0Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on July 27, 2010 at 8:24 am
Let’s face it; most businesses today need to have a presence on the Internet. The problem is, that most small business owners are quite honestly scared of the work it will take to get their business online. I can completely relate to this because as a small business owner, I have been there before. My experience with selling on the Internet actually started back in the early ‘90’s. Shopping carts were very clunky and complicated. Domain names cost hundreds of dollars compared to just a few dollars now and SEO wasn’t invented yet.
We have come a long way since those days. Now your choices are too many to count. As a small business owner you basically have a couple of choices to make. First, you can just decide to hire someone to build and manager your website and shopping cart. After all, not all small business owners have the expertise to build an online business. Your second choice is to do it yourself. While this sounds impossible, if you have the right ecommerce system or shopping cart, it really isn’t that hard. With a little help and time, you can easily put your business online. So, if you don’t feel comfortable building your own site, then hire a professional, but if you want to try it for yourself, then I have 10 things to look for in a shopping cart that will make it easier for you to set up and manage. So here we go:
Ease of use. Ok, I know that this sounds obvious, but let’s be honest, if you have to read a War and Peace manual to get your business online, then it isn’t worth it. You aren’t likely to try and set it up your self and you will just end up frustrated. You want a shopping cart program that is easy to use and set up. It should contain easy to follow, step-by-step instructions on getting your site set up.
Web-based control panel. You want to make sure your shopping cart system has an easy to use web-based control panel. It should be secure, but most importantly laid out and easily managed. Your inventory, website design, company information and customer database should all be easily accessed from your control panel.
Integrates easily with a wide array of payment processors. For the newbie, a payment processor is the gateway in which you can accept credit cards or other forms of payments. The one most people recognize easily is PayPal. Your shopping cart system should integrate with a variety of payment carts so it does not limit your ability use a processor that you are comfortable with and one that gives you the best deal.
Real Time Shipping Rates. Your e-commerce system should easily integrate with the most common shipping programs, UPS, FedEx, and UPS at a minimum because these are your most common shippers. Your shopping cart program should allow you to pull real-time shipping rates so you can ensure you are making your money for shipping and your customers are getting the best shipping rates possible. More shipping systems gives your customers more options on how fast they receive their products and the cost.
Safe & secure, reliable web site hosting. You have to rely on your shopping cart host to keep your information safe & secure. You also want to make sure that it stays online 24/7. After all, when your web site is down, you don’t make sales so reliability is a powerful selling point. You should look for a company that has fast servers, hacker deterrent security systems and redundant backups so you never have to worry about your shopping cart and web site being down. Your store should always be ready to accept orders and instill confidence in your customers that their private information is secure.
Easy to use, already built templates & designs. In order to get your shopping cart and web site up and running as fast as possible, you want to have a wide variety of store designs and templates you can chose from. With pre-built templates, you can simply add your store information, products, photos and start selling quicker. If your shopping cart has several designs available, then you will have a better chance of finding a design that matches your business colors and products.
Ability to change the layout and templates without hiring a programmer. Your shopping cart system should allow you to easily make changes to your layout and design without having to hire a programmer. Shopping carts that use WYSIWYG, which stands for “What You See Is What You Get” allow users to type real time information and see how it will look as you enter it. If your shopping cart allows you to move blocks around so you can arrange how your pages look and feel, it gives you even more creative power.
Flexible and easy to update product options. The reason you get a shopping cart program is because you want to sell products online. You want the process for entering products to be as easy as possible. You also want options when entering products. Your shopping cart should have options to show various product views and allow you to put up as many photos as it takes to truly show your products. The ability to zoom in and out also allow customers to get a good look at what they are buying which helps to reduce returns and customer dissatisfaction. Your e-commerce system should also allow you to easily use videos or YouTube to give your customers even more ways to view your products online.
Simple, effective marketing & promotional tools. Your shopping cart system should have several options to allow you to market your business successfully. The ability to add coupons or discount codes is the minimum that you need. You should also have integration with Google AdWords, Google Base product support and the ability to share products on Twitter and Facebook. Your customers should be able to set up their RSS feeds to always get your newest products and changes. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. You might be familiar using RSS feeds to stay on top of your favorite blogs or news agencies. The best shopping carts will allow you to interface and set up a web store directly on your Facebook page. Your e-commerce system should offer as many options as possible to market your business and get your products in front of potential clients.
Unlimited support and lifetime updates. Finally, your shopping cart system should have unlimited support and updates. There are always going to be times when you just can’t figure something out. If your shopping cart provider has a good FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) then you will likely be able to get the majority of your questions answered without intervention, however when you have a question that you can’t figure out, you wan the ability to call or email tech support to get a quick solution to your dilemma. You should also expect updates to your software for as long as you are using the system. The Internet is an ever-changing platform that requires shopping cart providers to make constant changes to their software so it aligns with the advancing technology. You want a shopping cart system that does this for you so you don’t have to do anything.
That’s my 10 best requirements for a good shopping cart, e-commerce system. Do you research and be sure to check out what others say about the e-commerce system you are reviewing. I recommend that you look for shopping cart programs that offer a free trial. The longer the trial, the better chance you get for analyzing the program and making sure it is a fit for you. My last bit of advice is that your e-commerce system should be scalable which is to say it should be able to grow with you. If you only have ten products right now, you don’t want to pay for a system which hosts one thousand items if you don’t have to. Get a program that can grow with you.
Finally, I can’t finish this without my own recommendation. First, I will tell you that I personally use this product and the link provided is my affiliate link. Yes, if you sign up under me I make a little bit of money. (Thank you!) I have used several different programs over the past many years, but I honestly have to say that the best program I have found is the BigCommerce, E-commerce system. It has all of my ten requirements and more. I have yet to find a program that is easier to use than BigCommerce. All I can say is, try it and see. If you click here or the banner below, you will get a 15 Day FREE trial of the BigCommerce system. Try Big Commerce FREE for 15 days! See why it’s the best way to sell online!
If you are not sure or have questions, please feel free to email me or make a comment below. I am happy to tell you my experience. You can check out our online store at http://www.obbpensacola.com. You can also view my YouTube Testimonial. As you can see, I feel that this is the best shopping cart that I have worked with in my opinion. Good luck on your decision!
5Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on March 16, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Today, my wife Sheri came home and was upset about a customer that called her from out of state. She said the lady wanted a baby gift basket that was on our website. The problem was she wanted the exact same gift basket for ten dollars less than the price on the site.
Since we are a custom gift company, we always work with customers at THE original basket boutique to make the perfect gift that fits in their budget. The problem was this lady didn’t want something different; she wanted what she saw online. Sheri tried to explain the details of the gift basket and sell value, but this lad didn’t want to hear any of that. The lady then proceeded to ask the price on every single item in the basket, so Sheri who is the best at customer service that I have ever known, obliged her by giving retail prices of some of the items so she could customize a gift basket.
In a gift basket business there are other costs built in to every single basket we sell. Like any small business owner, you have overhead. We have a building, utilities, advertising, and various other expenses related to running a business and not to mention we are trying to eek out a living as well! This lady couldn’t comprehend why we wouldn’t meet her price demands or why she couldn’t by three items at retail and still get Sheri to build them in a basket. She did not understand there were other costs involved to build a basket.
We wouldn’t ask a plumber to not charge for his time or a mechanic to charge for parts and not the labor, would we? Why is a design fee for gift baskets any different? Now, 3 years ago, when my wife was just starting out as a small business owner, she might have caved and gave in to the customer. Sheri was used to making decisions like this in multi-million dollar stores where it wasn’t really her money. During our first year, we probably under charged half our clients, but we still survived in spite of our generosity. The point is, as business owners, we have to draw the line at some requests. You can’t make everyone happy all the time!
Needless to say, we have one person out of hundreds of clients that was not satisfied. It’s not the end of the world. As small business owners, we have to consider many factors when it comes to customer satisfaction. We don’t want to anger people or turn away business, but at the same time, we can’t afford to give away everything. We have to look at every situation and ask ourselves; “Is this worth resolving with a discount or free item?” Now, I am not saying that we solve all customer complaints this way. If a customer is upset about a purchase or product, then it is our obligation as business owners to resolve the situation. Sometimes that means giving something up.
The recent tough economy has changed small businesses because it has forced many of us to do what ever we can to make the sales, even if it means discounts or giving something away. At the same time, this has trained consumers to never be satisfied with the listed price. As we are coming out of this recession and starting on recovery, small business owners need to set some reasonable boundaries. We can’t discount our way to success. Small businesses that offer quality work, high caliber products and fair prices will surely succeed during this recovery.
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David Beckham, MBA, is a Marketing, Online Marketing, and Small Business Development Consultant. For more information and services offered, please contact me or visit my web site at http://www.marketpromba.com.
0Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on February 28, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Are you a small business owner who is still trying to decide if your business should be on the internet? I came across a video on YouTube yesterday by Jesse Thomas that really makes you stand up and take notice about the internet. We have come a long way since the day that I started messing with the internet back in 1991. Watch this video and form your own opinion.
For as many bad things that come from being on the internet like spam or viruses, there are also some very good things. Many businesses have found great success by marketing online. If you are still thinking about getting your business online, stop thinking and just do it. Don’t do it half way though. If you are not sure how to start, hire a professional. You will save a great deal of frustration by hiring a professional to set up your web presence. Once your site, blog, or social network is up and running, you can let the professionals manage it or get trained to manage it yourself, after all it’s not rocket science.
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David Beckham, MBA Marketing, small business developer, writer, consultant, and advertising specialist.
6Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on February 25, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Don't Let Your Bookkeeper Do Your Marketing.
A good friend of mine posted an interesting statement on his Facebook page the other day. He asked a simple question to small business owners, “Who is in charge of your marketing, your bookkeeper or you? “ This was asked out of frustration from talking with small business owners who let their accountants or bookkeepers make decisions about the business owners marketing budget. He also made an insightful comment; if your bookkeeper was paid on your success, would they have a different opinion of your marketing budget?
I think this is an interesting subject. Who really is in charge of your marketing? If your bookkeeper was directly paid on the success of your business, would they hold the purse strings so tightly or would they be more likely to say less about your marketing budget or even encourage you to do more? Many small business owners probably don’t even realize they are letting outside influences control how they market their business. Whether it is a bookkeeper, a vendor or even your spouse, who is in the better position to determine how your marketing budget is spent.
A good marketing plan should never be looked at as an expense. When I hear small business owners tell me that they can’t afford their marketing, I tell them, “You can’t afford not to market your business!” An effective marketing program should generate revenue and give you a proven return on investment. If you are not getting a good ROI, then you need to tweak your plan. If you don’t know how to figure your ROI, then you need to call me!
As small business owners, we often have to wear several hats. Whether it is the marketing hat, finance or sales, ultimately, as the owner we are responsible for the success of our company. So please, don’t let someone who works for you or with you make decisions about your company that are not based on fact or which could have an adverse affect on your success. If you are not sure about a marketing or business decision, then hire a professional to get advice. Even then, unless their pay is tied to your success, make sure you consider carefully what they tell you and hold them accountable.
22Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 28, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Has anyone seen the recent Office Depot commercial about the small business barbershop? Dan, the small barbershop owner has a look of concern as a big chain barbershop opens across the street from his little shop. The sign out front of the big chain store says, “$6 Haircuts”. The grand opening was full of the normal pomp and circumstance that you see in most openings. The manager of the big chain looked confident and sure.
The story is about Dan, who saves money because he shops at Office Depot. He reinvests his savings and buys a huge banner that says, “We Fix $6 Dollar Haircuts”. Six months later, the big chain store goes out of business.
I am not necessarily promoting Office Depot or their claims of savings. What I love about this commercial is the idea of the small business owner taking on the big giant chain store. This really hits home with my wife and I as owners of THE original basket boutique, a custom gifts and gift baskets shop in Gulf Breeze, FL. We find ourselves always competing against “big chain” stores who flood the market with cheap gift baskets. This is the nature of being a small business owner in America today.
Small business owners today, have to be smart, creative and forward thinkers to compete in this market place. This isn’t a new story. When Wal-Mart came in to towns many years ago, everyone thought it was the end of small business America. At first it probably looked like small business wouldn’t survive, but this wasn’t the case. Small business owners needed to adapt and find creative ways to effectively compete with the chain stores.
In this commercial, while it isn’t outright said, Dan’s strategy was to sell quality. He couldn’t compete on price and survive, but his advertising banner that says, “We Fix $6 Haircuts” made a huge statement about quality. Small business owners that survived the onslaught of the big chain stores learned to adapt to a new target market. Instead of competing directly with the chain store, they competed around it. The fact is there is enough market for a lot of business if you can figure out your target market.
One of the best examples of overcoming big chain stores that I know was my In-laws’ gun shop in Fairfield, IA, Outdoor Ventures. For the longest time, Outdoor Ventures was a very successful gun and archery shop in a small rural town in Iowa. People would travel from hundreds of miles away to buy guns from my father-in-law. Why you might ask? Because he carried what people wanted, unique guns and archery equipment, hard to find ammo and so on. Then one day, here comes Wal-Mart. There was no doubt that my in-laws were concerned. Instead of quitting thought, they changed their strategy.
