Market Beautifully

Society for Lady Entrepreneurs

The Ultimate Guide: Setting and Accomplishing Business Goals in 2017

In the spirit of the new year, let’s talk about goals. I didn’t believe in the power of goals this time last year. I didn’t set business goals. I didn’t set monthly goals. I just thought if I did the best I can, my business will just keep getting better and everything will be good (ha). As of lately, as in 3 months ago, I started setting goals and my business has drastically changed since then. I have a solid direction that my business is headed toward, I know what I want and need to complete each month in order to achieve what I set out to achieve. I feel more accomplished at the end of the month. It’s just great. The power of goal setting is very, very real.

Pin the image below to your favorite board + follow me on Pinterest by clicking here!

Since I started setting goals, I have created a completely new brand, Market Beautifully. I have created a podcast, a community, and an academy with my business partner Becca Cannon. In 3 months while working a full-time job I have accomplished so much for Mara Burkes + Market Beautifully and I know without a doubt I wouldn’t have accomplished half of this without setting out each month knowing what I wanted to get done.

So if you aren’t currently setting goals in your business on a yearly or monthly basis, then now is the perfect time to get started. Accomplish big things (like I know you already are) because you deserve big things for your business.

This post covers:

  • The anatomy of a great business goal
  • The types of goals you need to make for your business and life
  • Have a why for your goals
  • How to organize the tasks for your goals
  • The sprint method to use when accomplishing your goals
  • Rewarding yourself when checking off a goal

The anatomy of a great business goal

I’m not sure if you have heard of the SMART acronym for goals, I have been surprised at those around me who haven’t heard of this acronym so I thought I would share how you can use this easy way to create an achievable goal in no time at all by using the letters in the word SMART. Let’s break down each letter and how it relates to the goal you are going to create.

• S stands for specific. Be specific with what you want to accomplish. Exactly how many days or months do you have to complete this goal? What specifically do you want to do? Don’t write down a goal such as “I want more website traffic,” instead write down “I want to increase my website traffic by 1,000 more monthly views.” Being specific makes your goals a whole lot cooler.
• M stands for measurable. If you are unable to measure your goal then you won’t be able to check off that goal with confidence after all the hard work you put in. Those monthly views that we want to increase by 1,000 is measurable. You can go check out Google analytics and consistently track the views by the end of each month.
• A stands for actionable. Action-oriented goals are the best. You can typically break these down easier into tasks with different deadlines.
• R stands for realistic. Can you realistically accomplish this goal?
• T stands for time-based. if you don’t set a time limit on your goal it will either take a lot longer to accomplish

What types of goals do you need for your business

There are so many different types of goals you can have, but specifically for your business I thought these four categories were pretty important:

• Overall business goals

• Revenue goals

• Project goals

• Personal goals

With your overall business, what do you want to achieve? Would you like to grow your email list or increase your brand awareness? There are so many great business goals that are worth achieving. Pick a few! Revenue goals are great to make that way you have something to track and reach for. Of course running a business is not all about making money, it’s about helping people and getting to give back in a way that some people are unable to. But at the end of the day, you are running a business and your business needs to have some sort of revenue goal! Project goals are my favorite types of goals. The podcast I created was a “project goal” because it was a project I have been wanting to complete for months now but have kept pushing off to the side. Having personal goals is crucial to the success of your business. Your personal life greatly affects your business and it is always great to work on ways to improve regardless, if that means improvement is needed with your family, friends, or even just within yourself.

Have a why

Know WHY you want to achieve this goal. And then write your “why” in the description part of your organization software or simply write it down underneath your goal! Let’s say you want to increase your website traffic by 30% in the span of 3 months. Well, why? So you can get more money from affiliate marketing? So you can grow your email list? Brand awareness? Make sure that your “why” for each goal is clear.

A why is especially important to have for yearly goals because this will help keep your eye on what you want to accomplish. It’s so easy to drop a goal and say “oh well, I’ll just focus on this instead” but if you have your why set in stone beforehand, you’ll remember why this goal was so important to you at the time when you set it and you’ll have a reason to keep going even when it gets a little tough or inconvenient.

