If you are ready for 2022 to be the most EPIC and PROFITABLE year then this is a must-listen episode for you! In today’s episode of She’s Busy AF, I break down a step-by-step on how to prep for your business in 2022.

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Welcome back to another episode of She’s Busy AF, how to prep your business now for an epic 2022. That is the topic of conversation today. And I know you might be thinking it’s October. It’s not the end of the year, 2022 is still a whole quarter away.

The farther ahead you can get in prepping your business, the following quarter, the better. So that’s why I love this topic. I actually help all my clients do this at the end of Q3, the start of Q4, sometimes as early as the middle of Q3.

Getting Started

Diving into this topic, the first thing you really want to do is start by setting your vision for the rest of the quarter that you’re in right now. So we are currently in Q3. What is your vision for the rest of Q3? Because that is going to dictate how you’re going to start your Q1.

So Q1 2022 – why do you do this? Why am I recommending this? Because it’s not realistic to start a new plan or vision with shorter notice. You’re not going to start prepping for Q1 the last week of Q4. It just doesn’t work like that. You want to have projections. We want to be able to be ahead, and so much prep goes into that.

So the next thing I want you to do is take a look at the last year. So if you have at least a year of business to look back on, no matter how many pivots or changes you made, we’re talking sales, we’re talking marketing and looking at everything you’ve done. What quarters were busiest for you? What products or services had the highest sales and what products and services had the highest profit margin? So I want to break that out for a second.

What quarters were the busiest for you? And by busy, I mean like, look at the time you spent. Look at what efforts you put where in your marketing, and your sales, and in like your actual client work, and try and draw some lines there. What products and services had the highest sales in maybe dollars. One of your specific product pillars had the highest sales. Okay, but did it have the highest profit margin though?

I really want you to draw the line with that as well because just because something had the highest amount of sales doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the right move for your business to keep doing that. Maybe it’s time to innovate. Maybe it’s time to try and plan for the next quarter. How are you going to price those services or restructure how you offer those products or services for the next quarter?

So for example, the first time I ever did this exercise in my business was like three years ago. I looked at everything. We did social media marketing, we did web design and we did graphic design. So I’m just going to stick with those three because we did a lot more than that. But those were the three that we sold the most of. In looking at it we determined we were outsourcing a lot in graphic design. So the profit margin was going to be a little bit tighter there.

You’re paying out more, meaning you’re taking home less. That was the case for us. Then we looked at social media management. It was the same thing. We had workers on the team doing social media management contractors who were helping execute on those campaigns. So again, the profit margin was a little bit lower. The third thing was web design, and web design was something I did a lot of between strategy and actual design.

I just liked doing it. So it was something that was a little bit more hands-on with the clients who were realizing that that was the highest profit margin and the least amount of things we outsourced. So in that, we discovered web designs have the highest profit margin. It had become such an easy sell for us, because in coming in and these clients saying, okay, you know, we need XYZ and we’re realizing, okay, well, you’re gonna need a robust landing page for that.

If we want to drive traffic there for that campaign, it was just easy to say, “Okay, maybe we should talk about a website build too.” So that is what we leaned in more for the following year. We increased our sales by like crazy amounts. So that’s just to give you a snapshot of like, why it’s really important to look back and see like what’s done well to be able to project how you’re going to plan for the next year.

 

Mapping it Out

So once I’ve done that, I map out the next four quarters. So I’ve looked back at the last three quarters of this year. I’ve projected what’s going to happen in Q4 based on where I’m at right now, with contracts, with things I’m going to launch, with things I plan for last year, now I’m going to project into 2022. So let’s talk about how you break this out.

I break each quarter out into three main categories: sales, marketing, and PR, and then team slash operations. So for example, I’m going to break out exactly what I did for my Q1 2022, just to kind of give you that example. So number one, in sales, how is the business going to generate a profit think programs, clients, services, affiliates, think all of those things, right? Then list them out.

So for me, my goal is to book six business and marketing strategy intensives in Q1, quantify that with the sales goal too – so what does six sessions look like? It equals this dollar amount: I want to book two custom websites. I want to add on one more consulting client. I want to have a passive goal for the passive sales I have, for one of my programs in my business. So that’s what sales looks like for me. Break that out by like what different offerings you have in your business that people are going to be able to purchase, then attach a dollar goal to that – that is your plan for Q1.

