Strategic Thinking For 2014
Post by Yvonne DiVita
Many of you are monetizing your web work, or thinking about monetizing it. That means – you need to start thinking like a business and not like a blogger. We’ll have a good session on that topic at next year’s conference, but in the meantime, how do you break old habits that are keeping you stuck in a box?
Let’s look at some ways self-talk holds us back, and then how to change the dynamics of what we think and do. Remember, change is not only inevitable, it’s necessary if you are working towards a specific goal and implementing strategic thinking. As I hope all of you are.
Does this sound familiar? “Oh, I’ll never make any money blogging. There are way better bloggers out there than me!”
I bet there are. I bet the big and always growing blogosphere has a good many bloggers better than you. Better than me, in fact. But, if we’re truthful, it also has a good many bloggers who are not as good as we are. In fact, some bloggers are pitiful. By any standards.
A key part of making money with your work on the web is believing in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you do the work necessary to achieve success. Maybe it’s working late hours. Maybe it’s studying the successful bloggers you read every day, to learn how they do what works. Maybe it’s taking online classes and attending conferences. Whatever it is, you do it because you’re bent on success. Good for you.
How about this; does this sound familiar?
“What should I charge? What’s an ad on my little blog worth? Maybe $10, I guess.”
Ten dollars? Ten dollars an hour. Or, a minute. Not $10 a day, or a week, I hope! Charging for your services or for ads on your blog is scary, no doubt about it. The “no thanks” gremlin lurks behind every thought and around every wish. You think that if you charge what you’re worth, you’ll get a lot of “no’s”… rather than a lot of yeses.
You must determine your worth before you start worrying about the “no’s” you’ll get. Visit this blog post that talks about charging for ads or services. It can help you make the right choice: $10/day or $100/day. And put aside the worries about no, no, no. The no’s are out there. Accept them graciously. Focus on the yeses. They will come.
Over on my friend Sybil’s blog, Quality Service Marketing, her recent post, A Facilitator’s Top Three Tips for Strategic Marketing Planning, really hits home. Here are the ways she recommends planning for 2014:
- Be Mission-focused. This requires having a mission, of course. What is your mission? Is it written down? Does everyone involved know what it is?
- Be Creative. Sybil says, “…you can better envision and explore possibilities while engaging in ‘what if…?’ questions. For example, What if we had unlimited resources – what could we achieve? What if we could start over from scratch — what would we do differently? What would happen if our products, services, or brand disappeared — would we be missed?”
- Be Realistic. “Besides being mission-focused,” she says, “it’s also important to recognize the scope of your organization’s capacity and commitment.” What she means is, dreaming is okay as long as you marry it to the truth. You can only do what you have the time, energy and resources to do. Learn to walk before you run.
Be strategic when you begin your 2014 planning. Think about this year, plan for next year, don’t get behind (worrying about last year) yourself, or ahead of yourself (thinking too much about 2015). By all means, stop and think…about what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it.
We hope part of your strategic plan is attending BlogPaws 2014 in Lake Las Vegas. See you there!
