Many business start throwing out emails and half hearted attempts at solving serious issues with lead development. Seriously, have you read Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. One of the habits that has always influenced my decision making is Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind. Many people identify with the frustration of success because they fail to plan. Many people do not ever get around to defining the end itself and so they simply could not begin with the end in mind. The end represents the purpose and plan of selling. Until you can say EXACTLY what that purpose is, with assurance, then you just cannot direct your marketing attemps in the manner that would bring you leads and ultimately — GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

There are no short-cuts here. To engage in this habit, you need to have a dream, define your own vision and get into the practice of setting goals which will allow you to make measurable progress toward the dream. Next, create the steps you think it will take to accomplish those goals. For example, the goal may be to have 1,000 OPT IN leads per month. Once you know that, they you can make steps to get there and measure your progress if you hit your goal. But, without knowing what you want… it’s kind of hard to tell if you have made it or not.