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From planning ahead to staying focused, mastering these seven habits will put you on the road to success.

By Brian Tracy

There are key habits you must develop if you want to become a successful entrepreneur. The absence of any one of these habits can be costly, if not fatal, to your business. When you become competent and capable in each of these areas, you'll be able to accomplish extraordinary results, far faster and easier than your competitors. Without further ado, let me introduce the 7 habits of business success:

1. Plan ahead. The better, more thoroughly and more detailed you plan your activities in advance, the faster and easier it'll be for you to carry out your plans and get the results you desire once you start to work.

There's a "Six P" acronym that reads, "Proper prior planning prevents poor performance." To become a better planner, develop the habit of asking and answering the following questions:

· What exactly is my product or service?

· Who exactly is my customer?

· Why does my customer buy?

· What does my customer consider value?

· What is it that makes my product or service superior to that of any of my competitors?

· Why is it that my prospective customer does not buy?

· Why does my prospective customer buy from my competitor?

· What value does he or she perceive in buying from my competitor?

· How can I offset that perception and get my competitor's customers to buy from me?

· What one thing must my customer be convinced of to buy from me, rather than from someone else?

Once you've asked and answered these questions, the next stage of planning is to set specific targets for sales and profitability. You must determine the exact people, money, advertising, marketing, distribution, administration and service people and facilities you'll require in order to achieve your goals. The more thoroughly you plan out each stage of your business activities, before you begin, the greater the probability will be that you'll succeed once you commence operations.

2. Get organized before you get started. Once you've developed a complete plan for your business, you must then organize the people and resources you need before you begin–and you must make this a habit before the start of any new project you launch. In organizing, you bring together all the resources you've determined you'll require in the planning process. In the military, there is a saying: "Amateurs talk strategy, but professionals talk logistics." It's absolutely essential that you determine every ingredient you'll need before you begin business operations and then bring them together so that they're ready to go when you open your doors or begin your project. The failure to provide even one important ingredient in advance can lead to the failure of the entire enterprise.

3. Find the right people. Fully 95 percent of your success as an entrepreneur will be determined by the quality of the people you recruit to work for you. The fact is, the best companies have the best people. The second-best companies have the second-best people. The third-best companies have average or mediocre people–and they're on their way out of business.

4. Learn how to delegate. You must develop the ability to delegate the right task, to the right person, in the right way. The inability to delegate effectively can be the cause of failure or underperformance of the individual, and even bring about failure of your business.

When people start in business, they usually do everything themselves. As they grow and expand, their job becomes too large for one person, so they hire someone to do a part of it. If they're not smart, however, they try to retain control of the task, and they never fully hand over both authority and responsibility to the other person–a situation that's sure to lead to failure.

5. Inspect what you expect. Once you've delegated a task to the right person in the right way, it's essential that you monitor the performance of the task, and make sure that it's done on schedule and to the required level of quality. Remember, delegation is not abdication. You're still responsible for the ultimate results of the delegated tasks, and you must stay on top of it. So set up a system to monitor the tasks you delegate and make sure they're being done as agreed on.

6. Set specific, measurable standards and score cards for the results that you require. What gets measured gets done, and you have to set specific timelines and deadlines to make sure you "make your numbers" on schedule. Everyone who's expected to carry out a task must know with complete clarity the targets that he or she is aiming at, how successful performance will be measured, and when the expected results are due.

7. Develop the determination to win. To succeed greatly in business, and to become a self-made millionaire, there are additional habits you need to develop. One of these habits is the determination to win, to succeed, to outperform your competition and to ultimately be successful. This competitive instinct and determination to win in the face of any obstacle or difficulty is a chief motivating power that drives entrepreneurs and eventually assures successful careers.

Brian Tracy is the "Success Secrets" coach at Entrepreneur.com and one of America's leading authorities on entrepreneurial development. He's produced more than 300 audio and video learning programs that cover the entire spectrum of human and corporate performance.

Successful marketing takes more than a monster budget. Learn these must-know strategies to improve your campaigns.

By Kim T. Gordon

It happens every single day: Two businesses with similar marketing budgets conduct extensive direct-mail campaigns. While one of the companies realizes only less than a 1 percent increase in sales, the other somehow manages a 20 percent increase and then turns each one of those newly acquired accounts into a loyal, repeat customer.

