My guest blogger today is friend and colleague Kellie D’Andrea. 

Business Coach Kellie D'Andrea

Kellie is a business coach and master marketer.  She has help everyone from the smallest entrepreneur to the largest organizations realize tremendous growth. 

 In today’s economy many business owners are faced with tough decisions that will streamline their business to save a few dollars without compromising service. As unemployment hits an all time high and people and businesses are not spending as much as they did in years past, what can a small business do to survive in a tough economy?

1. Become the ultimate deal maker: With everyone pinching pennies and looking for new ways to save money, this is a great time to offer excellent deals for your products or services. Now is the time for you to be strategic about making deals with your customers, vendors and service partners. In fact, try bartering for services, ad space or product. Every business is looking for ways to save money so do not be afraid to renegotiate contracts with your current vendors and to offer more value to keep your current customers.

2. Look for efficiencies: Take a look at all of the processes in your business and see if there are ways to streamline and become more efficient. Look for areas that are manually heavy tasks and see if there is an opportunity to automate. Look for areas that are paper heavy and duplicated and see if you can tighten up. Combine like tasks for greater productivity and do not shy away from investment opportunities that may reduce your overall labor in future periods. For example, investing in technology that could would reduce labor by 50%. Although there is an upfront outlay of cash, the investment will pay for itself.

3. Up your marketing: Now is the time to increase your marketing. Studies have shown that in times of a downward companies, small business that increase marketing have a greater chance of growing their business since there are so many business owners that cut back on their marketing. Here is a great opportunity to stand out from your competition and grab more market share. Marketing is a process and a continuous one so to get customers in your sales funnel, you need to continue to market your business.

4. Bring additional value to your customers. Since your customers are why your business exist, show them how much they mean to you. This is the time to reach out and strengthen the bond you have with your customers and show them how much you appreciate their business. Try offering them an appreciation day, or discounts for their continued business. Offer rewards and frequent buyer programs and see where you can add more value to your current service model. Perhaps a free bonus, an extra drink, a whitepaper… be creative and think out of the box.

5. Plan. Take out that marketing and business plan and review it and revise it. Now is the time to build a plan a new plan and create new financial projections based upon the current economic climate. By shifting your business to be more efficient now and to train your team to do more with less, you are setting the business up for success when the economy comes back. Once a company knows how to run lean and mean, it stays during the economic swing upward resulting in more profits. Do you know that many successful businesses were started during a recession? Having a strong foundation in branding, leadership and selling techniques will help you weather any economic storm and position you for long term growth.

We have built our business on customer acquisition in its many flavors — building mailing-list strategies for major catalogers, developing databases for software manufacturers, conducting hefty lead-generation campaigns for various high-tech companies, and now we are assisting the small-business owner in growing their lists and attracting new customers — another way of saying lead generation. But whether the enterprise is huge and complex, or a mom-and-pop, the lead funnel stages are the same.  I want to take a minute to focus on the lead nurture aspect.  This is the part that is too shortened or ignored in the larger enterprises, who are so focused on quarter-by-quarter performance that they may not have the time to nurture a lead properly.  Smaller companies and entrepreneurs frequently don’t undertand or spend enough effort in the wooing process.

The classic lead funnel has 4 stages — brand awareness, lead generation, lead nurture and finally the sale. Let’s look at it another way, from the prospects perspective — the  Know/Like/Trust/Sale continuum with a focus on the inner 2 stages.  One of the best-kept secrets of converting a prospect to a buyer is making sure that the bait used to hook them is in alignment with what they are expecting, wanting, and needing AT EACH STAGE OF THE FUNNEL. That will differ, and there is the difference.

2.  Like – Stages 2 and 3 are really the important pieces, in my mind. You are now building a level of involvement and increasing intimacy with your prospect. This may sound like a romantic, consumer-ish, and odd concept. But buyers are people. And people make decisions more with their emotions than with their brains, whether they are buying blade servers or scented soap.  Knowledge about the product, features, and benefits, are all part of what needs to be communicated. But that is truly not what makes a sale happen. This is the time to provide value at no cost; white papers about a pain point in the industry, resources for problem solving, a free e-book pertaining to a specific concept  of particular interest to your prospect.  Give all this away.  Give lots away, and give it frequently and often. If you are providing truly valuable (to your prospect) information, frequent contact will not be perceived as harassment, so don’t be shy. But don’t ask for the sale, not yet.

