GOAL SETTING FOR 2021

A new year is upon us and we’re finally ready to kick 2020 to the curb!

January is a fantastic opportunity to sit down and review your business. How well did it perform last year? Where do you want to make changes and where do you want to take it in the next 12 months?

Once you’ve got your vision, then it’s time to set some goals! This may leave you feeling excited and raring to go, or it may leave you feeling a little daunted and unsure where to start.

WHY ARE GOALS SO IMPORTANT?

“An idea without a plan is nothing more than a dream.” – Steven A. Board.

Without clear, well-defined goals, it can be difficult to find a path from where you are now to where you want to be. Goals are a fab way to create clear, unambiguous direction for your business, so you can really prioritise your tasks.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is either – they all need goals!

This may seem obvious, but the more a goal motivates and excites you, the more likely you are to commit the time, effort and determination needed to make it happen, and the quicker you will be achieving your vision. Bear this in mind when you are starting out on your journey. Ask yourself, what am I going to be passionate about this year?

In this blog article, we’ve pulled together five top tips for getting started with your 2021 goal setting.

1. ONE STEP AT A TIME

You may have a few large, overreaching goals on your list. If so, stepping-stone goals can be an effective way of breaking these down into smaller, more tangible goals. This technique is a great way to avoid feeling overwhelmed, and it also helps you get clarity on where to spend your precious time, resources and energy. Just remember, the person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones!

2. Be S.M.A.R.T!

Businesses love to set goals based on this common acronym, SMART. S=specific, M=measurable, A=achievable, R=relevant, and T=time-based. If you’ve never heard of it and are feeling confused already, let’s explore it in more detail!

Specific – goals should be clear, not wishy-washy vague ideas. If a goal is too ambiguous, how are you ever going to measure progress or know whether you have achieved it?

Measurable – define goals in terms of something you can quantify and measure.

Achievable – by their very nature goals are there to stretch us a little and take us out of our ‘comfort zone’, but they mustn’t be out of reach. Setting goals that are unattainable will only leave you feeling demoralised and could impact over areas of your professional and personal life.

Relevant – goals should be relevant to what you are trying to achieve.

Time-based – goals need a timeframe. This will help you define milestones and a deadline. It’s also an excellent way for you to visualise where you’re going and when you need to get there by.

Here are a few examples of SMART goals:

By the end of 2021, I will increase my turnover from £20,000 to £30,000.

I will win six new clients by the end of Q2.

· will increase customer reviews by 20% by the end of the year.

As you can see, all of these goals are super-clear, there is something to measure, and it is apparent what the deadline is.

3. MAKE YOUR GOALS PUBLIC

A useful technique for achieving your goals is to make them public. Being accountable to others is hugely motivating and having others onboard with you is a great way to set priorities and focus.

4. CREATE A PLAN

You’ve set some goals, now what? It’s time to formulate a plan! Dreams aren’t going to achieve themselves magically. You need to identify the who, what, when, where and how. There are various methods and tools out there to help you create and manage your plan. Find a medium that suits you and your business and isn’t overcomplicated.

5. MARK THE OCCASION!

When you have achieved one of your goals, don’t let it pass by without some sort of celebration! You will invest a lot of your time and energy into realising your goals, and this deserves to be recognised. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, a small treat for yourself can really help you to stay motivated as you continue to realise your 2021 dream!

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE 2021 YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

If you’re ready to make 2021 one of amazing possibilities, then how about considering running an online course? Creating an online course can give you extra streams of income for your business, as well as more certainty for the future.

Take a look at our How to Create an Online course program here.

FIVE WAYS TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything as small business owners, it’s the need to adapt and be visible online.

Taking your business online doesn’t need to be as scary as it may sound, and in this blog article, we’ve put together five simple ways for you to do it. Even if you only implement one or two of these ideas, you’re still going a long way in helping your business to weather the storm!

1. MAKE THE MOST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media platforms offer you the perfect opportunity to build connections, engage with potential customers, and to keep them informed about your products and services. If you’ve left your accounts a little neglected lately, treat them to some much-needed TLC. Take the time to review them and carry out a mini audit! A few simple changes here and there could make a huge difference.

Always try to support other small business owners on social media by interacting with their posts. Not only will it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but you’ll soon find that by supporting others, they will want to support you too; thereby growing your community.

2. CREATE A WEBSITE TO SHOWCASE YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Please don’t feel overwhelmed by this one! A website doesn’t need to be overly complicated and it doesn’t need to cost the earth either. There are plenty of fantastic web designers in our Gossip Gals groups for you to chat with. However, if you really can’t afford to hire a professional, there are lots of non-technical options to do it yourself; some of which even let you sell products online, including Wix and Shopify. You can always upgrade or add to your website at a later date. The most important thing, for now, is that your website is out there so that potential customers can find you.

