I always get stuck on this. I study analytics, I figure out my next move, I take action and measure the results. I’m good at this and I like it. I do well with my business because I am analytical and enjoy analytics. I do well because I work hard and have vision, plan and take action. But, in my quest for growth, I tend to lose track of the long-term picture. The long-term baffles me. As a child, I had grandiose long-term strategies about how I would become a multi-billionaire like Warren Buffet, dominate industry, and be world famous. It didn’t quite work out like that although I am famous in my tiny industry. I am loved by some and despised by others because I implement policies for advertising that affect other people’s lives! But, I un an advertising site, so that is my prerogative!
As a realistic adult, it is harder to look at the long run. As a child, we think that life will go the way we plan it to go. We reject the idea that things beyond our control will happen. We don’t understand that relationships can ruin our lives, or that illness can cripple us. We are oblivious to the fact that an uncontrollable turn in the market can reduce our income to pennies overnight. As an adult, my problem is that I know to much, and have been through too much. I have lost my ability to be unrealistically optimistic. But, I need to look to the long term future. I need to envision some realistic ways that my business could grow and blossom into something bigger. Growth is the goal of any business (or Twitter account) and I want mine to grow.
Since I run directories, the only way to grow is to start new directories which is relentlessly time consuming and expensive. Dealing with programmers is nearly impossible these days as they are all overloaded and completely irresponsible. To get ahead these days you need good social media, and I am already spending half of my time on blogs and social media. If I try to hire others to help me with these tasks, their performance is usually so dismal that they get fired right away. Going into the unknown to grow is the problem.
I decided upon a solution for long-term growth of my outsourcing directory. I decided to go from writing 15 blog articles a month to 80. I meditated on this business problem while at the beach, and of all of the various solutions to the growth problem that I pondered, this was the one that would have the greatest results in the next year. I have never written so many blog articles before. This is going out on a limb into a new work strategy. Will the new help I hire do a good job? Should I use my existing people? Will I even have time to do half this amount of writing? I guess this little experiment will unfold. I’ll become almost a full-time blog writer. Wish me well.
Do you have a long-term strategy for your business’ growth over the next ten years. I think that both of us should meditate on this reality!