How to organize your tasks within your goals

Do you use Asana? If you don’t know what Asana is it’s basically a platform that helps you organize your business into different projects. I use Asana for planning out all my business goals and breaking each of those goals down into different tasks. Once I break down my goals into different tasks I assign a due date to each task and sub-task that way I know what needs to get done and by what time in order to meet each of my goals. I see all these tasks on one calendar that I keep track of throughout the day each week.

For example, one of my goals was to start a podcast for Market Beautifully. So at the beginning of November when I came up with the name I broke down this goal into multiple tasks, some were: creating the artwork for the cover, outlining my first 3 podcasts, recording, editing, creating the intro to each podcast, creating the outro, finding music, those were just a few! And I had to keep adding tasks as I started out creating this podcast because some things I had no idea you had to do in order to get a podcast going.

Submitting my RSS feed took way too long, creating market beautifully.com, the website for my podcast, had a lot of technical issues. But I had my due dates set for each task in Asana and I was determined to meet my goal. I allotted my time wisely and had my podcast website, SoundCloud, and iTunes completed the day before Thanksgiving which beat my goal by 10 days. Asana helped me keep track of all the tasks leading up to the final goal: starting a podcast. Being able to check off this goal before I was even supposed to was the greatest feeling ever. I loved having an idea in my head and making it come to life.

How to use the sprint method of achieving your goal.

What is the sprint method? The sprint method is something that helps you know when to spend time on just accomplishing this goal and the tasks involved. So you set your monthly goal, right? You’ll have 2 sprints a week that are 60 minutes each. So if there is 4 weeks in a month, that gives you 8 hours to complete one goal. During these 60 minute sprints you are ONLY focused on completing this goal and making it come to fruition. That’s it. No netflix or multi-tasking.

Possibly set aside some time and a month to test out the sprint method. And then let me know how this works out for you! I just started doing sprints this month and I have loved it. I feel so much more productive!

Reward Yourself

Be kind to yourself because you deserve a pat on the back every once in awhile, even if that “pat on the back” takes the form of a new pair of shoes. YOU deserve some type of gift for completing that goal. So go spoil yourself. Figure out what you’re going to get if you complete your goal before you even start on your first task. This gives you that extra push and makes it a little more fun as well!

podcast

Goal setting is somewhat of an art and I believe it truly changes lives and businesses when incorporated into your lifestyle. It’s worth the little bit of extra effort that is required. It’s nice to check off each task one by one and know you’re truly working toward changing your business for the better or your life for the better.

Comments

  32. Simply wish to say your article is as astounding. The clarity to your post is just nice
    and that i could think you are an expert on this subject.
    Well along with your permission let me to clutch your RSS feed
    to keep updated with coming near near post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please carry on the gratifying work.

  33. Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted
    to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope
    you write again very soon!

  34. Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or
    something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit,
    but other than that, this is wonderful blog.
    A fantastic read. I will definitely be back.

  36. Good day very nice site!! Man .. Excellent .. Superb .. I will bookmark your web site and take the feeds also?

    I’m happy to find a lot of helpful info here in the publish, we’d
    like develop extra techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing.
    . . . . .

  37. Today, I went to the beach front with my kids.
    I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She
    placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There
    was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back!
    LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  38. Everyone loves what you guys are up too. This sort of
    clever work and coverage! Keep up the great works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to
    blogroll.

  40. Thanks for the marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading
    it, you happen to be a great author. I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will
    eventually come back later in life. I want to encourage you
    continue your great posts, have a nice day!

  42. This design is spectacular! You obviously know how to keep
    a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost
    moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
    I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
    Too cool!

  44. Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my blog thus i got here
    to return the desire?.I’m attempting to to find things
    to enhance my site!I guess its good enough to make use of
    some of your ideas!!

  45. Currently it looks like Drupal is the best blogging platform out there right now.
    (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?

  46. Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and I in finding It really useful &
    it helped me out a lot. I hope to present one thing again and aid others like you aided me.

  47. Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to
    help with SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing
    very good success. If you know of any please share.
    Many thanks!

  48. Hmm it appears like your blog ate my first comment
    (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had
    written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new
    to everything. Do you have any tips and hints for rookie
    blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.

  50. Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot.
    I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.

  51. I am not sure where you’re getting your information,
    but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more.

    Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this info
    for my mission.

  52. great issues altogether, you simply won a new reader.
    What may you suggest about your put up that you just made some days in the past?
    Any sure?

