Resolve to Succeed!

How is your New Year's Resolution going after just eight weeks? Sore subject? Or are you quite proud of yourself and your progress? I hope it's the latter.

According to a study conducted at the University of Scranton, people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 TIMES more likely to attain their goal than non-resolvers, defined as folks who are "merely interested" in changing. 10 TIMES more likely!

Boy, wouldn't it be great if we could multiply our chances of business success by 10? Actually, we can. You see, the keys to the success of New Year's resolutions are the same for success in any area of life.

Check the list below to see if you are poised for a successful 2008 business year or are "merely interested" in it.

Keys to Successful Resolutions

Start with a vision - What goals have been clearly set for your company for 2008? Does every stakeholder understand them and stand ready to make them a reality?

Create a workable plan - By breaking your "vision" into shorter-term mini-goals you can more clearly define the steps necessary to achieve success. If you need to, take small steps at first until you're more comfortable. The old adage of plan your work and work your plan still applies in the new Millennium.

Track your outcomes - When creating the plan make sure you create meaningful and appropriate ways to track the progress towards those goals at different points in time. What gets measured gets improved!

Recognize there is no easy fix - Creating change and success is a process, not a single destination and not a quick stop. That's the reason for the plan - it keeps us going even when we don't believe we can succeed.

Recognize that you will fail along the way - As Colin Powell has so eloquently said "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure." So don't waste time searching for the perfect solution while your competitors are out there taking action. It's a pipe dream.

Don't go it alone - Build a team of internal and external people who support the goals and will work with you to get them accomplished. Oftentimes help from an outside source can be more helpful since they bring objectivity and insight from a different perspective. They also are not burdened with "inside stuff" that gets in the way of focused effort.

Be in the 20% Minority - Sadly, it's estimated that only 20% of New Year's resolution makers are successful. I guess the question for you is - will you and your company be in the 20% group or will it go to someone else in your category?

The above suggestions provide a good start to your business success in 2008. If you need help planning marketing goals and strategies or getting your plans implemented think of Mosaic - we're just a phone call away.

Remember, Mosaic creates customers and increases sales for business-to-business companies through specific project work, on-going retainer assignments or marketing coaching sessions.

Until next time.....

Rosemary Walter
847-483-5018
Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com

P.S. If you’d like to read more about the power of setting objectives, visit:

http://www.mosaicmm.com/articles/2000_3Q.htm

P.P.S. If you want to read more about marketing objectives, strategies and tactics, visit:

http://www.mosaicmm.com/articles/newsletters/
2006_march.htm

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© 2008 Rosemary Walter, all rights reserved. You are free to use material from Mosaic's Monthly Marketing Tips in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Rosemary Walter of Mosaic Marketing Management, Inc. Please visit Rosemary's web site at http://www.MosaicMM.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for business to business companies."