At the very beginning of a new year, Cam and I like to spend some time reflecting on the year that was, and as a business strategy, sifting through the practices we are going to move forward with and develop further, and those we will discard.
Right now we are sorting through the mountains of resources we have purchased throughout the year, and identifying those containing the information which will best assist us in our plans to build our business.
And I have to say, this can be both exciting and frustrating. I don’t know about you, but I have a pile of ebooks that I have printed out sitting on my desk, and I can barely see over them. They all profess to contain “little known secrets”, “insider tactics” and “killer strategies” to generate more leads than we can handle for our business.
The truth is, they all do. When you absorb that information, implement it on a consistent basis and master it over time, that is.
But here’s the rub. I have started to read all of these books (probably about halfway through all of them). I have become passionate and excited about the concepts they contain. I have filled hundreds of pages of my notebook with ideas, flow charts and checklists to integrate those strategies into our business. For some concepts, I have even begun the process of setting up various accounts and profiles on line, struck a couple of hitches, and stuck the whole idea in the “too hard” basket…..and that’s where the process stops. Sound familiar?
Information overload. It’s a double edged sword.
Information will fire your imagination and inspire you to be creative and develop your home business. Too much information all at once can interrupt your focus. And when you hesitate and become distracted, you end up treading water and eventually becoming swamped rather than moving forward.
Standing still guarantees a lack of activity in your business. Inevitably frustration will creep in, followed very closely by doubt. This is where people start to look outward to aportion blame.
This is a real danger time in your business.
It is counter-intuitive and uncomfortable, but this is the time when we must look inward, and examine our own beliefs, behavior, and actions.
So, how to overcome being overwhelmed by information overload?
We have found that the best way to do this is to first develop a detailed overview of your business, and then narrow your focus and start building your business one step at a time.
The following guide will help you to create an overview, and when you have the big picture in mind, you can “work backwards” to break it down into ‘bite sized’ pieces and develop a daily method of operation which will start to move your business forward.
1. Take a large blank sheet of paper and a pencil, and get away from your screen.
This is important because physically writing down your business plan will engage the creative centre of your brain. Removing yourself from your screen will also remove potential distractions (you know what I am talking about – your friends commenting on Face Book, surfing MSN for pics of the latest celeb to step out in public sans underwear, amusing You Tube videos of pigs on roller skates etc etc).
2. Start writing (or drawing – whichever ‘feels’ most comfortable – be intuitive and creative here – there are no right answers or perfect plans).
Now, think about what your ideal business will look like. I’ll give you an example here to give you some ideas.
* CCPro Black Box sales
* WMI membership sales
* Affiliate sales
3. Next, take each bullet point and start to break it down into individual components and tasks.
* CCPro Black Box Sale
To do list:
System set up
Activate account
Write “My Story”
Collect one “signature” photo and some leisure style photos for my “About Me” page
For each of these tasks, go to the CCPro back office and find the training material which corresponds to actioning each of these tasks. Also refer to our team training site for ideas and additional material.
Make sure you complete your set up before you move onto the next step – stay focused.
Develop Marketing Plan
Go through CCPro marketing modules and review each marketing method. Get an idea of what is involved in each method and choose on the basis of your budget, time you have available to market, your positioning in the compensation plan (ROI is important here) and what you feel you would be good at, and would enjoy. This is important because you are going to be doing a lot of it.
Choose two methods (we suggest one free and one paid), and complete the training associated with it in the back office.
E.g.
Video marketing – sign up for Traffic Geyser, complete Mike Koenig training in CCPro back office, purchase camera, make 10x10x4 list of topics, write them down, practice with camera, keyword research on topics, start filming, post to Traffic Geyser, research, write, film and post one video every day.
Banner advertising – complete CCPro training on banner advertising, set budget, complete David Schwind training re copy writing, write ads, turn tracking on, post ads.
Allocate a time frame to work through these tasks each day. And hold yourself accountable to it.
After you have selected the methods you are going to market with, tune out all other methods and offers. The only way you will master anything is to remain focused, as exclusively as possible on your chosen marketing methods.
Think about putting together your plan so that it resembles the ‘branches’ of a tree. If you can see it diagramatically, it often helps you to prioritize each task.
Work through each point in turn, until you have an action plan for each ‘branch’ of your business. Now, it is important to remember that your set up and marketing should always be your number one priority.
There is no point trying to develop a comprehensive knowledge of the workings of the WMI comp plan until you have people to talk to. And even then, there are sufficient resources available for you to direct people to without “telling and selling” anyway.
Remember, marketing is your main responsibility. Stay focused on this at all times.
To further help you develop your daily method of operation consider this:
100% of your energy and focus should be directed at your set up, when you first get started. Identify the components of this process that you can outsource. For example, if you are not tech savvy, and you don’t have a lot of time to develop the skill, consider outsourcing this aspect of your business. This will free you up to focus on learning how to market.
After your system is up and running, your time allocation should be split roughly each day like this:
* 85% marketing training and execution
* 10% personal development
* 5% administration style tasks (book keeping etc) – less is more here – definitely something to consider outsourcing. You must always dedicate yourself to income producing activities in preference to “busy” work that does not generate sales.
The amount of time you have to dedicate to your business should pretty much be split to that ratio.
As far as the personal development goes, you can give your day the most incredible kick start by listening to John Jackson’s daily wake up calls. This will only require 15 minutes of your time. John is particularly gifted at motivating you to remain focused. This will be a powerful investment in your business.
So to summarize:
Develop a detailed business plan.
Create a daily method of operation.
Before you go to bed each night, write down no more than five things you will achieve in your business the following day.
Make sure you complete the actions on your list. If for any reason you cannot finish everything on your list, carry it forward to the next day.
Review what you have achieved in your business on a weekly basis. Be ready to adapt your plan if necessary. Often, when our plans are waylaid, thwarted or held up, we tend to abandon them altogether. This will be like death to your business.
Be prepared to spend as much time as you need to create a comprehensive plan in the first instance, but also understand that life happens, circumstances change, you will encounter obstacles, challenges and frustration in your business. But you must be ready to go with it.
This is the same strategy we use to develop our business, and we find it a highly effective way to stay on track, and get things done.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
TanRoller skating pigs should not break your focus. Top tips to help you stay on track in your Online Business.
