Vision boards are often used in the network marketing industry. A vision board is a collage of images, pictures and photos that depict your goals, dreams and desires. The purpose of the vision board is to help you visualize your goals, and as you look at it daily, to motivate you to work towards achieving them.
A more traditional way to ensure you are working towards your goals is to write a business plan. A business plan serves as the blueprint for how you will operate your business. Traditional business operators need to have a business plan to seek investors or get a loan to jumpstart their enterprises. Even though network marketers do not require investors or loans to get started in selling products and offering the business opportunity to others, having a solid business plan is beneficial: It provides a timeframe and guideline as you grow your current organization, and it provides direction for every business decision you make going forward.
A business plan is an effective means of defining your network marketing goals and the steps needed to reach them. It spells out your purpose, vision and means of operation. It also serves as a roadmap that you may share with your new team members—explaining your weekly, monthly and annual objectives to your immediate downline. A good network marketing business plan clearly states the amount of income you expect to generate from sales, the type of sales (enrollment packs, retail sales, personal purchases, etc.) you need to qualify for the bonuses you want to earn, the number of people you will approach consistently and how many new enrollees you need per month to qualify for rank advancements and special promotions.
As your goals are met and new ones are set, be sure to amend your business plan to reflect them. Updating your business plan periodically allows you to see how well you’re doing or whether you need to step it up. Your business plan serves as your reality check—seeing the steps you want or need to take, written down, helps you remember what to do, when to do them and who you need to contact for meetings, calls and follow-ups.
Your business plan helps you prepare for the future, because it outlines your goals, even as they transform from rank to rank or month to month. Since the power of duplication is what ensures success in network marketing, when you show your downline how to write similar business plans and share them with their enrollees, you are virtually guaranteed to run a streamlined organization.
As we approach the end of 2015, if you haven’t written a business plan for 2016, now is the ideal time to do so!