Do you want 2015 to be a breakthrough year in your business?
Of course, right? Who doesn’t?

Achieving great success in your business does not have to be complicated. Here are 3 simple tips you can follow to set yourself up to having your best year ever.

#1. Get locked into the right goals.

Many people spend their lives hurriedly climbing up the success ladder, only to realize when they reach the top that the ladder was up against the wrong house. They may have succeeded in reaching the goal they set, but what good is reaching the goal when it turns out to be the wrong goal?

An example of this is a client of mine who is delighted she is now working half the hours she used and earning twice as much while still making an impact in her industry. Prior to working together she spent 6 years learning how to market her coaching so she could get booked solid. Once she achieved this goal she realized she actually hated being booked solid. She felt like she created a job for herself, and that missed the whole point of being an entrepreneur. So, in essence, she spent those 6 years chasing the wrong goal.

Start the New Year getting crystal clear on what those right goals really are for you. Identify what drives you. What is the meaningful purpose behind your goals?

• What were your motivating factors and influences in starting your business?

You can pretty much bet that achieving breakthrough success in your business this year will require needing to overcome some obstacles along the way. Having that clear purpose will sustain you through those challenges.

• What is the ultimate outcome result you want to have in your life that you don’t have right now?

Get your mindset super clear on what you really want in the language of outcome result. Take health goals for example. I hardly think there’s a person out there who focuses on the goal to eat 3 servings of broccoli every day. No, what drives them is the outcome result they want – to be thin or to have high energy.

• What is your ultimate outcome result you want to achieve through your business in 5 or 10 years?

• And, what version of that (stepping stone / milestone) would you be excited to achieve in the next 12 months?

#2. Implement a marketing plan that leverages your strengths

You might think of your strength as being your core area of expertise whether it’s on the topic of money, law, taxes, sales, health or other topic. When it comes to growing your business you’ve got to first become an expert at marketing what you do.

Your marketing plan should be bringing in continuous flow of leads (interested prospects) into your sales funnel. You want to create that marketing plan around your natural strengths. One, you’ll get better results because you’re good at it. And, two, you’ll get better results because you’ll be more likely to be consistent with it.

If speaking is your natural strength you would do well with teleseminars, webinars, live seminars, podcasts and/or videos as your core marketing plan.

If writing is your strength you would do well with blogging, guest blogging, article writing, social media and/or press releases as your core marketing plan.

I have some clients who are experts in their industry, but feel that neither speaking nor writing is their strength. The solution in this case that has worked great is the two-step approach. This is where I interview them once a week and have my team produce done-for you marketing that’s re-purposed in 8-10 different forms.

Either way, businesses can no longer just rely on referrals alone. It’s much harder for people to refer paying customers to you. A good marketing plan can easily refer a constant flow of interested prospects to you 24/7.

#3. Get good directions.

You’ll arrive at your success destination much quicker and easier when you start out with good directions.

Often times I hear entrepreneurs grumble that they tried LinkedIn or they tried webinars or they tried X, and it didn’t work; therefore they completely write off that the tactic itself doesn’t work. The fact is, the specific marketing tactic didn’t work because the person either didn’t do it right and/or they didn’t get good directions on how to work it properly.

Be careful not to overlook the importance of seeking good direction. Take driving directions for example. At one point my husband and I had all three of our kids playing travel soccer. I was driving every week to a new, unknown, far away destination. I can’t tell you how many times I got lost trying to find remote soccer fields because I was given the wrong directions. Other times newly built roads didn’t show up on my GPS, so instead it had me frustrated going in circles until I searched for locals to give better directions.

I will also admit sometimes I drove off with just basic directions thinking I could figure out the rest once I arrived in the general vicinity. Of course, I found that just one wrong turn could quickly get me lost.

Getting good directions is just as important to helping you arrive at your success destination in your business. You can eventually succeed with no directions, basic directions or the wrong directions, but it usually always costs wasted time, money and energy. Other times the cost is failing to achieve your goal simply from giving up out of sheer frustration.

• When it comes to growing your business this year are you using the same directions you used last year?

If what you did last year is not what you want to achieve this year, remember, that doing the same thing while expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

If you aren’t sure that you’re following the right direction in your marketing plan I invite you to kick off the New Year with a complimentary 30 min. coaching call. Email your request to me at YoonCannon@ParamountBusinessCoach.com.

QUESTION: What is the #1 roadblock that is getting in the way of having a breakthrough year? Share your comments and get feedback.

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