By Tom Ottaiano, CEO, Today’s Business
From Whiteboard → Digital Marketing Agency
I’ve always had the mantra that if you want to get anywhere with your life, your career, or your personal development, you need to get your goals down on paper.
Anyone who has been a part of Today’s Business has heard about the whiteboard. In the beginning, all we had was $400, a whiteboard and a dream. Before Chaz, Billy and I wrote the first words down, we had one main goal. We wanted to bring as much value to the consumer as possible. Our intention was for them to believe in us and see how much we were bringing to the table. We wrote down our initial business plan on the whiteboard, and we stuck with it.
Our determination combined with our organized outline of goals was what jump-started the business and spurred growth.
Finding Your Niche
Many people find it extremely difficult to determine one big dream or goal that is going to make them happy in life. In my case, I knew that I didn’t want anyone putting a cap on what I could do and the lifestyle I could have. A 9-5 wasn’t an option in my eyes. I got to the position I am in because I knew that the way I was going to achieve the life that I wanted was to become an entrepreneur.
The first step to putting your goals in place is assessing who you are and what you want out of life.
It’s also important to remember that YOU define your own success, not other people.
The Goal Setting Process
There aren’t many things more intimidating than a blank slate. Most people get overwhelmed at the sight of a blank whiteboard or a brand new notebook. The best advice I can give for those who want to start tackling your next challenge is you just have to start. Push through that voice in your head telling you that you won’t get to where you need to be and start getting things done.
According to Psychology Today, goal-setting is historically linked to higher achievement.
You can’t get closer to your dreams if you have no idea how to work towards them.
It’s not just about writing it down. It’s about saying how you’re going to get there.
Write Down Your Intention
What is your main goal for today or this month? Is it to increase traffic to your website? Write it down. Is it to start working out 5 times a week? Write it down. It’s a lot easier to hold yourself accountable for something when you see it written in front of you.
Every single day I start by writing out a to-do list and I make a commitment to myself that if I write it down, it’s getting done that day no matter what. My larger, long term goals are usually written down on the whiteboard in my office. It helps me focus my energy on both short term and long term goals, not neglecting one or the other.
In addition to outlining your plans on both a short term and long term basis, it’s important to be in the right mindset. Focus your thought process on positive outcomes and stay confident that if you are checking small boxes, you’re moving in the right direction.
Sometimes, it’s the smallest wins that mean the most. Crossing off something little might seem like it’s not that big of a deal. Small wins are important too, especially when they are tailored to getting you to a bigger goal in the foreseeable future.
Crushing smaller goals are eventually going to equal a big accomplishment.
How to Set Realistic Goals for the Future
Just because you set high goals for yourself doesn’t mean that you can’t be realistic about it.
Before you create your plan of action, it’s important to make sure that your goal passes the SMART test.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. This is something that is not only useful for personal goals but also professional and client goals.
SMART Goal Example: By August 2019, we will increase organic search traffic to the Today’s Business site 25% by optimizing our five best pieces of content on the site and securing 10 new backlinks for that content.
Once you determine what you want to work towards, you can discern whether or not it is realistic by putting it into the SMART goal format.
Goal Oriented Strategy at Today’s Business
Strategy is at the core of everything that we do here at Today’s Business. All of our digital marketing strategies are embedded within the measurable goals of our clients. Whether you’re looking to increase traffic to your site, bolster your social media following or to upgrade your website to something more responsive and cohesively designed, there is a solution that we can offer. If you’re ready to start accomplishing the goals of your business in the digital marketing space, let’s talk.