Setting Goals For A Successful E-Business

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called “Spark an idea Thursday.” As part of this tradition, I’ll be sharing with you my experiences and interpretations for each week’s topic for those of you who sell products or services online.

I invite you to grab our image over there to the right and carry the tradition through to your own blog. If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

The theme of this week’s Spark an Idea Thursday is: Spark an Idea about Goal Setting.

My husband and I do this at least once a month: We decide that neither of us wants to cook. And we don’t want sandwiches. And yesterday was payday, so, “Hey! Let’s just go get something to eat.”

So we hop in the car and head to town. About halfway down the road, Steve asks me where I want to go to eat. I respond that I’m hungry, but not for anything in particular.

Steve tells me that he isn’t either, but he needs to know where we’re going so that he knows which way to turn — north or south.

You see where this is going.

We have no specific goal — just that we want food, and we don’t want to make it — so at some point in the trip, we end up sitting at an intersection and hoping no one pulls up behind us before we decide what we want to eat.

The point? The business owner who starts out without a goal is going to end up sitting at that intersection…

This business owner knows she wants a successful business, but really has no roadmap for success. And she can’t plan her trip because she has no idea where she is going.

The results:

• One client came to me with more than a dozen blogs setup at Blogger, each on a separate topic. Each blog had one or two posts written more than a year ago.
• Another client had me design a site. She sent me most of the information I needed to create her site. I did as much of the work as I could and sent an email requesting more information. She sent it — a year later. Her lack of a solid goal, and her fear of success, lead her to put off the website project.
• A colleague spent thousands of dollars on seminars, information products and other learning resources — but never setup a website, never put a plan into action.

In spite of my lack of fast food goalsetting, I’ve realized how important it is so set goals for your business. If you’re a bit scared of setting goals, or aren’t sure where to start, try these tips:

1. Determine where it is you want to end up. Do you want to sell 1 million widgets? Do you want to earn a living as an image consultant? Are you wanting to take the baby sling market by storm with your innovative design? Write this goal down.
2. Now it’s time to be realistic. What steps do you need to take to make this happen? Do you need to build a website? Do you need to take classes, or educate yourself through research? Do you need to create a product?
3. Talk to people who have done what you are doing, or done things similar to what you are doing — the experts. Find out what kind of timeline you’re looking at. Is it going to take five or ten years to sell 1 million widgets? Is it going to take 2 years of school and 5 years of on-the-job experience to become an image consultant? Is it going to take a year of trial and error and testing to come up with the perfect baby sling pattern that can be reproduced enmasse and in different sizes?
4. Write down each step you need to take and how long you estimate it will take. Pin this up on your wall and mark off each step as you complete it.
5. And finally, the most important step: TAKE Action!

Don’t forget: If you’d like to speak with someone who can help you with your action plan, who is not afraid to take action, contact me for a free 30-minute consultation.

Be consistent! 

I had a great chat last night on the 2009 Hot Seminar Series hosted by Kelly McCausey.  One of the obsticals that we discussed about eBay selling was consistancy. Work at a pace you are comfortable with. Your business is not going to grow overnight. Burning the midnight oil is only going to make you overwhelmed and want to give up. You can’t expect yourself to list hundreds of items to your eBay store in one day.  BUT, if you’re consistent at listing a few things each night (or whatever you’re comfortable with) – you’re goal of filling your eBay store will be accomplished before you know it!  Also, constantly listing will keep the Search Engine traffic coming.  If you don’t keep listing – the traffic will decrease – ultimately so will your sales.

Stay Focused

I’m a very schedule oriented person.  If something is minute later than scheduled – it just throws me into a tizzy!  I’ve been getting better at not letting some things bother me – but when it comes to being focused on my business, there must be a strict schedule so I can stay focused and accomplish what needs to be done in a reasonable amount of time.  Focusing on one thing at a time will ensure that you’re putting 100% into what needs to be done.  This will make sure it’s done right the first time – and that feels good!