Every year around this time, I start thinking about goals for the coming year. I have been doing this since 2008, back when my internet marketing work was a serious hobby that I squeezed in late at night after my family went to sleep. Seventeen years later, the habit of annual planning is one of the most important disciplines I have maintained.
If you follow my story, you know that I have always been a part-time entrepreneur. During the day I worked in the semiconductor industry, designing the chips that power the devices you use every day. At night, I built websites, grew email lists, and eventually launched the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast. That dual life taught me something important: when your time is limited, planning is not optional. It is essential.
Why Planning Season Matters
Right now, companies all over the world are finalizing their plans for the coming year. They are setting budgets, defining objectives, and aligning their teams around measurable goals. If Fortune 500 companies think planning is worth the effort, your one-person internet business deserves the same attention.
The difference between people who make progress and people who spin their wheels is usually not talent or resources. It is clarity. When you know exactly what you are working toward, every late-night session becomes more productive because you are not wasting time figuring out what to do next.
How to Set Goals That Actually Drive Results
Over the years, I have learned that vague goals are worse than useless because they give you the illusion of direction without actually providing any. Here is what separates a real business goal from a wish.
Make it specific. “Grow my email list” is a wish. “Reach 5,000 email subscribers by December 31” is a goal. You need a number and a date. Without those, you have no way to measure progress and no urgency to take action.
Make it measurable. If you cannot track it, you cannot improve it. Every goal should have a metric attached to it. Revenue, subscribers, published posts, podcast downloads, products launched. Pick something you can count.
Set a deadline. A goal without a deadline is just a dream. The deadline creates accountability and forces you to work backward from the end date to figure out what you need to do each month, each week, and each day.
Keep it realistic but challenging. Your goals should make you uncomfortable but not delusional. If you have 200 email subscribers today, aiming for 200,000 by next year is fantasy. Aiming for 2,000 is ambitious but achievable with consistent effort.
My Goal-Setting Framework for Part-Time Entrepreneurs
Here is the simple framework I use every year. I pick three to five focus areas and set one measurable goal for each.
- Audience growth: How will you grow your email list, podcast audience, or social media following?
- Content creation: How many blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos will you publish?
- Revenue: What is your income target from your online business?
- Product development: What new products or services will you create and launch?
- Skills: What new capability will you develop that makes everything else easier?
You do not need goals in all five areas. Three focused goals that you actually pursue are better than ten that sit in a notebook gathering dust.
Accountability Makes the Difference
One of the most powerful things you can do is tell someone your goals. Public accountability changes the game. Share your goals with a business partner, a mastermind group, or even in a public forum. When other people know what you are working toward, you are far more likely to follow through.
Planning season comes around every year. Make the most of it. Set real goals, write them down, tell someone, and then get to work. Your future self will thank you.
For more on building your online business one night at a time, listen to the Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast.
Hey Mark – thanks for this area of motivation! And, a big thanks to you since you helped get me off the sidelines and into the game. Garry Conn is setting up my first authority site – buyhomeblog.com. Another buddy has helped set up affilateincomeonline.com – I’ve written about 4 unique articles, set up 6 blogger websites, and I plan to get 3 adsense niche sites set up in the first qtr. of 2009 with your themes.
Now – I’ve got to set some monetization goals. My goal for the first qtr. of 2009 is to have 5 web sits that bring in a little profit every day and find 5 good products I can monetize with articles and start getting some daily sales. Thanks again.
Kent — that is excellent. It is amazing to me how when people know where they are going they can take steps every day and eventually get there.
Keep it up!
@Kent,
lol… Internet is such a small world. I just sent you a response email regarding buyhomeblog.com. Thanks so much for the business, it is very appreciated.
@Mark,
Awesome post man… Oh the memories of working in the corporate world and having our good old annual goal setting meetings… lol
It’s all fun though… maybe. 😉
You know, one that thing you pointed out in the article is the fact that when you are working in the corporate environment, you have a boss, supervisor, or a territory manager, etc.. to report to. While you are working in that environment, you may think… man, that guy is a butt, or whatever. But still, you do what is required of you and maintain to the standards of performance and work towards advancing in the company etc…
Structure… that is one element that is hard to maintain or achieve when you have your own business. For me, I don’t have that “Jerk of a Boss” breathing down my neck and following up with making sure my goals are coming along through the year.
As much as I hated that aspect of working in the corporate world, ironically after two years of being self-employed, that has become one of the elements I miss the most.
It is very challenging for me as a self-employed business owner to maintain and keep structure. Setting goals easily lose their authenticity because at the time the goals set may have sounded good, but later in time, I may lose interest. And times like that is when typically you’d have something or someone holding you accountable, regardless of how you personally felt about it.
My goals for 2009 are to obviously continue what I have been doing in 2008; however, my aim is to develop a system which allows me to scale my model. By July of 2009 I would like to be in a position to where I am more of a moderator of my operations rather than a worker in my operations.
Creating niche blogs is a very profitable business, but also too it is very time consuming. In 2009 I aim to hire and train a small team who can take over much of the manual work that I do currently day to day.
Doing that will not only allow my business to grow, but it will also free a lot of my time towards building more community driven sites such as my latest, BloggingQuestions.com. I am amazed at how quickly this site is growing and it really motivates me to develop more.
Having more free time away from building niche blogs will allow me more time to do something that I am also very equally skilled in, and that is marketing and promoting. I am the strong ability to drive traffic, but doing so takes time and energy, both of which are constantly consumed by my other obligations.
Needless to say, 2009 indeed will be the most amazing year for me yet with my ventures of making money on the Internet.
Wow Garry — thanks for the great comment.
Scaling is a great idea. Maybe we can work on some automation projects together in 2009 that will help both of us reach our goals.
Regards,
Mark
I hope you reach your goals in 2009. There are some really good comments on this post. Thanks Greg Ellison
Very interesting post, as are some of your other posts. I have bookmarked your great site for future visits.