7 Tips for Defining Your Business Goals
One of the best steps you can take to ensure success for your online business is to specify your goals. It’s amazing how many of my clients can’t tell me how much money they want to make in their first year of business, or how many subscribers they would like to have on their newsletter. If they don’t know what their goal is, how will they know if they’ve succeeded?
Yes, it can be scary to list your goals. What if you don’t meet them? What do you do then? Just remember, goals are not meant to scare you, bully you or turn your business into a pipe dream. They are meant to help you analyze your results and motivate you to succeed.
Ever hear of Weight Watchers? One of the reasons their success stories became successes is they specified their goals and tracked their results. It’s the same thing for business!
Have you defined your business goals? If not, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Keep them Specific!
If they’re too general, they won’t allow you to measure your results accurately. Rather than, “I want to make enough money to support myself” how about “By January 2010, I want to earn an average of $10,000 a month in sales.”
2. Don’t go Overboard
As much as we entrepreneurs wish there were more hours in a day, there just aren’t. Twenty-four, that’s it. We can’t do it all in a day, week, month or year. So, work on a few goals at a time. This will help keep your stress level down and give you a much better chance at meeting the goals you’re able to focus on.
3. Be Realistic
In my first year of business, I wanted to become a millionaire, but I didn’t make that a goal. Why? Because I knew that I, Keller Hawthorne, was not ready to meet that goal. I had way too much to learn and way too many mistakes to make. Plus, I didn’t even stick with my initial idea! I revamped my first company 1 year after opening it because I discovered several flaws in my original plan. This leads me to my next point…
4. Keep them Dynamic
Your ideas may change in the future. What you want today may not be what you will want tomorrow. Add, subtract and tweak your goals when necessary.
5. Create a Timeline
After I revamped my first company, I decided to revamp my goals. I was 23 years old at that time and had two years left of college. I decided that would be my timeline – I had two years to make this new company float. And in two years, if it wasn’t able to support me, I would have to focus my attention on a different career. Thank goodness it worked – I don’t think many companies allow employees to wear pajamas to work! A timeline provides direction and urgency for your goals.
6. Be Good to Yourself!
If you don’t meet your goals, do not give up. Take some time to figure out why you didn’t quite make it. Did something unexpected distract you from your goals? Did the economy hit a rough spot that year? Perhaps your idea needs to be tweaked a little. Not meeting your goals is not failure! Let me repeat that… Not Meeting Your Goals Is NOT Failure! It’s time to quit the cryin’ and start the analyzin’.
7. Make Learning a Goal
Sometimes, a goal isn’t about an outcome, but a process or beginning. Every time I open a new business, one of my goals always becomes learning more about that business. If I need to learn more about web design, Google AdWords, blogging or affiliate marketing, I make the learning process a goal.
When I decided to open Theme Kitchen™, I invested in The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet from the Internet Marketing Center. When I decided to try earning money through Affiliate Marketing, I invested in The Super Affiliate Handbook, written by well known super affiliate Rosalind Gardner. When I decided to create FresheVenture.com, I invested in Blog Mastermind, an amazing course from the “Blog Traffic King” Yaro Starak. Each of these investments played a HUGE role in the success of my online ventures.
So, let’s get you off on the right track today! Do you need to learn more about the art of Internet marketing? Do you want to learn how to blog for profit? Do you need to master press releases? Below, I’ve listed some of my favorite resources to help you achieve your goal of learning more about your business. Find the ones that suit you and check them out.
Learning isn’t as easy to check off your list as other goals are. Why? Because, the learning process is ongoing. Your business environment is dynamic and ever changing. New technologies, processes, tools, consumer behaviors, trends and resources will affect how you conduct business tomorrow. Hopefully, you will NEVER STOP learning about your business.
I know writing down your goals isn’t the most exciting part of running your own business, but it can be a crucial step towards success. You have a million ideas running through your mind every day. Help keep them organized and keep yourself focused. Write down your goals today and change/revise them when needed. Remember, if you don’t know what you want from your business, how can you turn your wants into a reality?
What Tips Can You Share on Defining Your Goals?
Topic Tags:
blog profits blueprint, business goals, home based business, rosalind gardner, super affiliate handbook, work from home, work stress, yaro starak
I’m Keller Hawthorne, Founder of FresheVenture.com. Whether you’re new to the world of Internet Marketing or already have your own Internet Business, I’m here to help you make a living online! 
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