I really wonder how many of Alex Jeffreys students took the challenge of planning their yearly goals.  I just finished watching the two videos from Alex that explains how he planned his 2008 business year.  I’ve got to say he not only matched it, he surpassed it in awesome fashion.

I have no doubt that Alex did not just stumble upon his wealth nor did he become one of the lucky ones.  He has planned out beforehand and managed to create products for free with fantastic up sells with the purpose of them building upon one another.  Again, he could not have done this without proper planning.

As I look ahead to 2009 I want to take Alex’s advice and plan the entire year.  You all can greatly benefit from doing the same.  Here is how he breaks it down.

1. Break the year down into 4 90 day plans.
2. Break each 90 day plan down into 3 one month plans.
3. Break each month down into 4 one week plans.
4. Finally break each week down into daily tasks.

Starting this process can take some planning but you actually begin by getting a piece of paper and sit yourself down for what Alex calls a brain dump.  You literally put down everything you wish to accomplish with your business and your personal life down on paper.

Don’t worry about organizing it yet, just get it on paper.  After you get everything out, it’s time to prioritise it.  Get yourself a calendar and begin by placing all of your listed goals for the year on the calendar when you would like to complete them.

After you have them on your calendar, you only focus on the first 90 days of the year.  What exactly do you need to do in order to accomplish them by the dates you set?  If you have too many things going on, especially if you are still working a full time job while building your online business, then you might want to spread your goals out a bit.

Re list your goals for the first 90 days by priority.  Alex puts either an A, B, or C next to his goals and prioritises them that way.  “A” goals take precedence over all others and likewise “C” goals can wait until another day if necessary.

If your “A” goal is to get your new website launched by a certain date, you must break that goal down into smaller tasks that need to get done in order to have your website ready by launch day.  For a website you need:

• hosting
• domain name
• payment processor
• videos/graphics
• auto responder email series
• affiliates
• support

These smaller tasks get listed in priority and you set dates and time lines for them to be accomplished so you will have your completed project ready by launch day.  You know yourself better than anyone so you also know which of these tasks you can do yourself and which ones you need help with. 

Outsourcing is a fantastic way to accomplish your goals quicker but if you are low on money then doing it all yourself will take longer.  You must be able to give yourself ample time to complete your goals or you will become overwhelmed with all that must be done.  You cannot go faster than you are able to run.

If you plan the entire year out like this then you will be able to grow your business because you are planning to grow.  Any business that grows suddenly without being ready for it can easily be destroyed with little effort.  Know that you must reinvest some of your profits to provide better quality, better support and outsourcing. 

If your goal is to be financially independent and spend more time with the family, you need not be at your computer for 10 hours a day.  Alex Jeffreys realized in order to have a successful business he needed to trust others to do a lot of the work for him.  He holds meeting with his staff to let them know exactly what he needs done and in what time it should be accomplished.

We can all learn from Alex as he continues to build his online business well into the millions as I know he is.  For the 500 students Alex is currently teaching, you should be aware that he will leverage each and every one of us to get that accomplished.  Not only is Alex teaching us his methods but there is also a goldmine if you study exactly how he is running this mentoring program.

Take notes and keep them safe because the business model that Alex is using is the real one that makes all of the money.  We are only in the first stages and are just now trying to get our names out there but in the future I hope you plan on emulating this great leader we have in Alex Jeffreys.

Let me know how your planning is going and if I can be of any help.  No matter the niche of your business if you at least attempt to plan, you can have something to achieve.  One great quote that I love is “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail.”  Until next time…