Goals 2009

It’s that time of the year again.

Everyone is setting their goals for the year. Well most people call it their new years resolutions. I hate new years resolutions. It’s short term to begin with, AND, most people never stick to it.

New years resolutions are more wishes than they are anything else, and most people have abandoned them by March!

No, goals are the ONLY way to go.

Two types of goals

We all have personal things we want to achieve, but, for those of us running a business, there are always business goals as well.

Both are equally important, BUT, it IS very important that we keep them separate!

Write it down!

If you DON’T write your goals down somewhere where you can refer to them regularly, they again become wishes, which are QUICKLY forgotten!

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Happy New Year 2009

Well, the new year is upon us already! It feels like just a couple of days ago, I was wishing you a happy 2008!

Let me start off then with one of my favorite new years wishes…

“May the BEST of 2008, be the WORST of 2009!“

Secondly, let me apologize…. This is a new theme, which I am still working on. I KNOW that in Internet Explorer the search bar pops down onto the title of the 1st post. In FireFox, it works 100%! IE is every web developers WORST nightmare!

Right, best wishes out of the way, and apologies out of the way. Now time to get on with the actual post, and let you know what lies in store for Imnica in 2009.

FIRST, a question if I may…

How was YOUR 2008? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do? Did you deliver on all you promises?

Well, I’ll be honest… We did NOT deliver on all our promises, nor did we do everything we set out to do!

Time for some honesty here…

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If you have taken the leap to start your own online business. Then you probably know that it’s a learning process just like everything else. Learning to make money online takes education and lots of practice. Think about it, if you are looking to start your own business offline, there are plenty of accredited schools you can attend; but, trying to find the online equivalent is virtually impossible. That’s not to say you can’t find good places to learn.

In fact, when learning how to make money online you can search the Internet day and night for useful information. You will definitely learn one thing very quickly: the most difficult thing about using the Internet for research, especially if you don’t have guidance, is information overload. Once you’ve found a method that suits you, stick to it as long as it keeps working for you. Making money on the Internet is all about duplication and consistency.

Anyone who can read, write, and has Internet connectivity can start an online business. Obviously, a computer helps. If this is your path, the first thing you will need to do is find the right source that will give you knowledge you need which can be done through a number of ways.

One method is to seek guidance and direction from a coach or mentor to help you establish a solid plan. Working with a coach one-on-one is the best way to eliminate information overload, because they will tell which steps and actions you need to take to build your business. A coach will cost you anywhere from approximately $30 per session to $100’s of dollars per session.

Frequenting forums is a way to learn from multiple people in the Internet business. Apart from experience, most of my knowledge has come from these types of forums. A simple Google search for “marketing forum” or “Internet forum” will give you many to choose from.

You may also choose to sign up for e-courses. These will give you regular lessons and assignments to follow, as well as measurable goals to achieve. Most successful e-courses set measurable monetary goals, and show you how to achieve them by the end of the course. Note: Please remember that even the best e-course will do nothing for you if you don’t take action on its lessons.

Lastly, search for a seminar or Internet marketing group in your area. If money is an issue as seminars can be costly, offer to be a volunteer. Most likely you will get more value out of the event because you will have direct contact with people who actually know the seminar leader.  Networking seminars is also a great way to get good connections with other people who are seasoned in the Internet marketing game.

Don’t believe all the get rich quick schemes you see. This is a real business that will take time to perfect. You can be sure that after you get over your learning curve and start to build momentum, the money you make online will be most rewarding.

Due to the large, and growing, customer base online, more and more businesses are starting up online every day. Many of these are existing offline businesses making the leap, while others are brand new to business and see the promise the Internet affords. There is nothing wrong with selling a product or service offline, but to reach an ever-expanding market it’s hard to beat the Internet.

When looking to build a business online, it is more important to consider where you are going, as opposed to where you are coming from. There are many similarities between online and offline marketing, but there are some differences. For one thing you can reach anybody that has access to an Internet connection. This large audience is a mixed blessing.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to running an Internet business.

Like any business you will benefit from writing up a plan of what you are going to be doing. Will you be doing it alone? Outsourcing certain tasks? How much money do you have budgeted for advertising? Who is your primary market? How will you reach them? What are you short-term goals? Long-term? And so on. Write this information down as it will be the seed of your business plan.

People are drawn to the Internet because of the vast number of people that can be reached. However, this can be a downside if you are trying to be everything to everybody. Focus on your target market, and you will connect with them online. The more specific you are in reaching your desired customers, the less money you will spend compared to trying to reach everybody.

Track as much information as you can. Even adding Google Analytics to your website can give you loads of useful information. For example, you can find out what country each visitor is coming from, how long they stay on your page, and how they got to your page. With a little creativity you can use this data in many different ways to improve your bottom line.

You can get more information on Internet businesses for free, or pay for it. Online, price is no guarantee of quality one way or the other. Don’t let that prevent you from taking in more knowledge however. Besides e-books, you can learn a lot from marketing forums, and blogs such as this one.

The Internet is still in its infancy. The promises of making fast cash without doing any work are prevalent. If you do nothing, you will get nothing (I’m sure that’s one of Newton’s Laws of Physics). To stay on task, create a daily schedule to help you along. If you treat your online business with due respect the success will follow.

It takes work to make any business profitable. An Internet business is no exception. Even if you run a successful offline business, you need to take the right steps to make the online portion work. I honestly believe there has never been a better time for people to start an online business. Use these tips to help you start it in the right direction.