Business Planning – More Exciting Than You Imagine!
Before I get started, the photo at the left is of this morning's sunrise. Nice, isn't it? 
One advantage of the experience I gained during my 20+ years as a bank executive is that it helped me hone my planning skills. As I sat down to piece together the new PR strategy for Flesh Wound, I decided to create a formal business plan to guide me through the next few months. Business planning is something that happens annually to some degree at most successful businesses. I participated in Strategic Business Planning all the time, and even attended a week-long immersion course in the subject at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. So hey, I should have some idea of how to do it.
The plan consists of essentially five major tactics in support of the business objective of raising awareness of Flesh Wound among college aged adults. They are: create a poster showcasing Flesh Wound that can be posted on campus; create a website dedicated to Flesh Wound; create merchandise with the Flesh Wound brand; contact college campus book clubs and pitch Flesh Wound as a compelling selection; and contact college radio stations to do a story on Flesh Wound. Each tactic is then broken down into steps that are measurable, actionable, have due dates attached, and in whole result in the tactic being accomplished. Contingencies are taken into account as well, such as the finalization of the FW website being contingent on the FW poster being done, so the same images can be branded into both. These help plan the sequence of steps.
The way things stand, by this time next month many more college aged adults should be aware of Flesh Wound than are today, and many more will have read it. Sales of FW should also be significantly greater.
I brainstormed poster ideas with my wife today, and the draft that has come together so far is compelling. I'll post it here as soon as I'm certain I've got all the rights to the images I'm using on it. The great thing about brainstorming is that ideas are revealed that would not come to light if only a single mind were working on the question at hand. As a result, the PR push is going to be more robust than originally planned – yes! For instance, wouldn't it be fun if any reader anywhere could talk directly to Faye or Max? I think it would be.
So stay tuned. As the poster is completed, I'll post it here, and I will also post major milestones in the business plan as they are reached. Have a spectacular day, and read something that makes you forget where you are! -Jon