3.  Trust – This is an even more intimate stage, and the nurturing process should reflect that.  Podcasts and interviews tend to be more personal and more involving, and this is the perfect stage to integrate them into the lead-nurture process. There is something about having an ear-bud plugged in to your ear that creates a very intimate relationship between the listener and the presenter. Emails with a brief embedded video create direct interaction and conversation (if comments are allowed) with the viewer. Here is where personal stories from the sales rep or CEO, or longer off-topic lunches (in old sales parlance) make a difference in the quality of the relationship. You are building trust. Use Social Media at this stage as well on a more intimate level; invite prospects into your blogging community, internal wikis or mini-sites to gain a more human perspective on your company, brand or people. Invite them to participate as a guest blogger, interview them for an internal video, and involve them in the social media community.  Envelope them with social media love and you will be holding them very closely.

4. The sale – If you have done steps 2 and 3 in a truly nurturing way (this is a Mom speaking, but it’s still true), then asking for the sale is easier, and more comfortable for all concerned — almost a natural and expected progression.

Think again about levels of intimacy and how and where to include social media into the nurturing stages of the lead funnel.  Your close rate will certainly improve.

I’ve been following Fabienne Fredrickson for about a year and am a complete fan.  She is launching a new tour targeting the mindset of the entrepreneur and I just wanted to spread the word.

If there’s a struggle on the OUTSIDE, it means there’s a struggle on the INSIDE.

This is how Marketing and Success Mindset Expert, Fabienne Fredrickson describes why you might not be experiencing the success in your business that you should be.

As Fabienne explains, once you shift the internal mindset barriers that are sabotaging your success, you have the ability to be prosperous and to multiply your revenues, over and over again, with ease–but only when you get to the root of what’s holding you back.

Pretty intriguing, don’t you think?

Fabienne is taking her Mindset teachings on the road at three One-day LIVE events titled, ‘Millionaire Entrepreneur Mindset Secrets’:

San Diego, CA: July 22nd

New York, NY: July 29th

Atlanta, GA: August 5th

(Even if you’re not living in these cities, this event is worth flying in for, taking the train or going on a road trip with friends…)

During these events, you’ll be “stretched” by Fabienne to see a much bigger vision of what’s possible for you, and you’ll begin to uncover the hidden reasons why you’re not currently making more in your business. You’ll also discover the exact process to shift your mindset, transform your in-come, and upgrade your entire life–both personally and professionally.

‘Millionaire Entrepreneur Mindset Secrets’ promise to be a real game changer for entrepreneurs ready to truly experience success–something that will immediately impact your business and your life.

Fabienne is known for her down-to-earth, yet powerful presentations so I promise you, you won’t want to miss this event! She is a trusted business mentor and coach to thousands of heart-centered entrepreneurs around the globe. Now you can have her teach you the same mindset principles that she teaches her clients, for a fraction of what they pay. (Only $95 and you get to bring a guest for free!)

Watch Fabienne’s new video about this event, here: http://bit.ly/92zYYF

So expect a full afternoon of Fabienne teaching you the secrets she personally used to transform her own business and multiply her in-come, dramatically by using proven internal mindset principles. Fabienne uses these principles daily to keep doubling her business every year, and her private students are doing the same…and you can too!

Get all the event details here:

http://bit.ly/92zYYF

 The event also includes high-level networking, “mindset makeover” hotseats conducted by Fabienne, as well as a gourmet hors d’oeuvres reception immediately following–so you can meet and talk to Fabienne personally.

It’s only $95 to register (and, each paid participant gets to bring a guest for free.)

There are only 100 seats available per location, so register quickly before they sell out.

I hope to see you there!

http://bit.ly/92zYYF

Brown Sugar Kitchen is an absolutely wonderful “new style down home” cafe in West Oakland. I’ve watched them with increasing admiration since they appeared both on Mandela Parkway and on Twitter and Facebook. I’m doing an interview with Phil Surkis, one of the owners of BSK on his social media strategy, which is wonderful to behold.

I should explain. BSK is in the middle of an industrial area, which is to say, almost nowhere. There is no foot traffic, no retail buzz, no reason to be in the nabe except to pick up pipe for that construction project, or to drive by on your way to IKEA or Best Buy.

