the business victory club here.

You can listen to this interview right from here, or download it to your computer.

Launching a Successful Business with SCORE's Carl Woodard (1 hour 18 minutes)

• Download the MP3 Audio
• Transcript coming soon
• Listen in Streaming Audio Now (Below):

  Get Flash to see this player.

Members of my Business Victory Club get a 52-week, step-by-step business startup lesson series, and learn how to beat the odds when starting their business.

Includes a step-by-step process to research your market and write a business plan.

To learn more about Business Victory Club, click here.

Achieving Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness as a Consultant

In this interview with Joe Rogers, FileNet consultant and a mentor of mine, we discuss the ins-and-outs of consulting:

• What a Harvard education REALLY does for you
• How to achieve consulting success, even if you never considered being a consultant
• What 90% of experts I interview tell me is the secret to their success.
• What is consulting, really? What does a consultant do?
• The difference between an "independent contractor" and a "consultant"
• Why networking is such a vital part of being a consultant.
• Initial contact: How to approach and woo potential customers. Why flexibility is so important.
• The ideal scenario to try and achieve to get as many proposals accepted as possible.
• The average day of a super-successful consultant. How the average day of a consultant is different when just getting started and after reaching lift-off.
• How one consultancy differentiates from competitors in a HIGHLY competitive market. A boutique, small consultancy that successfully competes against much bigger fish.
• There is a difference between a "good" consultant and a "successful" consultant, and it is largely contained in this phrase "Everybody is a salesman... a kid who asks his mom for a lollipop is a salesman"
• How to find quality employees and consultants to work with. If you want to move from being an "independent contractor" to a super successful "consultant", you must NAIL this aspect of business.
• Why "Consulting is a relationship business." PERIOD
• The real reason why VC's rarely invest in consulting-based businesses.
• When to charge by the hour, and when to charge by the project (fixed bid).
• How to escape the control-freak mentality that most consultants have. One way to let go and enjoy your business - and your life.
• How to go about setting fees. How to determine what to charge your client.
• How to avoid the number one killer of consultants - BURNOUT.

Joe has a wealth of experience in consulting, and if you are considering - or already performing - consulting work, this is a must-listen!

You can listen to this interview right from here, or download it to your computer.

Achieving Consulting Success with Joe Rogers (53 minutes 40 seconds)

• Download the MP3 Audio
• Transcript coming soon
• Listen in Streaming Audio Now (Below):

  Get Flash to see this player.

Members of my Business Victory Club get a 52-week, step-by-step lesson series, and learn how to beat the odds when starting their business.

Includes valuable sections on using consulting work to cashflow your operation as a subsitute for a long, time-consuming financing period.

To learn more about Business Victory Club, click here.

What it is, how it works, and what you need to be prepared

If you have ever considered raising venture capital for your business, then this audio will be valuable.

In this interview with venture capitalist Brad Feld, we start with the basics, like

What is venture capital and how is it different from angel investors or private equity?

What kind of investments do venture capitalists look for?

What is the best way to approach and engage a venture capitalist?

In addition, Brad discusses:

• How does a VC think about investment opportunities?
• What can you say to a VC to give you the best opportunity for a hearing?
• Does a VC invest in "ideas" or "people"?
• What kind of VC should you approach? What kind of VC is likely to be interested in your idea?
• What kind of businesses do VC's traditionally invest in?
• Why you need a business plan - and why you will probably NEVER show it to a VC!
• The importance of your financial model, even though it will definitely be wrong...
• The only 4 possible responses you can get from any VC that you approach.

VC's like Brad Feld move fast! They get approached by a lot of people, and review a lot of ideas. Learn how to increase your chances for a favorable outcome - the tiny steps that must be taken if you want the attention and interest of somebody like Brad Feld.

You can listen to this interview right from here, or download it to your computer.

This interview has been disabled for public download. It is now accessible only to Startup Victory members. Click here to learn more about Startup Victory.

Members of Startup Victory Club get a step-by-step 52 week training series on implementing the 7 Steps to Startup S.U.C.C.E.S.S. method of starting a new business. Including valuable sections on writing a business plan and raising money for your business.

 

To learn more about Startup Victory, click here.

This interview is with Dr. Glenn Livingston, market research extraordinaire, and my mentor.

Market Research is, perhaps, the MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do when starting a new business. In my humble opinion, this is the most important interview I have ever conducted and published.

The simple fact of the matter is, most entrepreneurs make their biggest mistake before they ever start their business.

They choose the wrong market.

That is, they choose a market with no people in it. Or, the people don't want to spend money. Or, it's already saturated. Or, they have no difference from the main competitors.

Really, there are a LOT OF WAYS TO SABOTAGE YOUR BUSINESS BEFORE YOU EVER START YOUR BUSINESS!

In this 1 hour, 7 minute MP3 interview, you'll learn:

• THREE (3) things you must know about your market (and how to find the answers):
  • Is there enough people who want what you're planning to sell?
  • Is there enough money changing hands already in this market?
  • What are the frustrations, language, and concerns, of the people who are actively searching for answers to their problems?
• Find out the ONE (1) solitary thing that is more important than doing market research and understanding the market
• The #1 distinction between people who make things happen, and those who don't
• Market Research can be a methodical, systematic process: Human behavior can be coded and predicted by a computer
• Lust, greed, paranoia: Some purchasing decisions are based on unattractive emotions...
• How to attract the most hyper-responsive prospects within your market
• Did you know: there is so much free market research information... for just a little time well-spent?
• Marketing narcissism: The only REAL marketing mistake you can make?
• What many entrepreneurs are guilty of: "I just want the market to want what I want them to want!"
• How to find out IF there is a MARKET, WHAT the MARKET wants, WHAT they will BUY, and HOW MUCh will it cost you?!!
• Specific ways you can gain market intelligence BEFORE you build your products, services, and infrastructure. Get the answers BEFORE you invest! (and avoid dramatic pitfalls down the road)
• Market research methodology, even for pursuits that have nothing to do with the Internet...
• How to discover where the real financial opportunities are in your market...
• How to find the people who are actively searching for your products/services, when they are "in heat", motivated, and looking for a solution to their problem.
• Convert prospects so well that your competitors... can't compete!

