Small Business & Marketing Planning: With Martha Arifin & Edward Zia (Secret Gift from Awesome Marketing Boot Camp!)

There must be hundreds, if not thousands of different formats for writing Business & Marketing Plans out there.  We have found this part of running a Small Business very painful for the thousands we have worked with over the years – but we have a simple answer to this problem!

The big issue with writing Business & Marketing Plans (which I once fell for some years ago) is that we find some over-complex template, spend weeks writing it, don’t use it and waste all of our time.

This process is a bit like a Builder’s Hammer telling him how to build a house.  I have plenty of multi-millionaire selfmade clients THAT NEVER HAVE HAD A WRITTEN BUSINESS Plan.  The trick is having as much or as little written plans to SUIT YOU and the way you operate.

The format Martha and I spoke about in the video and transcript I actually learned over 10 years ago from a very successful Advertising Agency owner by the name of Tony Hart.  I am sure he is retired now and in those days, he owned Clemenger Tasmania – and had all the massive government contracts. I was only too lucky to receive his mentorship and this format is exactly what he taught me to do and how he runs his own business.  Since then, I have taught this exact format to thousands of people and it’s just so beautiful and simple! Basically you have three documents:

– Business & Marketing Plan: Your Master Strategy and Thinking.

– 90 Day Action Plan: Your Project Planner to keep you on track.

– KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): Your Shopping List of what you must do each week.

You can download my templates right here for your own use, and please review our video below:

– Planning Templates in PDF Format (Click here to Download).

– Planning Templates in Word 2013 Format (Click here to Download).

Enjoy our Video Below and if you are more of a word person, then feel free to read our transcript.

Best of luck and drop me a line if you need a hand or check out our Awesome Marketing Vault for more information.

Thank you! Edward Zia – Marketing Mentor and Tight Planner!

Transcript for you Awesome Written Word People (Like ME!)

Edward Zia: Hello, awesome business owners and entrepreneurs, this is Edward Zia and the amazing Martha Arifin here. Say hello to everyone, Martha.

Martha Arifin: Hello! This is Martha.

Edward Zia: Hey, we’re having a good one, and what’s interesting is that we’re actually doing this video recording on the Tuesday-

Martha Arifin: Mm-hm.

Edward Zia: Following our first Awesome Business Boot Camp on Saturday.

Martha Arifin: Yes.

Edward Zia: Was it the fifth of April, I think it was?

Martha Arifin: The fifth of April. We had it last Saturday.

Edward Zia: Yeah.

Martha Arifin: Yeah. And very excited to have you all with us.

Edward Zia: Yeah, and we loved that one. And what was very interesting is that we had an amazing response, and so I think we’ve been working on Awesome Business Boot Camp for six months, and the pilot program, which is our first event, just got such and amazing success.

Martha Arifin: Mm-hm.

Edward Zia: We’ve just booked the next one, in fact, actually.

Martha Arifin: That is correct, yeah.

Edward Zia: And what we’ve decided to do is that, before the actual boot camp, we actually offered all these bonuses, and one of them being this actual video that you’re listening to.

Martha Arifin: Mm-hm.

Edward Zia: And what we actually found was that we offered all these bonuses to attendees who have basically posted the actual boot camp itself, and our thinking is being, let’s offer these bonuses, but we might do the actual material till after the boot camp.

Martha Arifin: That is correct, yes. That’s the plan.

Edward Zia: And our thinking is being, what were the questions that came up? What did people ask at our first full day free seminar, and how can we best answer them? And, really, in this video, we’re actually spending a bit of time talking through, basically, business planning. Awesome business and marketing planning,. And also looking at how Martha and I did it and built our original businesses.

Martha Arifin: Mm-hm. Mm-hm.

Edward Zia: So, I was going to say, Martha, I think, well, I mean, obviously, we’re going to go through the presentation for the great people here … How did you build your business, Martha? So, from the idea that you decided to become this amazing web person online marketer … How did you put it together? How did you plan it? How did you come up with this amazing business that you call Awesome today?

Martha Arifin: Yes, well, the first thing … Yeah, basically, I’ve decided to go on, myself, because I don’t want to be employed anymore. So that was the first decision that was really, really a big jump of faith, you know? Some of you have probably experienced this before. Some of you are in the process of doing it. Yeah, so that’s the first decision that I made.

Then after that, my thinking was I’ve got to get someone to mentor me. So that’s the first initial steps for me, is to get someone who’s been there, who’s done that, who really knows how to show me this is the right way to do it. Yeah.

Edward Zia: So you’re sort of saying, Martha, that you had a basic idea. You didn’t want to be an employee anymore, and then you’d hire some lunatic like me to actually help you through the process.

Martha Arifin: That’s correct. Yes.

Edward Zia: And you’ve also done heaps of courses in America and all that, haven’t you, as well?

Martha Arifin: Yeah, yeah! Lots of mentoring, personal development, business courses, and things like that. Yep. I read lots of books.

Edward Zia: Exactly. Exactly, And I think it’s interesting because you’re, you know, a mother as well, you’re married, and you’re also a successful entrepreneur, completely self-made, is that right?

Martha Arifin: Yeah, if you say that. (Laughing)

Edward Zia: (Laughing) And it’s funny, in my story, as well. A lot of you guys might … and girls out there. We can’t be so sexist . Guys and girls. Usually, if you look at, sort of, my story … Again, I don’t want to play the violins, but what happened to me was, I used to be a very high-performing marketing manager before the age of thirty, before the global financial crisis, and I made a few big mistakes. And one of the big mistakes that I made was, I took my life a bit for granted. And I tried to start up a few businesses, and they failed completely miserably.

Long story short, I thought I’d do a business right during the GFC, or right before the GFC. And what happened was, my business didn’t work during the GFC. Really, what happened is, I tried to get a job again, and I just couldn’t.

Martha Arifin: Hm.

Edward Zia: And, for me, I lost all my money. My fiancée left me, I lost all my money when I was the age of twenty-nine, and I really lost a lot of the wealth that I spent my twenties accumulating.

I suppose, for me, it was a very humbling experience, and when I came back, I started my business when I was about thirty-two, and I’m thirty-five here and I think … The interesting thing in getting to know someone like Martha is, Martha’s built an amazing powerhouse business in such a short space of time. You’re the quiet achiever, aren’t you, Martha?

Martha Arifin: I am quiet, yes.

Edward Zia: Exactly.

Martha Arifin: (Laughing)

Edward Zia: Anyways I tend to do a lot of talking. But we make a great combination.

So what we’re going to do as a bonus, really, for people who attended Awesome Business Boot Camp, or even have found this buried deep within my blog … What’s interesting is, even though this is a free giveaway, I’ve actually buried it deep within my blog. So unless you know where it is, you can’t find it.

Martha Arifin: Very clever.

Edward Zia: What we want to do is, we went through this in the actual seminar, but we’re going to go through this again in just a little bit of detail, just as a follow-up from the Awesome Business Boot Camp.

We want to talk about basic business and marketing planning for success, and this is how people can actually do it. Really, when we’re working through the process, there’s three extremely important pieces of paper. Basically, at the business Booty Camp, we just taught people the range of cutting-edge sales and marketing tools. The thing we don’t like is people learning all this great stuff, then going home and doing nothing. So, what we did was, we then came up with this process to help people, upon leaving the actual seminar, to go and achieve something in their business.

There’s three documents. There’s a business and marketing plan, nine-day project plan-slash-action plan, and also the weekly KPI.

Which is your favourite document out of all these, Martha?

Martha Arifin: My favourite documents would be the weekly KPIs, Key Performance Indicators. For those of you who don’t know what it is, say it is a weekly shopping list. That’s my favourite.

Edward Zia: Exactly, and I think the big part of it is that there’s a lot of logic going on here, and it’s only three pieces of paper. But what we’ve personally done, and what we recommend to our clients and the great people we work with, is that you really want to have clarity in where you’re going. You want to know what you’re trying to earn, how you’re going to go about it, and you’ve got to have some structure helping you. Ultimately, the weekly KPIs, to me, is the most powerful document, They’re the weekly routines and things you need to do to actually make your business work.