But somehow (and my bet is thru Tanya’s excellent food and Phil’s wonderful touch with their social media efforts) they have built a standing-room-only crowd on weekends — and some weekdays as well.

So, in my new series of interviews on the use of social media for small businesses, I’ve asked Phil to share his secrets. If you have any kind of small biz, retail store or restaurant, I’m sure you will get lots of great ideas to incorporate with your social media marketing plan. And maybe a recipe or two…can’t promise, though.

When: Monday June 14th, 1 pm Pacific time

If you would like an audio file of the interview, please sign up below.

I’m doing another free teleclass on using Social Media to generate leads and build sales on Wed, May 12 at 1 pm Pacific Time, 4 pm Eastern.  Register here to join me.  I’ll send you dial-in information the day before the event.

I started this class because, after conducting a monthly breakfast meeting on Social Media for the SVAMA, it became clear to me that the small business was not getting the kind of strategic direction that they really needed.  Everyone will say that they are using Social Media.  They are on Twitter, or have a Facebook profile, but few really understand how to use Social Media strategically.  It’s a marketing powerhouse if used effectively and I want to give all businesses the tools to do just that.

So please join me.  If you can’t make the class live, sign up anyway!  I’ll be recording the class and will send everyone who signs up an audio file the following day.

Hope to see you there!

I never thought I’d say this, but my mail box is starting to get full again.  Brands and agencies seem to be slowly returning to the tried and true method of direct mail.  Perhaps our email inboxes are getting too full, or the online world is just getting too cluttered. Or the marketing people have realized that they have been missing an important piece of the marketing puzzle all along.  But direct mail is becoming more sophisticated as technology is allowing for more capabilities.   Even if you are going to mail a simple post card (very powerful, by the way), below are a few trends that you might want to take into consideration:

Direct Mail/Social Media integration
Including a brand’s Twitter handle, and Facebook page URL is becoming as frequent as the old 800 number used to be.  As companies become more creative about how they use social networking sites for tightly timed discounts, offers and coupons exclusive to the social sites, it makes only good marketing sense to groom your customers and prospects to be on the lookout by sending them to there with each of your mailings.  

Personalized and customized mailings  Improved data capture, database enhancements all allow for a more robust body of information on each customer.  This translates, with digitized printing, into the abilty to create more targeted and personal messages. Personalisation in itself is not new but in the coming months we will see it move to a new level, making reference to past purchasing behavior and suggested next purchases. Companies who find ways to personalize communications will continue to see a better response.

Using direct mail to drive web traffic – Given all of the above capabilities with customer data. Some smart marketers and sending readers not to the home page, but customized mini sites based on the recipients data. – Transaction history, advanced demographic info all can point reader to a very individualized experience.

Marketing automation to cross and up sell
Once the province of the major CRM companies (think Salesforce.com) now the ability to automate a multi channel contact strategy is filtering down to smaller companies with smaller budgets. A well targeted direct mail piece might have a call-to-action for an offer that is only available online. Once that customer has clicked to the site, a chain of auto-responder emails is initiated that will hopefully move the prospect further down the purchasing decision making process. Each step the customer takes is recorded in their customer record, to encourage future even more intelligent marketing activities.  The technology has become more sophisticated and less expensive in the last year or so, and will only get better with time.

I started using Social Media to promote my business 3 years ago, without much real knowledge about the whys and wherefores.  I wasted a tremendous amount of time – Tweeting now and then, connecting on Facebook with whoever seemed like a likely prospect and getting distracted by numerous small and unimportant social media sites.  

Does this sound familiar?

I was tired and frustrated with the trial and error of “trying” social media. I had no real strategy, or understanding of the power of the medium and knew I was missing out on a lot of potential business and can’t even imagine the
amount of billable time I wasted on this fruitless exploration. 

Over the next 3 years, I made it my job to take classes and webinars, read blogs, and follow the thought leaders of social media.  Now, I am armed with the critical knowledge needed in order to take advantage of all of the social media tools that help businesses grow, and I want to share it with you. 

Did you know that social media is the number one source for lead generation for our company? And these are WARM prospects – people who are coming to us ready to sign a check…or pretty close.

Let me save you all of that wasted time and money.

Why make the same mistakes I made?  

I’ve put together all of that hard earned expertise into a content rich and action directed teleseries.

