This the second post in my series of posts about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. It is my slant on each of the habits, and how each relates to being a small business owner. To read the whole series, click here.
Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind
Planning is a huge part of any success in your small business.
But planning can often lead to confusion, because people often start at the beginning.
Consider this: you want to build your subscriber list.
You can set a goal to start building your list, but that won’t be the only thing you need to do. Knowing what you want people to do when they come into your ‘funnel’ is only half of what you need to think about. And starting with that goal is great, but it won’t get you moving forward.
You need to think about what you want the outcome to be. You know that you want them to them to do, every step of the way. So you start with the end in mind.
Where are they coming in to your funnel? What do you want them to do as their eventual conversion? Probably become a client of some kind. Great. So then work back from there – how will you move them along your funnel … and what do you want them to do in the meantime?
Once you start to think about your steps, you will realize that there are many ‘ends’ along the way to them as they move through your funnel. Consider all of them.
A sample intake might be:
Sign up for your free report on your website
Connect with you on social media, start developing relationship with you
Start receiving your newsletter for regular communication
Move them into a free video series
Move them into an entry level product purchase
Continue to track interest and build relationship with them
Move them to a higher level product purchase
… and so on.
There are many levels – and some people might go directly to the higher level stuff, but most people will not.
So look at each step of your funnel and think about what you want the end goal of each campaign to be. Then work back to build the steps so that you are guiding them to do what you want them to do. And connect each section of your funnel with transition pieces that make sense.
Working from the end back is a smart way to build a strong, functional funnel that converts your prospects.
I’d love for you to share your insights about beginning with the end in mind on my Facebook page.
