Have you evaluated how your internet business is doing lately? Make no mistake, it may be that the good or bad fruits of your recent management have not yet manifested themselves. Furthermore, the Internet is changing at a dizzying rate. If you are not worried about constantly being in tune with your market, chances are you will fall behind without even realizing it. Learn 5 key guidelines for regular self-assessment or "Reality Check".
In life we are usually so hell-bent on moving forward with our plans that we overlook a very important aspect of it: a critical self-assessment of what we are doing and what we have accomplished.
If an emergency situation does not emerge, we simply assume that everything is going well and continue to focus on our plans for the future.
The problem is that many times it is assumed that things are going well, because the fruits of poor management have not yet manifested themselves. The result is a mediocre Internet business that will never reach its true potential.
So it is important to do a management evaluation, or a "Reality Check", on a regular basis. If not, you will encounter some very unpleasant surprises along the way and you will be easy prey for your competition.
In the case of an Internet business it is vital. Do not be mistaken in believing that if you meet certain basic requirements, you are assured of success. Each business on the web has its own dynamics, its own clientele, its own market and its own competition.
Furthermore, the Internet is changing at a dizzying rate. What worked today will be obsolete tomorrow. If you are not worried about constantly being in tune with your market, chances are you will fall behind without even realizing it.
Five key guidelines for a regular "Reality Check":
1. Be open to criticism
In order to receive suggestions and criticism, you must be open to them. Determine to be brutally honest with yourself and don't take criticism as personal assault.
If you are not willing to pay attention to the first signs of error, you will discover that the laws of the market are relentless and will tell you the harsh truth without being so careful with your feelings.
2. Implement automatic analysis systems
On the Internet it is very easy to do. Google has a free analysis system and will send you information about your site regularly if you are registered with it. (GoogleAnalytics.com)
Other useful tools are Alexa and Page Rank, which are faithful indicators of the progress of your website (or the lack of it).
3. Ask your customer
Your client is the one that can best evaluate your management. Take regular surveys to find out if your products and / or services are really meeting your needs and if they have obtained the desired results. A well-known online survey tool (Spanish version) is: es.surveymonkey.com.
You can also implement systems that allow you to find out why people are withdrawing from your programs or returning your products. A good autoresponder can do that.
4. Keep up to date with what your competition is doing
Subscribe to your competitor's newsletters and buy some products to study your marketing strategies.
Then ask yourself:
• Are you adding more value to your products?
• Are there any needs that they do not supply and that you can offer?
• Are they opening up to a new market that you had not considered?
• What are your advertising strategies?
• What can you offer that will set you apart from them?
5. Have your mind open to hear from God
We have at our disposal a mechanism that allows us to do a "Reality Check" of all our thoughts, motivations, actions, and decisions. The good thing is that this source of constant orientation and self-evaluation is capable of preventing our mistakes when they are managed, since it operates from our hearts.
It is the voice of God that speaks to us daily. To some it may sound too mystical, but the truth is that hearing from God can become the most natural thing in your life. We are made in His image and we are created to live our lives together with Him.
In Romans 8:14 it says that all of God's children are led by the Holy Spirit. In verse 16 he says that he speaks to us as an internal witness.
If you are about to make an important decision, draw close to God and listen to that inner voice. It will save you a lot of unnecessary trouble.
