Developing a strategic plan
Hello, fellow warriors!
I want to share with you why making a plan of action can make a huge difference for your business or anything you do, we are talking about doing random stuff and get things done.
Having a solid plan
It doesn't matter what business you have, it's the same for everyone, making a plan from scratch should be the first thing you do before anything else.
That's the real reason behind why people quit so often for lack of results, even myself. Doing your best isn't enough and most of us learned that the hard way. Now, doing your best with a solid and strategic plan it's way too different. Your own determination can make a difference when trying to get things done but the reality is that it will be quite normal not to get results because you are doing random stuff, even if you are investing a lot of your valuable time.
The first thing you need to learn is that you are not going to have success right away, it takes time, maybe more maybe less, people are different but trust me when I say that there is no luck involve. Stick to your plan no matter what, until the end.
When you start getting results from your hard work, then and only then you can move on and expand your business if not you will probably fail.
Tracking stats is very important as well, knowing exactly your numbers for everything you do can help you a lot when deciding where to invest more time and where to invest less time.
I am going to show you how a plan should look. First, you need to know exactly what are you going to do, the planning process is always the same. To help you understand better I will be talking about a blog.
Finding a niche
Finding one could take time, this isn't a race so think carefully what to pick. For this blog, internet marketing is the niche which could be very extensive with lots of content like email marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, etc. You can also pick one of those sub niches but all of them are inside the main niche.
This blog creates quality content to help people get started, share knowledge and the experience behind any result.
Before thinking more in depth about developing a strategic plan you should find your niche because that's everything for you. Try to find something you love or you are interested about because you need to create a lot of quality content but also connect and interact with other people in the same field, readers, followers and competition.
Picking a niche just to make money isn't the best way to approach this, it will be a pain in the ass to make all that I said if you don't enjoy doing it and also it will be reflected in everything you do ending in failure because no one feels your passion.
Never think about making money from day one, focus on help! Be the problem solver because that is the real way to make money instead of just wanting to make money, quite crazy right? But that's how it works.
Do not get overwhelmed
Start by doing simple tasks. Again with the blog, no social media marketing at first because driving traffic is the main goal to start with, some quality content is needed before any promotion, what's the point to promote a blog with 1 or 2 blog posts?
If you already have a social presence, you could drive traffic to your first blog post because you have people who know you (I don't mean your friends and family, I mean real followers) but in most cases, they don't have a fan base.
I don't know you but this is a general example, creating a blog, being active on different social media accounts, creating quality content, doing research, promoting content, having a job, having kids you now, even more responsibilities. You will get overwhelmed for sure and you can almost feel the quitting feeling getting strong, you don't want that.
Add little things to your daily strategy, not all at once, when you feel that you can do more add more and you will get into a routine where you know exactly how much time it takes you to do all that stuff. Trying to do everything from day one will be a nightmare, Facebook page, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Youtube, etc, and that's just a few social networks! Not even talking about a blog, promotion or content, you see where I'm going? I can almost feel overwhelmed just by thinking about it.
You must consider everything, developing a good plan for the first time could be hard and if you are doing too much, change few things! You don't want to get overwhelmed because your strategy involves too many things at once.
When this blog made a few quality blog posts, then a Facebook page was created, building a fan base from scratch and making a routine of daily posts, interaction and commitment. After making a routine for some time, you can do it almost automatically without thinking even faster than before, if you feel comfortable add one social network more, get used to the routine.
One good thing is better than ten bad things
It doesn't mean that you need to focus just on one thing, for example, Facebook, but to start with sounds pretty good. There is no point jumping into 10 different social networks because you spend a lot of time, the results will be poor engage and the feeling of being a ghost.
When not having an audience you can feel frustrated for lack of results and engage with you, just because you post some things and not caring for the rest of the stuff only for lack of time, instead invest your short time in fewer things to get better results, get involve, grow and learn.
Save your time and energy and focus on one traffic source, be active, engage with people inside your niche, once you feel you can do more, do it! Your audience will not be in just one place.
Stats are important and here is where I can show you an example, if you use only Facebook you can't compare it with another traffic source, maybe you get better results from Twitter, maybe Pinterest, etc. The reality is that you must become an expert before you can do that, you can't compare stats from 1 month on Pinterest because you are a ghost, same for the rest.