I’ll take you step-by-step through the process of setting up a social media strategy without the headaches, miss-steps and wasted time.

Grab your spot NOW…the class starts on Tuesday April 27th and I don’t want you to miss a thing!

Hope to see you on the call.

Customer Service problems can be daunting for any company. But the last thing you want to do is pretend that they don’t exist or will never exist. The best thing to do is meet them head on, resolve issues, make the customer as happy as possible, and move on. The last thing you want to even consider is ignoring an unhappy customer or client.

Customer Service and Twitter.com were made for each other. The immediacy of Twitter, coupled with the accessibility of the customer-service “fixer” creates a terrific tool for staying in close and concerned contact with customers. And they feel the love. Below are a few tips to make this successful:

• Let your customers know about your presence on Twitter, at least to resolve issues. Post your Twitter “handle” throughout your own website. Send an a informative email to your customers letting them know that you will be available on Twitter if they need help, blog about it in company blogs. Make the Twitter handle that will be used for customer service visible and easily found throughout your online presence.
• Be proactive. Go looking for problems or mentions. This is not the time to be shy or keep your head in the sand! Search out your company name frequently. Create a search for your company name, brand name, product names in Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or Seesmec and save these searches. That way you will always be aware when anyone in the Twittersphere is talking about you (positively or negatively) or has problems. Tweetbeep and Monniter are two applications that will alert you when your company is mentioned.
• Take the right tone. Gather information on the problem, never point fingers, don’t be defensive. Be authentic in your attempts to solve the customer’s problem. Be sure the end result is positive — at least in feel — for the customer.
• If it can’t be resolved in 140 characters of Tweet text, or if the problem is sensitive, or if the customer is very upset, then give directions for a next step — an 800 toll-free phone number, a specific email address (spelled out) so that a final solution can be achieved in a more private setting.
• Be very timely. Twitter happens at the speed of light. Negative info travels even faster. Check Tweets frequently for any hint of problems, and jump right on them.

Twitter aside, one of the best things you can do to build and reinforce your brand is to take customer service very seriously. A problem will only get worse, and a customer will only get increasingly unhappy if the issue is not acknowledged. Companies will get far more “points” for being proactive in their efforts to resolve even horrendous problems to the best of their ability. The resolution may not be perfect in the customer’s or the public’s eye, but a true and strong effort to resolve will go far towards saving the loyalty of that person. Hopefully, they will spread the word and Tweet about the positive outcome, not the bad experience.

I’m thrilled to be the guest speaker at renown business coach Kellie D’Andrea’s weekly “Marketing Mondays” tele-class on April 12th. Here is Kellie’s write-up:

Business Coach Kellie D'Andrea

Q: Are you curious about social media?
Q: Interesting in adding social media to your marketing mix?

A: Well, you don’t want to miss this call!

“Generate Leads and Increase Sales with Social Media” during Marketing Mondays with Kellie D’Andrea.

WHEN: MONDAY, April 12, 2010, 6 pm Eastern (NY) time (That’s 5 pm Central, 4 pm Mountain, 3 pm Pacific.)

WHERE: Virtual Sign up to get call in information TIME: 6 pm Eastern (NY) time (That’s 5 pm Central, 4 pm Mountain, 3 pm Pacific.)

Today the owner of a small business is struggling with a bad economy, declining sales and not enough resources to get the job done. Marketing for small business usually takes a back seat – just when it’s needed most! Social media adoption by small businesses doubled during the last year, from 12% to 24%. And among those, nearly half anticipate it will be profitable within the next 12 months, according to the Small Business Success Index.
Join my special guest Elyse Tager, Social Media Strategist as she teaches you about social media, why it is important to add to your marketing mix and how to get started! By the time you leave this call, you WILL possess the knowledge to start on social media right away!! You don’t want to miss this one.

During this call, you will learn:

• “Tweet what” – “Friend Me” & “Fan Pages” Oh my! You will learn exactly what social media is and how it can be best used for small business owners or the entrepreneur. (and yes, we are going to teach you what sites you need to be part of!)
• Exactly how to get started in Social Media. We are going to teach you how to identify your goals and objectives for using social media and how to build a plan so you are successful in social media.
• Where to focus your energy and where the best place to start. We are going to teach you best practices, tips and tools that if you apply, will lead to optimal results (keyword focused profiles, building your network for targeted reach, where to focus your attention)
• Plus, and I saved the best for last, a SPECIAL invitation to a workshop that will teach you everything you need to know about Social Media!

