Many of us may not immediately grasp the connection between this 19th Century mathematician and the evolution of the modern computer, but the link is very real, AND potentially helpful if NOT amazingly so, OR so it seems.  Any idea what this is referring to yet?

Boolean searches can help you find just about any information that you are looking for on the internet, or at least help you find the tools to get you there.  Is this important to your business?  The short answer is yes.

The right stuff
Information is a very broad and far-reaching word.  What type of information will help your business?  You know best, but there can be no doubt that finding the right information will lead to greater efficiency, OR bigger returns, AND more clients AND NOT frustration.

The essence of what George Boole accomplished was to formulate a system for expressing logical relationships.  This is the backbone of what drives modern computer operations and also the key to performing targeted searches using those modern computers.  There is no need to read his “AN INVESTIGATION OF THE LAWS OF THOUGHT, ON WHICH ARE FOUNDED THE MATHEMATICAL THEORIES OF LOGIC AND PROBABILITIES” (1854) in order to take advantage of some of his genius.  All you need to do is remember the words/phrases AND, OR, AND NOT.  (And don’t forget to use parentheses.)

Many search engines work with Boolean principles.  They are based on sets of logic and that can be a great help to you the next time you need to find specific information. 

Proceeding logically
Let’s say that you are searching through a large resume database for candidates for a technical sales position in your software development company.  To get started you might type in the title of your open position: Technical Account Manager.  This may get you a lot of results, but not many people with experience with your technology. 

You may get resumes for Account Managers in the paper industry that happen to have the word technical somewhere in their information.  Quotation marks come in handy here.  For an exact match, you would search for: “Technical Account Manager”.  But you still need to focus on your technology. 

By default, many search engines (such as Google) treat individual words in an inclusive manner; all words are searched for.  To make sure that this is happening, you can use Boolean logic: “Technical Account Manager” AND firmware.  Now your results will be getting smaller, meaning that you can spend less time sifting through bad matches.  To get even more refined results, you might want to include other technologies that you candidate needs to have and exclude others that are undesirable:  “Technical Account Manager” AND firmware AND drivers AND NOT “user interface” AND NOT HTML. 

Prime results
Your results are looking pretty good, but you still might not be finding all the qualified candidates.  It would be a good idea to include variations on terms: (“Technical Account Manager” OR “technical sales” OR “Sales Engineer”) AND (firmware OR “embedded software”) AND drivers AND NOT “user interface” AND NOT HTML. 

This may seem a bit convoluted at first, but once you start a narrowly focused search, you’ll soon see the advantages of using this technique. 

(Warning: Google does use Boolean logic but with a different format.  OR = OR, but AND NOT = “-“.  Search for Google AND advanced search to learn more.)

Ivan speaks up on gender assumptions in business

While it may be safe to say that the number of grossly inappropriate sexist jokes being made in the workplace is diminishing, there are still lots of smaller gender blunders being committed in the professional realm.  Many would argue that the negative side of ‘political correctness’ is a stifling environment in which individuals are expected to alter their natural means of expression to an uncomfortable and unjust degree.  Maybe so. 

Gender blunders are not about political correctness; just correctness.

More than words
What is a gender blunder?  Basically, any misstep or incorrect assumption that is made regarding someone’s gender.  For example, if you make a cold call into a company and ask if the VP of Marketing is in and you are told ‘not at the moment’, you might ask ‘when we he be back’?  Statistically, your chances of that person being a man are still better than 50%, but why choose a gender when you don’t have to?
 
In that instance, you wouldn’t have done any harm and your small gender blunder would most likely be ignored but inadvertent assumptions about gender might not always fail to draw negative attention.

Relationship development
In your business dealings, the last thing you want to do is make anyone uncomfortable.  Your success depends upon fostering positive relationships.  If you inadvertently make someone uncomfortable because you express the assumptions that you make about a person’s gender – or what characteristics that person might have based on gender – the one who will suffer is you.  Again, this isn’t about political correctness; it’s about strong relationship skills.

In fact, the politically incorrect views of your associates could also work against you if you make a gender blunder.  If you ask a sexist associate to ask his boss (whom you incorrectly assume to be a man) for approval to move forward with a proposal by saying ‘once your boss gives his say-so…’ you may find that the process slows down, seemingly inexplicably.  Two potential reasons: you have just made this person feel impotent by reminding him that he can’t make the decision on his own; you have made him point out to you that he is subordinate to a woman (not something that our hypothetical sexist male will be comfortable with). 

An extreme situation and, hopefully, one that won’t come up.  The point is that gender blunders aren’t about political correctness – they are about accidentally drawing negative attention to yourself which is never a good idea when you are trying to build relationships.

Beware assumptions
On par with the gender blunder in the previous example is the inadvertent undermining of someone’s authority.  Whether gender related or not, the small assumptions that we make and express can weaken our connections to the people that are so crucial to our continued success.  We should always strive for a high level of professionalism, defined by BusinessDictionary.com as:  Meticulous adherence to undeviating courtesy, honesty, and responsibility in one’s dealings with customers and associates, plus a level of excellence that goes over and above the commercial considerations and legal requirements.

We may not realize it, but we make assumptions all the time.  Many of them are right on the money, some aren’t.  Try to avoid any negativity by taking a moment to think about the kinds of assumptions that you are making, especially about something as basic as gender.  Get in the habit of using non-gender specific language and never use he or she when referring to someone whose gender you don’t know.  It might not do any harm to make a few gender blunders, but what harm will it do to avoid them?

Traditionally speaking
Traditionally market researchers have placed an emphasis on quantitative results, i.e. ‘pay per click’.  When marketing online, how many ‘clicks’ by prospective clients actually result in a sale?  Accompanying this focus has been a belief that good marketing results in changing consumer attitudes: you convince consumers of the viability, quality and desirability of your product or service.

Recently, trends have been changing; instead of an emphasis on the quantitative, attention has been paid to more qualitative results.  If every time you visit a website, the same banner advertising a particular brand of computer appears on the screen, chances are, you’ll think of that brand next time you make a major technology purchase. 

However, this kind of marketing efficacy is much harder to measure.  How many times must you see the same message before you change your purchasing habits?  How do we measure the impact of each variable that contributes to a decision to buy? 

Behavioural impact
Now we’re talking about attitudes that change over time, and which result in changed behaviour.   While changes in attitude are harder to measure – unless you utilize very time consuming and expensive questionnaires or surveys – a change in something as tangible as behaviour is much easier to identify (especially with the array of new electronic methods), and speaks for itself.

So, although it may be difficult to tangibly measure marketing success, there are ways to ensure maximum effectiveness.  To give your customers what they want, you first must ascertain what that is. 

Leads & referrals: next steps?
It may be relatively easy to source leads, but you must develop and nurture a relationship with these prospective clients.  Database marketing is a great way to keep track of qualified leads,  once a prospective client has expressed interest in your product or services (example: by calling or emailing for more information, or handing you a business card at a networking event). 

Maintain an ongoing dialog over time, by employing ongoing direct mail campaigns, e-newsletters, faxes and outbound telephone calls to keep in touch with these longer-term prospects.  These contacts should include an offer and response mechanism inviting the recipient to continue and advance the dialog with your company.  This careful husbandry of leads and referrals will ensure that your business remain ‘top of mind’ as these prospects go about their decision-making process.  You’ll also be maintaining and developing a trust-based relationship that should create a sense of loyalty.

The price tag
You may think that it is necessary to spend a lot on effective marketing. This is not necessarily true.  One of the core principles of marketing is efficiency. Missing your target, sending the wrong message, or otherwise not connecting with the consumer will result in lost efficiency and wasted marketing dollars. 

What’s most important is to ensure that you are making good use of your marketing budget.  For example, consider structuring your marketing budget this way: 50-60% for image, awareness, and lead generation activities, 20-25% for handling, qualifying and nurturing inquiries, and 20-25% for keeping and growing existing customers. 

As you keep track of your customer base, this dialogue will help you understand what effect your marketing is having on your target. It will help you make adjustments and plan your efforts better in the future.  By giving marketing top priority and really listening to your customers, you will be much better situated to determine which strategies work and which might need work.  At the end of the day, your healthy and profitable business will be the best measure of your marketing success.

Probably that one filing cabinet you’ve been using has been sufficient until now.  The webmail interface you use can service your sole computer.  500 business cards have taken you this far; you’ve been buying your ink cartridges from your local business supply depot one at a time and, until recently, this has worked well.

However, as your business grows, so does the complexity of your day to day operations.   The Dot Com industry in the early 1990s coined the phrase ‘scalability’, which is defined by InvestorWords.com as “The potential for a business or an aspect of a business to continue to function effectively as its size increases.”  The bottom line is that this is not just a concept that applies to big business – all businesses need a solid plan to facilitate expansion.

Great expectations
What did you expect your main offering would be?  Are you right?  Perhaps as a graphic designer you expected to do a lot of print promotional material, i.e. brochures, posters, etc., however, your alliance with a web developer has meant that 75% of your time is spent creating web content.  It might be time to take a step back and examine the structure of your business.  Are you prepared for this shift in your focus?  Do you have a plan in place that addresses the logistical concerns that come with growth?

It’s tempting when you get started to let the idea of future growth take care of itself.  Since there are so many operational details to focus on in the present, it may seem that there isn’t time to think about the future.  A successful business strikes a balance between these two needs. 

Growth can happen very quickly and you may find yourself in need of some sophisticated processes.  It will be much easier to make these business adjustments if you’ve anticipated them.  It makes sense to plan for a successful future. 

A fresh perspective
Take a look at your daily procedures.  Start at the beginning and examine every aspect of your process – the trick is to look for and identify existing gaps.  This is something that can be done at any time: ideally scalability is taken into account when you design your new business, but it is never too late to restructure.  It might not be necessary to hire a business analyst – all you need is someone with the objectivity to see your business clearly.  Ask a friend, a colleague or even a satisfied client to help you take a look.

The reality is that every vibrant, growing business may depend, to a certain extent, on workarounds.  The filing cabinet you’ve stashed in the other room to accommodate your overflow files may be viable in the short term.  However, the temptation is to let this become a permanent function. 

