SMART Goal Settings

What Are S.M.A.R.T. Goals?

SMART goals are different from your general goal setting! Basically, SMART goal can be drilled down to specific action steps. These action steps must be measurable with mini action steps. So that you can track the result overtime. Smart goals are designed in a way for everyone to easily track your desired outcome yet given the flexibility for one to adjust the progress according to your needs.

SMART Goal Can Be Defined as Below:

S: SPECIFIC: Your goal has to be as specific as possible and you have to clearly know what is the desired outcome you have in mind.
M: MEASURABLE: Your goal has to be measurable and clear enough so you can track it with your desired delivery.
A: ATTAINABLE: Your goal has to be achievable. So make sure you are not setting something that is beyond your reach.
R: REALISTIC: Your goal has to be realistic not something beyond original doubt.
T: TIMELINESS: Your goal is bound by deadline in a timely matter. So you can take appropriate measurement and evaluate the outcome.

Why SMART Goal Setting is Important For Any Businesses?

Smart goal setting is the fundamental success formula in any business you choose to involve with. Regardless you are running offline business or online business. You always need to start with a clear goal in mind. A clearly defined and well executed smart goal enables you to properly track your progress back up by appropriate tools and methods of measurement.

A SPECIFIC SMART Goal for Internet Marketer:

Specific Example:
– Achieving $4,000 monthly passive income goal in 90 days by driving daily traffic to my website!

In this example, your goal is very specific. Instead of saying “I want to make money online”. You goal is clearly defined(achieve monthly passive income), bound by time frame(90 days), and can be measured by revenue objective (4k) and action steps (daily traffic).

After setting a specific goal, the next questions you have for yourself will be:

• What are you going to do with it?
• Why is it important to do so?
• How are you going to accomplish it?

These Questions Lead to MEASUREMENT Methods:

Typically, I like to break down my SMART goal into mini action steps. Lets said to make $4k in 90 days from now, what action steps are needed?

Checklist: How much traffic do I need to send to my website to earn $4k per month?

• Lets said you send 100k visitors to your website, estimated 10% will see your offer (10,000 visitors)
• Perhaps another 10% will click on your offer/link (1,000 clicks)
• Another 10% will buy from you (100 people)
• Lets said your product is $40 dollars per transaction x 100 people, that equal to $4000

 

So, to send 100k visitor per month is going to cost you lots of money. It will be wise to break down your 90 days goal into 30/60/90 mini action plans. So, every month, you will have a fair chance to evaluate the progress before you burn all your money and also give you enough flexibility to readjust your objective while needed.

In this example, every 30 days, you will have to drive 33k visitors per month evenly to your website in order to achieve the projected outcome. Once you have the estimated number, you then narrow down further by asking yourself these questions:

• How much money can I spend on a weekly basis?
• How much traffic should I get in a week to achieve the outcome?
• Should I go for free traffic, paid traffic or both?
• What further measurement should I take to evaluate the result?

 

One practical step I take every time is always work your goal backwards. In that way, you will walk away with a better picture.

Example: In order to make $4000 per month 90 days from now, what should I be doing each month, then each week, then each day to accomplish the tasks. Make sense?

How ATTAINABLE is Your Goal?

Bear in mind, your smart goals have to be achievable not too board and difficult to meet. The following checklists will help:

• What skills are needed? eg – Basic internet skills
• What resources are necessary and how do you get them? eg – You need a course, a mentor, an email list (recommended Aweber)to kick start
• How does the environment impact your goal outcome? eg – how many hrs you need per day to make it happen?
• Does the goal require the right amount of effort? eg – how much effort is really needed before you get your first sales?

How REALISTIC is Your Goal?

Don’t expect to set a million dollars goal if you think that is too tough to achieve. Bear in mind, your goal MUST always align with your overall objective. Start Small, then move forward and make a bigger goal when you achieve your very first goal.

Time-Bound (TIMELINESS of Your Goal)

When is the deadline for your goal and make sure the deadline is attainable and realistic. Your goal has to be timely. That being said you must set a deadline and strike to meet the goals you set for yourself.

In Closing

Setting SMART goals enable you to closely monitor your progress and track the outcome of your jobs. Regardless what businesses you are involving with, I strongly recommend you to set a smart goal and go from there.

When you achieve your goal, don’t forget to reward yourself to keep the motivation going. The rewards don’t have to be fancy, it can be something like a nice dinner, a bottle of red wine etc:)

In a nutshell, profit in business is always attainable with proper smart goal objective in place combined with the right proper resources, tools and action steps. I hope this article helps you in your goal setting effort. Feel free to tweet and share this post if you find it helpful.