Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

So you are convinced it's important to have goals and to set goals, but you are not sure how to do this effectively.  There is a plethora of books that offer a multitude of recommendations.  I've found that for any task I need to undertake the K.I.S.S. principle works best for me.  Keep It Simple Sweetie!  You could take time to create mindmaps, progression charts, etc. but why take valuable time from your home-based business to set up complex systems, while simple strategies could work just as effectively and allow you to focus on income-producing activities?

The following are provided as basic suggestions and guidelines, which you can expand on to suit your particular needs:

1.    Prepare your mind.  Motivation has to come from within and you have to be resolved that setting realistic goals is something that is important for your success.  There is more likelihood that you will stick to your goals if you have internalized the importance of  following the path, especially when you are faced with challenges and obstacles.

2.    Take an evaluation of your capabilities – your skill set, your current status, where you would like to be in 3 months; 6 months; 1 year; and up to 5 years.  This will first help you to determine if the goals you set are realistic – within your scope, but will make you stretch.  At the same time you would want to avoid underestimating your abilities so that the goals you set for yourself are so low there is no motivation to reach up and forward.  Remember the purpose of a goal is to allow you to reach beyond what you have achieved up to a particular point.

3.    Determine your objectives.  Why do you want to set realistic goals for success?  Are your goals personal, like losing weight? Are they financial, like getting out of debt? Are they family, like setting a goals to do more things together with family members? Or are they business-related, like expanding your business and increasing your income?

4.    Knowing “Your Why.”  Understanding Your Why is the main ingredient in keeping you focused.  Your Why is the core factor that will allow you to keep your motivation.  Your Why is more than saying, “My goal is to lose 40 pounds.”  It delves further.  Why do you want to lost 40 pounds? From that answer you could probably ask a series of 4 more Whys to get to the core answer.  When you are through you may find that it's not just so your clothes will fit better; it could be that if you are a Mom your ultimate Why is that so you can enjoy playing with your children more without getting tired so quickly; or that you want to reduce your health risks so you will be around a long time with your family.  By digging down and understanding the core reason for setting realistic goals for success in any aspect, will go a long way to keeping you determined and motivated.

Let your goal-setting be purposeful and not just a temporary ‘resolution.'

As we draw close to the end of one year and the approach of another, there is a lot of talk and reminders about setting goals.  Many people regard goal-setting as an important aspect of their lives, while others view it as unimportant since they feel that most goals set for a new year are forgotten within the first three months.  How do you feel?  How important are goals to you personally? Why should you set realistic goals for success?

Reflect for a moment on the various things you'd like to achieve within the next 12 months in your personal/family life and business or career.  Have you written these dreams down on paper?  If you have not, keep in mind that it is more than a cliche that ‘a goal is just a dream if you fail to write it down.'  Are you a dreamer or a goal-setter?  A step-by-step plan is necessary and vital in order to achieve the desired results.  It is so easy to be distracted that you must have a referral point to keep you focused on what you hope to achieve.

Your goals represent the visions you have of yourself and your future.  They should be realistic and achievable, but should also make you stretch beyond your comfort zone.  Setting realistic goals for success in life and business means that you will need to have short-term as well as long-term goals.   Short-term goals are usually set for periods of a week up to perhaps six months.  On the other hand, long-term goals are usually set for periods from 12 months to several years.   Setting realistic long-term goals will likely incorporate short-term goals as these will serve as the stepping-stones to reaching your ultimate goals for success in life and business.

The face of internet marketing has undergone significant changes over the past few years giving rise to the demand for effective online marketing tips and strategies.  As a result, opt-in e-mail marketing or permission marketing has seen an upsurge.

What is opt-in marketing? It is marketing or communicating through e-mail with a group of persons who have willingly given permission to be contacted by subscribing to your materials through an opt-in box or a landing page.  This has given rise to the statement, “The money is in the list.”  Savvy marketers know, however, that there is more to it than just having a list.  It's  important to build a targeted list of people who liked what they saw when they first visited your site, want to see and learn more from you, and are also willing to purchase your product or service that's offered on your website.

In order to make this effective, here are three critical things you need to do:

1) Create a squeeze page or landing page so your visitors can visit in a focused environment.  Many online marketers create a form on their blog or blogs for visitors to opt-in to.  While this may be good in the short term, a more effective strategy is to have your visitors go to a landing or sqeeze page.  Usually your blog has a lot of information and it may be difficult for your visitor to keep their focus; instead their eyes may wander to the different articles and offers on your page.  Make your landing page informative and inviting so that they want more.

2) Give something – a report, an e-book, a video, an e-mail course etc. or combination of these tools to thank your visitors for trusting you with their personal information.  On the “Thank You” page or on the “Download” page you then invite your visitors to your blog to learn more about you and what you have to offer.  You will  want to stay in touch with your list with autoresponders.  My favorite autoresponder is Aweber.
3)  Provide excellent customer service and products: Satisfied customers are more likely to share information with their peers and word of mouth advertising is best because these new visitors will be referred by people who already know, like and trust you.

Working full-circle is working smart and not hard.  Building your targeted list takes work but work that will pay you big dividends in the long run.

Please feel free to add your comments.