Published:

04/01/2012 08:42pm

How to Get Back on Track With Your Goals and Increase Your Profits

Do you remember the goals that you set for 2012? How are you doing with being on track with those? I am asking you this for a VERY important reason. I want you to focus on your goals, remember them and crush them!

Every year, people in general start the year off with fascinating expectations. But what normally happens to those expectations, goals or aspirations? By March or April, the target often becomes blurry and the objective is not accomplished.

It is my hope as a friend and mentor to keep you on track with the goals that you have set for your business and even your life. If you have fallen off track, try not to beat yourself up. Pull out those goals and put them in the forefront of your mind.

Being goal oriented and stretching yourself is part of being an entrepreneur. Sometimes, you miss the mark and don't get the exact results you were looking for. That is understandable. But, it's also preventable. Creating your version of a successful business is yours for the taking. All you need is a little planning, organization and consistency.

No matter the objectives that you have for your business, you can absolutely reach them if you create and implement a simple marketing plan.

Goal setting is easy! But for business owners who want to be successful, this is a MUST.

If you want different results in your business, you have to take different action. Perhaps you're more of a "fly by the seat of your pants" entrepreneur, which means sitting down to create a plan isn't exactly your idea of a good time. I get that. But this is why you do it.

Creating a plan helps us to change behaviors that aren't working. It helps us to see specifically what we need to do to get where we want to be. That's why you plan.

If you've struggled with planning and executing your marketing in the past, you may be wondering, "Sydni, where do I start?" The answer is simple.

Look at the 3 important points in your career: 1) where you have come from, 2) where you are now and 3) where you want to be. Now you can determine the gap between where you are currently and the end of your target.

Once you're clear on the gap, then you want to determine exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. While it's nice to think "I want to create 5 new referral partners," or "I want to increase my profits by 50%," you'll never see those goals accomplished unless you've got a marketing plan to pull you towards such a future.

Keep these questions in mind when you are planning your marketing activities going forward:

1. What is important for you to accomplish? Setting clear and SPECIFIC goals for the remainder of the year is the first step to filling the gaps in your business.

2. What are you doing to market your solutions NOW? Look back over the last year and analyze the steps that you've taken. Does your marketing plan support your goals? What kind of results did you get from your marketing activities in the past year? Using your current plan (or lack thereof!) is a good starting point for developing a new plan. You can see exactly what went well for you and what didn't based on your previous results.

3. What work needs to be done to accomplish your objectives? Identify opportunities to make changes in the way that you do things so you can be more consistent and more effective with marketing.

Spending some time answering these questions and formulating a new plan NOW will help you create more profits this year.

There is never a "right" time to do this. You'll never just have 6 months or more to focus solely on your business. Life just doesn't work that way. Make the time to do this NOW. The longer you procrastinate and make excuses, the longer it's going to take you to reach your goal.

Known as "The Smart Simple Marketing Coach," the tech-savvy Sydni uses a results-focused, "how to" approach in implementing simple, customized strategies so service professionals create profitable businesses in which they enjoy the lifestyle they choose. Visit http://www.SmartSimpleMarketing.com for your FR*EE training course, "5 Simpl