  56. Howdy! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you
    using for this website? I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues
    with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
    I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  61. Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend
    your website, how could i subscribe for a blog site?

    The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

  69. I think that is among the such a lot significant info for me.

    And i am happy studying your article. However should remark on few
    normal things, The website style is perfect, the
    articles is in point of fact nice : D. Excellent job, cheers

  70. jungle scout alternative

    I think that what you said was actually very reasonable.
    But, what about this? what if you added a little information?
    I am not saying your content isn’t solid.,
    but what if you added a title to maybe get folk’s attention? I mean The Ultimate Guide: Setting and Accomplishing Business Goals in 2017 is kinda vanilla.
    You could glance at Yahoo’s front page and note how they create
    post headlines to get viewers to click. You might try adding a video or a picture or two to grab
    people interested about everything’ve got to say. Just my opinion, it would make your
    blog a little livelier.

  71. Wonderful beat ! I would like to apprentice
    while you amend your web site, how can i subscribe for a blog web site?

    The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit
    acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

  80. Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after going through
    many of the articles I realized it’s new to me.

    Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!

  83. Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found a sea
    shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said
    “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She
    put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside
    and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back!
    LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  84. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems
    as though you relied on the video to make
    your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste
    your intelligence on just posting videos to your
    blog when you could be giving us something informative to read?

  85. I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your
    blog. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues?
    A number of my blog audience have complained about my
    site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.
    Do you have any suggestions to help fix this problem?

  89. What i don’t realize is in reality how you’re no longer really a lot more well-favored
    than you may be now. You’re very intelligent. You understand therefore significantly in the case of this matter, made me for my part imagine it from a lot of numerous
    angles. Its like men and women are not involved until it’s something to accomplish with Girl
    gaga! Your individual stuffs great. Always take care of it up!

  90. Thank you for every other informative blog. The place else may
    I get that type of info written in such a perfect method? I have a project
    that I am just now operating on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.

  91. I have read some excellent stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting.

    I surprise how so much effort you set to create such a excellent informative website.

  92. I know this web page presents quality dependent posts and extra material, is there any other web site which
    offers these kinds of things in quality?

  93. Whoa! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a
    completely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Wonderful choice
    of colors!

  94. Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening.
    I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this article together.

    I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and leaving comments.

    But so what, it was still worth it!

  97. Useful information. Fortunate me I found your website accidentally, and I’m shocked
    why this twist of fate didn’t came about in advance!
    I bookmarked it.

  103. jungle scout alternatives

    Your style is unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from.
    Many thanks for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just
    book mark this blog.

  104. naturally like your web-site but you have to take
    a look at the spelling on several of your
    posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell
    the truth on the other hand I will surely come back again.

  107. jungle scout discount

    My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different website
    and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
    Look forward to exploring your web page repeatedly.

  108. jungle scout alternative

    Amazing! Its in fact remarkable piece of writing, I have got much clear idea on the topic of
    from this article.

  113. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
    Your web site offered us with useful information to work on. You have
    performed a formidable job and our entire group will likely be grateful to you.

  120. Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched everywhere and just could not come across. What a great web-site.

  130. expressvpn
    Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually realize what you’re
    speaking about! Bookmarked. Please additionally discuss with my website =).
    We could have a hyperlink change agreement among us

  152. jungle scout alternatives

    I have been exploring for a bit for any high
    quality articles or weblog posts on this kind of space .

    Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i’m glad to
    show that I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed.
    I so much without a doubt will make certain to do not forget this website and provides it
    a look on a constant basis.

  153. ipvanish hulu
    I do believe all the ideas you’ve introduced in your post.
    They’re really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too quick for starters.
    May you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.

  155. I simply needed to thank you so much once again. I am not sure the things I might have followed without the type of tactics revealed by you regarding such a topic. It has been a real alarming matter for me, however , looking at a new professional tactic you processed the issue took me to weep for joy. I am happy for your information and sincerely hope you realize what a great job you have been providing educating men and women using your webpage. I know that you haven’t come across all of us.

  161. A lot of thanks for your whole efforts on this web page. My aunt takes pleasure in going through investigation and it is simple to grasp why. Most of us know all about the compelling form you give both interesting and useful techniques on the web blog and invigorate contribution from visitors on that subject matter then my princess is certainly discovering a great deal. Take pleasure in the rest of the year. You’re performing a brilliant job.