Martha Arifin: That’s right. People are asking us about, “Okay, now that I’ve got this plan, how do I achieve it?” Sometimes you focus too much on the big picture but on the day-to-day basis, we don’t do the actions to take you closer to the goal, and that’s what the weekly KPIs is all about.

Edward Zia: Exactly. So we’re just going to run through it. Here’s a big thing, and we see this all the time. And Grumpy Cat agrees with us. I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding about what an entrepreneur is. A lot of people think an entrepreneur is someone who just talks quickly and has creative ideas. But our take is more, everyone’s got creative ideas. Everyone, at some moment, has probably come up with a multi-millionaire idea. But have they actually went and implemented and succeeded?

Martha Arifin: That is correct.

Edward Zia: Of course not. To me, I suppose what I think entrepreneurialism and entrepreneurship means to me is the ability to implement and create something beyond the creativity. What’s your take on the topic of entrepreneurship, Martha?

Martha Arifin: It’s also something that, hey, just take you a step a bit further than what you think you could do is also entrepreneurship material.

Edward Zia: Exactly. I think as we’re doing this business planning discussion, talking it through … I’ve said this before. I know so many millionaires who’ve just taken a common idea and done really well. It might just be buying property, starting an accounting firm. What I’ve found myself, it’s not so much the brilliance of the idea. It’s really the brilliance of the actual implementation that has really that has really reserved them.

Martha Arifin: That is right.

Edward Zia: You know plenty of millionaires, don’t you, Martha?

Martha Arifin: Yeah, I know quite a few multimillionaires and couple of billionaires, yes I do.

Edward Zia: There you go. Well, I don’t know any billionaires, so Martha wins this one.

Martha Arifin: (Laughing)

Edward Zia: So once again, the quiet Asian has outdone the loud Persian. I just can’t win these days. No, it’s all good.

And this is what we’re saying during the actual seminar, is that we want people to actually leave and implement what they’ve learnt on the day. And there’s a few things I want to ask you to think about, be it you found this post secretly hidden on my blog, or be it that it was e-mailed to you. I suppose the points I sort of want everyone to consider is really, what’s working, what’s not working and what must you do more of? We spoke about this about at the start of the event, Martha. What is the big “why”? What is the reason that you want to achieve things? What’s driving you?

Martha Arifin: The big reason is, number one, I think for me, when things get really tough, then you go back on … If you don’t have a big reason for yourself, then you just go back to, “Oh, I’m just going back to my bed” or whatever it is, of your comfort zone. You don’t really push yourself out there. The big “why” is really the big reason you’re doing the things that you do, which is very, very important.

Edward Zia: Exactly. And one of the big things is that, and one of the reasons why I think we’ve been doing this presentation is that, we’re actually really tired right now. Are you really tired right now, Martha?

 

Martha Arifin: Yes. Can’t wait to go on holiday, honestly.

Edward Zia: Yeah. And the reason why we did it is because … Don’t get us wrong. We love putting on Awesome Business Boot Camp, but I think we’ve burnt the candle a bit at both ends. Is that a fair comment, Martha?

Martha Arifin: That’s a fair comment, yeah.

Edward Zia: And what we actually thought was, even though we’re tired and we’re exhausted, to talk to you about business, to have, I suppose, virtual coffee and cake with you and talk to you on this level without … Instead of us just pretending we’re amazing people that nothing ever goes wrong, we felt we needed to give you the raw, authentic mode, because we’re tired!

Martha Arifin: Yes.

Edward Zia: But it’s out passion and drive that keeps up going, isn’t it?

 

Martha Arifin: Yep. That is correct, yes.

Edward Zia: Because even though I’m tired, I am nothing but motivated. Is that a fact of it?

Martha Arifin: Yeah, passionate, motivated. That’s what you are.

 

Edward Zia: Exactly. And I think you’re passionate and motivated, as well. And you know billionaires, too, where I don’t. I think one thing, as well, is when we’re talking a lot of small business marketing and sales strategies is that … And I can say this, as well, I used to be a corporate marketing manager in my old days, and in the old days of the corporate marketing manager space, a lot of it is dog-eat-dog because, again, basic strategic thinking that is the zeitgeist of the modern-day workplace actually comes from the battlefield.

Martha Arifin: Mm-hm.

Edward Zia: It actually does come from the battlefield. To me, small business is quite different, I think. I mean, yes, as a small business owner, you’ve got competition, but it’s not like you’re Microsoft fighting Apple or something like that. So, to me, small business success and your planning is really based about cooperation, working with other people, knowing your place in he market, and, of course, how to carve your own place eventually. What do you think of that sort of topic, Martha?

Martha Arifin: Yeah. And to add to that, it’s to find your own uniqueness so that, even though you’re doing this very similar art, or you’re a plumber, or you’re a real estate agent, or whatever it is you do, but also find uniqueness. Find something you deliver that other people don’t. It could just be a simple thing. It doesn’t have to be a million dollar idea, but that simple thing could be. For example, free delivery has already been done by many businesses, but when it first launched, free delivery, or free trial, or things like that, even 24/7 gym. That’s such a simple idea.

Edward Zia: Exactly. Something to definitely think about there. And we love planning. We just want to make this big caveat. We’re not telling you to plan for the sake of planning. We just talking about writing out three pages and just to clarify. The format that we recommend, you’d don’t actually have to write it out the way we want. You might just write it on a bar napkin. You might sit there and write thirty pages. To me, it’s about planning in a way that suits you and gives you that clarity that you need. To me, if you’re not feeling clear and you’re feeling misguided, you really want to do a bit of planning to make yourself feel good. Exactly that. I think it’s about combining pure logic and pure vision.

Martha Arifin: Yes, that’s right.

Edward Zia: Here’s a big thing, and I sort of like this. This is a stock image that I really resonated with. I think many entrepreneurs’ great ideas were originally written on bar napkins. And to me, one of the big mistakes … I see two big mistakes that all small business owners fall into. They write massive plans of sixty pages, which are completely useless because they don’t get applied, or they don’t write plans at all.

Martha Arifin: Yeah. Small business owners are putting off writing because they think, “Oh, I’m going to take weeks or days to write these plans.” If they get into writing it, some people procrastinate and procrastinating because of that very reason, so I think the business plan should be done. But it should be done in a way that works for you.

Edward Zia: Precisely. Again, please do it mentally. If you don’t want to write something, then don’t. But if you want to write sixty pages, go for it. But whatever we say, make sure it works for you. And this is an interesting story I’ll tell you.

Years ago, I worked with, and very lucky to be mentored and helped by, a man by the name of Tony Hart, as in H-a-r-t, and he was the MD of Cl- … Probably still is. It was ten years ago, now. He was the managing director of Clemenger, one of the Clemenger branches, and basically, what it was is a high-end advertising agency. In those days, I was about twenty-four, and I used to be the character who would write sixty-page business plans, which are completely useless.

He ran a multi-million dollar business himself on the format that we’re actually teaching you now.

Martha Arifin: Wow.

Edward Zia: So I didn’t make this stuff up. This is from a man, a very wealthy, intelligent Jewish operator. This is actually the way that he did it. So what I’m going to do is, I’ve actually got my older plan from April twenty-third, and I like showing it off. By the way, I’m not saying this is right. This is the way I’ve done it. And this is exactly the way Tony Hart told me to do it, and for years onwards, I’ve done it myself and I’d recommend this to thousands of people now. I get nothing but praise about this kind of format. So, for reference to Tony Hart, I’d like to say that I did it. He did. So he gets all the kudos here. Tony would be retired now.

What I did … Sorry, I’ll just go back a bit. There’s three sections. You can probably see my mouse cursor. On the first page is a “Business Statement, Vision and 2014 Goal”. Then you have “Key Success Factors and Problem Areas to Watch for”. And then you have the “Tactical Initiatives”. These are the things that you sort of do on a daily basis. Okay?

Martha Arifin: Yep.

Edward Zia: Not a daily basis. That’s more the actually detail of what you’re actually going to do.

Pretty much, my “Business Statement, Vision and Goal”, and this was actually written during April twenty-third. I thought it’d be nice, I’ve got a 2014 goal. The reason is, is that I’m actually planning ahead. So if you’re writing a business plan in let’s say, the year 2014, you write the results as in 2015.

What I’ve said here is, basically, “My goal is to build my client base during Sydney. I want to be in it for the long haul. I run on integrity and values, and I want to be averaging ten to twelve thousand dollars a month of billings, with at least ten to twelve percent coming from residual sales. I exceeded my financial target, so I was very, very happy.

Another thing is, and I’ve said it in here, everything is done with quality. To me, that’s very, very important.

What do you think of this sort of broad logic, Martha?

Martha Arifin: Yeah. Just by writing this section alone, it requires, for example, what is it that you want to do? But also, when it comes to the numbers, you can just put in numbers. “Oh, I want to make a million dollars by tomorrow.” Unless you’re already making six, seven hundred thousand, then yes, you could probably make it by next week.

But just having a look at the numbers along will give you a clear direction where and how you’re going to do things.

Edward Zia: Exactly. I think it’s quite a good one. This is just my example. What I suggest you do is think about how you’re going to do it, and what’s a realistic income that you’re aiming for.

The next one is “Key Success Factors and Problem Areas to Watch for”. Basically, this is your issues. Whatever mistakes you’ve made, these are the actual risk mitigation strategies that we’re going to do. For example, you can tell by reading this exactly where screwed up. “Edward Zia must be extremely careful with his time and ensure that he is only growing relationships with Mutually Respectful, Kind people.” In other words, I hung out with a bunch of people that took advantage of me. (Laughing)

“It’s critical to watch for Payment Days and take necessary Defensive Action.” Yep. I let my payment days blow out, but now I’ve got my virtual assistant and accountant helping me chase that money.

“Marketing must always be consistent.” To be honest, I was actually quite good at that, but I just put it anyway, just as a warning.

And also, people who ripped me off. Previous clients and suppliers who sort of took advantage of me. I’ve also got a few other things, as well, about protecting my friends. At the time I still am also running the 4Networking Business Community.

So what were some of your issues, Martha, aside from being too awesome?

Martha Arifin: (Laughing) The issue is to systemize. When you get to the point where you’re really, really busy, you’ve got to prioritize things. That used to be my issues. I’m working on it now. I’m getting better at it. You really have to look at the things you do, not just as an entrepreneur, but as an operator. That’s my7 biggest issue, apart from some of the other things.

My biggest issue is to make sure I do the most important things today.

Edward Zia: Exactly. I think it’s a very good one, so nice pick there.

And here’s just an example of some tactical initiatives. At the time, it was “Do workshop programs in 2013. Get one to two clients each month. Launch my Awesome Marketing Vault.” I used to call it “Crazy Person’s Marketing Vault”, but it became the Awesome Marketing Vault. And I achieved all of that, so I’m really happy with what happened.

Martha Arifin: Well done.

Edward Zia: And that’s one of my old workshops. That’s me there. Do I look fatter? Or have I lost weight since then, Martha? Or do I look fat now?

Martha Arifin: No, you’re looking good, Ed.

Edward Zia: I don’t look fat right now?

Martha Arifin: No. You’re not.

Edward Zia: Just so you know …

Martha Arifin: He’s too self-conscious.

Edward Zia: I don’t have any self-esteem issues. I just think I’m too fat. So there you go.

But that’s just some information there. Again, have a think about it and write something that works for you. “Business Statement, Vision and Goals”, “Key Success Factors” and basic issues, and some detail on the initiatives. We think that works really well.

There’s thousands of formats. Again, we’re talking more from an operation business viewpoint. Now I’m just going to sort of gloss over these. This is more just the detail that came in the actual PowerPoint presentation for those that attended. But this is actually the presentation that I was taught at university for running a marketing plan.

Again, I don’t really recommend it for business owners, but just in sort of talking it through, this is quite detailed. You can write a business plan this way. You do the summary of what’s going on in the business, the market, the marketing plan, the finances and conclusion. This is just an extreme example I’m putting in to illustrate for more of those detail people.

But again, if you want a massive business plan, business.gov.au, because obviously we’re based in Australia, that has some really good massive templates, but we’re not after that.

