Dennis Howard
12-22-2009, 11:03 PM
how to keep yourself and
your business tuned up and one step ahead of the game.
1. Never stop learning. Education is one of your
primary weapons.
2. Never stop innovating and try new approaches.
3. Continually seek out new contacts and partnerships.
4. Create new and ever larger goals.
There are three levels of vision to attend to: your
short term goals, medium term goals and long term
goals.
Your short term goals take care of immediate, day-to-
day tasks: returning those phone calls or getting that
advertising campaign up and running.
Medium term goals are usually measured in months. How
much new business do you want to bring in this quarter?
In the next 6 months?
Long term goals speak to your vision and your purpose
in life. How large will this business become?
Ask Yourself
Do you ever want to sell it off and retire?
Can you imagine running this business 5 years down the
line? How does that feel?
Planning does more than just guide you into the
immediate future – it gives you a safety net. Life is
unpredictable.
Sometimes the economy falls flat in your industry.
Unexpected changes in health or personal life can alter
your ability to continue on with your business.
As they say, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
It’s also very important to stay in the know about the
latest marketing tactics and traffic generation
options.
Your role as a business owner is similar to that of
other professionals like doctors and lawyers. Lifelong
education is paramount to maintaining your business.
There are always new skills to add to your arsenal.
Let’s look at traffic generation as an example. It
seems like the rules of the game are always changing,
doesn’t it?
For a while, search engine optimization is all the
rage.
When that becomes too much of a challenge for the
average business, new avenues like pay-per-click
marketing open up.
While everyone rushes out to clog up that advertising
opportunity, the discarded tools of the past like
banner advertising begin to regain value on select
internet properties.
It’s like a shell game where everyone jockeys for
position on the latest trends.
The best thing to do is find the tools that work for
you.
Stay informed about the latest developments affecting
your advertising channels.
There are a lot of great, comprehensive sites which
specialize in tracking these changing currents:
your business tuned up and one step ahead of the game.
1. Never stop learning. Education is one of your
primary weapons.
2. Never stop innovating and try new approaches.
3. Continually seek out new contacts and partnerships.
4. Create new and ever larger goals.
There are three levels of vision to attend to: your
short term goals, medium term goals and long term
goals.
Your short term goals take care of immediate, day-to-
day tasks: returning those phone calls or getting that
advertising campaign up and running.
Medium term goals are usually measured in months. How
much new business do you want to bring in this quarter?
In the next 6 months?
Long term goals speak to your vision and your purpose
in life. How large will this business become?
Ask Yourself
Do you ever want to sell it off and retire?
Can you imagine running this business 5 years down the
line? How does that feel?
Planning does more than just guide you into the
immediate future – it gives you a safety net. Life is
unpredictable.
Sometimes the economy falls flat in your industry.
Unexpected changes in health or personal life can alter
your ability to continue on with your business.
As they say, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.
It’s also very important to stay in the know about the
latest marketing tactics and traffic generation
options.
Your role as a business owner is similar to that of
other professionals like doctors and lawyers. Lifelong
education is paramount to maintaining your business.
There are always new skills to add to your arsenal.
Let’s look at traffic generation as an example. It
seems like the rules of the game are always changing,
doesn’t it?
For a while, search engine optimization is all the
rage.
When that becomes too much of a challenge for the
average business, new avenues like pay-per-click
marketing open up.
While everyone rushes out to clog up that advertising
opportunity, the discarded tools of the past like
banner advertising begin to regain value on select
internet properties.
It’s like a shell game where everyone jockeys for
position on the latest trends.
The best thing to do is find the tools that work for
you.
Stay informed about the latest developments affecting
your advertising channels.
There are a lot of great, comprehensive sites which
specialize in tracking these changing currents: