The business count-down is on..

To take your business where it’s never been before, you have to do things that you haven’t done before, improve on what you have been doing, and/or cut out that which is just not working.

For example, if you have been paying for ads and not getting the results you want, either you could get a second opinion on how to make the ads more effective or stop them altogether. If you have been attending lots of networking events, but, don’t usually send follow-up emails, LinkedIn connection requests or phone calls, start doing it. If you have been doing this and are still not getting results, consider hiring a business coach who is skilled in business networking to help you, or maybe cut down on your networking and try something else like making phone calls or paying for ads.

Before you spend any time or money into a new marketing method for your business though, it is important for you to set goals for the rest of the year, then break those down into months, and for some KPIs into weeks and days.

What is a KPI? It stands for key performance indicator. It is a measurement of one of the outcomes your business is realizing based on the work you have done.

For example, revenue generated is a KPI, as is the number of new clients you acquired and the number of renewals you had. Make sure to track these KPIs, but, add some more, as these don’t tell the story about how you got those results.

For example, you could add on:

• Number of social media connections and followers per platform that you think is relevant to your business.
• Number of email marketing subscribers
• Open rate for email marketing campaigns
• Number of referrals received
• Number of website visitors
• Length of time the average visitor spends on your website
• Number of phone calls, emails, contact form submissions, and chatbot interactions you receive
• Search engine rankings for your website

Then, set process goals. These are actionable steps you will take to reach your KPIs.

For example, the number of

• Phone calls you will make
• Social media connection requests and messages you will send
• Doors you will knock on
• Personalized emails you will send
• Business networking events you will attend
• Business cards and brochures you gave out
• People you followed up with after each event you attended
• Social media posts you put out
• Podcasts you appeared on
• IG reels you put out
• Guest speaking engagements
• Event you host
• YouTube videos created

They could also involve:

• Joining a referral networking group
• Hiring a business coach, attending the coaching sessions and completing the assigned homework.
• Adjusting messaging, visuals and ad spend for paid ads
• Getting new business photos taken
• Getting a website or improving your current site
• Learning something new – knowledge and/or skills that will help you grow your business, whether it be taking a course, workshop, attending a webinar or self-learning via reading the content and/or watching videos about it
• Hiring employees, sub-contractors and/or co-op students
• Completing projects, such as creating a presentation, writing a book or booklet, etc.
• Asking for others opinions, advice and other help for your business.
• others

This may seem like a lot of work, but, if you aren’t at 67% of your 2024 goals by now, you need to try something different, like investing the time and effort to do this work.

I recommend making an Excel sheet or Google sheet with the KPIs and process goals in column A, then title column B, “Sept 2024 Goals,” and column C, “Sept 2024 Results,” and continue that pattern for the rest of the year.

You can do it! Just set goals, do the activities, ask for help if something isn’t working, record your progress and voila, you will be successful.

Think about this.. when you were in high school, college, university or trade school, you had tests and exams you had to write and assignments to complete. These were designed to assess the knowledge and skills you had gained prior to taking/completing them.

If you didn’t have to write any tests or complete any assignments, it’s likely that you wouldn’t have put as much effort into learning the content and improving your skills, right? Which means you would have been less successful at becoming more knowledgeable and skilled in that subject.

It is the same thing for your business, except YOU have to create your own tests and assignments and keep YOURSELF accountable. This can be challenging for some. So, if that’s you, make this remaining part of 2024 the time you finally do it. You can do anything you set your mind to. If you need help to improve your skills, get advice, get a new strategy or ask questions, book a free video call with me to learn about my custom business coaching programs. Here’s the link >>