Here’s a few other questions that I will just quickly shoot through. As you’re writing it, what’s your goal for the year? What’d you stuff up? What’d you nail? What unexpected threats hit you? What wins did you have? And why did this all happen? Always good to understand the mechanics.

Just a few other things, as well. What’s going on in the industry? What are your competitors up to? Also, what are your favourite companies? I think, beyond what you do, and beyond your industry … For example, I worked as a marketing mentor, but I follow a lot of Google and Microsoft, and I learn a lot from them to adapt to me. What’s your take on that one, Martha?

Martha Arifin: Love Google. Love Google so much.

Edward Zia: Yeah. Surprise, surprise. We’re all sort of tech people around here. And here’s just a few other things, as well. Things about pricing, technology, market going … That sort of thing. There’s a lot of stuff on YouTube, so feel free to hire us, if you want, or but one of our online products, but there’s also a lot of free stuff on YouTube that sort of gives commentary on this topic, as well.

Martha Arifin: That’s right. Yeah, the one thing that really works for me is, if you see anything on YouTube or you read lots of books, which I would recommend you do, as an entrepreneur, is to read into your industry as something that you want to master in. Thirty minutes a day, throughout the month or throughout the years, you’ll master at what it is that you do. Really invest on that. But while you’re looking for that, make sure that you implement, not just, “Oh, I know this stuff.” Just take one nugget from every single chapter you read or webinar you attend, and just try to implement it. It’s a compound effect, what you do daily that makes a lot of difference.

Edward Zia: Exactly, And what I’ve got here, this is content from the actual workshop. And depending on what you read, please always think ahead. New technology, and think ahead as to what you can do. (Laughing) There’s a bit of a duck face from me. Here are some verbal points that are urgent!

Come up with something challenging, but realistic. Make sure it’s sustainable. Plan for problems. In fact, expect them. That’s so positive. Try and understand why things happen, watch for the trends, and do it yourself.

And here’s a big thing. This is the ninety-day action plan. That’s sort of the direction … This helps prevent overwhelm. This is pretty straightforward, and it’s actually from large companies. This plan is very, very simple.

Four categories. One’s “Urgent”. “Oh, my god, I’ve got to do it now.” One is important, or “Sort of Urgent”. That’s something that can be thirty to sixty days. One is more development, such as, “Look, as long as I do this within sixty to ninety days, it’s okay.” And ninety days and plus is more future technology. That’s more ideas on the horizon.

A good example, let’s say you just started your business tomorrow. Urgent might be, you need business cards. Logo and business cards. Within thirty to sixty days, it might be to set up your e-mail marketing platform. Within sixty to ninety days, it might be to set up your LinkedIn profile. Facebook profile. And, of course, let’s say ninety days plus, it might then be to run an event if some form.

 

Martha Arifin: That’s right. As a small business owner, you’ve got to really know how to prioritize yourself.

Edward Zia: Exactly. So there’s just a few examples there. And we always say, “What’s the lowest hanging fruit?” So please don’t try and do eighty-five projects at once. Please try and do two or three projects at once. And you can use this as an ongoing tool to sort of divide up what you need to do. If you’re getting overwhelmed, it doesn’t help you. And good process helps minimize overwhelm and gets you going with your life.

Like all things, as you get ideas, even if they are bizarre ideas, please record them. It’s always good to record ideas in the future technology, “Nice Idea, One Day” box, because these ideas can actually turn in to things.

Martha Arifin: That’s right.

Edward Zia: And So there you go. A little cute caveman there, or cave girl, I should say.

The nine day project plan is pretty obvious, but I want to spend a bit of time on the actual KPIs. KPI stands for “Key Performing Indicators”. It’s a terminology from the workforce. And it’s your weekly shopping list on, basically, how to succeeded. These are things you have to do to make things really sort of work and resonate.

This is my own example from April twenty-third, and this is what I used to do every week to build my six-figure business.

