Okay, so you have almost 12 months ahead of you…what are you going to do differently in your business to make this your best year ever?

I am sure that you’re familiar with the 80-20 Rule. Basically, it states that…

20 percent of your efforts = 80 percent of your results.

So, eighty percent of the results you achieve are produced by twenty percent of your efforts. Question: ‘Do you know what that 20 percent was for you in 2011?’ Most importantly, how can you use that rule to your advantage in your business this year?

You need to get smart about your marketing. You need to focus on those business generating activities that yield highest results. Business coach, Brian Tracy, says that you need to focus on 4 things:

1. Do MORE of certain things.
2. Do LESS of certain things.
3. START doing something you are not doing right now.
4. STOP doing something you are now doing.

A great list but what does it mean for your business? And, how can it help you improve your marketing results? Well, the formula is simple. I call it the MLSS formula. You need to do more and less of certain things; you need to start focusing on those tasks and activities that produce best bottom-line results and stop doing anything that doesn’t give you the pay off you want. That’s it in a nutshell!

Let me give you some ideas…

 

Do more of…

-       Run more customer promotions.

-       Market consistently all year long, every week.

-       Attract better customers (focus on attracting better customers not better leads!)

-       Sell more product and services to those customers, more often.

-       Stay in touch with them via email, phone, letter – even when busy!

 

Do less…

-       Check your emails less often.

-       Do less reading/learning, focus on putting ideas into action.

-       Spend less time in your comfort zone. Try new things in your business.

-       Don’t reinvent the wheel – seek experts who can help you grow your business.

 

Start doing…

-       Test different headlines, offers and guarantees to find what works best in your market.

-       Leverage other people’s assets to grow your business.

-       Educate your market about how you can enrich their lives.

-       Understand where your customers are in their life cycle with you…and send them promotions that address their current needs and desires.

-       Hire a copywriter to do important ads, sales letters and promotions.

 

Stop doing…

-       Stop wasting your time doing your own copywriting or any activity if it’s not in your area of immediate expertise.

-       Stop throwing money on slick corporate brochures and other “brand building” material that drain your budget but produce no measurable results.

-       Stop trying to make a profit on new customer acquisition promotions – make it your goal to get new customers at break-even then sell to them persistently on the back end.

-       Stop trying to sell your product/service to every human being with a pulse – focus on those people who are ‘the best fit’ for your offer.

-       Stop looking for reasons why you can’t – focus on why you can make this your best year ever.

 

I am sure you can think of other points and ideas but this list is a great start.

The KEY is to be consistent. Someone said:

“Achievement comes from a sum of consistent small efforts, repeated daily.”