<- I like this graphic. 🙂 I ran across it on Facebook earlier this week and it gave me pause to think for a moment.
2012 was a crazy year for me, full of unexpected curveballs and ridiculous hurdles. I wasn't alone. Many of my peers and friends had a challenging year too.
Maybe you did as well?
Speaking of Facebook, earlier this week we were discussing one thing you would like to change or do differently in your business this year...
Click here to see the discussion
Interestingly, and I think this is the first time ever, my goals have not changed. I'm still on track, working on the goals & projects I laid out this time last year...
Still, there are some things I would like to differently in my business, which is what prompted the discussion on Facebook. (You should join us there on my Page if you haven't already. 😉 )
One of the things I'm implementing is more structure to my work routine, which I started around the middle of last year - and I'm still in the process of getting the "flow" just right. I mentioned a bit about that in my recent post on micro-tasking.
I'd be curious to hear what your business goals are for 2013 and/or what you would most like to change or do differently in your business this year?
Or if you just have questions, feel free to ask those in the comment section below too. What do you feel is holding you back from success with your online business, or what do you most need help with in order to meet your goals?
I'd be happy to answer some of your questions in future posts & videos.
Let the discussion begin! I look forward to hearing your thoughts...
Best,
p.s. If you aren't quite sure what you should be doing in your business, or how to get started and/or get to the next level, you should join us in my Private Brainstorming Group and let me help you make this your best year yet! 😀
About Lynn Terry
This year is a hardcore focus for me, Lynn! Aside from product creation and PLR, which I continue to do, my 2013 goals include really turning up the heat on Kindle publishing (fiction) and tangible affiliate marketing.
I want that 4-pronged approach to be even, not lopsided where 2 make me the most money and 2 are like a dessert topping.
Tiff 😉
Ditto on the "hardcore focus" - and great goals! I look forward to staying in touch throughout the year and watching you achieve those goals. 😀
I have zero online experience - and my goal is to set up two online businesses (MomGoesHealthy.com and MomGoesOnline.com), and reaching the point where at the end of this year I can proudly say they are both running smoothly (so that I can focus on making them profitable the following year).
Great goals, Laura! I look forward to helping you with the setup in the Private Brainstorming Group, and seeing you get both sites up and running... and in profit! 😉
I keep hearing people say what a bad year 2012 was for them but I'm feeling the opposite and it's been one of my favorite years because my business seemed to finally 'click' for me, I bought my first home and I got engaged. Also due to being in a new home my son got into a school that is so much better than the last and he's so much less stressed about school... all great things for a great year. Sad others like you Lynn had such a sucky 2012!
My goal is to promote my courses and workshops (I'm focused on four main offerings) this year and get even more people signed up to them. I've planned out my whole year in terms of when my live trainings will be. I realize the action I need to take to get that done is to spend more time 'outside' the business building roads back in so people know I'm there!
Congratulations, Angela! Wow, I hadn't heard the news. I'm very happy for you! 😀 Sounds like you have your year mapped out nicely. Here's to a successful 2013! *cheers*
I'm like a few other folks. Last year was our best year ever with sales up 25%. We are online with an "brick and motar" product line.
This year we are launching our second site "off-line" ecommerce site. With the extra site, I will need to look at hiring another customer service manager. This is a big step for us since our current business has been an "all in the family business." So my goal is to get the site up and going...I'll worry about hiring later.
My other goal is to get my first info-product site up and running. I'm still waffling over what I should do? I have a couple of ideas. One is related to WordPress and the other is about my "passion", motorcycle gadgets and motorcycle touring.
I have learned one thing thru the years about goals. Goals are nice, but unless you take the NEXT step you never reach your goal. So basically "do something" and get started. Also, your goal does not require perfection. Just make it good enough and take the next step. Remember perfection is the enemy of good enough.
Mike
Great advice Mike, and I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think I said something along those same lines in a recent post. 🙂
Getting my first service website up and having it do good business before the end of 2013. By the end of this year ... positively no more day-job nonsense. It will support me fully.
Great goal, Ana! Should make for a very exciting year, with a lot to celebrate. 😉
January is starting off fantastic with MORE affiliate sales already! I consider that a great start for moving my Organization website "to profit" in 2013. I'm still trying to implement many of the site ideas we've brainstormed but I'll have to work them in between other things (you'll see below).
The new website, http://SurviveSucceedSoar.com is up and running and looking pretty decent, considering it's still a baby. My goal will be to start adding affiliate products to it, as well as creating some of my own products that will fit in this niche. In addition, I'd like to book several speaking engagements locally by spring, which I hope will lead to more local one-on-one consultations. I may even look to doing a local workshop one evening a month, starting perhaps in April.
