I concluded that the main message was the most important tip of the 101 tips for managing in good times and bad that I included in my book "Entrepreneurs Survival Guide". Additional tips from my years in the computer software and services field can be found at http://www.neu.edu/eweek/2008/. Since then I have used the main message process to help people, and worthy causes, candidates, companies and organizations. In some cases, I used it to dramatically enhance the value of companies I had invested in that weren't going anywhere. Nancy Pelosi used it to win the House of Representatives in 2006. It was also very helpful to the Obama campaign. Now, I have decided to make the MainMessage process available, on a selected basis, because everyone I meet has a main message problem. Ironically, they have no idea that it is an impossible task to create the message without a methodology. Worse, they will end up with some fuzzy message that doesn't work, a deadly development for any new idea, venture, campaign etc. How long does a MainMessage process take? Most often it is completed in one meeting of less that one and one half hours duration. The main message should be available by the end of the meeting. One enormous benefit is that management will be on board with the message because they created it. Time to market is dramatically reduced as sales brochures, presentations, websites, etc can be immediately updated. This includes putting an aggressive competitor on the defensive. MainMessage solves all of the above and the cost is trivial when compared the benefits of success vs the trauma of failure. Incidentally, if it takes longer than an hour and a half for management to agree on the main message it is a sure tip off that the management team doesn't understand the product's market place, a very valuable thing to know in its own right.
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