For those of you who already have a website, could it be improved? Spend some time reviewing your content and your keywords, updating any images, and generally giving it a bit of an overhaul.

If the thought of creating a website quite frankly terrifies you, then how about a shoppable landing page instead? There are loads of templates available on email marketing software, such as Mailchimp and Mailerlite. Facebook and Instagram also both now have shop options, so you can sell directly from there, as well as your website.

3. START A BLOG

Blog posts are absolutely awesome when it comes to connecting with your audience, building your authority and enhancing your credibility. The search engines love blogs too, as it gives them plenty of fresh content to index. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, you can repurpose the content in your blogs for social media posts, videos and Lives!

Whilst it’s preferable to incorporate a blog into your website, you don’t need a website to start. There are heaps of free blogging platforms out there, like Wix, Weebly and WordPress.

4. BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST

If your business has gone quiet, now is the ideal time to start building your email list. This is a brilliant and free way for you to grow your business and build relationships with potential customers. You can let your subscribers know about any special offers or promotions that you may be running, as well as providing anything that adds value for them, such as top tips, advice and inspiration.

Again, there’s lots of free email marketing software available that aren’t overly complicated. Some good ones to get you started are Mailchimp, Mailerlite and ActiveCampaign.

5. CREATE AN ONLINE COURSE

Have you ever considered the possibility of creating an online course? In my brand-new 8-week training, we will work together to create your very own online course, including mindset and delivery, and everything in-between! Once you have developed your course, we will go through marketing and selling it, so you know that it’s going to be profitable.

“I didn’t come this far to only come this far.” - Jesse Itzler

Whatever you do, don’t stop marketing your amazing small business! It may be a strange, crazy and uncertain time but in the words of the entrepreneur, Jesse Itzler, you didn’t come this far to only come this far! Keep learning, keep developing, and above all, keep going.

You’ve got this!

Emma x

5 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR ENGAGEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

When it comes to marketing your small business, social media is a brilliant tool. Unless you choose to advertise, it’s completely free, and the potential to reach your target audience is huge! Having said that, social media only works well if you have that all-important engagement. There’s seriously no point in having thousands of followers if they don’t engage with your posts. Think quality over quantity every time!

Why is engagement so important?

So, just how do you increase your levels of engagement, and why is it so important?

When someone engages with you on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, whether it be by a like, reaction, comment or share, or by watching a video or story, that platform will begin to show more of your content to whoever interacted with that post. Also, the more engagement you receive on one of your posts, the more it will be shown to others too!

Once you start receiving engagement, the great thing is that it starts to build for a day or two, which is why regular and consistent posting of relevant and enticing content is key to increasing your visibility.

In this article, I have five fab engagement ideas for you to use in your small business.

1. Engage with others

It goes without saying that social media is just that - social! So, take the time to comment on posts from your fellow small business owners and strike up a conversation. Not only is this a great way to support others, but you’ll soon find that these people are just as keen to support you too, especially in our warm and friendly Gossip Gals community! It’s also super-important to make sure that you reply to followers who have commented on your posts. It may sound obvious, but this often gets neglected, and it’s seriously bad form!

June Engaging Social Media Posts

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2. Use the Business Pages newsfeed

This is a great little tip and something that you could try and incorporate into your daily routine. Facebook lets your business page like other business pages too, and there’s even a special feed where their posts will appear. Spend some time scrolling through this feed and interacting as your page. This is a brilliant way to do some ‘mini networking’ for your small business!

3. Tell a story

When you run a small business, you are the brand! People want to see you and feel as if they’re part of your journey. When you share photos and videos of you, your workspace, something that you may be working on or a sneaky peek behind the scenes; you’ll notice that your engagement will rocket! Tell your story, share your enthusiasm and let people know why you love what you do. Let your audience in and start to build that crucial emotional connection.

4. Add value

Create content that is valuable to your audience and packed with your unique brand personality. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with some ‘fluffy content’ now and again, always try to incorporate posts that really add value for your audience. Some examples could be top tips, how-to’s, blog snippets, demonstrations and FAQs.

5. Go live!

This is my ultimate top tip for increasing your engagement! Facebook Lives experience three times the level of engagement than typical videos that are shared on social media. How awesome is that!? Facebook Lives also enable you to really connect with your audience on a much deeper level, and quickly build that vital ‘know, like and trust’ factor.

Are you ready to sky-rocket your engagement?

I really hope that this article has given you some food for thought and you’re ready to put some or all of these ideas into action.

If you’re ready to massively boost your engagement and your sales, why not book in a POWER SESSION with me to get your engaging posts rocking for the month

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