I always enjoy the final month of the year because it is a time most people are in a happier mood and everybody is thinking about the next year.
Right now you may be thinking, “NEXT YEAR!!! I am still trying to get through this one!”
Well it’s never too early or late to start thinking about your goals. Even if you are busy, start getting the brain thinking in the background about a couple of things. When you do start planning here are some things that will help:
1. What do I want my business to look like by the end of next year?
This is a funny one. I have done this exercise with experienced business people and they always remark about how basic it is, yet how they stopped doing it. The key is not to complicate it.
Write down what turnover you want to make next year. Write down your services and/or products and put an amount next to them. This will highlight if you can reach your goal with your current services – i.e. Target Turnover – $1000 per week. If you only do typing, and your rate is $20 per hour, this means you have to work 50 hours per week to earn your goal income. Not my idea of fun!
So what would happen if we brought in a higher level service, like document formatting and could charge more? Then you could achieve your target income with fewer hours.
This part of the planning can go hand in hand with the next step. Sometimes you can jump back and forward between the two.
2. What is my goal to increase my revenue for my current clients in this next year?
It amazes me how many people have the “shiny new object” mentality. Before you think of your marketing and getting new clients, have a think about your CURRENT clients. Are there opportunities to increase your range of services or amount of services to them? Could you research some solutions that might be of benefit to your clients, which will increase your services revenue to them?
This may take time, but time worth the investment. I will typically invest 20 to 30 hours per month reviewing, playing and see how things could be done better. For example, we do a lot of Social Media management for people, so I will invest to keep abreast of market changes and new things and relay that to my clients. When done correctly, your clients will want it and thus will translate to more work.
3. New Clients for the Year – firstly, do I need them and what is my goal to attract New Clients for my Virtual Assistant Business?
We have many articles and tips on this topic. The avenues of course are endless, but if you have marketed your services before on different platforms have you tracked the response and outcome?
We have a client who knows if she posts an advert in a particular journal, she will get a certain response. She has tested the advert, the wordings and maximized it for the best results and can run the advertisement anytime she needs more leads.
So my challenge to you is – If you do not have a proven tested way to market your services select 3 ways in the next year and try and market your services, then TRACK it.
One client of ours thought that Social Media was not working, however because we tracked it we discovered that Social Media was bringing traffic to her site, BUT her site was not converting. This enabled her to modify her content and wording. This applies to any form of advertising or marketing. If it is not trackable – don’t do it.
These three steps will keep you focused and get you motivated for the year ahead.
Please share what you do when it comes to planning your business and getting new clients below.
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