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12 Urgent and important things to focus on before the New Year

By Jim Connolly | December 26, 2019

marketing targets 2020, 2020 goals

Photo: Shutterstock.

In no particular order.

  1. Have you considered firing your worst clients? The time wasted on bad clients can then be invested in delighting your best clients even more.
  2. Have you looked at opening your services up to a global audience? If not, now is a good time to consider it. That’s because proximity is no longer geographical for many service providers. For example, my 3 newest clients are based on 3 different continents. This will help.
  3. What are the biggest hurdles to your success right now, and how do you plan to remove them? A business problem can only persist with your consent… passive or active.
  4. What was your biggest setback in 2019 and what can you learn from it? Those who don’t learn from past mistakes tend to repeat them.
  5. How can you reduce or eliminate the feeling of risk that’s associated with hiring you or buying from you?
  6. What’s the biggest opportunity for your prospective clients in 2020 and how will you help them benefit from it?
  7. Is your marketing useful or does it read like a sales pitch? People hate being sold to. This will help.
  8. If 2019 was like a rerun of 2018, how long will you wait in 2020, before you make the improvements required?
  9. Have you considered offering a premium version of your services? There’s an extremely profitable segment of every marketplace, who are eager to pay more for ‘that certain extra’. This will help.
  10. If you stopped trading tomorrow, how tricky would it be for people to find a suitable replacement? Your task is to be as close to irreplaceable as possible.
  11. Does your marketing inspire people to hire you or buy from you? If not, you’re leaving money on the table. That’s unsustainable.
  12. Is your business providing you with the lifestyle you want? If not you will either need to lower your expectations or work on a plan to improve your financial situation. I recommend the latter. Rekindle that motivation you had when you started your business. And stop settling for less.

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Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I help small business owners to increase sales, boost their profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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