In part 1 of this series we talked about the importance of having specific and deliberate steps in place to ensure that you’ll make the kind of money you’d like this year. We also talked about reviewing last years plan to see if you had planned properly in relation to the end result you hoped to achieve.
You see, most people only plan a couple of weeks in advance, with the majority looking forward only to the next day! If you haven’t planned out exactly what you’re going to do week by week for the entire year, how is there any way to know whether or not you are going to hit your income goal for the year? The answer: You’re Not!
But you ask, “How in the world am I going to know what I need to do on a specific day 3 months from now?” Its much easier than it sounds. You’re not going to know all of the small tasks that are going to pop up, however you should know your key activities that provide you with money making opportunities. Those are the actions you need to have specifically planned for the entire year.
To ensure your success you should be able to look at your calendar and know exactly what money making activity is taking place at any point in 2008. If you don’t, then your just working to make a buck tomorrow and hoping the money will come the next day. So, for example, if my goal is to buy4 houses this month and I would like to have them renovated and on the market within 60 days, I should have on my calendar the exact activities on specific days that I am going to do the activities that will bring me those deals. That might be putting together a post card mailing to farm a neighborhood for deals, searching for bank owned properties every Tuesday & Thursday, or putting out signs to buy houses every Friday.
Once you have each deal, your crew should be alerted to the date they must complete the project by, and you should also have each marketing step outlined so your ready to market the property the day it’s complete. These are simple examples, however they are often overlooked even by experienced investors. Following are 4 easy steps to follow to keep your success on track:
4 Simple Steps for Maximum Success in 2008
1. Determine precisely what it is you want to accomplish for the year, for example, income of $300,000, and write it down.
2. Block half a day for focus time, and write out exactly what it will take to get there, considering marketing costs, time, people and any other necessary resources.
3. Print out a blank calendar of each month for the entire year, and deliberately plan the key money making activities that you know you must accomplish that will get you to #1. Do it all the way through the last week of the year. Now you have your entire marketing calendar for the year!
4. MOST IMPORTANT: Put deadlines on every task, project, and marketing piece! This is the only way you will get the job done! The time alloted for a project contracts or expands based on the deadline you give it. Whether you give a task a longer or shorter timeline, it will take that long either way! If you don’t give it a deadline at all, it will probably never get done.
Following your new roadmap each day and working to your deadlines is the quickest way to become a master implementer, which consequently will mean big profits. Of all of the successful people I know, all of them use timelines/dealines on every task they have. All the way down to time limits for phone calls. If you don’t use strict, enforced deadlines on your goals, tasks, and activities, your time will expand for the task and it will not get done. Using these 4 steps in a calculated and deliberate manner will help you reach your goals this year!
An easy way to get into the habit of working on specific timelines is to have a daily planner that is formatted in 15-minute blocks. If you plan and work your tasks in 15 minute intervals you’ll be amazed at you much you get accomplished each day.
Until next time,
Adam