Why do some companies succeed brilliantly in their marketing efforts while others fail? Let’s face it, many entrepreneurs have access to the same tools and resources, but the ones who succeed know how to pull them all together to make their marketing work. Here’s a look at the nine elements at the heart of true marketing success:

1. Leadership: To be successful, the marketing programs your staff or agency creates must support your vision of your company’s future. It’s up to you, at the top of your organization, to set the tone and clearly define your goals. How can your marketing team meet your expectations if it’s unclear what they are?

2. Listening: Customers will tell you what they want, need and are willing to pay for. They’ll even tell you which marketing approach they prefer. You just have to ask them—and listen carefully to the answers. Whether you use focus groups, surveys, web feedback or polls, the best marketing programs are those that are shaped and molded by customers’ preferences.

3. Teamwork: Effective marketing doesn’t begin and end with you and your marketing people. Everyone in the company, from the receptionist to technicians or plant workers, can produce referrals, positive PR and even sales. The key is to “enroll” your entire staff by soliciting their ideas, sharing your plans for each new marketing effort and keeping the team up-to-date on your progress.

4. Coordination: The best marketing programs can’t succeed if there are barriers to sales. Anything from out-of-stock products and pricing glitches to delivery problems and uninformed personnel can stop a deal. The prerequisite for effective coordination and removal of sales barriers is open communication between all departments and individuals, so things like shortages can be anticipated and discussed, and your personnel can support rather than hinder one another.

5. Focus: Unlike major corporations, where divisions compete for their piece of the marketing pie, your growing business has the luxury of focusing intently on marketing its products and services to narrowly defined audiences. Failure to focus by taking on too many different target markets can diffuse your efforts—reducing the time and budget available to effectively penetrate each one—and sabotage your results.

6. Accountability: Just as the Great Pyramids were constructed one stone on top of the next, one successful marketing program builds on another. It all hinges on tracking and measuring your marketing results. Start by setting quantifiable goals for every program or tactic, such as to produce three new accounts in 60 days. Test and examine each marketing approach and then reproduce what works.

7. Flexibility: Successful companies respond quickly to changes in the marketplace, customer preferences and new technologies. When a marketing tactic stops working, don’t wait months to make revisions. Investigate the problem and eliminate it fast!

8. Continuity: Consistent presentation of a brand name and image are essential to long-term marketing success. While strategies and tactics may change and evolve, names, logos and even slogans should be considered the bedrock on which the foundation of your company’s marketing program is built.

9. Insight: Some entrepreneurs always seem to have the inside track. They evaluate the competition and forecast future trends, new products and technologies instead of just responding to today’s ups and downs. Being a great marketer means staying ahead of the pack. You don’t really need a crystal ball—it should just look like you use one.

Contact marketing expert Kim T. Gordon, author of Bringing Home the Business, at www.smallbusinessnow.com.

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Go from drab to fab with these office, tech, marketing, personal finance and money-raising makeover strategies.

By the staff & contributors of Entrepreneur

Office Makeover: Change of Space

With a little help from the experts, this business owner stepped up to the challenge of overhauling his company's shoddy off ice-space design.

It's 9:30 a.m., and you need another cup of coffee. On your way to the break room, you stumble over computer cables and weave around employees who are conversing in the hallways. Fifteen minutes have passed by the time you get back to your office. By midafternoon, you have a headache and one heck of a backache. For most of us, it's all in a day's work.

When it comes down to it, the modern office setup is a pain. Today's office environments aren't keeping up with the nature of work today, where employees go from working solo to working on collaborative projects. "The idea that we can define one space for an individual that will accommodate all those different types of work is somewhat flawed," says John Michael, president and COO of Ivan Allen Workspace LLC, an Atlanta furniture and design firm that works with companies large and small. "We need a range of settings for people."

In a 2001 study, the American Society of Interior Designers found that 57 percent of the 382 office employees it surveyed were dissatisfied with the layout of their offices, saying it negatively impacts communication, access, comfort and efficiency. The layout of an office should aid employees instead of hindering them, says Rita Carson Guest, founder of Atlanta-based interior design firm Carson Guest Inc.: "People spend so much time at work, you want to make them as comfortable as possible."

