Steps 6 to 9

6. Choose One Task From Your List. Simplify again by choosing one task from your list. Focusing on one task at a time continues to channel your energy in a single direction. Cohen's one task: Get a facility.

7. Break Your Task Into 10-Minute Actions. By breaking down your task into a series of 10-minute actions, you're essentially creating steps so simple, there's no room for procrastination. You may not have time to write your entire brochure at once, but you can sit down and identify three ways consumers will benefit from your product.

Why 10 minutes? Because it is feasible--and you are more inclined to do something when it's likely you'll succeed.

By asking himself the following questions, Cohen was able to break down his task into 10-minute actions.

Q: Can I get a facility in 10 minutes?
A: No.

Q: What do I need to do before I can do that?
A: I need to look at some available buildings and see my options.

Q: Can I do that in 10 minutes?
A: No.

Q: What do I need to do before I can do that?
A: I need to find a commercial real estate agent.

Q: Can I do that in 10 minutes?
A: No, because I don't know any.

Q: What do I need to do before I can do that?
A: I need to look in the Yellow Pages or get a reference.

Q: Can I do that in 10 minutes?
A: Yes. I can call Jim who just re- located his business and ask for his agent's number.

8. Schedule Your 10-Minute Action. Schedule your 10-minute action for a concrete date and time, as you would any other appointment. It's easy to forget yet another to-do on your already long list, so write it down in your day planner, Palm Pilot or BlackBerry.

9. Take Action Without Fail. When your 10-minute action appointment rolls around, keep it! Keeping your agreement with yourself is as important as keeping one with your biggest client. It reinforces your integrity and commitment to your business. If there's a conflict you can't work around, reschedule for a date and time you can keep. Remember, you'll never have "enough" time, and you'll always have 100 things that need to be done yesterday.

Your Final Step

10. Commit to 30 Days of Action. It takes 30 days of consistent action to see measurable progress. You may think 300 minutes could hardly make an impact. But remember your physics lesson? Being in motion for 30 days straight generates momentum and creates a domino effect. One action produces a result thatleads to another and another. Before you know it, you've jumped three steps, or five or six, ahead of where you thought you'd be.

And uncanny things start to happen--people present themselves, opportunities show up, resources find you. Action triggers the unpredictable and unexpected. Don't be surprised when one small action propels you into a quantum leap.

Cohen used this 10-step system to reach his milestone. He secured a funky, beautifully decorated facility, fully equipped for rental, cartage, storage and tech services, and it's located in a prime spot. So he began to focus on his next milestone: having clients (including world-renowned musicians) come to him through word-of-mouth.

"My approach was 'if you build it, they will come.' I had the facility, trucks, computers, and equipment. I started calling anyone and everyone I could think of and invited them down to see it," Cohen says. "Those people started telling people, and the next thing I knew, I got a call from a competitor who was going out of business. He sent all his clients to me."

The power of the small step is that it can take you from getting started to running a full-fledged business.

Twelve years ago, Cohen began his guitar rental business as a solo operation from home. His annual sales were $50,000. Today, he has a 6,000-square-foot facility in North Hollywood, eight employees and projected 2006 sales of $750,000. His clients include some of the top names in music, including Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart.

Lon Cohen Studio Rentals was built one step at a time, with steady increases and milestone victories. And as with most businesses, the journey wasn't always easy. "There were countless times I wanted to quit," Cohen says. "I'd get overwhelmed by the chaos and frustrated by all the problems. I felt afraid as I stared at the figures and thought about the financial risk, stressed about how it was going to turn out. But I committed, took small steps and learned as I went along. I was determined to get through."

This is a case in point for how to get started. Know your end goal, take action, and keep going, no matter how bumpy the ride gets. It's also a testament to the spirit of every entrepreneur--commitment, perseverance and the courage to go after one's dream. "As I think back on it, I'm pretty amazed," says Cohen. "I was a guy who played guitar in a band and knew nothing about starting a business. But I did have a clear picture of what I wanted the business to look like, and I kept focusing on the freedom it would give me." Today, that strategy has paid off tenfold.

What to Do When You Wnat to Give Up
Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that starting a business isn't always a smooth ride. Doors close. People object. Stuff happens. Here are some 10-minute actions you can take when you feel like throwing in the towel and walking away from your dream.

• Calm Yourself Down. Breathe. Count to 10. Go for a walk. Do something that will take you out of your emotional reaction and give you perspective on your situation.
• Read Your End Goal Statement. Remind yourself of what you're creating and why. This tends to jump-start your motivation because you've written it in the present tense, as if it were happening now.
• Change Your Focus. Make a list of the positives. This could include what you have achieved, the contacts you have made or how much you have grown through the process thus far.
• Look for the Opportunity. Ask yourself, "What is this situation trying to teach me?" Challenges can be the most valuable form of feedback. Any setback, glitch or crisis can be used as an opportunity to help you move forward.
• Get Support. Hire a coach. Find a mentor. Consult an expert. Talk to an objective person (someone who believes in you) who can help evaluate the situation, answer your questions or guide you in finding the right solution.

Creative Ways to Find 10 Minutes
Your day is already scheduled with everything you should do and need to do. Making time for something you want without compromising other tasks can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some creative ways to find 10 minutes to start building the business you've always dreamed about.