About our Guest Speaker:
Elyse Tager, Social Media Strategist and founder of Elymedia will give you a brief overview of Social Media and a how you can get started with a plan that is right for your business, no matter what business you are in. See how this very cost-effective marketing tool can increase your visibility, provide a stream of leads and increase sales in very little time.

- – - – - -

Thanks Kellie! Hope to see lots of you on the call!

Social Media is about 3 things — connecting, creating, and engaging. Sounds easy enough, but the value of everything you do using social media will all go back to who you are engaging with.  This is a real case of “garbage-in, garbage-out.” If you “friend” or connect with anyone and everyone without any concern about who or why, you won’t get much out of all the time you may invest in your social media strategy. To make your social media strategy productive, efficient and successful, here are tips on creating a strong network.

There are two preliminary steps that are critical: First, have your target audience in mind. Your services/offer/store/business won’t appeal to the entire world. Are you focusing on small business, a particular industry, a certain demographic, or a geographic region? Keep this on top of mind whenever you decide to seek out or accept connections. Second, have your objectives in mind. Are you creating visibility for your brand, driving traffic to your website, selling product? These questions may be harder to fold into your decision-making process, but keep them in the back of your mind as you proceed.

• Start out with a group of people/clients/prospects that you KNOW are the right audience for you, and connect with these folks first. Upload from your Outlook, ACT, GMail, AOL databases and invite all that make sense.
• Search your connection’s connections. Who are they connected to?  If it’s a good business contact, chances are their connections/friends will work for you as well.
• Are there industry thought-leaders who talk about your topic? Connect with them. Who are THEY connected to?
• LinkedIn and Facebook make suggestions — examine these daily for more possible additions.
• Search for your old contacts, school-mates, work-mates, soccer-team buddies, church friends. These may be great direct sources for business (or they might not?) or may be great for referrals. Peruse membership of relevant groups — connect with members
• If you have been ReTweeted on Twitter, connect with that person.
• Ask a carefully- and strategically-chosen question on LinkedIn. Connect with the responders.
• Has anyone commentrd on your status post in Facebook or LinkedIn?  Would they be a good connection?
• Use strategic hashtags in your Tweets to have people interested in your topic find and connect with you, then connect back
• Use the search function for Twitter http://www.search.twitter.com and use the advanced mode. Target well and you will find many great potential connections. Save it as a feed and you can revisit daily to find more good connections.

My own Point of View: beware of the applications that promise to connect you to hundreds and thousands of people. They will. But so what? Quality and relevance trumps quantity.

It’s important to keep expanding your connections in social media. But always be sure there is a well-thought-out strategy every time you go through the exercise. The quality of your network, and the payback it will give you, will be worth the extra time.

If you are a small business with a retail or at least street-facing presence you are probably already taking good advantage of Yelp, YahooLocal, Citysearch and others.    But even businesses like professional services (lawyers, architects, CPA firms, ad agencies, doctors) should be sure to include these sites in their marketing mix.  And now is the time to revisit them.  As Social Media continues to explode, they are all introducing more SM features that will allow you to create current and fresh content and be even more “findable”. 

Yelp, is the grandaddy of social media meets local business.  If you set up your page awhile back, revisit it and do so frequently, to be sure that it is as robust and current as you can manage.  Are there recent picture or videos you can upload?  Have you updated services that have come about due to a flagging economy?  Take another look and be sure you are maximizing your presence.

Google Local Business Place Pages has just added a status block so you can update your page with immediate messages, links to specials, and other interest generating content in a short-form. Unfortunately, there is no way yet to link that update to Twitter or Facebook or anything else – more work for the poster, but still a great new feature.   Another addition: businesses that have been “claimed” by their owners will now feature a badge indicated the credibility of the posting. 

Citysearch has just added a social media component to their listings as well. New features from Citysearch:  Twitter handles can be added to your account and Citysearch consumers can receive your Tweets  Also included will be a link to your Facebook Fan Page so Citysearch consumers can “become a fan” of your business.

