How Does Your Book Business Stack Up?
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2008, how are your book business goals looking? (For those of you who are content to be where you are now in your book business, please ignore this post! For those who wish to grow their business, read on!)
There are only three states… You are:
** On target with your business
** Ahead of target, OR
** Behind target
Whichever state you are at, ask yourself why?
If you are on target and profits are where you planned on your bottom line, was your goal high enough? Yes, I’m the constant overachiever.
For those of you who are behind target, what got in the way of your success? Was your target realistic? If they were, add the portion that you didn’t realize to the next quarters target income. (For example, if you came in $10,000 under target, you need to add that $10,000 to the next quarters target income).
For those of you who have exceeded your target - GOOD JOB! Now, raise your target for the next quarter and find out what it was that worked for you and DO MORE OF IT!
Questions that I suggest for you are:
NEGATIVE TASKS:
Is there something negative that is draining your time - time that could be spent working towards prosperity?
Are you spending too much time chatting to clients, where a minute or three less would have sufficed?
TIME MANAGEMENT:
Are you wasting time by not scheduling efficiently? Time is money!
PAYING ATTENTION TO DETAIL:
Are you losing money because you forgot to put in your quote that costs/expenses will be passed on to your client, as an example?
Are you pushing follow-up calls to the next day, because you forgot to call a prospect?
BUSINESS BUDGET:
Do you HAVE a budget? (Most Entrepreneurs don’t!) Without a budget, it is too easy to overspend on a project and thereby make less profit.
If you have a budget, do you stick to it?
Do you run your business from your credit cards (VERY expensive money!)? Take out a new account that has a zero interest rate for (example
6 months and transfer high interest balances to a zero interest account.
TRACKING:
Do you track your advertising and marketing efforts and do you know what is working and what isn’t?
Wouldn’t it make better sense to pursue those things that are working and perhaps put more money into THOSE projects, rather than throwing money away on things that have a zero ROI (Return On Investment)?
LEVERAGE:
Are you leveraging the alliances that you have? I am not talking about asking for help nor am I telling you to ask for a handout, but rather to build balanced alliances that are ‘win/win’.
For those of you who would like to run your business by design, rather than by accident, let’s hear your suggestions - what works for you?
** Is it direct mail or newspaper advertising?
** Where do you advertise?
** What ONE method of marketing has produced the most results for you?
** Name ONE successful balanced alliance that you have
Remember sharing is a good thing.
Have a great night,
Michelle
