Improving Your Planning

As long as you know where you currently are, and where you want to go (your goal), you will be able to map out what is required to fill the gap between the two. Getting results means you have to have a plan of action to move you towards your goal.

Now many people think about this in simplistic terms. For example lets say you want to start a business online and you come up with the following plan of action;

#1 Come up with a business idea

• Understand who the customer is
• Create a suitable name for the business that
• is memorable
• Create the brand – it’s visuals and story
• Fulfil legal requirements – register with inland revenue, regulatory bodies etc

#2 Set up website

• Get website hosting
• Register a suitable domain name
• Get your website live and running

#3 Marketing business

Drive traffic from..

• Social media channels
• Adverts
• Offline channels

#4 E-commerce on website to take payment

Simple isn’t it, this is a outline list of tasks that need to be done for you to get a business up and running online.

However if you think this is all you have to do and the world will be knocking down your door, you’re very much mistaken.

Each step is somewhat more complex than I’ve shown above because it’s not just about what you do, it’s about how your audience responds. If your website isn’t pressing the right buttons for visitors they are not going to take the action you want them to and buy from you.

So you may have to try different marketing channels, different  messages, different media and different offers to see what works for you. Complexity comes from things you can’t directly control or predict. There is often no one right way of doing things, and what works for one business might not for another.

Sure the vast majority of people are looking to improve their situation in some way, they are looking for growth in economic wealth, for social wealth for physical and psychological wealth. If your solution nudges them in that direction, you’re going to have a better chance than you would otherwise.

But you’ve got to communicate this benefit to your audience through your marketing messages. What you think will resonate with them, might not, so you have to test ideas, tweak, improve and test again. You also need to understand their pain points, what is going to motivate them to take action and so on. Below is table with some of this complexity factored into it.

To Do list – simple	Complexity	Questions that need answering
Come up with a business idea Understand who the customer is Create a suitable name for the business that is memorable Create the brand – it’s visuals and story Fulfil legal requirements – register with inland revenue, regulatory bodies etc	Requirements Must be a solution that will be in demand There must be a market for it It is a solution to a problem the prospect has actions Do market research Look for proof of existing market Test ideas	Do they have a problem I can solve? Are they willing to pay for a solution I can provide? Is it worth doing from my POV? Where can I find prospects to find this information? What is the business model? Where will the solution be available (online or bricks and mortar)?
Set up website Hosting Domain name
Marketing business Drive traffic from.. Social media channels Adverts Offline channels	Target prospects wherever they are Deliver the right message at right time to the right person Allow prospects to know, like and trust you Encourage goodwill by providing value to prospects who aren’t ready to buy just yet Engage emotionally through branding Consider marketing channel choices Test channels/ideas/media/messages Build social proof/signals	What channels are prospects spending attention on? How can I get their attention? How can I engage with them there? What type of messages will help me get known, liked and trusted?
E-commerce to take payment

You must work to improve your results through continually improving your plan of action and improving your problem solving capabilities.

It’s vitally important you factor complexity into your plan of action, it’s the one thing that is going to hold things up and stand in the way of you getting results.

This is a system focused on KNOWLEDGE and PRODUCTIVITY, it doesn’t take into account any MOTIVATIONAL elements that might be holding you back from taking the action YOU need to be taking. If you fear failure or disappointment or loss, if you fail to take responsibility, if you lack resourcefulness or self awareness, these are all motivational problem areas that need to be addressed.

Motivation is a subject in its own right and there are lots of articles throughout the site dedicated to it. Check them out here.

For more about productivity, click here.