The internet is playground of ideas.
There are all sorts of great ideas being tossed back and forth among people at any time. Forums, blogs, skype groups, masterminds, friends, even competitors’ websites–it can be a constant struggle to wade through it all. Remember: ideas are only as useful as what their thinkers do with them. To make those ideas useful and tangible, it is important – and necessary – to have a well thought-out plan for how you want that idea to manifest.
It can be hard to get to your goals.
The way to do that is to lay out exactly what your ultimate goal is and exactly what you need to get to your goal. Instead of reading another blog post or making another forum post, lay out your plan. After you’ve laid out your plan clearly, and you have the tools you need for the plan, you can then carefully execute the plan and make changes along the way if needed.
I have a really simple process for how to get this done with most simple goals. Let’s go through each step in the process!
The Ultimate Goal
Let’s say your idea’s goal is to help you build your twitter or Facebook account with content that is useful and valuable to your followers. For us, that means giving useful tech/UBot Studio related news every day or two and continuing to update regularly. By stating that goal, you can start making plans towards that goal. A clear goal will ensure that the result you get is the result you want.
Write Out a Plan
Write down the exact steps you need to take to get to your goal.
In this case, you will need to find and gather great content on topics that are relevant to your twitter or Facebook audience. (We do this every day, and you can see the result at www.facebook.com/LikeUBot.) After doing so, you want to place that content on your twitter or Facebook account. You might need tools to help you gather all the content you need, store the content and then post the content to the appropriate twitter or Facebook account. The tools you use to accomplish your goal are going to determine how fast your plan is executed and how well it is executed.
Get to Know Your Tools
So you’ve found some tools that might help you with your processes. Research their features and figure if the tools have what you need for your processes. Be specific about exactly how the tool can help you. (We use Hootsuite for managing Social Media.)
What feature in the tool will allow you to find your content? (To find content, we use tech news sites, twitter, and tumblr to find relevant news items, and then of course we think about commonly asked questions in support and on the forum to help write interesting UBot Studio-related posts and updates.)
What feature in the tool will save the content after the content has been found? (Hootsuite lets you save content for future dates.)
What specific feature in the tool will help you post the content to facebook or twitter? (Autosaving login data and calendars for automated posting makes taking a day off here and there really easy!)
Execute Your Plan
Success!
Put your plan into action and observe the results. (I recommend starting without tools, and then when you find yourself needing them, grab the one that best suits your needs. This is because it’s hard to know what your needs are until you build up an actual history of trying to accomplish your goal and saying, “I really wish I had something to help me do this!“) You might need to make changes along the way in terms of what content resonate better with your audience. A great idea is adaptable and changeable. Be ready to study the results of the steps you’ve taken and make changes as you go. The world, especially the internet world, changes everyday, and as a result you will need to revisit your plan and make sure you are using the latest tools and methods to meet your objective.
Remember that all ideas are just ideas, unless you take action. And though taking action is commendable, having a well thought out plan will determine how much your idea grows into something valuable and tangible. Remaining flexible and being willing to make changes to your plan along the way will make sure your plan remains solid and you get closer to your goal.
– Lilly
