This is the 3rd year I have been involved in the competition and it is always a treat.  Some of plans are well written and well researched, but aren’t viable businessess.  Others contain a great idea, hidden in a poorly written plan.

And every year, there is at least one, which makes me stop and think someday, I am going to say I knew him/her  when.   This year my favorite plan  is Island Ice Cream.  Simple in concept, easy to execute the business may never be huge, but it will easily be profitable, and if he chooses,  a great way to fund his education.

The writer does not have huge plans for this business, but he has a well thought out model which will create a business on a scale he can manage.  I know a number of adults who could take lessons from him.

The oral part of the competion is Saturday, January 10th. And  can’t wait see if  he is as good selling his ideas in person, as he is on paper.   Do bankers or VC’s get this excited when the read a really good plan?  I hope so!  Our economy needs the plans and people who will be excited to seem them succeed.

Today, I want to share Seth Godin’s Thanksgiving post. He says:

Why be generous? Why go out of your way for someone who can’t possibly pay you back? I hope the answer is obvious. It is to me. The benefit is in the fact that they can’t pay you back. The opportunity to instruct or assist when you can gain nothing in return is priceless. It creates meaning and momentum and structure.

And so, as you begin the last month of the year, ask yourself.. Am I generous? Am I a RAINMAKER!

Kyle Lacy, were chatting recently about our favorite blogs. Ok, so we were texting, but that is almost the same thing, isn’t it? Anyway, he suggested we each create a list of our top 50 blogs.

At first I was a bit intimidated - 50 blogs did I really read that many? But I figured what they heck it would be fun to see how many I came up with.

Then, when Kyle sent me this cool graphic, I discovered I don’t follow instructions well. You see - Kyle is writing about his top 50 here in Indy, and I just picked my top 50. While many are local, I also follow some really cool folks around the world.

I have tried to group them in some semblance of an order - with a a brief description. Color coding - Red indicates an Indy Blog.

If you are not familiar with some of these, check them out! And add your favorites!

1. Kyle Lacy’s Thoughts on Social Media - Social Media, Marketing, & occasional Social Commentary
2. Chris Brogan - Social Media, Social Media, Social Media
3. Chris Baggott’s Guide to Blogging - Social Media, Company Blog
4. Media Sauce Blog - Social Media, Marketing - Company Blog
5. Collin Clark - Indy Awesome Blog - Social Media, Web Design - New on the blog scene, but interesting
6. Noah Coffey - Social Media, Marketing
7. Chris Garret - the Business of Blogging and New Media - Social Media
8. TwitTip - Social Media as the Name Implies, Specifically Twitter
9. ProBlogger - Social Media
   
10. Micheal Fruchter - My Thoughts on Social Media - Social Media, Marketing
11. Tim O’Reily Radar - Technology, Social Media,
12. Groundswell - Social Media
13. Jason Baer Where Social Media and Email Collide - Social Media, Marketing
14. Seth Godin - Social Commentary, Social Media, Marketing
15. Jim Brown Monopolized Chaos - Social Commentary, Politics, Social Media
16. Deep Ripples - SEO Blog -SEO, Social Media, Marketing
    
17. SEO Boy - Hannipin Marketing - SEO, Social Media, Marketing
18. Gravy Masters - SEO, Social Media
    
19. Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba - Church of the Customer, Social Commentary, Marketing
20. BNPostive’s Blog - Social Commentary with a decidedly Indy Perspective
21. Jared Young - The Original Quill - Marketing for Small Biz Owners
22. Chad Meyers - Three Hats Marketing - Marketing and Branding
23. Duct Tape Marketing -Marketing, Social Media - Sometimes a bit commercial, but good content mostly
    
24. Amber Naslund - The Brand Box - Marketing, Branding and Social Media
25. Marketing Profs - My Daily Fix - Marketing
26. Jim Connolly’s Marketing Blog - Marketing & Networking - Practical Tips
27. Jim Cota - Marketing, Life as a Dad, ( I also like Jim’s columns in the IBJ)
28. Jason Falls - Social Media Explorer - PR, Social Media and Marketing
29. The Buzz Bin - PR, Marketing, Social Media
30. Mark Story - The Intersection of Online and Offline - PR in the Digital Age
31. Kevin Eikenberry - Leadership
32. Louis Gray - Technology ( Particularly New Web Aps) and the implications on Social Media
33. Doug Karr - Marketing Technology Blog - Technology, Marketing - My Go-To resource for Wordpress
34. Michael Wolf - Greywolf SEO Blog - Technology and SEO
35. BlueLock - Technology, Cloud Computing
36. Rich Miller Data Center Knowledge - Technology - Nice balance between tech news & opinion
37. Nicholas Carr - Rough Type - Technology, Cloud Computing
38. Techy Pundit - Technology, Business and Cloud Computing
39. Robert Scoble - Scobleizer - Technology, Social Media
40. Patric Welch What’s Noo? - Technology with a sense of humor
41. Erik Deckers - The Laughing Stalk - Humor and Social Commentary
    
42. Capitol Watch Blog - Politics - This is my favorite for local and national politics because the authors represent such opposing political views. My favorite Jenn ( very liberal left wing democrat) and her worthy opponent, Abdul, (very conservative, right wing republican) present the inside scoop with insight, humor, and a even a bit of sarcasm
43. The Huffington Post - Politics from a Very Liberal Perspective
44. Indy-Biz - Indy Focused - News about the Indianapolis Small Business Community
45. I Choose Indy - Indy Focused content provided by community at large - best of Indy
    
46. Guy Kawasaki - How to Change the World - Smart Stuff - Entrepreneurship, Technology, Social Media
47. Harvard Management Update - Smart Stuff on Business, Politics, Economics, etc
48. TED - Ideas Worth Spreading - Smart Stuff - Technology, Education, Design, Science, Creativity, etc
49. John Byrn - Editor BusienssWeek.com What’s Your Story - Smart Stuff, Business, Technology, Politics
50. Mooshinindy - Photography

And a few extra’s these are friends who are using blogs in an interesting way to promote their business. Way to go!