Seeing the Light

Mark Metz is co-founder and CEO of Optimus Solutions LLC, a 6-year-old technology solutions provider in Norcross, Georgia, with nearly 200 employees. The company has grown to occupy two buildings totaling 27,000 square feet. Now for the twist: The two buildings are located a quarter-mile apart in a suburban Atlanta office park. The five-minute walk between buildings has become a drag on productivity. "Our current space is not laid out well for our business," says Metz, 41. "It's certainly not easy to knock on somebody's office or step into their cubicle." Other aspects of the company's current office setup bug him, too. There isn't enough natural light. The guest reception area isn't very welcoming. Managers' offices are too far away from employees, tucked away against the wall.

Recently, Metz decided to sink $1 million into a three-month project that will bring all the company's employees together under the same roof in a nearby 40,000- square-foot building. The goal is to have a space where employees are more happy and productive, Metz says.

The new building will have wraparound windows so every employee gets natural light and a beautiful view of the woods outside. And instead of traditional fluorescent ceiling fixtures, employees will find ambient lighting, where light is bounced up against the ceiling and back down around the workstation, reducing glare and reflections on computer screens and making it easier to work longer without eyestrain and headaches. With ambient lighting, "you never see directly into any light source. They're all being bounced to you," says Frank Farrington, principal of the Atlanta-based Farrington Design Group, which was brought in as part of Optimus Solution's design-build team. "It's soft and comfortable."

Managers' offices will be in the middle of the office, surrounded by employee workstations. Everyone will be just feet away from each other-an important design element to Metz. "Our company is very much a teamwork type of environment where salespeople, consultants and technical people need to work together to handle a customer's problem," he says. "We want to help facilitate that. Having a face-to-face conversation is much more valuable."

New workstations will be installed to increase teamwork and communication. Smaller, efficient workstations and ergonomic chairs provided by Ivan Allen Workspace will create more efficient use of space and storage. Cubicle walls in the new office will be reduced to a maximum height of 54 inches, tall enough to offer a bit of privacy and cut down on peripheral distractions, but short enough that workers don't feel isolated. Lowering the cubicle height will also improve air circulation. Cubicles will be arranged in "neighborhoods" of six workstations. Says Farrington, "The goal is that they'll be operating much more efficiently."

Making an Impression

Metz wants a design that's more open, flexible and user-friendly. Small lounges where employees can stop for a chat will run the course of the building. Understated tones–creams, taupes, light greens and golds–will provide a calming backdrop. "We'll allow the [employees] to provide the color and the action in the space," Farrington says. Other innovative elements include carpet laid in small squares, so torn or stained pieces can be replaced easily, and wireless networking that will cut the number of cables running along the floor.

Metz is excited about the plan for a bigger reception area with plasma-TV displays and miniworkstations so visitors can work while they wait. Conference rooms will be located near the reception area for vendor and client meetings. Having the conference rooms near the reception area means visitors won't have to walk through the middle of the office, disturbing busy employees. "We'd like to have an area that customers and vendors are more impressed with because the office looks better," Metz says. "And it's more efficient."

In the end, Metz hopes the new space will lead to better communication and teamwork, and provide a boost to recruiting and retention. "I think it's going to be great," he says. "It's going to foster more teamwork. Our employees are going to be happier, because it's going to be an area where they can get their job done [more easily]."

Update: Looking Good!

Optimus Solutions LLC, an IT solutions provider in Norcross, Georgia, moved into its new digs at the end of January. "We're very happy with the outcome," says CEO Mark Metz. "We feel we accomplished our goals with the redesign."

His favorite elements are the open floor plan and the ambient lighting. "There's not a cubicle in the building where you can't stand up and see a panoramic view through the windows," he says. "And all the [ambient] lighting will be easier on the eyes." The final design also allows the office to be reconfigured for everything from training to additional cubicles or whatever else the company has in mind. "This adds tons of flexibility for us," Metz says. "There's room to grow."

But trading spaces didn't happen without a few headaches. Metz learned that having too many minds involved in the decision-making process was a quick ticket to a quagmire. Optimus eventually designated the company's IT director to be the point person for the project, and things finally got moving. "Put one person in charge," Metz advises.

Another temptation for entrepreneurs is to create their own version of Trump Tower. Aim for functionality over flair so you get efficiency out of the space for years to come, says Metz, who bought used $200 desks that he found at a corporate liquidation sale for his company's managers, including himself. "[Some desks] still had tags on them. They hadn't been used," he says. "I got them for a fraction of the cost."

