I’ll bet you have heard most of your life that effective goal setting is essential for success.   Why then do so many of us fall short on this essential business and life skill?  The answer is complex and there are a variety of psychological reasons.

However rather than digging into the “why”, we will first quickly assess where you stand then use the following 10 tips for developing more powerful goals. Start by asking yourself these 3 questions:

1) Do I have clear, written and measurable goals for my business and personal growth?

2) Have I created specific action steps required to achieve each goal?

3) Do I regularly track and measure the progress of each of my goals?

If your answer is no the ten keys below will help you to become more effective with your goal setting efforts and achieve more measurable results in your business.

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. Brian Tracy

In my 2005 book Success Secrets of The Online Marketing Superstars I interviewed legendary author, Mark Victor Hansen about goals.  He is the co-author of the best selling series in history Chicken Soul For The Soul knows quite a lot about developing BIG goals.   Here are his tips about goal setting:

1) Your most important goals must be yours.

Not your spouse’s. Not your child’s. Not your employer’s. Yours. When you let other people determine your definition of success, you’re sabotaging your own future.

2)  Your goals must mean something to you.

When you write your goals, you must ask yourself, “What’s really important to me?” “What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?” Your reasons for charting a new course of action give you the drive and energy to get up every morning.

3) Your goals must be specific and measurable.

Vague generalizations and wishy-washy statements aren’t good enough.  Be very specific!

4) Your goals must be flexible.

A flexible plan keeps you from feeling suffocated and allows you to take advantage of genuine opportunities that walk in your future door.

5) Your goals must be challenging, exciting.

Force yourself to jump out of your comfort zone to acquire that energy and edge.

6) Your goals must be in alignment with your values.

Pay attention to your intuition, your gut. When you set a goal that contradicts your values, something inside will twinge. Pay attention.

7) Your goals must be well-balanced.

Make sure you include areas that allow time to relax, have fun and enjoy people in your closest circle.

8) Your goals must be realistic.

Be expansive but don’t be ridiculous. If you’re four feet tall, you will probably never play in the NBA. Also, be sure to allow yourself time to get there.

9) Your goals must include contribution.

Unfortunately, many people get so wrapped up in pursuing their goals that they don’t have time in their lives to give something back to society. Build this into your goals program.

10) Your goals need to be supported.

Either selectivity share a few of your dreams with a number of people, or share all of your dreams with a select few people. In either case, you’re creating a web of support and accountability for yourself.

Open your mind to all the possibilities. Start each goal with “I am” or “I will.” Don’t even think about restricting yourself!

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Your Coaching Action Step: Review the list above and write 5-7 specific 3 month goals (e.g. 10 new clients, 1000 new subscribers to my mailing list) then write the specific steps you will take to get there and track your progress every day!

by Mitch Meyerson

In 2008  I co-wrote four books:  Mastering Online Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing On The Internet, World Class Speaking  and Guerrilla Marketing On The Front Lines.   Sound like a lot?  Yes it is but I couldn’t have accomplished this with out the following five principles.

I hope you can apply these ideas  to your business so you can get more done in less time as well.

1)  Develop A Clear Strategy

Know exactly what you are trying to accomplish and why.   For example, if you want to have a financially successful business it is very important to focus your time on your most important revenue-generating activities. This could be teaching group tele-courses like my Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program or create or resell  products that people really need like an online shopping carts or e-books.

My online sales strategy has two essential parts. 1)  encouraging visitors that come to my website   2) converting subscribers into paying customers with an irresistible offer.

Do you have a strategy and system  for building your mailing list?   Do you  sell something people really need in this environment?  If not  it is time to look at your strategy and improve it.

2) Leverage  Your Time and Intellectual Property

To work less and make more  it is critical that you create, repackage and repurpose your content.   If you’ve written an article, consider re-purposing it as an audio, video, live  presentation or mini course  that you can deliver in the real world and online.

You can also leverage your time  by teaching courses to groups instead of just single individuals which of course will allow you to make more money per hour and also create a lively interactive environment.

What can you do today to leverage your time and existing content?

3) Develop Powerful Partnerships.

Find people who are energetic, focused and positive.   I have  had the  good fortune to partner with some of the top names in our industry  through Guerrilla Marketing,  Traffic School, Product Factory, and World-class Speaking Programs.
Each of my books and programs  had an excellent proactive partner and saved me a lot of time.

Working with great partners can inspire you,  get you thinking out of the box  and of course allow you to increase your  exposure by marketing to multiple mailing lists.  You may find someone who has a following in a niche  that would be perfect for your product or service.   You can offer them a commission or affiliate fee and you can both share the profits.

Ask yourself:   Who your industry would be a great partner  for you?  What do they bring to the table?  What do I bring to the table?  Be specific. What  is a win-win partnership?   If you don’t have a large list  to offer,  be a  guerrilla  and see what you can offer in terms of time energy and imagination.

How to approach a partner the right way

4) Implement Consistently.

The key to success in any business is not only having a great strategy  for finding powerful partners  but  taking action on a consistent basis.  The challenge with being an entrepreneur  is that our time is largely unstructured, which means it is up to us to stay proactive.

To create systems of structure and support,  I like the concept of the “accountability partner” and have one myself.   This is someone you can check in with on a regular basis to see if you are staying in action with your goals.   With my guerrilla marketing students  we are starting to set up  buddy systems and  accountability days were people check in on the hour  on the completed tasks.    Who can you enlist as an accountability partner?

5) Automate and Delegate

This is probably my favorite of all  because allows me to get my website to work for me  when I’m not even paying attention!   Consider this: There are people all over the world constantly visiting websites.   If they come to your site wouldn’t you like them to join your mailing list?  If so  set up an opt in box with an irresistible offer and  increase your visitor to opt in conversion dramatically.    My Easy Web Automation system  not only  makes this optin easy  but allows me to sell products on my website and have the money funneled right in my bank.   What can you automate on your website?

Now more than ever,  it is essential that you use your time wisely,  develop a sound strategy,  build powerful partnerships,  automate  and take action on all these ideas.   If you do, you will be in the 15% that not only has a growing business  year after year but you will get a lot more done in less time!

Interested in our next Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program. Learn Low cost, high impact marketing strategies perfect for challenging times.

Get the full story here: www.GMarketingCoach.com