So I go “three networking events a week.” In case you can’t read it. I’ll just read them out. I used to go to three networking events a week. I used to go to three coffee chats and pottery meetings a week, I used to do three nice things a week for people. I used to ask for business at least three times a week. I used to post on Facebook every day. Every day I would clean up my e-mails as best as can. I’d ask and give referrals four times a week. I’d at least work out six times a week. I never actually did that. I do It now, but I didn’t then, so I used to be a bit fat. Well, I’ve got personality issues. I used to blog once a week, and a few other items in there as well, which is relevant to what I was doing.

At the end of the day, it’s really important that you have clear structure and you know what to do every week to really succeed in your business. What do you think of this topic, Martha?

 

Martha Arifin: Very, very important. This is probably the most important document in this business, and that you really follow this list. Because your goals, when you break it down … Let’s say you have a year goal. Break it down into, “Next year, this is what I want to achieve,” in terms of numbers, in terms of number of clients, or whatever it is, right? Lose weight, release weight, it should be said.

Then you go down to six months, three months, next week … And this is just the weekly KPI. If you do this consistently, you will definitely get your goals.

Edward Zia: Exactly. I think there’s something for you all to think about. And again, these are my own KPIs. I’m not saying you have to do them. You might come up with something a lot more interesting. And the trick is that, just to clarify, these aren’t results. The difference between a weekly KPI and a result is, a KPI is going to three networking events, not getting three clients. The trick is, you don’t put the results up because chasing results can be stressful, because you can’t guarantee results. But you can guarantee the action. So you want to make sure that the process and actions you’re following will yield the results.

In other words, you’re not chasing success. Instead of you worrying about whether you succeed or not, you’re worry about whether you do the behaviours that you know, if you do, will lead to your success.

Martha Arifin: That’s right. I used to do a lot of dragon boat paddling. If you say, “How do I paddle this fast?” But if you break it down into, “Okay, in order for me to do that, I’ve got to, within let’s say eight months or run for City2Surf … ” You break it down into, “What do I need to do in the next month, in the next week, in the next three days? What do I have to do today?” That means I’ve got to run “x” number of kilometres today, or do you want to start with fast walks? It becomes very manageable.

But if you look into the big picture only, it just becomes overwhelming. Some people just retreat back and not do anything because it’s just too overwhelming.

Edward Zia: Exactly. It’s certainly good to break it down that way and think it through. And, of course, make sure you get yourself an accountability buddy. We’re all about love around here, and we’re about really getting along well. So get yourself a good accountability buddy to help you, be it you hire somebody like us or you get your friend or your cat. Whatever works for you.

And that’s pretty much it. This is the next step we had, and I sort of liked that.

I think what’s interesting in this bonus that I’ve buried in my blog and we’ve sent to people, plus a lot of our events … I think on two things. A, it’s really important to have that business and planning. And also, as well, thinking about how you can succeed, one of the things you need to do to really get the success you want.

Martha Arifin: Yeah. Also think about, if you need help, I’ve sometimes asked … I don’t know about other people, but myself, I’ used to be very, very uncomfortable asking for help. I don’t know, a bit of a security issue, being a perfectionist. Whatever it was. In order for me to achieve my goals, I need people, I need team around me. It could be a mentor, could be accountant, partners, could be your team members. Could be … I need someone else, so just don’t be afraid to ask for help. That’s just my thing, which I think is very, very important for me.

Edward Zia: Exactly. So there you go. I trust that helps. Unless there’s anything else, Martha, we’ll let these awesome people get back on with their day or night.

Martha Arifin: Yes.

Edward Zia: I hope it helps. I hope if you’ve been to one of our workshops, you’ve found it of value. If not, love to see you at one. Feel free to browse our website. Martha’s is, if you just Google “Trusted Web Expert”, or Google Martha Arifin or myself, Edward Zia. Feel free to Google us and check out what we do. And look, if you need a hand or anything, we’d certainly love to help. Please think about entrepreneurship, get your plans in there, and really develop a compelling product and have a really good plan to help you deliver it and make tons of money.

Martha Arifin: Yes.

Edward Zia: Well, it’s been great talking to you all, and this is Edward Zia signing off.

Martha Arifin: And Martha. Bye-bye, everyone.

Edward Zia: Have a great day or night, everyone. And keep up the great work.

Martha Arifin: Bye!

Edward Zia: See you!