Up and comer business directory MerchantCircle has been steadily growing as an online network and business directory for merchants in smaller towns to advertise to consumers. To help Local Businesses get more customers online, they’ve developed a free local business social network where business owners can promote their business by uploading pictures, writing blogs, publicizing events, creating coupons and newsletters, and connecting with other merchants. MerchantCircle has long targeted its site’s features towards merchants versus catering towards the consumer, as sites like Yelp and CitySearch do. Last month, the network has hit a milestone by signing up its one millionth merchant. Not too shabby for the business directory, considering there are an estimated 15 million local merchants in the U.S. today.

We are doing more and more marketing and media plans for local businesses using a heavy emphasis on social media where appropriate.  If we can help  your business, give us a holler.

Say the word “email” and many people shudder. But email does not equal spam. Use it correctly, intelligently and strategically and you will stay in touch with clients, build your brand, and warm up prospects.  Below are 7 tips for integrating an email strategy into your small business marketing efforts

1.  Define your objectives (I know I always start here, and so should your company).  Are you using it for CRM, prospecting, branding, information dissemination or a combination of several of these?

2.  Collect email addresses ethically. Start with the email addresses of your current customers.  If these aren’t already in a primary database, access all departments within the company to gather as many customer email addresses as possible.  Accounting, tech support, customer services, marketing, and sales may all have email databases so collect them all and consolidate to begin.

3.  Build your email database. Ask for the email address of every potential customer and prospect.  Add a newsletter subscription link to your website (more on that below) and make it part of your email signature, make white papers and articles accessible from your site only with a sign-up form, make it part of the credit application.  Any opportunity to ask for an email address, do so.

4. Start publishing an e-newsletter on a regular basis. Establish a look and tone, define what types of content will be included, set a schedule and stick to it.  Twice a month or monthly is a good starting point. You may want to outsource copy writing and creative, or keep it internal depending on your organization’s capabilities and available time.

5.  Use 3rd party deployment company for ease and to maintain list hygiene (opt-outs and unsubs must be honored if you are NOT going to be perceived as spamming).  Vertical Response and Constant Contact are both excellent companies to start with if your list is under 30,000 records or so.

6.  Have a registration/sign-up mechanism on your site.  One do-it-yourself  resource is Wufoo -  a great site for online  form building and registration capture.  Certainly signing up for your newsletter will add email addresses to your database, but offering articles or white papers targeted to the concerns of your customers will not only build your database but add to your company’s credibility and positioning.

7.  Measure results and improve. At the very least, keep track of the number of opens, click thrus and unsubscribes you get with each mailing.  Is there content that had better results? Did your unsubs jump up?  Be aware of the effect your email marketing is having.  Ask your current customers what they think of your efforts, after 2 or 3 have gone out.  You will get feedback on ways to improve and enhance.

If all of this seems pretty basic…it is. But I’m amazed at how many larger organizations either do not have an email strategy, or are not doing it well.  Start now.

The new year has brought a number of inquiries from smaller companies asking for help with social media marketing and marketing in general.  For those of us in the marketing field, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that not all businesses see things from a marketing perspective. Example: we had an end-of-year meeting with our CPA firm and will be doing some marketing consultation for them, I’m happy to say. This is a women-owned firm, brilliant in the world of finance, tax prep and financial planning, but not big enough to warrant an in-house marketing expert. We mapped out some initial strategy, to capitalize on the lowest hanging fruit, and I thought I’d recap our discussion for the benefit of other small companies.

Know who your customers are so you can find more like them. Conduct a survey to find out what industry they are in, how many employees they have, general geography (how close or far away do you want to service a customer?)

Establish some initial objectives. Are you prospecting and looking for new leads?  Introducing new products or services to current customers, asking for feedback on current performance?

Start an ongoing conversation with your current customers. Start a monthly e-newsletter, and before that, start gathering email addresses from everyone you do business with to that end.  Assuming they have a website, start a blog to post updated information about the company more frequently and to start that dialog with your customers.

Social Media Marketing. If your customers and prospects are participating in social media networks, pick an objective for your social media presence, and get started with a well-thought-through SM plan and schedule.  We talked a bit about using Social Media for local marketing in an earlier post.

Establish the initial strategy — but make it simple.  Small companies don’t have marketing departments, so be sure the objectives are manageable.  Decide on tactics, the person or people who will be actually doing the work, and set a schedule.  Then keep it.