Profit Generation & Pushing Through To 2010
Author: Nadira Haniff Revised: 3 November, 2009
A Hard Look At Your Business
Time is rushing ahead and we are full swing into the final quarter of the year. I know many of you would have made 2009 New Year’s resolutions and vowed to make some serious changes for the better in your business, in health and in your life generally.
With the year moving so fast, sometimes we lose track of time, to our detriment, because time can be so slippery!
At this point it doesn’t matter when you started, what’s key here is; where you are going? So let’ take it from there. Let’s focus on the next 90 days and how you can really ignite the fire in your business. The fact is the next 90 days will take you smack into 2010! Can you believe a new year is almost right around the bend? In fact I can remember quite vividly all the noise and dire predictions when we were rounding the bend to year 2000! Now I am scratching my head thinking, ‘9 years have almost gone by’ ? Wow! Time waits for no man!
So I urge you all to respect time because time just marches on, whether you standstill or you are running full speed ahead, and let’s relate this to your business.
Why Is Stepping Back Important?
Entrepreneurs have the most difficult time stepping back and taking a hard look at the structure of their business. Why? Because many times it’s a bit frightening to face the reality. Many online marketers in business are still pitching their product and opportunity to anyone and everyone in their path! I continue to have people filling up my social network pages and email inbox with long winded sales pitch, without taking a look to see what I do or who I am!
Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, but so much time could be saved and so much frustration avoided if marketers understood a few key elements of business. For example: effective marketing skills, and how to set up a revenue model for business.
Fact: Just these 2 techniques would knock years off the time you spend launching your marketing career!
Tugged In Many Directions?
If you feel you are being tugged in 10 different directions right now, you probably are. The internet has become a stampede of activity and this is a great phenomenon because it increases communication and narrows the gaps; however most marketers get lost in the stampede and waste a tremendous amount of time chasing fads and schemes which promise big returns. It takes away the focus on your business. By the time you get back to the revenue producing activities, you are breathless with all the running around and frustration sets in.
You have to learn to quiet the noise, and question yourself - what skills do I focus on for this month? Given that you are doing your marketing alone, because you haven’t hired anyone to do marketing for you as yet, it is critical that you operate with a clear head and not a foggy, cloudy strategy. Not to mention the giddiness from all the surfing and reading and chasing on the internet!
Many people who contact me for direction and advice find themselves guilty of this activity; in fact several of my clients and I have joked about how easy it is to fall prey to all the big promises online. Logic should prevail at all times – if it were so easy to make big money, then most people would already be making truckloads of cash.
And we all know that is very far from the truth. So recognize that you are going to have to put some work in and try your darnest not to get sucked in by promises of short cuts. Yes, there are efficient and effective ways of doing business but short cuts are rare!
Social Media. The Part It Plays?
Social media has taken on a life of its own and when used as a tool can bring great value to your branding process and to your connectivity with people across the internet. However if you are spending more that 1 hour per day on social media activities, you are wasting very precious time. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn– these would be the ones to focus on and use a few applications to connect them so you are working efficiently with time, in your business.
Seriously, who needs 25 tools to work their Twitter account? Yes, it’s fun! But as a marketer you must know when to draw the line and recognize that time is money. This is serious business and yes, we have to have fun, but it is no fun when people are not making money. So you can learn to master every application for Twitter but that doesn’t mean your business will be too much further ahead. Yes, you can have thousands of ‘followers’ and connect with people but, there’s a whole new level to which you would have to take that connection, to churn a profit. Especially since so many marketers are doing the same thing.
Social media is only one aspect of marketing and it is a skill which you gain with practice, but not by spending hours per day. So yes, build your following and spend some time doing so but be wise about your time. Your time is your money!
A Revenue Model. Do You Have One?
If you are serious about earning online and also offline, a critical aspect of business is setting up your business structure. Yes, I know boring! Well not so boring if you knew that 95% if not 98% of people who earn the big bucks in business have a streamlined understanding of their business.They are in control. They know exactly what products they market, what opportunities they offer, what their giveaways and upsells are and they know at which point in their marketing model, they are monetizing their efforts. They have a predetermined, smooth flow of how their business will be done.
They are constantly on the look out for streams of income which would complement their business but without losing focus of their current income streams.
They Know They Will Make Money
Being a successful marketer is not a ‘hit and miss’ affair. For these marketers, business is organized and they have developed specific marketing campaigns. Each campaign is accompanied by the relevant activity which generates leads and sales on a consistent daily basis. So these entrepreneurs continue to build a targeted list and make money with a degree of certainty and predictability. They know they will make money.
Most internet marketers today don’t know if they will make any money this month. Reason? The majority are operating on daily hype. Whatever the latest fad, system, list magic program for this week - that’s what they are doing. I often do surveys and tally up the number of times I would receive an invitation when the latest fad of the week comes out! It is incredible the number of people who get sucked in by this time wasting activity. After a while, it becomes difficult for people to take you as an entrepreneur who knows how to win in business!
Fine Tune Your Business
Spend 1 hour today (if not a bit more) and seriously assess how long you have been in business and what marketing strategies you have been using. And by ‘using’, I don’t mean checking it out. I mean really implementing daily and tracking your results.
Decide what you want to market. Are you doing a primary business and also have some peripheral short term streams of income? Write all of that down, so you are clear on what you market, this way you can begin to work on a marketing plan and a revenue model to maximize profits.
Take a hard look at how you spend your time daily. In fact, track your time for a week and I know you will be startled at the actual productive time you spend on your business. Now, with that knowledge you can reorganize your time wisely, to maximize the returns.
Stop chasing weekly fads! It will free up a tremendous amount of time, and allow you to build worthy business credibility and ‘credibility’ is one commodity money cannot buy! It has to be earned. With 2010 just on the horizon, it is worth the time to settle down and get serious about the profitability of your business.
No one can learn all the skills there are to market with complete precision, not in 3 months, not in 3 years! The secret is? Choose 2 skills this month, and work on mastering them! Become good at those aspects of marketing and then add to your marketing ‘arsenal’ each month!
FACT: 90% of marketers do not do that! But run helter skelter in search of the next big launch and promises of short cuts to riches!
Winning In Business
Winning in business is usually the result of an informed, calculated decision backed up by steady marketing committment to the finish line. So recognize that and get ready to win! Full speed ahead… giddy up!
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