New Year.
2010.
I always felt like New Year's Day had its own special smell. Kind of the way a new car smells for the first couple of weeks. It's a fresh, optimistic quality that pervades the thinking of people across the globe. It's the concept on "new" that invigorates the soul and spurs action and self-motivation.
Even if it does only last until the second week of February.
We all make them. Those venerable and tradition-dictated self-promises that are so often poorly thought out and seldom achieved. It's an honorable tradition, this writing of resolutions. We ought to do it, we really should. It's so important to challenge ourselves to better achievements, greater accomplishments, and the attainment of our goals.
But where to begin? We often fall into the traps of poor goal-setting because of a lack of direction. And when we fail at what we have promised ourselves to do, we lose the motivation to strive toward that mark. It's a vicious cycle.
So I've thought of a few things that you can do in 2010 that will help you improve your business, better yourself, and build up those around you. Happy New Year!
1.) Make a list of things you want to accomplish in the next ten months.
Goals are the most important element of success. All the hard work and ingenuity and problem-solving in the world is useless if they are not being applied in the pursuit of a specific, measurable goal. So much time is wasted pursuing nothing because the object of the pursuit is never clearly and accurately defined.
Make a point of sitting down and writing a clear and concise list of the things you would like to accomplish or achieve in 2010. Use this time-honored acronym:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-Oriented
2.) Market yourself.
Economic times like those we face often scare people into omitting their most valuable tool for growth. Marketing. It is of utmost importance to be actively marketing your brand and product when the economy is down to maintain a stream of new income, however small. When the economy cycle comes around, you will have built-in income that will allow you to realize true, substantial growth, instead of rebuilding your base.
Do whatever your budget demands, but do
something. Goto networking meetings. Build a social media profile. Buy a cheap website. Pass out flyers. Advertise on Craigslist. But do something consistently in 2010 to market your business.
3.) Track your work.
Often, people are unsure of where they are going because they do not know where they have been. Tracking your progress in any given area is essential to being able to move forward down the road. Whether it be your networking efforts, your web presence, or your outside sales initiatives, track your progress. Write down what you're doing and whether or not it works, and use real numbers. Don't just give a blanket "That didn't work out how I thought it would!" Give it real value, however small, so that you can compare it to something else later on.
4.) Help someone else.
People do business with those whom they know, like, and trust. They also happen to send business to the same people. If you do business by referral like we do, then you understand the importance of cultivating vibrant and active referral relationships. The very best way to do this is to find out what the people around you need. After you've done that, find a way to get it for them. You don't need to get paid for this, you shouldn't expect to. You're building a relationship of trust and mutual benefit that will pay huge dividends in the future.
Have a great New Year, and a prosperous 2010!
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