You Have To Do Something Different In 2006, If You Want Your Business To Grow
Yesterday, I wrote a post on another blog about sales and marketing plans for 2006. The gist of the post is you shouldn't have a 2006 growth plan that's based on working harder at the things you did in 2005:
Working harder rarely results in meaningful change. Sure, you can get a bump in results from doubling your effort, but it's rare to double your results from working harder.
While you can't slack off, take it easy, and expect success, you can't expect the world to drastically change in your favor from having doubled your hours of work from 40 to 80 a week. It would be great if it was that easy, but it isn't.
I woke this morning believing this is a topic I should highlight and build on here.
If you're not going to work harder in 2006, assuming you're already working hard, what are you going to do that's different? How are you going to push your business to the next level of success?
While every business and market is unique, here is a list of things to surface thoughts and ideas:
• Start a master mind group
• Write a sales letter
• Change your website
• Host a conference
• Sponsor an event
• Enroll in training
• Change your presentation
• Meet new people
• Attend conferences
• Join discussion groups
• Seek speaking opportunities
• Write white papers
• Start a newsletter
• Call old friends
• Call old customers
• Distribute flyers
• Announce a promotion or sales event
• Joint market
• Find a new sales channel
The list is nearly endless! The point is doing something different. Look for ways to get your message to other markets and people in ways you haven't done before. Open as many doors as you can and seek new ways to talk about your company, product, and services.
What would you add to my list?
2 Comments
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
By Ben, January 18, 2006 @ 8:04 pm
Some other thoughts:
- Learn about an aspect of your business that you’re not an expert in.
- Understand blogging, its value, and start a blog.
- Learn more about SEO and how it impacts your website.
- Go back to your old/existing customers and really understand how they’re using your product/service. Remind yourself of the pain they had, that your product/service fixed.
Hope that helps!
By Chief Show Officer, January 27, 2006 @ 1:24 pm
It’s not a big thing but how about handing out a business card that elicits a double-take.
An unusual business card, maybe not your primary card, that you can can use to capture the attention of new prospects and wake up existing ones to the fact that you are willing and able to shake things up and make things happen.