Posts Tagged ‘goals’
Friday, January 8th, 2010
We’ve all made our New Year’s Resolutions: eat healthier, save money, join a book club, spend more time with family. Having this firmness of purpose is what is so exhilarating about resolutions. Why stop at personal resolutions, why not apply them to your business? This year make determined resolves for your business.
It’s a New Year. A clean slate, a fresh start. New goals, objectives, ambitions, and metrics. While we slowly climb out of this recession, now is the time to focus on cost-effective solutions that will jump-start the New Year and allow you to make the most of your resources and get you to where you need and want to be. The New Year allows you to refocus, update expectations, set new benchmarks and ultimately strategize how you will reach your aspirations for the year. Where to begin?
Start at your vision statement. Where do you see your business headed? How do you want it to operate? What will it be in the future? What are your core values and how can those attributes make your vision a reality? After defining your vision and clearly articulating it, move on to your mission statement.
Compose your mission statement with your vision in mind. Ask yourself what the main strategic intent of your business is. What are your essential competencies? By understanding your purpose and aim as a company, and using your attributes to your advantage you can set focused, targeted goals.
New Year’s Resolutions have a bum rap for always getting thrown out the window around week three. This year, resolve to stay on track.
 Mission Statements Inlaid with Vision
Tags: Business, core values, cost-effective, goals, mission statement, New Year resolutions, Strategy, vision statement
Posted in Strategy | No Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
 There are several ways to measure and track the successes and challenges of your online marketing. But, before you dive in and implement these tools and tactics, there are a few steps that must be taken.
1. Define Success
In business, “success” is subjective and what may seem to be successful for one campaign may be seen as detrimental to another. Ensure that members of your team (and your client!) have a solid grasp on what success means for the particular campaign on which you are working. Does success mean a high number of hits to your website? Or does it mean positive response from the community? Will you measure success by lead conversion, traffic or a combination of the two? Set goals that are measurable, realistic and specific and communicate these goals with your team in a public space.
2. Choose your Tools
With so many options for tracking online success, it is imperative that you choose a tool that is right for your company. For example, Google Analytics allows users to set and track goals. But, there are many other tools that measure a range of variables. To determine which tool is right for you, consider the metrics you would like to measure and why each is important. Find one tool that measures all of your outlined metrics, or find several tools that measure them individually. Either way, set up a system that works for you.
3. Create a Results Report
What good are results if they aren’t shared with your team or client? Determine a system for communicating whether your goals have been reached to your team. Celebrate success (however you define it!) and brainstorm solutions in instances when goals are not met. Measuring campaign progress will create a spirit of team work, and perhaps throwing incentive into the mix will create a little friendly competition that increases productivity! Share success with clients and members of your network through a newsletter. Get advice and feedback from your network using social media.
When tracking goals and measuring success, communication is key! Results are no good if they are kept to yourself and goals can not be met unless they are defined. So, before you set your goals talk to your team and client–but above all, aim high and the sky is the limit!
Tags: goals, Google, Google Analytics, metrics, metrics report, online marketing, results, success
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
 Whenever you brainstorm business strategy, it’s crucial to set business metrics for your team to measure progress and budget time, resources and funding effectively. But, how do you know which metrics are the right ones for your business? According to business experts, metrics should:
- Create a single objective that unites your team
- Streamline progress toward the end goal
- Create clear depiction of your business’ strengths and needs
Your metrics should be clear, measurable and actionable. Create a metrics report that keeps your team’s performance up-to-speed. (You could create your own or use available software to run your monthly metrics.) Tracking your performance this way will enable you to set accurate targets and track your progress, which will be helpful when conducting department or employee reviews as well as communicating performance results to your clients. Additionally, this will allow you to see which facets of your business add the most value. Keep an eye on what departments are draining too many resources–keeping your ROI in mind here is key. You could create metrics for any of the following areas:
- Business performance as a whole
- By department
- By project
- By employee
Once a month, hold a meeting with your project managers and team. Run the metrics report for each project, department or resource. Communicate your goals clearly to all members of your team and discuss where you may have fallen short for the past month. If it helps, select a few crucial metrics and track their progress in a public space like on a bulletin board or poster displayed in a place of prominence. This will motivate employees to perform and add the element of accountability. Be sure you reward successes and hold team members accountable where apporpriate.
Tracking and running metrics is crucial to the success of any emerging business. Keep your team, and your clients, in the know by tracking your results.
Tags: business metrics, goals, metrics report, small business, targets
Posted in Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
So you’ve completed an analysis of your business and its strategy. Great! Now, it’s time to take all that knowledge and put it to  use for your business. Get out a pad a of paper and get ready to set some new goals for your business! First, a few pointers.
1. Set good goals. A good goal:
- challenges you
- is realistic
- can be measured
- must have a deadline
Don’t forget to write it down! Written goals are concrete and easier to act upon. (Plus, writing your goals down will keep you from forgetting them!)
2. Get creative with goal setting!
Create a color-coded goals poster or collage with powerful images that really get you motivated. Tap into your inner artist by drawing pictures that relate to your goals. Write your goals list with the hand you don’t normally write with–this may open different parts of your brain. (Take this short quiz to find out if you’re right or left brained.) Have a team brainstorm and make it fun! Throw in a few crazy goals–reach for the stars!
3. Share your goals.
If you decide t o make a goals poster, display it in a place where everyone can see it. Tracking goals by measuring them (think of the fundraising thermometer.) Share your goals with other members of your team. Have your friends and family members bug you until the job gets done. Discussing your goals with others helps you realize what needs to be done. Plus, the shared sense of accomplishment when you achieve your goal is so much better than celebrating your success alone!
4. Revisit your goals.
Check in with your goals often. Track progress. Modify your goals based on changes in your business needs or situation. This will keep your goals practical and current.
Want more goal-setting tips? Check out the Ten Commandments of Goal-Setting.
Tags: challenge, deadline, goal setting, goals, measurable, small business strategy, Strategy, to do list
Posted in Strategy | 4 Comments »
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