Find Your Purpose - Part 5 - Strategic Passion Plan
Strategic Passion Plan
OK, so you’ve identified your passion and recognised that the internet is the best vehicle for turning your passion into profits…what next?
Well, you need a plan to turn make your passion profitable. As the old saying goes “fail to plan, plan to fail”. In developing your plan, you need to keep in mind the following principles:
- Profit Potential - Your strategic plan needs to focus on opportunities that have a good profit potential. For example, whilst you may really be passionate about a particular subject you need to be realistic about how many others out their share the same interest. If what you are passionate about is too niche, the chances are that even if you reach a good proportion of your target market, it may still not be enough to generate a good profit.
- Plan for Proficiency – Your strategic plan needs to include activities and milestones related to growing your own skills and competencies e.g. in utilising internet technology and social media to drive a profitable business. Nobody is born with these skills, and whilst the boundless resources on the internet can help you, the sheer range of resources can be quite daunting. Where to start you might ask? Well first and foremost is probably best to get savvy around some of the key technologies you may need to leverage from google Search Engine Optimisation through to the Amazon platform and Social Media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
- From Good to Great – Getting to know the basics of the internet and social media is a good start and will help you on your way to a profitable business – however – if you want to go from good to great, you need to follow this very simple but very effective tip. Where there is a key skill, you want to develop, say, for example, how to brand your company effectively or how to run successfully marketing campaigns follow this tip:
- Find out who the recognised industry expert(s) is/are,
- Find the books they have published on their expert topic
- Read them!
It’s as simple as that, although for many, reading more than the 280 characters allowed in a Twitter tweet seems to be a daunting challenge. But it’s for this very reason that taking the time to be book smart will help you stand out from the crowd and drive your business from good to great. And of course, as well as reading, feel free to also review any Ted Talks events where your chosen expert has spoken or any other sources of their wisdom.
- Mind the Costs – At some point or other its almost inevitable that you will have to invest to earn. Whilst there are many “free” resources available online to help you get started, as a general rule their effectiveness in helping you drive a profitable business is generally linked to their cost. After all, have we not said that you need to add value and provide insight to justify charging for your products and services? Allow time in your plan to research resources and tools that will give your business the most bang for its buck. Start small and as your confidence grows that your venture can be profitable, start investing in the services that will drive the most profitable outcomes whilst reducing the time and effort overhead of managing your business.
You can see how we at Shades 4 Seasons have established our online business by visiting: www.shades4seasons.com.
Coming Next: Part 6 - Producing eBooks as a Moneymaking Passion