Headed to NAMS9 in February. I'm more comfortable each time I go and love how it meshes nicely with what I'm learning through your Elite group. Making the decision to join your Elite Mastermind last summer has been - hands down - the best thing I've ever done online. It's an incredible value, with all of the tips, tech information, ideas, solutions, etc that are available through the generosity of you and your membership. For anyone thinking about joining, DON'T HESITATE! The very first help I received with a problem would have cost far more than a full-year of the Elite membership. (I even get grumpy when I have to miss one of the weekly calls! LOL)
My personal life is taking a little sideways turn but it's all good. I may have my elderly parents joining us in Tenn. Ken and I are both hopeful they'll agree so we can save them from going into a Senior Care facility as long as possible. I will be converting our over-sized garage into a studio apartment for us so my parents can have the master bedroom and the insuite bath. Plus I'll take the other two bedrooms and make them a TV room and office for my parents, giving my parents a 'wing' for them. That way they'll have their own TV space, and a quiet space for my mom to read, sew, write, do bills, etc. Plus we'll have ours in the garage apartment and then we'll also have the living room, dining and kitchen areas as "together space". It's a huge undertaking to be ready by March. I have to get rid of anything we don't absolutely need, giving my parents all of the bedroom and bathroom closets, then building a giant walk-in closet for Ken and I out in the garage. My mind is reeling with everything I have to do by March. But at the same time, I'm more thankful than ever that I'm working from home now so I can help my mother take care of my dad (he's in the early stage of Altzheimers). If I was still commuting into Nashville this wouldn't work at all. Thank you for everything you've done for me personally, Lynn, and your confidence and encouragement to work online can't be expressed well enough.
Business-Wise: create more products for my websites, ramp up the affiliate products, work on booking local speaking engagements, also add audio and more videos to the mix. I'd like to redo a book I wrote several years ago for ClickBank. I never released it because I felt I had bitten off too much with the things promised in the guarantee. The only thing worse than NO customer service is BAD customer service. I need to restructure my follow-up assistance into something that is more manageable before I put it up on ClickBank. But 2013 us definitely the year for my book, it's already approved by CB anyway, just procrastinating tackling the after-sale promises.
Now, if I can get even HALF of this done, I'll look back and consider 2013 quite successful. LOL
You know what jumped out at me as I was reading your comment, Sherie? How your "move" will fit in so nicely with your organization blog - and how much content it will inspire, including photos & videos. 😀
LOL if my parents do decide to move up here it will DEFINITELY generate content. Unfortunately, I'll be getting rid of things we hadn't intended to part with in order to open up closet/storage space for them. We may decide to just rent a storage unit since this will probably be a two year, maximum, time frame. It will also be an opportunity to discuss the need for "temporary" storage and organizational solutions, as well as "temporary" repurposing of rooms.
Success is what everyone wants in their businesses. However, I want goodwill as well as good relation with my audience. If I am able to reach out to them correctly, then I will be able to progress in my business. This is what my main aim this year. I know I need to put in a lot of efforts but that is the way to go.
Obviously my first goal is to increase my profit margin, I'm planning to start an alternative company this year, as the job recruitment company which I'm running is goin well but not that great. Just want some tips to go my company viral? Good post, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for another great post Lynn.
My first goal this year is to be more productive. I have started writing list of tasks that I need to accomplish each day, and have found this to be a great help.
Also I need to spend less time browsing Youtube and Facebook.
Productivity is different for everyone, some work better on a schedule or under pressure, some don't. One of the keys for me is to use Time Blocks as I mentioned in this recent post: http://www.clicknewz.com/5888/micro-tasking/ You might consider setting aside dedicated Time Blocks for YouTube & Facebook. 😉
There are many goals that i wish to set for my business.I really feel the need to market my business on social networking websites and they are really helpful to build a brand name and get the required credibility.Thanks for sharing this post and it was quite interesting reading it.
Hi Kevin,
Here is a good outline/checklist for Social Media:
http://www.clicknewz.com/3038/how-to-use-social-media/
Hope that helps you reach your goals! 🙂
There are many goals I set this year, obviously solid income is my main motive, last year was bit unstable. Planning to start a new online pet shop, hope it will work out.
An online pet shop sounds fun! Wishing you the best with your goals. 😉
My main goals are to blog, and use social media consistently and to become more educated on the different affiliate programs.
My goals for 2013 are so ambitious I get tired just looking at them! After I laid everything out on my resolution blog post, I laughed while re-reading it. Multiple site plans, 3 info products, my freelance writing biz, lots of other stuff... I have to keep a huge wall calender in my office and write out EVERYTHING incrementally to stay on task. It's nuts. I like the micro-tasking idea.
I'm feeling ambitious with my goals this year as well, Nell. 😀 I use Evernote to organize my various projects, and the ideas & outlines for each. I like it because it syncs across ALL of my devices (Mac/PC/Android/iPad, etc) so I always have it all at my fingertips. 😉 *cheers*
There are many goals in my mind and i think that it is better that i jot them down on a piece of paper.I would really love to monetize my website in a better way and in this regard i will have to educate my self.Can you offer some advice in this regard ?