They couldn’t compete with Wal-Mart for selling standard ammo or arrows, but they had something Wal-Mart didn’t. My father-in-law was a master wood worker and gunsmith. Wal-Mart sold cheap guns and ammo, but my father-in-law could fix them. Once a person saw the quality of his work, they were more likely to use him for special orders and work. He adapted to a new target market. They sold the business several years later to retire in Florida.
It is easy to see why I love this subject. It is a part of my life now and in the past. There is no reason a small business can’t be successful in a market with big chain stores. So what are my recommendations? Figure out your target market. Then analyze your target market for opportunities that are not being met by the chain stores. Once you identify your opportunities, change your business focus and strategy to capitalize on your findings.
Most importantly you need a plan. Don’t go at it half hearted and think everything will be ok if you just keep doing what you have always done. Your business plan will keep you on track and focused on your goals.
I would really like to hear some of your ideas. Leave me a comment or send me an email. Make 2010 a great year!
David Beckham, MBA
MarketProMBA Small Business Developer
1Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on January 4, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I guess we have all heard the old saying, “Don’t dwell on the past”, but I think in order to move forward, we sometimes have to look at where we have been. It goes without saying that 2009 presented many challenges both on an individual level and from a business owner’s prospective. The economy seems to be the topic of choice when talking with most people. Whether you own a business or work for one, the economy has had some affect on your year.
As a business owner, we were not untouched by the economic woes of 2009. Sales were soft, vendors were often short of products, and we found ourselves constantly adjusting and readjusting our marketing and business plans. Still, the year proved to be better than 2008. We sold 5 new franchises in the U.S. and many more in Canada. So even with the touch economic times, we still saw growth. We also picked up many new customers and managed to secure more market share in our region.
Working for AT&T Advertising Solutions in 2009 was also filled with challenges. Since many businesses were having a tough year, it goes without saying that we saw a decline in advertising revenues. This decline forced the company to make some very tough choices, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. Many of these people were personal friends, so it was not an easy to watch this happen.
Last year I made a commitment to become more involved with our Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce. I took over as chair of the Small Business Development Committee and was picked for the 2010 – 2013 Board of Directors. I was also nominated for 2009 Emerging Leader of the Year and our business, THE original basket boutique was nominated for 2009 Small Business of the Year. So despite the challenges, I will still look back to 2009 as a good year.
Now that 2009 is behind us, we need to look forward to 2010. I truly believe this year will build on the successes of the past and I expect 2010 to be another year of recovery and growth both personally and professionally. In order to make 2010 a great year, we have to add some structure around our plans. To be honest, it is January 5th and I really hadn’t thought about any plans for 2010 until I read a January 1st post on Chris Brogan’s blog. (A big thanks to my friend Betsy Wuebker of www.passingthru.com for introducing me to Chris Brogan!) I really like Chris’s approach to goal setting. He selects three words to guide his goal setting and keep him on track to his objectives. I think this is a very good way to plan your year and it is easy enough to keep you focused.
As I started to ponder on my three words, I realized that this wasn’t as easy as you might think. I was having trouble with one word, let alone three! Chris describes his three words as something that would take more than one sentence to describe. His word sits upon his actual goals and acts as his guiding principles. These words need to have meaning and life to them and not just be a description. In the past, like many people, I have set resolutions for each new year but like many years previous, they didn’t have any solid goals or structure to back them up. By the 2nd quarter of the year, many of my resolutions were already just a memory because life has a tendency to throw new challenges in your path which takes the focus away from your “new year resolutions”.
After some careful deliberation and a little soul searching late into the night, I came up with a list of words that had some meaning to me, but I still needed to narrow them down to three. Growth. Flexibility. Vision. Bend. Flexible. Change. Stretch. Expand. Teach. Spread. Time. Fix. Course. Tack. Tool. Path. Plan. Gift. All of these words have some meaning to my goals for this year, but when I narrow it down, my three words are: Expand. Tool. Bend.
Expand: This year, my personal growth plan is to expand my horizons and education. I want to become better at online marketing & business strategy. I order to achieve this goal; my strategy will be to become better educated by reading more expert blogs and books. As a business goal, Expand means that I am going to increase our business footprint, regionally and nationally. This goal will be achieved by my increased knowledge of online marketing and business strategy.
Tool: You can’t build a house with out a hammer. In this decade, you can’t build a business with out a website, blog or social marketing. These relatively new marketing tools have become the norm in business. This year, my goal is to build more tools for our business. I plan to develop more sites, better email marketing and increase blog posting. I am also going to start pod casting, twittering and an online video blog. My strategy for “Tool” builds on the “Expand” goal to become better educated on alternative marketing.
Bend: You might have figured this one out. I need to learn to bend, be flexible and embrace change much better. The only constant in this day and age is change. Bend means that I need to be ready to change on a moments notice to capitalize on opportunities. My goal is to be flexible and open minded to new ideas. I will look at challenges as opportunities for growth and development. I will bend, but I won’t break in 2010.
Well, there you have it, My Three Words for 2010. I hope that my three words help you to come up with your own so you can effectively plan your 2010 to be one of the most successful years of your life. Good Luck & Happy New Year!
6Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on December 10, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Around my house on any given night, the television is usually on and just providing background noise to drown out the chaos of a household with 3 dogs, 1 bird, 1 teenager, and my 9 year old. I really don’t watch much TV other than a few select shows, the news and late night television. Last night, while working on my new blog posts, I heard a strange sound that was not a bark, scream or crash that normally goes on in the background. Instead, I hear a Snap, Crackle and a Pop. No, it wasn’t someone pouring a bowl of cereal, it was my 42 inch Sony TV. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. My TV went black and nothing I could do would bring it back.
So what did I do? The same thing any modern American would do. I went straight to the Internet. I researched my model of TV and sure enough within minutes I had determined that the likely culprit was a burned out projection bulb. I found instructions on how to remove it and verify that in fact it was dead. Then I researched the best replacement bulb and online retailer and placed my order. In about 2 days, I will have my new bulb and we will be back in business.
It’s easy, right? What on earth did we do before the internet!!? The whole episode really started me thinking about life before the internet and how this modern communication tool has been woven into our lives now. Before the internet, we would have called a TV repairman or taken our set into a repair shop, then waited until a diagnosis was made, then pay the labor and parts and what ever other costs they come up with. Now, it’s with a stroke of the key board, a little bit of research and online purchasing we do in minutes what used to be a lengthy process.
According to Nielsen Online, there are 227,719,000 internet users in the U.S. as of August 2009 which represents 74.1% of the population. Over 69 million of these internet users are also broadband customers. So what’s my point? It is simply that the internet is now used as much as television or likely more than many other forms of media. What does this mean to small business owners? It means everything! As a small business owner, you can not afford not to be on the internet and expect to stay in business.
The internet has opened doors and expanded territories of many small businesses. If you sell a product, you can easily market this over the internet and open up a larger market for sales. Most of this might be old news to many small business owners, but the truth is I still come across business owners who do not have a presence online. Some of them don’t even use email? How do they conduct business? Some of these businesses are actually the ones that have lost business to the internet. Let me explain: In my example, I stated before the internet I would have to call a T.V. repairman or a repair shop to have my T.V. fixed. The internet has most likely reduced the need for a T.V. repairman so what would you do if this was your business?
The simple answer is you get your business on the internet and retool. Use your expertise in the form of a blog to talk about common T.V. problems, then offer solutions on how to fix these issues and instead of making a house call, you sell them the parts they need. Now you have a new door to your business and you still have an opportunity to gain local business. On top of the local business, you also open yourself to market outside of your area. Instead of being beaten by the competition on the internet, you embrace it and use it to change your business and offerings.
Out of the 227 million internet users, how many people do you think were just like me last night trying to figure out how to get their beloved television working again? Imagine how I would have felt to find a local company that offered the parts I need or the know how to fix my problem even quicker than it took me? The internet shouldn’t be looked at as “what killed” the small business owners, but rather it should be looked at as “what saved” the small businesses of today.
In our business, THE original basket boutique, the internet could be considered the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It is both a blessing and a pain for us. We use the internet to expand our sales region and reach out to our customers on a regular basis. We conduct more business over email than we do over the phone. The downside is in our business, we have heavy competition from the internet. There are a lot of very big gift basket companies out there, so how do we compete? Like any small business owner should, we focus on our local business and we go after one client at a time. We use the internet as a tool to find new potential clients, educate our current clients and stay in touch. Our best sales tool is still personal sales and that one-to-one connection you get when you look someone in the eye and demonstrate your products and knowledge.
The bottom line is the internet has changed all of our lives. I can’t imagine what to do without it? Even when I try to “unplug” and get away from the internet, I still have my smart phones, internet appliances, iPods, and now even our cars can be connected. The internet is going to be part of our lives forever more and I believe will be woven even tighter in our lives as technology advances every day. So don’t fight it, embrace it. If you are a small business owner and you are not on the internet, get on the bus. Brainstorm ways to grow your business by using the internet. If you can’t think of any ways, then contact me. I will throw some ideas your way. Make it your 2010 resolution to “rethink” your business and look for new ways to grow your business.