This interview has been disabled for public download. It is now accessible only to Startup Victory members. Click here to learn more about Startup Victory.

To learn more about Dr. Glenn Livingston's market research methods:

http://www.ResearchVictory.com

Dr. Livingston helped launch my business with his market research methodology. It was invaluable in my business, and it will be in yours as well. Go to http://www.ResearchVictory.com to learn more.

This interview is with SEO expert Jeremy Hermanns.

Jeremy is a search engine specialist, certified Google Advertising Professional, and Yahoo Advertising Ambassador. He has previously worked for Yahoo, and some of the most prestigious SEO consulting firms in the world. Over the years, he has worked with clients like Dell, Sony, Edmunds, Amazon, PriceGrabber, General Motors, and Expedia, and a whole lot more.

Here are a few things you'll learn about SEO in this interview:

• Why SEO is the #1 profit channel for most Websites - even if they don't make money directly through the Website
• Exactly what areas you should focus on to drive more traffic to your Website, in the exact order that you should follow
• The SEO "Trump Card" and how to kill your competition, even if your Websites are identical
• The technical concepts that you need to understand to effectively SEO your site
• How to take advantage of the "hockey stick" effect of driving traffic to your site.
• Why you need to be on the first page - or you're losing the war
• The secrets of keyword targeting, keyword density, and what free tools you can use to do your keyword research
• What types of Website "tricks" to avoid - at all costs - if you want any meaningful amount of free search engine traffic
• The secret of getting other sites on the Internet to link back to you - something you're probably already doing (just not quite right)
• And a WHOLE lot more!

You can listen to this interview right from here, or download it to your computer:

How to Maximize Your Website Visitors Using Search Engine Optimization (53:11)

• Download the MP3 Audio
• View the HTML transcript here
  
• Download a PDF transcript here
  
• Listen in Streaming Audio Now (Below):

  Get Flash to see this player.

Click here to get your free SEOiQ report from Jeremy Hermanns website:

SEO Intelligence

(If you decide to use the SEO Intelligence website, be sure to enter the discount code mentioned at the end of the audio interview.)

If you have a Website and you are interested in getting more free search engine traffic, then pay close attention to these videos.

Today, you'll see a professional SEO review 3 REAL Websites. Watch as Jeremy Hermanns describes the exact steps that must be taken to drive more traffic (potential customers) to these Websites.

Use the knowledge on your own Website, and you too can soon be ranking near the top of the search results in Google. It's not rocket science - but pay close attention and you'll gain tremendous value that can make you money.

Jeremy never charges less than $150 for a review like you're about to see. (So these 3 free videos are worth $450 in real value.)

All 3 Websites came from people on my email list - If your Website was one of the 3 chosen for the review, consider yourself extremely lucky!

Enjoy!

Video 1 of 3

Video 2 of 3

Video 3 of 3

Do you have a website? Do you want an avalanche of free traffic from Google and other search engines?

I need two websites who want a free critique from a Search Engine Optimization expert. Add a comment below to enter the drawing.

If your website is chosen, you'll discover simple strategies you can implement immediately to bring more free Google traffic to your website. To be considered, just leave a comment below with your name, email, url, about your business, and why you want to get more visitors to your website. At noon tomorrow (2/5/09) I will choose two winners for the free SEO critique. 

The SEO expert and myself will review the winning websites, and I will create a screen capture video of the interview. Then, I'll post the video on this blog for everybody on the list to see. That way, 2 people will have specific, actionable advice to improve their Google rankings, and the rest of us learn by example! 

If you are interested, please note the following:

• Your name, website url and content WILL be made public (but not your private contact info - they can find that on your site). If you're in business... this shouldn't be a problem! But if you have some kind of privacy issue please don't apply.
  
• You won't talk directly to this expert... His time is extremely valuable (he charges $150 for a 15 minute consultation) and this excercise is for the benefit of everybody who reads this blog. If you have specific questions after the video is posted, I will forward them on your behalf.
  

To enter the drawing, just scroll to the bottom of this page and enter a comment with your name, email, url, about your business, and why you want to get more visitors to your website. Enter by tomorrow at noon (2/5/09) to enter the drawing.

Here's more info: 

Tomorrow, I will be interviewing one of the Internet's foremost experts on SEO. Nearly every business these days has a website, and who doesn't need more traffic? So, I thought it would be a good idea to interview an SEO expert so we could all learn more about raising our website position in Google and other search engines. And then, as long as I've got this guy on the phone... I thought it would be cool to do a live SEO review for a couple of people on my list.

We will all benefit from the insight these reviews will reveal. This gentleman charges $150 just to take a 15 minute look at a website - and he could be looking at yours - and making recommendations for free.

Once I have a chance to edit the interview and create the screen capture video, I'll post everything up on this blog for you to see. If you're not on my notification list, just enter your name and email address into the form on the top right of this page.

Looking forward to helping a couple of you out!

Travis