One Year Ago Today…. and One Year From Now

By: Sandi Krakowski

Our family is packing up and getting ready to head back to the beautiful island of Maui! We were there for 8 days in May of this year for the first time and fell in love!  This time we're going for 13 glorious days! My next newsletter to you will be written from the sun and the amazing tropics. 🙂 

As I began to review how taking vacations was something new for our family, let alone going to Maui twice in one year…. I was reminded of where we were one year ago today. And inspired…. to bring before God.. where I want to be, one year from now.

One Year Ago Today

We had sold out our coaching program and sold out our live event in Dallas, TX.

Things were growing fast and furious and I was so ready for it all!

At that time I had 3 people working with me and we knew things were going to kick into overdrive.  And they did.

One year ago next week I was in a hospital with my then 15 year old son. He had a horrible case of mono and more than 200 sores in his mouth. We didn’t come home until the day before Christmas.

Because of the way our company had been built, no one suffered, orders weren’t behind and our clients were sending us hundreds of letters with prayers, best wishes and support.

Healthy and HAPPY Bobby THIS year!

My goodness, it was a wonderful life! All of you had impacted me so deeply I had no idea it could get any better.

I was in for a big surprise.

Today, we have 13 people on our team and several are moving into full time in January.  I am surrounded on a daily basis by some of the most competent and capable people I know.

One year ago I was 53 pounds heavier. Today, I'm a new me because of challenges that turned me into a stronger Champion!

I didn’t look bad last year…. but baby, a size 8 (almost 6) sure is a different life from a size 14!  A year ago today Alan was only home on vacation for 5 days and then he headed back to 50 hours per week.

Today, Alan works at home, spends hours every week with our guys, drives me on a lot of errands and has nights free without exhaustion or stress.

It’s a wonderful life!

Let’s go through a one year check together and let’s see where you are:

December 2010

Here we go, let’s review-

How big was your list?

Look at where you are today, divide that by 12 and see how many people you added to your list this past year.

Now, set a quantifiable goal of how many you will add to your list in the next 12 months. 

How many people did you have following you on Facebook?

Look at where you were this time last year and where you are today. Again, divide by 12 and have some fun, divide into 30 and see how many you are adding to your following per day.

Set a quantifiable goal for how many you want to add in the next 12 months. 

How many people did you have following you on Twitter?

Look at where you were this time last year and where you are today. Again, divide by 12 and have some fun, divide into 30 and see how many you are adding to your following per day.

Set a quantifiable goal for how many you want to add in the next 12 months.

Your list of clients on your email list is not the same as your list of clients who follow you on social media. They are a list, in both places, but the response will be different in each. So be prepared to market to each differently. 

How many hours were you working at this time last year?

And be honest with yourself, I don’t mean how many hours researching and editing and alphabetizing and chatting on Facebook.  I mean how many hours were you spending last year doing things that make you money verses how many hours you WILL spend in your business this year making money?

How many hours do you want to work next year? Map it out.

Here’s a big one- did you have any help last year?

One of the biggest changes that will come to any business is when the CEO stops doing everything on their own.

Now listen, I have worked as the owner of multiple eCommerce businesses, a freelance copywriting firm, a marketing biz and more. Yes, I realize there are many things that I can do myself. But to get to where you and I need to go in our business we cannot do it alone.

I recently had a Diamond member tell me that they paid someone for 19 hours of work and it was glorious! Especially because he would have taken 91 hours to get the same amount of tasks done!

Outsource.

Have you ?

Will you outsource in 2012?  Map it out!

What was your marketing budget in 2011?

If you don’t have one, that explains a lot of things. No marketing budget means no business, regardless of how often you blog, post on social media and the like! 

What will be your marketing budget in 2012? 

I recommend you start with $ 300-500 per month and work form there. Our goal is recoup that instantly, put back into marketing campaigns and live off the rest. Each month it will increase. I’ve seen it over and over again with thousands of our clients.

My friends, we have to do things differently, every single year, if we want a different result.

Some things we need to do away with. Some things, we need to repeat and repeat again but do them just a tad differently to increase results. The important key to having a life that we enjoy, thrive in and can love and impact the world through is to determine where we want to be, long before we ever arrive there.  

I invite you to review your last year, create a piece of paper on which you list all the GREAT things that you've done and experienced! Then put it up in your office with the words, "Great job 2011!" on it!  

Also, take a piece of paper where you write out the things that were NOT so great on it. Then take it outside, tell it goodbye and burn it. Say, "Good bye mistakes of 2011!"  

2012 will be here before we know it.

Through tears I want to say to each one of you personally… I'm honored and blessed to be spending it with you!

With love,
Sandi Krakowski