Setting Goals and Marketing Plans For The New Year

It’s the time of the year when everyone is setting their new year’s resolutions for the upcoming year. They want to lose weight, make more money, etc. They set their goals and develop actions plans to achieve those goals.

However for online marketers, this is a step that many don’t do for their business. This is a perfect time to develop a marketing plan or review a business plan for your business for the new year. Whether you are in network marketing, affiliate marketing or traditional business a business plan is critical for your success. Failing to plan is planning to fail. To accomplish anything, you need a game plan. And the most important part of having a plan is the thinking and planning you put into it when you created it. Business plans are no different. It will keep you focused; show you where you want to go and how to get there.

Step #1: Set Your 5 Year, 1 Year, 6 Month, 90-Day and 1 Month Goals

A lot of people that venture into a business, particularly network and affiliate marketing, have a vague idea of what they want to achieve and where they want to be in 6 months or a year down the road. Unless, you can translate those ideas into specific measurable SMART goals, you may not be able to realize the full potential of your business.

If your goal looks like this…

“I would like to be financially free, be able to quit my job and stay at home while living in a million dollar house and driving a Bentley.”

Think again!

Set up measurable SMART goals for what you want to achieve in a 5 years, 1 year, 6 months, 90 days and 1 month. So what is a SMART goal? A SMART goal is…

S – Specific (exactly what you want to achieve)
M – Measurable (able to track the progress & measure the outcome)
A – Action Oriented (should describe a result)
R – Realistic & Relevant (challenging but realistic and relevant to your business)
T – Time Based (should include a time limit)

Start with your long-term goal (5 year goal) first and then work backwards, identifying what you would need to do to get to your big goal. Identifying your long-term goal will help you set and achieve your short-term goals.

Decide how much money you want to make
How many people do you need to sponsor to make that amount
How many people you need to be in front of to sponsor that many people
How big you want your team to be
What titles you want to achieve

Be sure that your goals are realistic. You go to school for 12 years and college for 4 years to get a job that pays $30,000 to $50,000 a year. But you want to make $10,000 in your first month. It doesn’t equate. Good thing it doesn’t take that long to make $30,000 a year in this profession. Below are a few examples of goals.

My 5 Year Goal – 5 years from now (date), I will have a team of 2,000 active. I will personally sponsor 200 people. I will be a Platinum with my company and I will have an $8,000 per month residual income.

My 1 Year Goal – 1 year from now (date), I will have a team of 200 active distributors. I will personally sponsor 40 people. I will be a Gold with my company and I will have a $1,000 per month residual income.

My 6 Month Goal – 6 months from now (date), I will have a team of 100 active distributors. I will have personally sponsor 20 people. I will be a Silver with my company and I will have a $400 per month residual income.

My 90-Day Goal – 90 days from now (date), I will have 50 active distributors. I will personally sponsor 10 people. I will be a Bronze in my company and I will have a $200 per month residual income.

My 1 Month Goal – 1 month from now (date), I will have a team of 15 active distributors. I will personally sponsor 5 people. I will be a Copper with my company and I will have a $100 per month residual income.

As you can see, these examples are specific and written in present tense. Writing goals in present tense, as they will happen, increases your belief and likelihood of achieving them.

Step #2: Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your Unique Selling Proposition or USP clearly identifies what makes you and your company different from the competition, why people should join you and whom you need to target.

What product/service does your company have?
What makes your product/service different?
What is your company’s compensation plan?
Why is the compensation plan different?
Who is your target market?
Who is your competition?
What makes your company different?
What makes you different?

Discovering the benefits of your company’s product/service and/or compensation plan are good selling points for marketing. It can also help you define your target market. Your target market are those who are most likely to buy from you. This will increase your conversions.

Many times, people don’t know what to post, what to blog about or what to do a video about. Defining these 6 things will help give you a ton of content for marketing you and your business.

Step #3: Identify Your Marketing Strategy & Learning & Development

There are many ways to build your business. You may be tempted to try them all so you can find out that perfect one for your business. There’s Facebook, blogging, video marketing, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope and many more. Here’s the secret. They all work.

You just have to find which works best for you. Pick 1-2 marketing strategies that resonate with you with most, a primary strategy and an alternate strategy. Concentrate on the marketing strategies you chose and avoid expanding. The point is to “Narrowcast” rather than “Broadcast.” Picking a few strategies to start with will shorten your learning curve and allow you to take action sooner. MLSP is a great source of training for online marketing strategies. More importantly, MLSP will also teach you the skills to brand yourself through attraction marketing.

Attraction marketing has become a standard in marketing online. Without attraction marketing, no matter what strategy you choose, you will always be chasing down leads and prospects instead of them knocking down your door. Attraction marketing is nothing new. We use it everyday in life as a way of communicating what is attractive to others resulting in sales, support, etc. Real estate agents are masters at attraction marketing. They market themselves first, then their product using a marketing strategy that resonates with them the most. Attraction marketing is the base of your marketing, while your marketing strategy is the tool you use to market. Educating yourself on both is your key to success.

Below are good steps for the education process.

Read 1-2 marketing book a month (if you are in network marketing, read network marketing books)
Listen to 1-2 self development audios a month
Read 1-2 self development books a month
Attend live events (company & industry such as Live the Dream)
Watch & implement trainings

Once you have educated yourself honed your skills, teach your distributors and others. This step is also great content for blog posts, social media posts and videos.

Step #4: Develop an Action Plan

Other than goals, the most important part of your business plan is your action plan. Your action plan will identify what you must do each month, week and day to grow your business.

First, set your business hours. If all you have is 2 hours a day to work on your business, designate the 2 hours you plan to work each day and stick to it. This creates a structure for your business and a good work ethic. Next, have a designated workspace. Having a designated workspace will help keep your mind focused on your business. I am not a tax consultant, but you may be able to write off that workspace on your taxes. Speak with your tax professional for details.

Next, establish a marketing/product budget and saving budget for your business. Putting money back into your business and saving for raining days and taxes is critical to a successful business. Many new entrepreneurs spend all the money they make. Just as you invest in yourself with training, you have to invest back into your business. You can use the reserves for Facebook, Twitter or YouTube ads, equipment, etc. Also, when unexpected expenses or tax time comes around, your savings budget can help cover the expense.

Below is an example of an action plan.

Budget

Marketing/Product Budget – 20% of commissions
Savings Budget – 10% of commissions
$5 a day for Facebook ads

Monthly

Publish at least 30 blog posts
Update my monthly goals on my business plan
Publish 10 videos on YouTube
Review the previous month’s performance to look for areas of improvement
Send an email newsletter

Weekly

Send an email blast to my entire email list
Post at least 10 pictures on Instagram
Do at least 1 Periscope video
Attend a weekly webinar, meeting, etc.
Keep track of your business expenses for the week
Create Facebook ad

Daily

Publish a blog post
Do at least 3 Facebook posts
Comment on other’s Facebook posts
Send 2-3 friend requests
Talk to 2-3 people a day
Follow up with the leads from the previous day
Read at least 20 minutes

An action plan keeps you focused and on track so you focus on the most important things to grow your business. Print out your daily, weekly and monthly action plan. Keep it by your computer and in your day planner.

Keep in mind that your business plan is a living, breathing document. You should review it daily and update it once a month. If you have a team of distributors, have them do the same thing. Planning is the foundation of which everything else will grow. If you have no plan or a weak plan, you can expect the rest of the process to be a bit rocky. Plans help you clarify your goals and create a step-by-step guide that you can later reference. Keep your plan as simple as possible. Measure your success one day at a time. Yes, you’ll have peaks and valleys, but work consistently, staying committed to your goal and you’ll get there.

–Lanacia Rachel

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