A Success Strategy for Online Entrepreneurs

When it comes to creating a success strategy for your business, it seems like an obvious thing to do. After all, how are you going to achieve those business goals if you don’t know what direction to take and what path to follow?  

As an online entrepreneur, it’s easy to fall into the trap of imitating the model of big business. Large, successful businesses use the ancient Greek strategy of “winning.” Greek military generals devised battle plans that are less about their enemies and more about a strategy of how they are going to win.

The “winning” marketing strategy has traditionally been one of analysis, planning, and execution in order to be more competitive in size and profits. However, as an online entrepreneur, you need to start with a different strategy.

You don't need a strategy to win. You need a strategy to be successful. Click To Tweet

As an online entrepreneur, you don’t need a strategy to win. You need a strategy to be successful.

How to Find Your Success Strategy

A Strategy Is Not —

a description of intent. It’s common to find a strategy describe mission statements, objectives and action steps.

Strategy as a mission statement – create an online marketing experience that is hassle-free across multiple software platforms.  

Strategy as objective – shorten time to respond to customer inquiries.

Strategy as action step – improve customer tracking with the purchase of a new cloud-based program.

A Strategy Is  —

a path, a road map, a blueprint of how you are going to get to a successful outcome.

A Strategy Is Not  —

for everything you want your business to be.

A Strategy Is  —

about defining what your business does and does not do. Ideally, it separates you out from others by what you do best.

A Strategy Is Not  —

a strategy to be applied to every situation in the same way.

A Strategy Is  —

a flexible approach to meet the particular circumstances of a situation.

You Want Your Success Strategy To Be —

You want your strategy to be a birds-eye view that tells you the right direction and the right path so you can plan accordingly.

Here’s an example of the kinds of strategy questions you can ask yourself. 

What’s  your business and the market opportunity you want your business to be in?

For instance, you want to write and sell e-books on Amazon. Your business is educational and a market opportunity is book creation and publishing.

What are your options for reaching your market?

Options:  social media, video marketing, book clubs, PR releases, distribution networks, promotion networks, etc.

What are the resources and assets you have access to?

Resources/Assets: experience as a writer publishing online, use Scrivener as a writing organizer, and familiar with Kindle publishing.

What personal capabilities and skills do you bring?

Capabilities/Skills: good at doing research, organizing, and simplifying complex subjects.

What obstacles or resistance should you anticipate?

Obstacles/Resistance: easily interrupted and side tracked, a busy to-do-list, and prone to procrastination when stuck.

What don’t you have that you need to get?

Missing: Motivation and time management skills, coach, and support group.

Your strategy is the big picture where you look at how the answers to these questions affect your success outcome.  Once you have a clear idea of what your business is and isn’t, has and doesn’t have and its strengths and weaknesses, then you’re ready to create effective goals, objectives, and actions steps to get you to where you want to be.

You can ignore this strategy step and jump right into actions mode if you want. But, know that the kind of success you get may not be the kind of success you want.

What’s your strategy for making your business successful?

Resources:

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/develop-strategies/main

Images: Commons wikemedia.org