Writing down your goals
Could sound stupid for some people but writing down your goals can help you in so many ways, put them near you when working for your dreams so you can read them at any time but also find motivation to not give up and keep pushing forward.
Another example could be adding pictures to a board, a friend of mine did that and when he was feeling like quitting, the board was there with a ton of pictures of different places he wanted to visit, it was his own motivation board.
Most people would say "I don't need to write my goals because I know them very well", you need to, it's important. You can't find motivation from something inside your head, you need to read or see your goals and know exactly your why. Write all that shit, it will help.
The why
Another important step, knowing "your why" behind your dreams and goals can help you find motivation to never give up and focus. You want to quit your job and buy fancy cars? Add some freaking cars to your board, maybe you want to help your family? Add pictures of them because when you feel depressed or want to quit, you can see that board, get shit done and work the shit out of you for them.
A little reminder why you are doing what you are doing.
Get more in depth, we all want to quit our job, is that all you want? Really? I doubt it.
Small goals, where the real magic happens
When you know exactly your goal you need to break it down to small but achievable goals, with deadlines if possible. For example, your main goal could be making $5.000 per month, now think carefully what you need to do to achieve that.
Again with the blog, a small goal could be launching the blog, another one could be reaching 100 followers on your social network, make your first sale, make your first guest post, etc.
Your main goals will always be a long term no matter what and you are not going to achieve them in a week or a month but you can achieve small goals in that time, which works building your main goal step by step.
We can call them sub-goals. Be realistic because you can't set a deadline for your first sale for example but you can do it with other things, don't leave things for tomorrow follow your strategy and build your routine, get used to it.
The routine
Making a routine is very important, even more, if you can't invest your valuable time, make use of your short time the best way possible.
To build an online business you need commitment and consistency, that's the only way to build a successful brand. It's hard to find followers but it's super easy to lose them. This is a business, your own business if you are not willing to work for your dreams no one will. You can't say "well shit, this week I am not doing anything I'm tired", you can say the same at your job? Of course not because you have responsibilities and a commitment.
There will not be "I will do it next week" in your strategic plan, that's something someone who is going to fail would say. This is your own business, this is your dream, maybe they are not that big in the end.
Make a routine, if you do not have too much time you will need to take even more time to fit it into your routine, to start an online business you need to have a commitment and be consistent, is the only way to build your brand.
Successful people are just like you, there is no luck involve. Most people seems to see always the successful part. "Ohhh just look at this guy, he's so successful, he makes a post and goes viral for no reason and I am writing the best content and not getting any share."
You think his first post got viral? You think he's working on his business since 2 weeks ago? You are not seeing all the years, effort and sacrifice and frustration behind, it's easy to say he's lucky when he isn't, he created his own luck
Never look down on yourself, if anyone else can do it why you can't? You can do it too mate.
The motivation to keep going
I don't want a normal job.
I don't want a boss telling me what to do all the time.
I don't want to do something I don't like for a living.
I don't want to work extra hours for free like a slave.
I don't want to be stressed.
I don't want to build more debts.
Sounds familiar? I bet it does.
From time to time when you share your dreams with close friends or even family, they could say something that you are not going to do it becasue it's hard and you need a lot of luck. F#ck them!
You don't need any negativity in your life, be positive! You know you can do it, I know it too, prove them wrong, people out there is doing what you want, why the hell you will not be able to?
Feeling lazy? Read your goals, check out your motivational board, find that motivation to never give up, build your dreams with your own hands.
If you want to be successful don't leave things for tomorrow, if not now then when? If not you then who?
You can relax a little bit when you start getting results, but to start with you need to work hard and a lot.
The excuse
Finding excuses it's pretty common.
I am not very good at writing.
I am good doing and editing videos.
I am not good driving traffic.
You don't need to be perfect at everything, you can learn, you can get better like anyone else, do you think they started being experts? Of course not. The best example I can give you is to check out your favorites Youtubers, go to the videos tab and then click the sorting tab and change it to the oldest ones.
You can clearly see how crap those videos are, crap quality, crap audio, crap content and the new videos are outstanding, super cool, super popular because they keep educating themselves getting better day by day, isn't luck.
Practice makes perfection, simple words but be sure to remember it.
You are not making a blog because you can't write well? F#ck that, you can learn in the process with real experience. If you keep yourself in the "learning phase", believe me, you will never start anything you get addict to learning because you always feel like you need more knowledge, just do it mate.
Of course, you are not going to get better being lazy, leaving things for tomorrow.
Mistakes isn't a failure, it's pure experience and knowledge to improve and get better, you are not failing, you are learning my friend, never ever give up on your dreams.
Are things going bad? Relax! Don't go crazy, find some job even if you hate it, make money out of it so you can invest it in your dreams, in this case, your own business. Hoping won't do anything for you, success doesn't fall from the sky.
Have confidence! You can do this, don't wait for miracles, I hope to inspire you with my words.
Track your time
Make notes all the time so you can check how much time each task is taking, you can compare the results to see where to invest more time and maybe what to remove or add.
Things not working? Move on and try a different approach, don't get depressed, as I told you, you are not going to build a business in a month.
If you need to go out of your comfort zone, just to it, it's all for the sake of success.
Also, if you don't track your time when doing things, there is no way for you to know what you can improve, what you should stop doing and what you should do more, remember it.
Take action
Having the perfect plan will not help you if you don't do shit, take action! Real action will bring results.
Don't say "I can only work 1hs per day" 1hs is enough, but be sure to do your best in that hour, don't turn the tv on, don't check out your phone, don't go to social media (unless it's for work), you get it, right?
Every business demands hard work in exchange of results, you can scale your business in the future but for now, think about taking action and get shit done, even with 1hs per day, make the best use of your time.
Sleep when you are done, not when you are tired.
Some final thoughts
You think a plan is do this, then do that and you are successful? There is no guide for this.
The key is to never give up, have a positive mindset and always keep educating yourself no matter what because the moment you change into a negative mindset, you will only make negative results.
Trying to start an online business and doing random stuff will lead you to failure for sure, make sure to analyze everything so you can improve your strategy over and over, getting better and learning.
Failure isn't bad, you learn from it but be strong to not bother you too much.
Stick to your plan, if you are going to try building a blog and in 2 months you decided to start doing another thing, that's the reason you keep saying "I'm here trying to make money since 10 years now with no results", of course, you don't have results because you want fast money and not a long term business.
I hope to help you fellow warrior and thanks for reading this long post, be awesome!
I want to share with you why making a plan of action can make a huge difference for your business or anything you do, we are talking about doing random stuff and get things done.
Having a solid plan
It doesn't matter what business you have, it's the same for everyone, making a plan from scratch should be the first thing you do before anything else.
That's the real reason behind why people quit so often for lack of results, even myself. Doing your best isn't enough and most of us learned that the hard way. Now, doing your best with a solid and strategic plan it's way too different. Your own determination can make a difference when trying to get things done but the reality is that it will be quite normal not to get results because you are doing random stuff, even if you are investing a lot of your valuable time.
The first thing you need to learn is that you are not going to have success right away, it takes time, maybe more maybe less, people are different but trust me when I say that there is no luck involve. Stick to your plan no matter what, until the end.
When you start getting results from your hard work, then and only then you can move on and expand your business if not you will probably fail.
Tracking stats is very important as well, knowing exactly your numbers for everything you do can help you a lot when deciding where to invest more time and where to invest less time.
I am going to show you how a plan should look. First, you need to know exactly what are you going to do, the planning process is always the same. To help you understand better I will be talking about a blog.
Finding a niche
Finding one could take time, this isn't a race so think carefully what to pick. For this blog, internet marketing is the niche which could be very extensive with lots of content like email marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, etc. You can also pick one of those sub niches but all of them are inside the main niche.
This blog creates quality content to help people get started, share knowledge and the experience behind any result.
Before thinking more in depth about developing a strategic plan you should find your niche because that's everything for you. Try to find something you love or you are interested about because you need to create a lot of quality content but also connect and interact with other people in the same field, readers, followers and competition.
Picking a niche just to make money isn't the best way to approach this, it will be a pain in the ass to make all that I said if you don't enjoy doing it and also it will be reflected in everything you do ending in failure because no one feels your passion.
Never think about making money from day one, focus on help! Be the problem solver because that is the real way to make money instead of just wanting to make money, quite crazy right? But that's how it works.
Do not get overwhelmed
Start by doing simple tasks. Again with the blog, no social media marketing at first because driving traffic is the main goal to start with, some quality content is needed before any promotion, what's the point to promote a blog with 1 or 2 blog posts?
If you already have a social presence, you could drive traffic to your first blog post because you have people who know you (I don't mean your friends and family, I mean real followers) but in most cases, they don't have a fan base.