I can. 😀 This is exactly what I do in my Private Brainstorming Group: detailed site reviews & monetization plans. See: http://www.clicknewz.com/6098/hands-on-help/ for more details on that. Or if you have specific questions, let me know. 😉
I think the best part about goal setting is that it helps us to measure and track our progress.After outlining the goals it is important that we develop a proper strategy in place to achieve those goals.Thanks for sharing this informative article.
What perfect timing as I recently wrote a blog post about my 2013 goals. I am a definite multi tasker, a habit that really slows things down.
Micro tasking is definitely my cup of tea. I have been trying it out this past week and it has increased my productivity and momentum many times over. Hooray! I will now be 1. focusing more on micro tasking and 2. adding a time frame into my main project goals - short term, mid term and long term, to better clarify and add momentum to getting results. And lastly, 3. to celebrate the journey - with rewards along the way!
Yes... I am grateful for 2012 and even more so for 2013 and looking forward to a great year!
Happy New Year 2013 Lynn and everyone -cheers to much blessings and prosperity!
I'm really glad the micro-tasking is working as well for you as it is for me! 😀 *cheers*
I have so many goals in my mind and this year round i really want to go ahead achieving all the goals that i am planing to implement.The first thing i would really like to do is to write down my goals clearly and then start working on them.
Being on the SEO niche, with the series of algorithm updates, it was a challenging time in 2012 to formulate a solid strategy that can get consistent results. The goal in 2013 is to find out a solid SEO strategy that we call as "hey this certainly works"
For me it would be further fight with delaying things... It's undoubtedly awesome to do 'nice' stuff but then one has to get into working spree which may not result in desired outcome in terms of quality (and sometimes timeliness). I have not suffered because of that yet, but still want to avoid such option in the future.
There are so many plans this years, my income is pretty decent, I want to build a product rather then providing service, like that the life would be little easy.
I got a slow start on the "New Year" being down with the flu for weeks, but I am finally ready to dive in and kick things into high gear. 😀
I've just started the 100 Day Challenge this week (it's currently closed to new registrants, but will reopen again in April) - and it's just the motivation & accountability I need to dig into some of my more ambitious goals for the year!
One of my business goals this year of course is to do more frequent blog posts. Another important goal is to make better use of my networking events by getting there early, bringing my name tag, remembering the names of the people I connect with and following up with them by connecting on LinkedIn afterwards.
I would like to start marketing my business on social networking platforms because i know that this one thing can help me to explore many opportunities.Also in this way i would be able to get a brand name for my business and also it would help me to get the credibility.Hence Social media marketing is my goal for 20113.
My plans are really unlimited in this year round but after reading this post i have realized the importance of gathering all my points on a piece of paper.My biggest plan of all is to market my business effectively so that i can get a huge bunch of prospective clients and also i would like to deliver high quality products.
Nice Post Lynn.My goal for this year would be to increase my brand recognition and also at the same time build a credibility among my clients.Also i want to double my productivity this year round.I have kept a strategy in place which will help me to traverse this golden path.
There are many goals that i wish to work on during this new year but the one goal which i would like to work on during this year would be to improve my brand recognition.It will be very easy for me to get the desired credibility once i build my brand name.
I would concentrate on increasing my profitability throughout this new year for increasing my revenue while limiting my expenses.Also i would focus on improving my customer experience because due to this the customers will develop a perception that it is easy to do business with my company.These are some of my goals that i would work on during this year.
Increase in revenue generation is the goal that I have set during this year.I have started my analysis on the current market place and at the competitors to see how my product fits into the market.I believe that this goal is very important to interest investors in our business.
Great post, To succeed in establishing and reaching your goals, you should focus well in advance on what needs to happen and spend all time necessary in advance to ensure their success.
I would like to make my company successful by achieving my brand recognition and creating an employee-friendly work environment.These are some of my goals that I would like to work upon during this new year.
I would like to concentrate on setting up a customer relationship management system because this will help me to get a grip on my sales funnel and in this way I will stay in touch with them and provide better customer service.Also I would concentrate on marketing my business more consistently.Finally I will streamline my business.
Automation is my goal for this year.I would first look into the tasks that we perform on a daily weekly and monthly basis and then I would try to turn these into regular procedures that can either be streamlined, automated or delegated. Also I will work on optimizing my existing tools to get the work done more effectively.
Improved business operations would be my goal for this year.I would try to increase the budget available to new business features and also at the same time improve the quality of services to my clients.These are some of the goals that I would work on during this year.
This year round I would focus on lowering my expenses.I would take a reflective and realistic look at 2012's expenses for my business and analyze which ones were higher than they should have been whether it is on office supplies or business launches or even printing costs.
My goal would be to automate my customer service. I am spending a large part of my day getting interrupted by customer care phone calls instead of working on my business. My strategy would be to publish a well organized FAQ page in order to direct customers to how-to-do-it-yourself articles on my site.Not only is this good for customers but it's good for search-engine optimization too.