  163. Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
    Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! However, how can we communicate?

  175. I am writing to let you be aware of of the remarkable discovery my girl developed studying your webblog. She mastered plenty of things, including what it’s like to possess an awesome coaching spirit to let the others clearly comprehend a variety of tortuous subject matter. You really surpassed her expectations. Thanks for imparting these helpful, dependable, revealing as well as fun thoughts on the topic to Lizeth.

  185. jungle scout alternatives

    May I just say what a comfort to uncover someone who actually knows
    what they’re talking about on the net. You certainly know how to
    bring a problem to light and make it important. More people must look at this and understand this side of the story.
    I was surprised you are not more popular because you
    surely possess the gift.

  189. jungle scout alternative

    great put up, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of
    this sector don’t understand this. You must proceed your writing.
    I am sure, you’ve a great readers’ base already!

  202. jungle scout

    Hi! This post could not be written any better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate!
    He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up
    to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.

    Many thanks for sharing!

  509. kNgX9F There as certainly a great deal to find out about this issue. I like all of the points you made.

  513. koxrkd Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this post and also the rest of the website is extremely good.

  560. Hello! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are
    you using for this site? I’m getting fed up of WordPress
    because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options
    for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  564. Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been running a blog for? you make blogging look easy. The whole look of your site is great, let alone the content!

  587. Of course, what a fantastic website and informative posts, I definitely will bookmark your site.All the Best!

  592. It as not acceptable just to go up with a good point these days. You need to put serious work in to plan the idea properly as well as making certain all of the plan is understood.

  598. That is a good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Short but very accurate information Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read post!

  629. Simply a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding design. аЂа‹аЂ Audacity, more audacity and always audacity.аЂ аЂа› by Georges Jacques Danton.

  632. You ave made some good points there. I checked on the net to find out more about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this web site.

  661. Really appreciate you sharing this blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.

  664. [url=https://advair365.us.com/]buy generic advair online[/url] [url=https://albenza200.com/]albenza 200 mg[/url] [url=https://benicarhctz.com/]benicar brand name[/url] [url=https://prednisone365.us.com/]prednisone 20 mg tablet[/url] [url=https://zithromax911.com/]zithromax pills online[/url]

  665. You have brought up a very superb points , regards for the post. There as two heads to every coin. by Jerry Coleman.

  668. It is not my first time to pay a quick visit this website, i am visiting this web

  679. German universities found that academic procrastination predicts the frequency plagiarism conducted within six months followed the measurement of academic procrastination.
    pay someone to write my paper Selling with them can be useful for people looking to profit from their old clothes or possibly trade in their old clothes in exchange for another outfit.

  680. Hi, i think that i saw you visited my blog thus i came to “return the favor”.I’m trying to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok
    to use some of your ideas!!

  688. All of the best real money casinos get their games from the industries most established and trusted game developers, all of which are known to create exciting and unique casino software.
    casinospel In addition to an abundance of video slots, we also have 3-reel and 5-reel classic titles, as well as games in which tantalizing progressive jackpots can be won.

  692. [url=https://cleocing.com/]cleocin online[/url] [url=https://flagyl24.com/]flagyl 500 mg[/url] [url=https://medrol80.com/]buy medrol[/url] [url=https://albenza200.com/]albenza otc[/url]

  702. You might have an incredibly good layout for your blog i want it to make use of on my website also

  710. [url=https://sildalistab.com/]buy cheap sildalis[/url] [url=https://albenza200.com/]albenza generic[/url] [url=https://zithromax250.com/]zithromax for sale us[/url] [url=https://tamoxifencit.com/]tamoxifen purchase online[/url] [url=https://zithromaxtab.com/]where can i purchase zithromax[/url] [url=https://cleocing.com/]cleocin 1[/url] [url=https://azithromycinz.com/]azithromycin zithromax[/url] [url=https://zithromax911.com/]buy zithromax 500mg[/url] [url=https://viagra100mg.top/]buy viagra pills online[/url] [url=https://ventolininhaler.top/]buy ventolin without prescription[/url]

  736. Thorn of Girl Very good information and facts could be discovered on this online blog.

  739. Since the admin of this web site is working, no question very rapidly it will

  742. Im grateful for the post.Really looking forward to read more. Want more.