It's still too early to measure the impact on productivity, but the vibe around the office is, well, optimal. "Everyone has been thrilled. Morale is way up," Metz says. "Hopefully, [employees] will be happier and more productive."

Chris Penttila is Entrepreneur's "Staff Smarts" columnist

Successful marketing means standing out from your competitors. Here are 4 steps to shedding your look-alike image.

By Kim T. Gordon

Can your prospects tell the difference between your company and its closest competitors? If not, it may be time to overhaul your marketing strategy. Differentiation is at the heart of long-term marketing success, and the key to marketing strategy is originality.

Let's take a look at an old slogan. Most of us instantly recognize "Good to the last drop" as belonging to Maxwell House. This venerable slogan has been successful at differentiating the product from scores of competitors, including many that might otherwise appear virtually identical. Not only has it been hammered home year after year, but the slogan also works because it encapsulates the promise of the brand in a way that's uniquely valuable to the target audience.

Differentiation plays a key role in branding and is the foundation of a competitive advantage. And it profoundly affects your position in the minds of your prospects and customers. Effective differentiation can position you as No. 1 among your competitors–the company or brand customers turn to first–while a poor differentiation strategy can leave you buried in the middle of the pack.

Are you ready to develop your own differentiation strategy? Here are four steps to get you started.

1. Evaluate competitive messages. Your first step is to gather and evaluate the marketing materials of your chief competitors, including their ads, brochures and website content. Don't be surprised if you see a lot of "me too" marketing. There's simply a lot of bad marketing out there, and the fact that many of your competitors have no differentiation strategy will work to your advantage.

At least some of your competitors–usually the category leaders–will make promises that resonate with their target audiences. Carefully review the benefit statements your competitors make, and determine what claims set them apart.

2. Find what makes you unique. For a companywide differentiation strategy, consider what separates you from the competitors you've evaluated. Whether you market a product or operate a service business, such as an accounting firm or a power-washing company, it's essential to clearly differentiate through your marketing how what you offer is of unique value.

Your point of differentiation may relate to the way your product or service is provided, priced or even delivered. The most important thing to discover is the principal benefit you offer that is uniquely valuable to customers and gives you a competitive advantage.

3. Tell the world. Your next step is to create a new marketing message that communicates your product or service's unique value. This message should become the core of your entire marketing campaign. To successfully gain a competitive advantage, consistently drive this point of differentiation home until it becomes integral to your brand image.

For example, through its slogan, Maxwell House communicates that its coffee will always taste good, not bitter, down to the very bottom of the pot. When repeatedly communicated through ongoing marketing, it's this assertion about being "Good to the last drop" that differentiates the product and has helped make it successful over the years.

4. Keep your promise. Effective differentiation has everything to do with customer satisfaction, which builds loyalty and often trumps price as a primary consideration of consumers. As long as your company can sustain its ability to differentiate in a way that consistently meets consumer expectations, customers may reject lower-cost competitors in favor of what you have to offer.

The bottom line is that customers see the value of what's offered. Rather than go elsewhere for a simi-lar product or service at a lower price, they'll stay loyal because of the "intangibles." Nothing costs you customers faster than a disconnect between the promises made in marketing and the reality of customer experience with your product or brand. So for long-term success, your company or product must live up to its marketing promise.

Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc.

Put your networking circle to work for you with these 15 guaranteed ways to generate new business.

By Ivan Misner

Has anyone ever said to you, "If there's anything I can do to help you with your business, let me know"? Did you respond, "Thank you. Now that you mention it, there are a few things I need"? Or did you say, "Well, thanks, I'll let you know"?

If you're like most of us, you aren't prepared to accept help at the moment it's offered. You let opportunity slip by because you haven't given enough thought to the kinds of help you need. You haven't made the connection between specific items or services you need and the people who can supply them. But when help is offered, it's to your advantage to be prepared and to respond by stating a specific need.

Systematic referral marketing requires that you determine, as precisely as possible, the types of help you want and need. There are many ways your sources can help you promote yourself and your business and generate leads and referrals; we've chosen to discuss fifteen of them. Some are simple, cheap and quick; others are complex, costly and time-consuming.

1. Display your literature and products. Your sources can exhibit your marketing materials and products in their offices or homes. If these items are displayed well, such as on a counter or a bulletin board, visitors will ask questions about them or read the information. Some may take your promotional materials and display them in other places, increasing your visibility.

