Now that we've identified the strengths of your small business (February) and discussed how to create a game plan that makes the most of those strengths (March), it's time to put that game plan into action.

Step 3. Execute and evolve that plan, and continue to build momentum.

Your game plan will be unique to your business, industry and personality type. Whether you're playing Monopoly, chess or LIFE (see March column), your plan can succeed only if it's actually carried out.

Last month, we talked about the first step in growing your business: identifying both your strengths and your opportunities. This month, we'll move on to the next step:

Step 2. Create a game plan that builds on those strengths and takes advantage of those opportunities.

Now that you know what elements of your business work for you and what objections your prospects may have about working with a small company, it's time to develop a profile of your company. Here's where we figure out if you're playing Monopoly, chess, or LIFE.

Walking down the aisles of your local supermarket, you've probably seen all the product packaging promoting the benefits of organic food. Everywhere we look, we’re taught that organic food is healthier, more nutritious, and free of chemical substances when compared to conventional foods. Some products even claim to protect consumers from cancer-causing pesticides. (I’ll take those in bulk, please!)

Here’s a question confronting our latest crop of graduates: is the value of education worth its cost? It depends on who you ask.

With a four-year degree at a private college averaging $100,000 many college students graduate with thousands of dollars in debt, and often no job in sight.

Choosing to exhibit at a trade show is a strategic decision. Perhaps now more than ever, the decision "to show, or not to show" is fraught with huge financial risk. Costs for services like labor and freight continue to rise, and travel expenses are becoming an even larger part of the pie.

That said, the trade show arena (the figurative one, not the literal one) offers some unbelievable bargains. The payoff in terms of face-time opportunities with clients and prospects is still one of the most cost-effective and time-efficient ways to connect with your audience.

If we ever thought there was one way to campaign for the presidency, the 2008 primary season has changed that opinion forever.

Gone are the days of stumping, baby-kissing and whistle stops. Welcome to the virtual world of in-your-face, on-your-airwaves, everywhere-you-look politicking.

To begin this story, let's start with some basic stats:

• According to the Marketing to Moms Coalition (MMC), American mothers are responsible for purchasing power to the tune of $2.1 trillion/year.
• Mothers typically have the last word in deciding what products their families consume.
• In a recent MMC survey, three-quarters of mothers feel that Super Bowl ads don't target their needs at all.

You’ll notice that we’ve deliberately refrained from posting a “best of” list for 2007. And for good reason.

We believe in using the past as a learning tool, but it doesn’t pay to get too overwhelmed or to drift into morbid reflection. Because today—as every day—we’re moving forward…ever forward.

What do we look forward to in 2008?

It’s inevitable. No matter how much you plan in this holiday season, there’s always one last gift you forgot to buy…one last-minute add-on to a loved one’s wish list…one last person for whom you feel a sudden rush of generosity.

What is there to do? Where do you start? Where can you go for a great, fun, absolutely perfect gift?

Remember the good old days of using a favorite catalog to write your Christmas list? My companion was a classic behemoth that became my toy-shopping bible, happily lugged from place to place while I daydreamed about the Barbie Dream House and EasyBake Oven that Santa had, no doubt, set aside for me.

It was a sad day when, due to changing lifestyles and so-called “advances” in technology, these Christmas catalogs became just a fond memory. Since the Sears Wish Book—one of the last to succumb to the advent of the web—was discontinued in 1993, a whole generation of children has missed out on this cherished holiday pastime.