You might be asking, “Well, what happens, Lauren, if I get to Q2 and I assess and I didn’t hit those numbers?” You were going to adjust accordingly. I’m going to talk also about good, better, best here in a second. So stay with me because we’re throwing a lot of things around right now.

Number two is marketing and PR. So how are you going to get the word out now? You know what products and services you want to offer. How are you going to get the word out? So an example of what that looks like for me, based on what was successful when comparing what worked for me in 2021 – it’s going to be 12 YouTube videos, 12 podcast episodes, 12 blogs, Instagram stories, daily 36, LinkedIn posts, and two media features.

I actually broke those out by month, so saying one per week. But since we are looking at a quarter goal, in quarter projections and quarter like objectives, I aggregated those numbers. So in looking back when I’m in Q2, I’m going to say, “Okay, did I do 12 YouTube videos, 12 podcast, 12 blogs?” Keeping in mind that that that’s going to put some sort of effort towards sales. Then with that, you can go even further. And again, you should.

So what is the strategy and what is the marketing strategy behind those videos? If I’m going to do 12 YouTube videos, probably 80% of those need to have a strong call to action in them for a product or service. It has to do with the sales goal that I have, or they need to be in line with the sales goal. So if I want passive sales of my data-driven money moves course, I know that some of those YouTube videos need to either point to my freebie, which has a funnel into that product, that service. So think about those things too.

The next thing is going to be team and operations. This is the last objective you’re really going to look at, the last category you’re going to look at when setting out your quarter goals. So who is going to help you achieve those goals? Why is this important? This is important because you can’t do everything alone. I don’t think you should have to. You can do everything alone if you really want to, but I always, always, always recommend recruiting support.

So for me, that looks like having a bookkeeper so that I can take a little bit more time off my plate that looks like continuing on with my podcast manager, because that is hours a week I don’t have, and continuing on with my marketing coordinator. I have like my dollar goal set for each. These are people I’m keeping – the bookkeeper is someone I’ll be bringing on in Q1. So maybe begin to start looking ahead and projecting. When are you ready to pull in that support for your business based on your dollar goals? For me that looks like bringing on a bookkeeper in Q1 so I can get about four to five hours back in my month to support my sales and marketing pillars.

 

The Good, Better, Best Method

So a tool I like to use for achieving sales goals is the good, better, best method. This is a method where you have your good goal, your better goal and your best goal. Your good goal is something that is a little less than maybe what you projected for this year, what you are going to end this year with. So let’s just say, I’m going to end this year at a hundred thousand dollars in my business. I’m going to set maybe like a $95,000 goal for next year.

Then I’m going to break that out into quarters and marry that up against the goalsI just set in my business for Q1 through Q4. The better goal is going to be slightly above what you did this year – your best goal is going to be maybe 10 to 15% more than that. This gives you a realistic snapshot of how you can do in your business given the ebbs and flows of what’s going to happen.

I in my business have never had equal quarters in sales. Traditionally speaking, my Q4 has been my slowest season because people aren’t really looking to buy there. This year it’s going to be one of my busiest seasons because I’ve prepped for it. I prepped for this back in Q1, which is why it’s so important to get ahead now. So looking at all of the trends, looking at all of those things that are going to line up to hitting your goals and meeting your objectives for the year.

 

The Lead Tracker

Now, I want to pause for a second and talk about my secret weapon for making sure you can actually hit the goals you’ve set for yourself – that is my lucrative Lead Tracker. When I first started my business, I was fortunate enough to lean into a ton of referral business for business, which was amazing. However, I wanted to start going after certain clients, I wanted to reach a broader audience and I knew it wasn’t smart to rely on referrals alone, but honestly, I had no idea where to start.

I was just getting started with my marketing business and I had a hard time keeping track of people to win as new clients. The issue was this: I was doing a terrible job at tracking leads. This is so important. I realized it was something I had to change, and it started with something as simple as a spreadsheet. So when I started tracking leads, whether it was people I wanted to win or business, that flowed my way. Into the spreadsheet, I noticed I was closing significantly more quality business and business that I actually wanted to do business with. Not to mention because I was tracking these things so diligently I was able to keep clients on for longer, selling them up into retainers for new projects, keeping them around longer. That’s what we want.