2. Distribute information. Your sources can help you distribute your marketing information and materials. For example, they can include a flyer in their mailings or hand out flyers at meetings they attend. A dry cleaner attaches a coupon from the hair salon next door to each plastic bag he uses to cover his customers' clothing; a grocery store includes other businesses' marketing literature in or on its grocery bags or on the back of the printed receipt.

3. Make an announcement. When attending meetings or speaking to groups, your sources can increase your visibility by announcing an event you are involved in or a sale your business is conducting, or by setting up exhibits of your products or services. They can also invite you to make an announcement yourself.

4. Invite you to attend events. Workshops and seminars are opportunities to increase your skills, knowledge, visibility and contacts. Members of personal or business groups that you don't belong to can invite you to their events and programs. This gives you an opportunity to meet prospective sources and clients.

5. Endorse your products and services. By telling others what they've gained from using your products or services or by endorsing you in presentations or informal conversations, your network sources can encourage others to use your products or services. If they sing your praises on audiotape or videotape, so much the better.

6. Nominate you for recognition and awards. Business professionals and community members often are recognized for outstanding service to their profession or community. If you've donated time or materials to a worthy cause, your sources can nominate you for service awards. You increase your visibility both by serving and by receiving the award in a public expression of thanks. Your sources can pass the word of your recognition by word of mouth or in writing. They can even create an award, such as Vendor of the Month, to honor your achievement.

7. Provide you with leads. A source can help you by passing along information she hears about someone who needs the kind of product or service you provide. Following through on such leads–for example, a rumor about a new company moving into the area or a news item about the troubles another business is having–could result in new business.

8. Provide you with referrals. The kind of support you'd most like to get from your sources is, of course, referrals–names and contact information for specific individuals who need your products and services. Sources can also help by giving prospects your name and number. As the number of referrals you receive increases, so does your potential for increasing the percentage of your business generated through referrals.

9. Make initial contact with prospects and sources. Rather than just giving you the telephone number and address of an important prospect, a network member can phone or meet the prospect first and tell him about you. When you make contact with the prospect, he will be expecting to hear from you and will know something about you.

10. Introduce you to prospects. Your source can help you build new relationships faster by introducing you in person. She can provide you with key information about the prospect. She can also tell the prospect a few things about you, your business, how the two of you met, some of the things you and the prospect have in common, and the value of your products and services.

11. Arrange a meeting on your behalf. When one of your sources tells you about a person you should meet, someone you consider a key contact, she can help you immensely by coordinating a meeting. Ideally, she will not only call the contact and set a specific date, time and location for the meeting, but she will also attend the meeting with you.

12. Follow up with referrals they have given you. Your sources can contact prospects they referred to you to see how things went after your first meeting, answer their questions or concerns, and reassure them that you can be trusted. They can also give you valuable feedback about yourself and your products or service, information that you might not have been able to get on your own.

13. Publish information for you. Network members may be able to get information about you and your business printed in publications they subscribe to and in which they have some input or influence. For example, a source who belongs to an association that publishes a newsletter might help you get an article published or persuade the editor to run a story about you.

14. Serve as a sponsor. Some of your sources may be willing to fund or sponsor a program or event you are hosting. They might let you use a meeting room, lend you equipment, authorize you to use their organization's name, or donate money or other resources.

15. Sell your products and services. Of all the kinds of support that a source can offer, the one that has the greatest immediate impact on your bottom line is selling your product or service for you. Your network member could persuade a prospect to write a check for your product, then have you mail or deliver the product to your new customer. If you do so swiftly and cordially, you may gain a new lifelong customer.

Suppose a customer you know well tells you a friend of his wants to buy your product. How should you respond? By telling him to have his friend contact you? By asking for information about the friend? The correct answer is neither. While your interest is still hot, let your friend, the customer, take your product and sell it to his friend, the prospect (if he plans to see his friend in the near future, of course).

Editor's note: This article is excerpted from Business by Referral.

Ivan Misner is Entrepreneur.com's "Networking" columnist and the founder and CEO of BNI, the world's largest referral organization with thousands of chapters in dozens of countries around the world. Ivan's also a New York Times bestselling author–his latest book is Masters of Success: Proven Techniques for Achieving Success in Business and Life.