The Power of 90-Day Goals and Tracking Your Success

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a podcast featuring Todd Herman, the creator of The 90 Day Year program. The insights he shared deeply resonated with me, and I felt compelled to share them with my readers regarding making your 90-day goals.

Firstly, let’s talk about the traditional approach to setting goals. Most of us are accustomed to making New Year’s resolutions or yearly goals. We paint a grand vision and hope to achieve it by the end of the year. But Todd introduced a game-changing perspective: Instead of setting yearly goals, why not break them into 90-day sprints? This approach fosters urgency, focus, and an actionable roadmap to achieve those goals.

Another gem of wisdom Todd shared was about business tactics. He mentioned that instead of constantly exploring new tactics to bring in business, we should focus on what’s already working. This might sound like a simple insight, but think about it. In our quest to innovate, we creatives often get carried away with the allure of something new, overlooking the efficacy of the strategies already in place. The result? We end up feeling frustrated, burnt out, and frazzled.

I must admit; I too am guilty of this chase. Always in the pursuit of the ‘next big thing’, I sometimes overlook the gold lying right in front of me.

Reflect on your business for a moment. Have you tracked where your best leads come from? Do you know which of your posts have the highest engagement rates? If not, it’s high time you start.

An actionable step you can take right now is to allocate a 30-minute slot in your calendar, either every Friday or Monday, dedicated solely to track your business’s progress from the previous week. By consistently doing this, you’ll have a clearer picture of what’s working and what’s not.

In my business, every time I receive an inquiry, I document it on my ‘Prospect sheet’. This includes the time of the inquiry and the time I made the first contact. Why? Because as Todd rightly pointed out, “money loves speed.” The quicker you respond (not necessarily schedule a meeting, but at least acknowledge), the more the prospect feels valued and believes you are the right fit for the job.

Also, I ensure I track the origin of every lead. Was it through a client referral or another professional in the trade? All this data, when accumulated and analyzed, offers invaluable insights.

To simplify this process, I organize all this information into a sortable spreadsheet. This gives me a comprehensive view of who referred work to me, the kind of projects I’ve been approached for, and the leads that converted successfully.

The takeaway? Data is POWER. Knowing the specifics of where your business is thriving and which avenues are most fruitful allows you to channel your marketing efforts more effectively. This clarity not only saves time and resources but also boosts results.

As we navigate the intricate journey of business, let’s pledge to embrace the 90-day goal-setting approach and the power of tracking. It’s not always about reinventing the wheel; sometimes, it’s about understanding and leveraging its existing rotations. Anything that offers clarity and ensures better results is indeed an invaluable asset to any business!

Go listen to my podcast on my website at https://pamela-durkin.com/podcast/ or on iTunes here and keep up with my other blog posts.