Today’s article discusses the topic of a yearly plan. Many people don’t believe they need a yearly plan. They believe they know enough about themselves or their businesses to bypass any planning process. Some people can get away with doing this. But, for most, having a plan and updating one every year is essential to keep on track. So, the question is…do you need a yearly plan?
Let’s see what’s included in a yearly plan:
A yearly plan helps you to focus on what is important. There are too many events and things that happen during the year that we will simply forget about what needs to get done. The plan allows you to see what needs allocation of funding. You can see how your expenses are affecting your bottom line.
If you have employees working for you, a yearly plan can help manage them. You can find out what vacations they are planning, and you can ensure that they are scheduled for training that you may require of them. You can’t account for everything that they may encounter over the year. But, as long as you have the major events on your plan, you can make alternative plans.
Do You Update Yours Regularly?
When you implement your yearly plan, you solidify the necessary objectives to advance your organization. You and your employees can use it as a roadmap to make sure everyone is on the same page. There are going to be changes, and as the year goes on, you may find some initiatives are no longer relevant. But, overall, a plan is a great tool to help your company.
Once a Year
Without a plan, people and companies tend to flounder. They spend more money than they should, and they start projects that they often don’t complete. They have no way of knowing whether those projects are even going to help the company at all. It isn’t easy to work as a cohesive unit when everyone is off doing whatever they feel like doing. Even if you have a manager who delegates the jobs, without a plan, the manager will also create projects as they go. This is the exact reason why you should update your plan at least once a year.
Year by Year
A plan doesn’t have to be elaborate nor does it need to be exceptionally long. It can be as informational as listing out dates and tasks. Then, assign people to those tasks. It is important to get everyone to participate, but once you get an agreement, they need to be held accountable. Business is difficult enough without having some plan or map to guide you in the right direction. Just have your annual planner updated year by year so you know exactly where your business stands in the long run.
It’s like keeping score in a tennis match, you always want to know what the outcome is to see if you’ve improved since last year. Do the work now so you can reap the rewards later. You’ll see that once you review your plan, you really have made strides in creating the successful business you’ve always wanted.
Now for some good news, we are having a sale on our annual planner towards the end of the month. You are not going to want to miss out on this deal. So, stay tuned because it’s our Black Friday – Cyber Monday sale. If you’re not on our mailing list, time to jump on board so you receive our emails all about our upcoming sale. Please fill out the form below to get on our mailing list.
Every day of your life is a new opportunity. Whether you’re going through an upheaval, merely surviving, or bored, moving forward with your life is much more satisfying than simply “moving on.”
So, if you’re ready to move forward with your life like I am, follow these simple steps below:
Stop Expecting Easy
You may have heard the saying, “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” Unfortunately, many things in life are daunting. Self-development is one of those things. This is because there is a learning curve, and there may be challenges concerning maintaining steady progress, especially if you’re just getting started. I bet you thought life would be easy when you were a child. Then you grow up and discover that it’s much more complicated than you thought.
It’s not always easy to get to know who you are. Examine past traumas and experiences. Weed through your inner conflicts, and fight to become who you want to be. While this is not easy, it is a straightforward process that can lead you to succeed. And when you grow, you will feel like you can climb any mountain that gets in your way. Ask me, I know.
Expand your Knowledge
Stop Living in The Past
While you want to understand why you think and do certain things, avoid living in the past. Address the past by accepting that it happened. Work through your past by getting treatment for something negatively affecting your current situation. However, don’t allow yourself to live in the past because the contentment you seek is in the here and now.
When you focus on the present and learn from the past, you ensure that you’re well cared for. And when you do that, your future is almost certainly taken care of too. After all, the actions you take today to inform your future. All you can get from the past is a list of steps you took that worked versus actions you took that did not. Let the rest go.
How to Improve your Life
Stop Waiting for Perfection
If you’ve heard yourself described as a perfectionist, don’t take it as a compliment. It’s not. The best time to begin your next goal is now. There is no perfect outcome even if you follow your plans to a T. There is no time like now for getting started on anything you want to do. Find the worksheet I created for this to help you with your plans. Download it and fill it out. If you need help, I’m always available. Just set up a quick call with me here.
Instead of thinking thoughts like, “I’ll be happy when I reach my weight loss goal.” Or “I’ll start my business when my child is older.” Anytime you start a thought with “I’ll do this when…” stop yourself because most of the time, there is no real reason to put off your goals.
Stop Doubting
One way to squash doubt is to do your due diligence regarding research for all your goals. Here’s the thing, if it’s possible for someone, it’s probably also possible for you. There are very few cases where only one person can do something. You can learn anything and do whatever you want or at least something close to it. You need a plan of action and follow up on it step by step.
Plan Ahead
Start Planning and Doing
Once you let go of the fact that life can be challenging, and the past harmed you, and perfection and release yourself from doubt, you can start planning. You will feel better by learning to set goals in a way that leaves you with an innovative action plan that gets results. Then, use that plan to start the most critical thing in your life, the doing. Doing will move you forward more than anything else will.
After you let go of expectations and stop focusing on the impossible, you’ll see success. Once you create specific goals and follow your plan, you’ll finally start experiencing success. But don’t skip the very last step. You really must “do” to move forward in your life.
Are you Using Follow-Up Emails and Autoresponders with your clients? If you’re not, you should be. I’ll explain why below.
When it comes to going above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service, don’t forget about usingfollow-up emails and autoresponders. These two tools are some of the most powerful ones you can use.
Welcome Your New Customer
The first email message your customers should receive is a welcome email. In this email, you’ll want to give access to the product or service your customer purchased and tell them how to ask for help if needed. You could say something simple like, “Need help? Hit reply to this message and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.”
Follow Up Promptly
You’ll want to send a follow-up email about 48 hours later. Ask if your customer received everything they needed and give them a second link to download the product they bought. If they had to sign up to download their product, remind them to log in with their username and password.
A third email message should be sent 10-20 days after the original purchase. If you sold an information product, ask your customer if they’ve put what they’ve learned from you into practice yet. By Using Follow-Up Emails and Autoresponders will help your customers trust that you have their best interest at heart.
You can even highlight a customer that did and share how they used your product. For example, you might say, “Shannon purchased my course on affiliate marketing and noticed her affiliate earnings climb as soon as she implemented the first two lessons.”
Give a Status Update
If your customer has purchased a service from you, then you can use this email message to give an update on your project. For example, you might say, “I’ve been working on that e-book for you and I’m halfway through it. I expect to be finished by [date]. In the meantime, are there any questions you have that I can answer?”
Updating your clients about the status of your project may seem like a small thing. But it puts customers’ minds at ease and lets them know you’re still working hard.
Use Reminder Emails
If you’re selling a service, set an autoresponder to follow up after three months. Use this email to ask if you can be of any further service. This can jog a client’s memory and remind them to assign a project to you they’d forgotten about.
You can also use this reminder email to ask for a testimonial. You might say something simple like, “I enjoyed collaborating on your project. I’d love it if you’d share your experience working with me in the form of a short testimonial.”
When your customer service goes above and beyond, your customers will love you for it. They’ll enjoy using your products or services so much that they’ll become brand ambassadors that share how awesome your business is with everyone they know.
Learn the secrets of great customer service when you download your free workbook!
About Us
Hello to all of our visitors. Linda Henslee Enterprises provides Project Management Services to other online business owners. Need our services? Use our contact form to get in touch with us.