1. Hartman Inventory - Company Blog, Inventory Service
2. Barb Jones - Biz Customs - Business Etiquette
   
3. Safari Solutions - Company Blog, HR Tips
   

And if I have missed your favorite - Add it here, then bookmark this page, and come back from time to time to see what others have to say. Haven’t had enough? I found this: 100 Blogs That Will Make You Smarter. I have not had a chance to check out the whole list, but thought I would put the link here so I can find it from time to time.

Each year Indianapolis Business Journal recognizes local women who have demonstrated professional excellence and leadership in their careers and community service. IBJ first published a list of influential women in 1996. They included government and civic leaders and top executives in a variety of industries.

It is really cool that this year the expanded the category to include women from the small busienss community.

Over the next few weeks I am going to post sections of the original text and ask for additions, corrections and other ideas. Anyone who submits ideas will be included in the list of contributors for the book.

Today’s Text comes from the Section on Defining Your Target

The process of defining your target customer is not about limiting to whom you sell, but simply to whom you actively try to reach with your marketing materials.

Few companies, with the exception of perhaps Coca-Cola® or McDonalds®, have sufficient funds to support a true mass market campaign, reaching all consumers.

Instead, savvy marketers look to down their audience to those people who are most likely to buy. Their goal is to craft a message which is relevant to these prospects and potential customers. It is about reaching the right customers, with the right message, at the right time!

So I am looking for thoughts and ideas on how to segment your market, find or define your niche, as well as examples of companies you think do this well.

So comfortable, I have started to talk like a techy.  And until today,  I thought that was really cool.  Then I read a very smart post by Louis Gray and I remembered what it was like not to be on the outside, looking in, thinking this was all a huge waste of time.   He said simply:

What we need to do is help translate these honestly geeky tools into something that makes sense to the mainstream. Instead of talking about how many people you’re following, APIs and how you use TweetDeck to follow specific terms in Twitter, start by explaining that the service is essentially text messaging that gets recorded and can be sent to many people at once.

I will take it a bit further.   Why should small business owners use Twitter?  Two reasons:

1. If you are blogging, this is a nice extension.  A good way to put your information out in front of a wider audience.   Sometimes it is good to go where the people are instead of always trying to bring the traffic to you.
2. As you get better at it, you can learn so much by following the right people.  Who are they?   For everyone, the “right people” are different.  It takes time to find the balance.  Unlike many Twitter users I don’t follow thousands of people, but I am always adding new folks to the mix.

My advice to other non-techies, log on, give it a try, and to the tech folks I will leave with one more quote from Louis’ article:

“Look, tech dork, software doesn’t solve problems, humans solve problems.”

Looking for more Marketing Tips - Check out My Business Blog at Roundpeg

A few days ago, I opened the last box of 50 from the first reprint. Two things occured to me:

1. Somewhere in the world there are more than 900 business owners with a copy somewhere in their office, hopefully filled out.
2. It is time to work on the second edition

As I get ready to review the contents, I know there are things I want to change, sections I want to add, especially about using social media as part of your marketing mix. Clearly this was not on my radar screen five years ago.

But in the spirit of Social Media, I would like to make this next edition a collaborative process. So periodically, over the next few weeks, or months, (however long this takes,) I am going to post sections of the book. I hope you will add your comments, suggestions and ideas. And if I include your content, which in many cases I am sure I will, you will be listed among the collaborators in the forward of the book and on on-line.

Interested? I hope so! Here is the first topic - just as a warm up:

If you boil marketing down to one phrase or concept. What is your most important marketing rule?

This is a bit of woman’s humor from my friend Lori  … enjoy!

Bottle of Wine

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy, cold Monday morning; it’s a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them are hurt . God works in mysterious ways.  After they crawl out of their cars, the man is yelling about women drivers.

The woman says, ‘So, you’re a man. That’s interesting. I’m a woman.  Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but we’re unhurt . This must be a sign from God that we should be friends and live in
peace for the rest of our days’.

Flattered, the man replies, ‘Oh yes, I agree completely, this must be a sign from God! But you’re still at fault…women shouldn’t be allowed to drive.’

The woman continues, ‘And look at this, here’s another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune.’

She hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.  The woman takes the bottle, puts the cap back on and hands it back to the man.

The man asks , ‘Aren’t you having any?’

The woman replies, ‘No. I think I’ll just wait for the police….’

MORAL OF THE STORY: Women are clever, evil witches…  Don’t mess with us.

As you read them I think you will agree, she has the soul of a Rainmaker. She says:

‘I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. ‘I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.

‘ ‘I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.’ ‘

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back!”

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.’

“I’ ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’

So here is the thought for today - Be a Rainmaker and before you end you day today do something to MAKE YOUR LIFE : Learn something, give something to someone else, or do something to make someone else feel special.