With another year in the books most people look forward to a new year, 2011, in anticipation of better things to come and it’s no different for home business owners on the web. On New Year’s Eve while relaxing with a cold beer and watching the ball drop in Times Square I couldn’t help but reflect on my past year online and what I would do differently this coming year. Here’s what I’ve resolved to do this year to take my home based enterprise to the next level:
1. Number one on my list of business related new year’s resolutions is to revisit my Internet marketing strategy and re-examine my techniques to see which one’s produced as expected and which one’s failed to meet my expectations. I may have to tweak the strategies which aren’t meeting their goals or drop them entirely and replace them with new tactics. This is something I do on a regular basis through out the year so this isn’t a new initiative but it’s very important and therefore takes first spot on my to-do list for 2011.
2. Procrastination has always been a major weakness of mine and it’s something I have been working on both in my normal life and in my business existence but this year I’ve resolved to overcome this flaw and eliminate it completely from my personality. Having battled this failing for years I would like to offer a suggestion to anyone who may be fighting the same battle as mine.
I’ve found to-do lists to be a tremendous aid in helping me complete tasks now rather than later. Each evening, at the end of my work day, I compile a to-do list for the following day and first thing the next morning I start at number one and work my way through my list until I have everything completed for that particular day.
3. Resolution number three is to update my blog each and every day through out the New Year. Article writing has been one of my most successful Internet marketing strategies and I plan on writing a new editorial every day to post to my blog to help generate more targeted traffic to my home business website.
For anyone who hasn’t tried this tactic and who enjoys writing I highly recommend it because it’s been a terrific targeted traffic generator for my home page. An added benefit of this strategy is that the search engines love fresh content updated on a regular basis and posting a new article each day is a great way to create a steady flow of new visitors to your site as well as improve your rankings within the major search engines online.
4. Nurturing and cultivating your current customer list should always be a priority for every home business owner on the web and this is an area I’ve resolved to improve upon. My plan is to offer more discounts and send more freebies to my paying clients as a show of appreciation for their business and to help retain them as satisfied and loyal patrons of my enterprise. Your client list is the life blood of your business and should be treated as such.
5. Last, but certainly not least, I’ve decided to give something back by donating 10% of every sale I make from my home business to charity. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in making more and more money we fail to realize how lucky we are and we sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture and the people who are much less fortunate than ourselves through no fault of their own.
I have three favorite charities who do tremendous work: Operation Smile, World Food Programme and Autism Speaks, whom I try to donate to on a regular basis and through this resolution will not be forgotten when things get hectic.
These are five priorities both for me and my home based business for 2011 and by following through on these promises I’m planning on having my most rewarding year ever on the Internet.
Happy New Year and good luck with any resolutions you may have made and if you decided not to make any I hope you still have your most successful year ever online.