Can you believe Christmas is around the corner? You may be thinking about making holiday vacation plans, ugly sweaters and grandma's apple pie. But here's another thing to think about: We are only two months away from the end of the year, so how are you preparing your business for 2019?
If you're like most of us, you will start setting New Year resolutions after Christmas, so it's time to ask: What can you do to stay a step ahead of your competition? How can you harness the momentum you established in 2018 and make sure 2019 is a banner year for your business?
Here's a strategy that will definitely help: Start strategizing NOW! Don't wait until January 1st. Let's look at some strategies that can help 2019 be the most successful in your business history.
Start From Your Overall Goal.
Let's use for an example Ms. Success, who until recently was a highly paid executive but has just set out as a solopreneur. Ms. Success' goal is to earn $200,000 in 2019 and she believes the products and services she has to offer can get her there.
An obvious conclusion might be that she needs to earn about $22,000 a month to make that happen. Since she's starting out, another way to look at it might be that she needs to set herself up to start earning and have those earnings increase month by month to arrive at a total $200k by year's end. Either way, the immediate challenge is the same--she needs to get on the phone, reconnect with old contacts, head to networking events, perhaps begin publishing a blog or raising her social media profile--all the things that will help her market her services and reach her goals. The point is to break down that challenge into individual actions that she can take today, or in the next week, or in the next month, to get to that overall goal.
Make appointments with yourself.
Using your calendar is key to this strategy. Before the beginning of the month, Capland says, sit down with your calendar and create appointments for yourself to take the steps you'll need to reach your goals. "Put those items on your calendar like meetings," Capland advises.
For instance, if you have a new client goal and plan to achieve that goal by getting a new website, or starting a new SEO marketing campaign, write those goals in your calendar. If something happens to prevent you from keeping one of those goals, then you have to reschedule it to a different time--you can't just cancel it. This works for phone calls, or for taking a half hour to sit down and write a blog post. Whatever you need to do, put it in your calendar. This is a powerful message to your unconscious mind that you intend to keep that commitment.
Review and adjust as needed
At the end of each week, sit down with your calendar and fill in your appointments for the next week. But before you do, review the tasks and appointments from the previous week. This is when you make tweaks as necessary, Capland says.
This is also the time to review your results and see if the steps you're taking look like they'll lead you to achieving your goals in the next three quarters of 2018. If not, can you change your plans to accelerate your progress?
Celebrate your accomplishments along the way.
Don't forget you don't have to do this on your own. There are agencies like ours that have a full team of marketing geniuses, entrepreneurs and strategists that can help you get there. One thing we have learned over the years is that by relegating duties that are not your strength to others, and surrounding yourself with a team of experts in different industries, will go a LONG-WAY in making sure you achieve your 2019 targets.
At DS&P we establish digital relevance for your business through mobile app development, websites, SEO, social media, branding and crowd-funding.
What about you? What goals do you have for 2019? If you sit down with your calendar right now, you can lay out a program that will help you reach those goals by year's end. Can DS&P help you reach your goals?
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