0Posted by David Beckham, MarketProMBA on December 3, 2009 at 10:13 am
I read an article called “Secrets of Success in Daily Practice” on a friend of mine’s blog, www.tamiross.com that got me to thinking about my goals and dreams. I think everyone had dreams when they were kids. Some of us wanted to be a firefighters, others doctors or maybe a sports celebrity. During my teens, I really didn’t have a career in mind, but instead I focused on life goals. I set these goals young and they have been the driving focus in my life today, even though I might have lost a little focus on the overall dream for my life. My goals were simple:
Education – I wanted to have my undergrad before I was 26, my graduate degree before I was 40 and my PhD before I am 50.
Travel the world
Marry my dream girl
Have 2-3 children
Be successful enough to live comfortable.
Out of all of my goals, I have achieved all but one. I checked them off as I went through each one.
I finished my undergrad at 30, my MBA at 41 and I have planned on starting my PhD before I am 45. So I feel my education goals are on track or close to completion. Check.
I traveled the world thanks to the Army. I met that goal even though my military career delayed my education, it was still worth it. Check.
I married my dream girl Sheri and I have 2 wonderful children with her. Check. Check.
I have a very good career and business. Plus I can’t complain about our life style. Check.
So, I have achieved all but one of my goals, I’m done, right? No, it isn’t that easy nor should it be. What I have realized is that while I pursued by goals, I lost sight of my dreams. Your dreams may or may not come true, but they are your driving force to get you to the next hurdle. When I was in college, I had big dreams. You could go in my office at my house and see pictures of cars, homes, vacations, and a host of other “lofty” dreams or dream items hanging on my wall and bulletin board. I always kept those dreams in front of me because I knew that if I believed it, I would achieve it. Everything I did in my life was working toward achieving my dreams. I listened to motivational tapes, read books, attended seminars and met with people who I looked up to and aspired to be like. I did all this because I had dreams. You could walk in my house and see what I dreamed of.
Each step of my life from the time I as a teenager was outlined in the goals that I hoped helped me achieve my dreams. Now truthfully, my dreams changed many times as I grew older, but my goals never changed. I adjusted goals on occasion to make them more achievable but I never changed them drastically because I used them as my life’s map. Until yesterday though, I had truly forgotten about my “dreams”. Sure my goals are there and I have achieved all but one, but for some reason I lost sight of the dream. When I lost sight of the dream, I stopped setting goals. For all intents, I was done.
Today, I woke up with this thought on my mind. What are my dreams? What do I really want to do with my life? Where do I want to be in 5 years? All of sudden, I am starting to dream again! As I started to consider my dreams, I began thinking about my goals. I need new steps to guide me toward the dream. At 43, my dreams are a little different from when I was 23, but they all have the same premise and focus.
My plans have changed, but my life’s decisions or dreams really haven’t. My dreams now include my family and our lives together. What I want for them is part of my new and improved dream. Life today is too hard to just go through it on cruise control. Your dreams give you power and hope for a better life or at least a different life than what you have now. Your dreams should be achievable but should be just far enough out of reach to make you stretch and achieve the next goal.
What are you dreams? Write them down, cut out pictures, and then put them in your office or your special book. Look at them often. Ponder or “dream” about them. Now, set your goals. What do you need to do in order to achieve your dreams? Take a good look at your life. Have you lost sight of where you want to be and what you want out of your life? Give this some thought. Sleep on it tonight and tomorrow, write it down. I think it can change your life or at least give you greater purpose than you have today.
Whatever you do, don’t stop dreaming. Where would we be today if people didn’t dream or stretch themselves to go beyond their current situation and reality? Don’t stop dreaming. Reach for the stars and you won’t be disappointed if you only get the moon.
Around my house on any given night, the television is usually on and just providing background noise to drown out the chaos of a household with 3 dogs, 1 bird, 1 teenager, and my 9 year old. I really don’t watch much TV other than a few select shows, the news and late night television. Last night, while working on my new blog posts, I heard a strange sound that was not a bark, scream or crash that normally goes on in the background. Instead, I hear a Snap, Crackle and a Pop. No, it wasn’t someone pouring a bowl of cereal, it was my 42 inch Sony TV. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. My TV went black and nothing I could do would bring it back.