• Try to wake up 10 minutes early, and use the time as soon as you wake up.
• If you take public transportation, use the time during your commute to work. If you drive, take 10 minutes in the parking lot before you head into the office.
• Make time for your task while your computer is booting up.
• Take 10 minutes during your lunch hour or afternoon coffee break.
• Use any time you're on hold on the phone.
• Use the time during the commercials of your favorite TV show.
• When your kids are napping or after they go to bed, spend 10 minutes on a task.
• Use the time while dinner is cooking.
• Take 10-minute breaks from watching your kids in the evening--alternate child-care shifts with your spouse.

Planning the Action

Hours 9.5-18: Plan the Action
This is the heart of your game plan. For each goal, you will need to create a strategy, key messages and a series of steps that will help you accomplish the goal. You have many tools at your disposal.

As you examine each of your goals, conduct a mini-brainstorming session. Consider what the best vehicles for your message may be. You may decide to use newspaper, radio, TV, magazine or outdoor advertising; direct-marketing programs, including postcards, sales letters, fliers, business reply cards, newsletters, and 800 numbers; and PR elements such as publicity, events, speaking engagements, sponsorships, opinion polls and the like. Perhaps you can accomplish your objectives and cut your costs by teaming up with related, noncompeting businesses for in-store promotions or cross-promotional outreach. Online promotional opportunities are more abundant than ever, and you may want to consider designing a website or uploading information to a newsgroup or special-interest forum.

Write each strategy, and list the key messages and tactics below it. For example:

• Strategy: Position myself as the leader in home inspections in my community.
• Key Messages: William Wright Home Inspections is a reputable, trustworthy name in home inspections.
• Tactics: Approach the area community college about teaching a home-buying class. Propose a feature story to the local paper about 10 things to look for when buying a home, with me as the source. Launch a website with an interactive home-buying questionnaire. Create a brochure entitled "Secrets of Home Buying," and offer it free to people who call your business. Issue a press release about the free brochure to the local media. Send informational brochures to real estate agents and mortgage brokers who refer home buyers to home inspectors.

For each step you plan, keep asking yourself, "Why should I do this?" Don't get trapped in big, splashy promotions just for the sake of doing them. It's much more effective to have smaller, more frequent communications if your budget is limited. For example, a small accounting firm wanted to increase publicity in local newspapers. The owner made a $10,000 donation to a local charity's annual gala, believing this would make a great news story. While the generous gesture was greatly appreciated by the charity and its supporters, that money represented the majority of the firm's annual marketing budget. In return, the owner got one small story in the local newspaper. If the organization's goal was to become more philanthropic, the donation would have been an effective gesture. However, because the original goal was to increase publicity, the money would have been better spent on a diverse marketing program with more components.

Finally, be sure that your promotions are projecting the right image. If your audience is conservative, don't create an outrageous promotion. Similarly, if you need to project a cutting-edge image, be sure your efforts are smart and sophisticated.

Hours 18-21: Budget Your Resources
Some business owners believe that marketing is an optional expense. This is one of the most tragic myths in business. Marketing expenses should be a priority, especially in times of slow cash flow. After all, how are you going to attract more business during the slow times if you don't invest in telling customers about your business?

Take a realistic look at how much money you have to spend on marketing. While you do need to ensure you're not overextending yourself, it is critical that you allot adequate funds to reach your audiences. If you don't have the budget to tackle all your audiences, try to reach them one by one, in order of priority.

For each of your tactics, itemize the expenses and their estimated costs. From there, you can beef up or pare down your plan, depending on your situation.

Hours 21-23.5: Time Your Projects
Now that you've broken down the steps involved in each marketing activity, allot a segment of time and a deadline to each. Again, be sure that you're not overextending yourself, or you may get burned out. It's better to start with smaller, more consistent efforts than an overly ambitious program that gets discarded a few months later.

Hours 23.5 and on: Go for It!
What you now hold in your hands is probably the most effective to-do list that you will ever write. You have prepared a document that will help you reach your audience segments from a point of knowledge and expertise instead of shoot-from-the-hip hunches.

Don't put the marketing plan on a shelf and forget about it. Your marketing plan should be a living document--it should be revisited and revised, and it should grow and change over time. As your business reaps the benefits of your initial marketing strategies, you may want to increase the scope of your marketing. If you find that something isn't working, discard or change it. Consistency and continuity, delivered with a dash of creativity, give you the formula for successful marketing.

Marketing Plan SOS
If you still need assistance in developing your marketing plan, here are a few places to turn to for low- or no-cost help.

• The SBA has a number of Small Business Development Centers and Women's Business Centers throughout the country. The SBDC counseling program assigns a consultant to meet with you on a regular basis to monitor your progress in any area, from marketing to human resources, for free. Find the nearest center by visiting www.sba.gov.
• SCORE is a group of retired executives with various areas of expertise. The organization offers free counseling to startup or established business owners. You can request a meeting with someone who has a marketing background to help you write your plan. Visit their website at www.score.org.
• Contact the head of the marketing department at a local college or university. Suggest that he or she assign a class to develop your marketing plan, or find out if there is a marketing or related business club on campus that would be willing to handle the project for free. sConsider starting an internship program. A marketing student may help you write your marketing plan in exchange for the experience or a small stipend. Call the marketing departments of colleges in your area and ask if someone can recommend a student.