1. Start with a clean slate
A clean office, an organized desk, and a tidy desktop are great ways to start off your business year right. Organizing paperwork can be a tedious process so create a plan that once a week you tackle that chore to avoid pile ups. Dusting and tidying up your office space is a great motivator – but don’t forget your computer may need some organization too. Is your inbox out of control? Are email subscriptions getting out of hand? Eliminate the ones you never read so you can cut down on the clutter.
2. Make business planning a weekly event
Staying on top of your business marketing is a good reason to get a big calendar to visually plan your schedule. A good idea is to break down each month with specific marketing tasks. Each week schedule time to set up what your main focus is for blog posts, social media posts, meetings and promotions so you can plan ahead. Review this weekly so your month is running smoothly while staying focussed on what is important.
3. Update your website and social media sites
Keep things looking fresh on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin with a new cover image. Take time to spruce up your bio and twitter description. Make it a New Year’s resolution to be more involved on your social media sites – or, if you don’t have time, hire a reputable social media service to help you.
4. Learn something new
During the winter months is a great time to read up on new business skills and tips. Go to a class or take one online to help boost your knowledge and technology skills. Set aside time to do research at least once a week to stay on top of the trends and the latest apps that could benefit you.
5. Go out and network
A great way to refresh your networks is to go out and mingle with those business contacts that you might have lost touch with over the years. This also gives you a chance to meet new folks and new business contacts.
6. Write your top 10 goals for this year and post them where you can see them
Typically we write out goals and leave them on our desk to be lost in all our paperwork. Sadly, we often don’t find them to the end of the year. What helps is to have them right in front of you so that way you can’t ignore them. The more you see them, the more it will remind you to keep working on them.
7. Listen while you work
If you want to have good company while you work then try listening to podcasts, webinars, and Ted Talks. Think of it as a good way to multi-task to keep that New Year’s motivation going.
8. Say yes and no more
In business, it’s important to balance your yes’s and no’s. Say yes to what scares you and to the things you’ve been putting off. Say yes to promoting yourself more. Say no to the things that you really don’t want to do and to the things that do not benefit your business. Say no to the things that waste your time and energy. Say yes to the best year yet!
Happy New Year from The GDC Group!