Goals, dreams and to do lists

If you’re running a business you almost certainly have a to do list, whether that’s a daily list of actions, an ongoing list of project activities to complete or a mix of the two.  People use all kinds of devices to manage these, from complex project management software to a bit of scrap paper.

But the to do list is only the sharp end of a bigger goal.  If the items on your to do list are not helping you to achieve something, then why are you doing them?  You know the rule ‘do it, delegate it or dump it’.  To achieve goals you have to stay focused on doing the things that get you there - and not getting side-tracked with the trivia that could be done by someone else (or just not done at all).

So how do you decide what your goals are?

There are two exercises involved here:

1. Your personal goals - what you want from life - financial goals, material possessions, educational aspirations, health and fitness, family and career.
2. Your business goals.  If you’re a business owner what do you want your business to grow into?  This might be a vehicle that allows you to work a few hours a day and enjoy life, or you might want to grow into an empire that earns megabucks and provides employment for lots of people.

You need to do both of these exercises to ensure that your business goals and personal goals are congruent.  That might sound obvious, but it’s surprising how many people’s personal goal is to travel the world - while building a business into a big success.  It’s not impossible to do this, but it will depend on what kind of business your choose.

Dreams only become goals when you take action.

So now it’s time to take each goal and break it down into the actions that will achieve it.  These actions need to be prioritised and given deadlines - and some may be allocated to someone else to do.

If you put your actions to take in your diary and allocate time to them, you’ll achieve your goals - almost without making much effort!

Time to turn your dream into a goal and then into a to do list!

Do you dream of being an author?

Everyone has a book in them and, as a business owner or consultant, you’ve probably got more than one.  Your expertise and experience have value and being able to claim the title ‘author’ has a certain kudos.

The problem with daydreaming about becoming an author, is that it requires you to write.  Yes, of course we can all write, but not everyone does it well enough to write a book (at least not without a lot of editing).

If you’re one of those people who likes the idea, but can’t imagine sitting down for long periods of time to actually get their thoughts down on paper, you could work with a ghost writer or professional editor in a variety of ways.

Notes and other material

A ghost writer will want to talk to you about the focus for your book, but if you have existing material (like blogs and articles) and some notes you’ve made they will almost certainly be able to produce a reasonable first draft.

Record your thoughts

If you’re happy to talk into a recording device, you could talk your book and then get it transcribed for your ghost writer/editor to work on.  Ideally, you would need to have worked out a plan so you talk with purpose around specific subject areas, rather than just ramble on for a while!

Interview

Some ghost writers will sit down with you and literally conduct a series of interviews to extract the information they need to develop your book.  This is more time-consuming and is likely to be more expensive.

Contract it out

You could just give your chosen ghost writer a brief and let them do the research and write the book.  This is possible, but less authentic as they won’t have your thoughts and ‘voice’ to create a book that sounds like you.

These are all ways that books are written, so you can take your pick.  Before you start talking, jotting notes or getting involved in interviews, it is a good idea to map out your book.  This means working out what each chapter will cover - maybe a few bullet points to provide structure and then organising the chapters into a logical order.

If you’re planning to work with someone on your book make sure that you choose someone who you feel comfortable with and who ‘gets’ you and what you’re trying to achieve.  It will make the experience much easier and help you enjoy your journey to authorship.

The list building magnet

We all like something for nothing - particularly when that something is of value to us.  On the other hand we don’t want yet another boring newsletter landing in our inbox.  What have these two facts got to do with each other?

They’re both common approaches businesses and consultants use to build their lists.

A free valuable document is an easy ‘sell’.  People are willing to part with their email address to get their hands on a document that will help them in some way.

Very, very few people will give you their email address if they think that all they’ll get is a boring newsletter.

If you want to build your list you need to:

a) Understand your potential clients biggest problems
b) Create a document that shows them how to resolve those problems
c) Give the document an attractive title that tells them enough to make it irresistible
d) Create a form using an online data management site (e.g. Mailchimp, AWeber, etc.)
e) Place the form near the top of your website’s home page
f) Provide a hidden page where people can download their document.

So now you’ve got your lead magnet, or ethical bribe, set up.  You need to promote it on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest - all funnelling people to sign up on your website.  You could even invest a little and run a Facebook ad campaign to drive traffic to your website to build your list quicker.

Now your list will grow.

So you’ve got a list of people who have demonstrated an interest in your area of expertise, now what?

Well, you don’t want to send them a boring newsletter - but you could send them a newsletter full of value, with more high-quality content.  If the material they get from you is consistently high they won’t hit the delete button and they won’t be unsubscribing any time soon.

These are the people who you can also target with useful emails helping them with those difficult challenges - and, of course, offering your help.  Some of them will turn into customers.

Answer the question

I used to belong to the Institute of Management (now the Chartered Management Institute) and one of our branch meetings took place in a brewery.  That may seem a stretch for a management group, but actually the brewery in question had recently won a business award and we were there to listen to their story about how they’d done that.

They had only been operating for a couple of years and it was impressive that they’d won an award, not for the beer, but for the business.  I was intrigued as to what they thought the secret of their success was and asked one of the partners that question.

She replied, “I did what my teacher told me - I answered the questions that were asked.”

At first, that seemed obvious, until I realised that people often DON’T answer the question that was asked, but the one they would have liked to have been asked!

The brewery has gone on to become bigger, very successful and has now won many other awards for their beers (find out more at www.mightyoakbrewing.co.uk).  It was at least 20 years ago that I visited - and yet that comment has stuck in my mind.

I’ve written many awards presentations for clients since then and edited rough drafts - and that comment is always front and centre in my mind.  It’s surprising how easy it is to go off at a tangent, especially if it’s your baby you’re writing about.  Of course, you want to tell the judges all the great things about your business - but, the narrative needs to be relevant to the question.

Judges like statistics rather than stories so the operating figures, staff increases, number of products and services must be provided, but the ethos and values of your business are just as important, so make sure that these are clear from everything you write.

Whether you are answering a question or providing a narrative (e.g. give a brief outline of the company history) keep reminding yourself of what the instruction was and ensure that every word counts.

TIP:  Most awards forms have a maximum number of words, often for each question - don’t exceed this.  My advice would be to write your answer in Word and then paste it into the online form.