An essential truth
Let’s face it: you are most excited by your business successes, the dynamic choices you make and your accomplishments. Day-to-day procedures, while mundane, are essential to your business’s continued growth and success.  Don’t waste time getting bogged down in sloppy processes and ad hoc procedures – keeping your operations clean and streamlined will ensure that you’ve got the bandwidth available to embrace your success.

Think about your most successful personal relationships – do they share anything with your professional ones?  Obviously there are differences, but in many ways your professional relationships are like your personal ones: they should never be taken for granted.  You might lose touch with an acquaintance over time but those close friends stay that way because you make the effort.  And they won’t mind if you forget to send that thank-you card.  Sometimes you can get away with this in your professional relationships as well, but why take the chance? If a client requests a quote, provide it in a timely fashion. 

If you say you’re going to follow up with a phone call or an email, do it. 

When less isn’t more
In business too often even minimum requirements are not met.  Consider this true story: Client A wants to do some pretty major home renovations and calls three contractors to request quotes.  All three companies send employees out to look at the job; all three companies promise to be in touch ASAP.  Company 1 calls back within the week.  2 never calls back.  Company 3 actually calls A two months after the project has been completed.  It’s easy to see who got A’s business and why.

Let’s assume that Companies 2 and 3 didn’t rush to call back because they had all the work they could handle: kudos to them.  However, it’s also safe to assume that this might not always be the situation.  Don’t let the workload of a busy time allow you to disregard potential customers – you may not always be so lucky.

Think about how little it costs you to go the extra mile: what would have happened if the busy Company 2 had made the follow up phone call, if even to say that they didn’t have the bandwidth to take the job?  Client A would have been impressed by their success, appreciated the consideration required to make the phone call, and kept them in mind for the future.  Instead, a potential customer was offended by a lack of consideration, and is guaranteed never to seek out services again.

Simple, but effective
Follow through requires good organizational skills – coupled with a commitment to excellence.  Today there are many options available to help you stay organized: hiring a virtual assistant might be a cost-effective way to keep a small business on track; services like Send Out Cards might be the way to ensure that personal touch isn’t forgotten; there is an array of computer programs available to those businesses that want to keep track, reach out and stay organized. 

The rules are simple: if you say you’re going to do something, do it.  If you don’t have time to have that in depth phone call, why not leave a message to that effect?  By doing what you say you will every time, you will build trust that will pay off in the long run.  Offer assistance when you can.  Be honest when you can’t: it’s all part of follow through. 

Don’t promise the impossible; it won’t help anyone, least of all your reputation for business excellence. Even if this commitment to follow through pays off one time out of four you’re still ahead.  Relationships have amazing potential, and they are worth investing some time.  By consistently following through in your professional relationships you will exceed expectations, and inspire others to do the same.

A matter of perspective
Let’s step back a bit.  You’ve got the idea; you’ve got the expertise, the panache, the creativity – all of the things that set your business apart from its competitors.  You’ve got confidence and verve, and can envision your success and the way life will look in the distant (or not so distant) future.   However, while this big picture is absolutely essential to the creation of successful business, how do you ensure the day to day work gets done?

Small Business Canada defines a business plan as ‘a document that summarizes the operational and financial objectives of a business and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized’. 

Plan for growth
Any entrepreneur looking for financing knows that a business plan is required as part of the bank’s application form. In fact, a good business plan is a recipe for success.  In order to reach your lofty goals, you must start at the beginning – that’s what a plan is:  A chance to itemize your goals, your resources and your assets.  It gives you the opportunity to put down on paper exactly what you want to accomplish and then helps you to examine the steps necessary to get there. 

This is also the time to look at your liabilities.  What sorts of challenges might you face along the road to success?  Don’t be afraid to look – much better that you find the courage to examine them at the beginning rather than waiting until you’re faced with something that’s out of your control.  Be proactive: maybe there are steps you can take right now to prevent these challenges from becoming a reality, or figure out a contingency plan, just in case.  Envisioning all eventualities is not being negative, it’s being prepared.

Regardless of the size of your company, write your corporate mandate.  What are you and your company all about?  What do you believe in?  How do you want to do business? The information found in a good business plan will help you set your direction as you work toward growing your business.  It will help define the steps you need to take, and the pitfalls you may have to look out for.  It will help you define your ideal client and even help you decide where to look for them.  Marketing collateral and strategy all grow from here. 

Checks and balances
Business plans are essential as a starting place from which to launch your business.  However, their effectiveness doesn’t end there.  Every now and then check in.  Make it a New Year’s resolution every January to examine your business direction – what’s working, what isn’t – where might you need help?  How has your direction shifted over the year, and what changes, if any, would you like to make?  Consider hiring a professional to help you with this process – sometimes another set of eyes can help you gain the perspective needed to move forward. 

Your business starts with a plan. Hopefully, you’re able to balance visions of future wealth and freedom with your day to day business tasks.  Courage, faith and the ability to dream are necessary to set your goals of success.  Great organization and a practical business plan will help you achieve them.