by Daria Belov
Taking the time to prepare goals and marketing ideas is important for any business. Those that are self-employed and those that run small businesses typically have to take on these tasks themselves, as there is no one organizing corporate goal setting events or marketing strategy meetings for the upcoming year. Entrepreneurial small-business owners must remain disciplined, and take things into their own hands, in order to celebrate their victories at the end of the 2008 season.
Earlier today, Michael Dorausch posted a detailed article with 23 Surefire Business Marketing Tips, a valuable read for any small business owners seeking marketing ideas that have shown proven success. In the article he divided marketing ideas into categories of internal and external, explaining that most new businesses will focus on external marketing, with a mission to move the created momentum and energy, towards an internal focus. While the article was purely marketing focused, there are some other nonmarketing goals and plans that are beneficial to be made at this time of year.
Planning for the Holidays
I’m not talking about Christmas planning or other holiday planning for 2007, I’m suggesting you mark your business calendars for 2008 and make some plans in advance to take some time off. Taking a quick scan at the year’s calendar, there is New Year’s Day in January, Easter Sunday in April, Memorial Day in May (Monday, May 26), Independence Day in July (on a Friday in 2008), Labor Day (Monday, September 1), Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 27), and Christmas (Thursday, December 25). Depending on your line of work, you may not take time off during these holidays, but many businesses (including those in the chiropractic health care industry) will have closures on those dates.
If you’re seeking to plan some time off from the office, you could do a four-day weekend during Easter Sunday, a three or four day weekend during Memorial Day, at least a three or four day weekend for the Fourth of July, three or more days for Labor Day, four-day Thanksgiving weekend, and five or more days off at Christmas. Not counting business conferences and other time off, that’s six opportunities for holiday time outside of the office where you can unwind, recharge, and spend time with family and friends.
Places to Go
How about planning to visit some new places during those extended weekends? The recuperative energy received from visiting new places can provide some sharp and clear insights on activities in your business. Nearly every travel website has offers for short trips to places like Seattle, Washington, San Antonio, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York City, and Los Angeles, California. Determine some places you’d like to travel to and invest a couple of hours doing some research to discover what excites you.
Other Goals
Maybe you want to read more books in 2008 than you did in 2007, that would be a productive thing to put on your goals list. Perhaps there are some restaurants you’ve been meaning to visit, those can be added as well. Is this the year you run a marathon in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or New York City? Maybe you want to take up tennis, improve your golf game, or spend more time surfing the waves in La Jolla.
Whatever your goals may be, tis’ the season to plan them out, so you can enjoy their manifestation in the upcoming year.