So this is why I’ve given a total facelift to the original tracker I used, and still use to this day, and I’m offering it to you for free! So the Lead Tracker changed the way I did business forever, and it allowed me to hit my income goals with ease repeatedly over the last six years and still continues to help me do so. It’s super easy to update, it will help you close more sales and keep track of more prospects and ultimately see your client capacity to help you plan for better sales and marketing strategies. This is really an inclusive, all-in-one tool that is going to elevate the way you do business. So go ahead and grab your copy by heading to the link in the description and dive on in.

All right, and lets jump back in. So the last things you want to prep for to ensure success, ensure you succeed with your plan for the next year, the next quarter – I have a few different tips. So number one is a Google calendar or a calendar, a place where you can come back to and create meetings to assess progress. This is really important. So you’ve set your goals, right? You know what your sales, Marketing, & PR and team goals look like for each quarter, for the year. But you need to assess that – you can’t just set and forget. It’s just like your marketing strategy. You can’t set and forget that either.

You also need to know that, like you’re not going to marry the plan because things are going to change and that’s what happens when you enter this assessment period. You sit down and have a meeting with yourself, with your team – whoever it is, and assess what’s been happening quarter over quarter. Having this plan will essentially give you a vision, but you need to know that things in life can change too.

So allow yourself to be flexible and move things around when and if the time comes. So at the end of each quarter, I have a meeting with myself and then I make my team aware of this, which is my next point. But I have a meeting with myself and I look at sales numbers. I look at how many posts did we send and then marry this up exactly with what was the goal and what were the objectives? After that, I’m able to see where there might have been fall off, which is like so important.

It can tell you so much it can help you read between the lines, it can help you plan for the next quarter. Because that is something that you’re going to have to make up for if you fell behind in one area. Or maybe you might have to pivot and try new things – it’ll tell you where there’s gaps, perhaps in your marketing strategies, in your sales strategies.

This is really important. When you’ve had that meeting, whether it’s with your team or not, you then need to make sure that your team is aware of the plan. So they need to be aware of the plan for 2022, but they also need to be aware of any adjustments you’re going to make, whether or not it directly affects them. At the end of the day, I’ll tell you it does directly affect them. So you want to make them aware of that.

Maybe you include them in those assessment meetings if you’re able to, if you don’t want to share sales numbers, that’s fine, but you need to at least let them know what is the objective. Where is the company headed? What are the goals? For example, I had a meeting with my marketing coordinator this morning and I said, Hey, Q4, we are going all in. I’m pushing a certain opt-in because it leads into this.

With her having an understanding, she knows that some of the things she works on, that those link or that often is going to be included in that, and she knows that there’s a reason. So then she’s able to come back to me and say, :Hey, we haven’t featured this enough” or “Hey, we need to feature it more,” “Hey, I noticed our metrics did a huge increase this month on email subscriptions, because we’ve been talking about this more.” And so she’s on the same page and she understands.

The last thing I want you to do is consider any investments you might want to make and where they might fit into your plan. So that is one thing I don’t have as a category other than team, perhaps. So education could be another category you have when you are planning your pillars.

If that is something that is important to you. For me, it’s important, but I’m not as methodical about when I make those types of investments. It’s usually when I hit a roadblock and I think I need more support. I don’t plan for them in my goals, but I know that that’s something that could come along.

For example, if I want to download a course and learn more about something and further my skills or expertise in one area. If I want to hire a strategist, because let’s just say out of the blue, Instagram changes everything and I don’t have time to sit down and relearn it. Maybe I hire a strategist to come and help me learn that and help me create strategies around that. I am not above hiring someone to help me on things I help my clients with, if that makes sense, because you only know so much, you’re only in this vacuum of information that you further learn more on.

I’m a marketing strategist and I’ve hired a marketing strategist because sometimes you just need that outside perspective on your own business, to be able to tell you what’s the right next move. So big fan of that. But just thinking about it, like hiring a course, creator, joining a program, furthering your professional development. These are all educational aspects, additional investments that you may want to make in your business.

Whether you work that into your goals and objectives or not, it is something to think about. So with that being said, thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Be sure to subscribe on the podcast for weekly tips, just like this, every single Wednesday, I promise you for the rest of the year. I will see you on the next episode of She’s Busy AF.