I don't know you but this is a general example, creating a blog, being active on different social media accounts, creating quality content, doing research, promoting content, having a job, having kids you now, even more responsibilities. You will get overwhelmed for sure and you can almost feel the quitting feeling getting strong, you don't want that.
Add little things to your daily strategy, not all at once, when you feel that you can do more add more and you will get into a routine where you know exactly how much time it takes you to do all that stuff. Trying to do everything from day one will be a nightmare, Facebook page, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Youtube, etc, and that's just a few social networks! Not even talking about a blog, promotion or content, you see where I'm going? I can almost feel overwhelmed just by thinking about it.
You must consider everything, developing a good plan for the first time could be hard and if you are doing too much, change few things! You don't want to get overwhelmed because your strategy involves too many things at once.
When this blog made a few quality blog posts, then a Facebook page was created, building a fan base from scratch and making a routine of daily posts, interaction and commitment. After making a routine for some time, you can do it almost automatically without thinking even faster than before, if you feel comfortable add one social network more, get used to the routine.
One good thing is better than ten bad things
It doesn't mean that you need to focus just on one thing, for example, Facebook, but to start with sounds pretty good. There is no point jumping into 10 different social networks because you spend a lot of time, the results will be poor engage and the feeling of being a ghost.
When not having an audience you can feel frustrated for lack of results and engage with you, just because you post some things and not caring for the rest of the stuff only for lack of time, instead invest your short time in fewer things to get better results, get involve, grow and learn.
Save your time and energy and focus on one traffic source, be active, engage with people inside your niche, once you feel you can do more, do it! Your audience will not be in just one place.
Stats are important and here is where I can show you an example, if you use only Facebook you can't compare it with another traffic source, maybe you get better results from Twitter, maybe Pinterest, etc. The reality is that you must become an expert before you can do that, you can't compare stats from 1 month on Pinterest because you are a ghost, same for the rest.
Writing down your goals
Could sound stupid for some people but writing down your goals can help you in so many ways, put them near you when working for your dreams so you can read them at any time but also find motivation to not give up and keep pushing forward.
Another example could be adding pictures to a board, a friend of mine did that and when he was feeling like quitting, the board was there with a ton of pictures of different places he wanted to visit, it was his own motivation board.
Most people would say "I don't need to write my goals because I know them very well", you need to, it's important. You can't find motivation from something inside your head, you need to read or see your goals and know exactly your why. Write all that shit, it will help.
The why
Another important step, knowing "your why" behind your dreams and goals can help you find motivation to never give up and focus. You want to quit your job and buy fancy cars? Add some freaking cars to your board, maybe you want to help your family? Add pictures of them because when you feel depressed or want to quit, you can see that board, get shit done and work the shit out of you for them.
A little reminder why you are doing what you are doing.
Get more in depth, we all want to quit our job, is that all you want? Really? I doubt it.
Small goals, where the real magic happens
When you know exactly your goal you need to break it down to small but achievable goals, with deadlines if possible. For example, your main goal could be making $5.000 per month, now think carefully what you need to do to achieve that.
Again with the blog, a small goal could be launching the blog, another one could be reaching 100 followers on your social network, make your first sale, make your first guest post, etc.
Your main goals will always be a long term no matter what and you are not going to achieve them in a week or a month but you can achieve small goals in that time, which works building your main goal step by step.
We can call them sub-goals. Be realistic because you can't set a deadline for your first sale for example but you can do it with other things, don't leave things for tomorrow follow your strategy and build your routine, get used to it.
The routine
Making a routine is very important, even more, if you can't invest your valuable time, make use of your short time the best way possible.
To build an online business you need commitment and consistency, that's the only way to build a successful brand. It's hard to find followers but it's super easy to lose them. This is a business, your own business if you are not willing to work for your dreams no one will. You can't say "well shit, this week I am not doing anything I'm tired", you can say the same at your job? Of course not because you have responsibilities and a commitment.
There will not be "I will do it next week" in your strategic plan, that's something someone who is going to fail would say. This is your own business, this is your dream, maybe they are not that big in the end.
Make a routine, if you do not have too much time you will need to take even more time to fit it into your routine, to start an online business you need to have a commitment and be consistent, is the only way to build your brand.
Successful people are just like you, there is no luck involve. Most people seems to see always the successful part. "Ohhh just look at this guy, he's so successful, he makes a post and goes viral for no reason and I am writing the best content and not getting any share."
You think his first post got viral? You think he's working on his business since 2 weeks ago? You are not seeing all the years, effort and sacrifice and frustration behind, it's easy to say he's lucky when he isn't, he created his own luck
Never look down on yourself, if anyone else can do it why you can't? You can do it too mate.
The motivation to keep going
I don't want a normal job.
I don't want a boss telling me what to do all the time.
I don't want to do something I don't like for a living.
I don't want to work extra hours for free like a slave.
I don't want to be stressed.
I don't want to build more debts.
Sounds familiar? I bet it does.
From time to time when you share your dreams with close friends or even family, they could say something that you are not going to do it becasue it's hard and you need a lot of luck. F#ck them!
You don't need any negativity in your life, be positive! You know you can do it, I know it too, prove them wrong, people out there is doing what you want, why the hell you will not be able to?
Feeling lazy? Read your goals, check out your motivational board, find that motivation to never give up, build your dreams with your own hands.
If you want to be successful don't leave things for tomorrow, if not now then when? If not you then who?
You can relax a little bit when you start getting results, but to start with you need to work hard and a lot.
The excuse
Finding excuses it's pretty common.
I am not very good at writing.
I am good doing and editing videos.
I am not good driving traffic.
You don't need to be perfect at everything, you can learn, you can get better like anyone else, do you think they started being experts? Of course not. The best example I can give you is to check out your favorites Youtubers, go to the videos tab and then click the sorting tab and change it to the oldest ones.
You can clearly see how crap those videos are, crap quality, crap audio, crap content and the new videos are outstanding, super cool, super popular because they keep educating themselves getting better day by day, isn't luck.
Practice makes perfection, simple words but be sure to remember it.
You are not making a blog because you can't write well? F#ck that, you can learn in the process with real experience. If you keep yourself in the "learning phase", believe me, you will never start anything you get addict to learning because you always feel like you need more knowledge, just do it mate.
Of course, you are not going to get better being lazy, leaving things for tomorrow.
Mistakes isn't a failure, it's pure experience and knowledge to improve and get better, you are not failing, you are learning my friend, never ever give up on your dreams.
Are things going bad? Relax! Don't go crazy, find some job even if you hate it, make money out of it so you can invest it in your dreams, in this case, your own business. Hoping won't do anything for you, success doesn't fall from the sky.
Have confidence! You can do this, don't wait for miracles, I hope to inspire you with my words.
Track your time
Make notes all the time so you can check how much time each task is taking, you can compare the results to see where to invest more time and maybe what to remove or add.
Things not working? Move on and try a different approach, don't get depressed, as I told you, you are not going to build a business in a month.
If you need to go out of your comfort zone, just to it, it's all for the sake of success.
Also, if you don't track your time when doing things, there is no way for you to know what you can improve, what you should stop doing and what you should do more, remember it.
Take action
Having the perfect plan will not help you if you don't do shit, take action! Real action will bring results.
Don't say "I can only work 1hs per day" 1hs is enough, but be sure to do your best in that hour, don't turn the tv on, don't check out your phone, don't go to social media (unless it's for work), you get it, right?
Every business demands hard work in exchange of results, you can scale your business in the future but for now, think about taking action and get shit done, even with 1hs per day, make the best use of your time.
Sleep when you are done, not when you are tired.
Some final thoughts
You think a plan is do this, then do that and you are successful? There is no guide for this.
The key is to never give up, have a positive mindset and always keep educating yourself no matter what because the moment you change into a negative mindset, you will only make negative results.
Trying to start an online business and doing random stuff will lead you to failure for sure, make sure to analyze everything so you can improve your strategy over and over, getting better and learning.
Failure isn't bad, you learn from it but be strong to not bother you too much.
Stick to your plan, if you are going to try building a blog and in 2 months you decided to start doing another thing, that's the reason you keep saying "I'm here trying to make money since 10 years now with no results", of course, you don't have results because you want fast money and not a long term business.
I hope to help you fellow warrior and thanks for reading this long post, be awesome!
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All the secrets for success. Internet marketing, business strategies, free traffic methods, blogging tips, quotes, and great motivation.
All the secrets for success. Internet marketing, business strategies, free traffic methods, blogging tips, quotes, and great motivation.