Passions That Pay

It being September 1st I am sure I wont be the only blogger writing about setting goals and having a plan of action for the fall.

This is the busiest season for many of us as we start gearing up towards Christmas. If you sell on your site, then I hope you have a plan of action to take advantage of the shoppers. If you don’t sell a physical product, consider selling gift vouchers on your site. Think especially of New Year’s resolutions and how your service could help people when they are at their most motivated.

Plans start with goals. make sure your goals are

Specific

Measurable

Action Orientated

Relevant

Time-specific

Ask yourself the classic who, what where, when, how and most importantly why. Make sure you are very clear as to why this goal is important and how it fits into yout overall business strategy. The clearer your objective is, the more likely you are to achieve it. Your brain will be better harnassed to help you.

Update your business plan at this time or if  -gasp-you haven’t got one , make that your number one prioriy for the the next week. A business plan does not have to be stuffy or be reams of paper. It should serve as a your gps system. I personally like one page business plans as they force me to be concise and get to the heart of the matter. You can get free templates here.

As part of your business plan, it’s a great idea to have a marketing plan. If you are in business, then you have to market. Even if much of your sales are through word of mouth, you need to have a sustainable marketing approach. This will ideally include both offline and online activities. The key to all marketing is getting you and your products or services out there in from of your ideal customers. It never should be obnoxious but should feel natural to you. Your ideal clients wants what you’re selling, they just need to be educated about it.

So spend this week with your business and marketing plans and craft some really exciting and motivating goals to complete this month. Make sure that at least some of them stretch you out of your comfort (or as I call it hostage) zone.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!