Hi Isyaias,
You've learned some powerful tips throughout this course. Our final thoughts
center on how to keep yourself and your business tuned up and one step ahead
of the game.
1. Never stop learning. Education is one of your primary weapons
2. Never stop innovating and try new approaches
3. Continually seek out new contacts and partnerships
4. Create new and ever larger goals
Step #4 just might be the most important of them all.
There are three levels of vision to attend to: your short term goals, medium
term goals and long term goals.
Your short term goals take care of immediate, day-to-day tasks: returning
those phone calls or getting that advertising campaign up and running.
Medium term goals are usually measured in months. How much new business do
you want to bring in this quarter? In the next 6 months? Long term goals
speak to your vision and your purpose in life. How large will this business
become?
Do you ever want to sell it off and retire? Can you imagine running this
business 5 years down the line? How does that feel?
Planning does more than just guide you into the immediate future - it gives
you a safety net. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes the economy falls flat
in your industry. Unexpected changes in health or personal life can alter
your ability to continue on with your business.
As they say, "when you fail to plan, you plan to fail".
It's also very important to stay in the know about the latest marketing tactics
and traffic generation options. Your role as a business owner is similar to
that of other professionals like doctors and lawyers. Lifelong education is
paramount to maintaining your business. There are always new skills to add
to your arsenal.
Let's look at traffic generation as an example. It seems like the rules of
the game are always changing, doesn't it? For a while, search engine
optimization is all the rage. When that becomes too much of a challenge for
the average business, new avenues like pay-per-click marketing open up.
While everyone rushes out to clog up that advertising opportunity, the
discarded tools of the past like banner advertising begin to regain value
on select internet properties. It's like a shell game where everyone jockeys
for position on the latest trends.
The best thing to do is find the tools that work for you.
Stay informed about the latest developments affecting your advertising
channels. There are a lot of great, comprehensive sites which specialize in
tracking these changing currents:
Search Engine Watch - http://www.searchenginewatch.com
This site is a treasure chest of any and everything related to searching and
search engines. You can get lost for hours picking up tips from this site!
Pay Per Click Analyst (http://www.payperclickanalyst.com)
Bills itself as an unbiased review of the top Pay Per Click Search Engines
offering up to date Pay Per Click News, Fresh Reviews and Helpful Articles
by Industry Leaders.
Revenue Magazine - http://www.revenuetoday.com
Revenue magazine is available by subscription both online and offline.
The publication is relatively new and focuses exclusively on issues affecting
performance marketing.
Last but not least, WebmasterWorld Forums - http://www.webmasterworld.com
This is worth a look and a subscription. This is real, in-the-trenches stuff.
You'll find webmasters and site owners from every corner of the globe
discussing the latest traffic developments.
Stay focused, proactive and positive - and you'll be well on your way to
making money online!
To your success,
Martin
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