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Looking for a book that can impact your business for the better? Look no more, as I have found the perfect book to kick off the new year! This book will help you scale and grow your business. Keep reading to find out what I learned and how I applied it to my business for success.
The 12-Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others do in 12 Months
The New York Times Bestseller from Brian P. Morman and Michael Lennington helped me and my business prosper! The 12 Week Year takes a new approach to organization and goal-reaching. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. It creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end, more important stuff gets done, and the impact on the results is profound. The book does the following:
Explains how to leverage the power of a 12-week year to drive improved results in any area of your life
Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness
Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation
For example, let's say you own your mug company. A 12-month goal would be to sell over 1,000 of your newly designed mugs to make a profit of $30,000. On top of the best-seller mugs, you already have. In using the 12-week approach, you would rearrange that goal so that it is more attainable and trackable. Your new goal would be to sell 50 new mugs at the end of each week. That would mean that you would need to sell an average of 7 mugs, which is very doable day. Especially if you combine selling online and in person at pop-up events and farmers' markets.
For other books, check out my Tik Tok on three books to read before we conclude 2022.
How to Grow Business
This book is a great tool to utilize to grow your business successfully. The authors mention two techniques you can apply to scale your business.
Time Blocking: This is the practice of planning your day using time blocks. For Example, if you choose two hours for business planning, those two hours will STRICTLY be for mapping your business. This can be in creating a product, educating yourself, or improving your business.
Strategic Blocks: A strategic block is a 3-hour block of uninterrupted time scheduled each week. Once every week, you focus all your energy on pre-planned tasks.
Buffer Blocks: These periods support your goals but are usually unplanned and/or low value, like emails or phone calls.
Breakout Blocks: This is about taking time off, even daily, to relax and do things unrelated to your goals. This could be going for a walk, watching a movie, or just stalking people on social media (kidding, hopefully, you don't do that). If this is scheduled on your calendar, you know that if you finish your important tasks, you will eventually be gratified.
Delegate a team: Finding people you can delegate your work to will lift a heavy weight off your shoulders. You can focus on your productivity because you won't have to do small (but important) things like responding to emails, talking on the phone, or getting distracted with random tasks. You can find workers on Fiverr or Upwork for an affordable price and have them work anywhere from one day out of the week.
When we hear the word "team," we usually think full-time or part-time, but there are plenty of platforms like the ones mentioned above that can help you find reliable workers for any amount of hours. Start small and work your way up. That way, you will be delegating your task efficiently.
Get Specific
To grow your business, you need to be specific about your goals. A good way to do this is to curate 1-3 goals in 3 months. This makes your goals easier to track and measure than in 12 months. This is the perfect time to practice as we are approaching the new year, so start with three goals!
Establish Weekly Accountability Meetings (WAMs)
WAM is a time to reflect with an accountability partner about your week's goals, success (big and small), challenges, and lessons learned from the challenges. You can find an accountability partner the same way you would find a mentor. Using your connections or networking and meeting with new people who may have experience in your field of business. These weekly meetings will keep you transparent and always working towards your goals. They are also a:
Great way to create a community
Way to get advice
Support system
Way to increase the likelihood of reaching goals
At Ruth Sherrill Marketing Services, we have consistently used the 12-week year strategy and have seen lots of success, like being featured in Business Insider!
Now you have a great new book for the New Year and tips to scale and grow your business. Share and pin this post with others that will find it helpful! Ruth Sherrill Marketing Services is a marketing agency that specializes in helping business owners create profit and nurture an audience through shareable and informative content. Keep up with us on our socials by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok!