Setting Goals: Breaking Down Big Dreams into Doable Steps with Beverly Cornell

In this episode of Spark and Ignite Your Marketing, Beverly Cornell dives into one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs: setting and achieving business goals. It’s easy to dream big, but without breaking down those goals into actionable steps, they may never come to life. This week, Beverly walks through how service-based businesses, like photographers, can take their lofty revenue goals and turn them into manageable, strategic plans. Whether you're aiming to book more weddings, schedule additional portrait sessions, or secure more corporate events, this episode will provide you with the tools and tips to achieve your goals. 

🌟 Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Why big goals matter for your business success
• How to break down your revenue goals across different services
• Actionable strategies to book more weddings, portraits, and corporate events

Get the Goal Setting Worksheet for Service-Based Businesses

P.S. Ready to spark your unique opportunities and ignite your marketing? Here are three ways to work with us.

1. 📞 Schedule a Complimentary 15-minute Call and let’s delve into your goals and answer any questions you may have.
2. 📘 Read Beverly’s book Marketing for Entrepreneurs a quick guide filled with actionable steps to help make your brand and business shine even brighter. 🎙️ Listen to Beverly’s Marketing Podcast where she interviews entrepreneurs to get inspired and gain new business and marketing insights.
3. 🎓 Learn more about marketing and Enroll in Our Marketing Courses designed to bring clarity to your business efforts. They’re easy-to-understand and self-paced, perfect for busy entrepreneurs like you.

Transcript

Beverly: 0:09

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Spark and Ignite Your Marketing podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, the founder and reputation growth strategist at BC and Associates Marketing. This podcast is your go to resource for actionable insights to help your service based business thrive. Whether you're just starting out or have clients. Been in the game for some years. It's the perfect place to be. Today, we're talking about something every business owner struggles with at some point, setting and achieving those big goals for your business. It's easy to set a lofty goal, but how do you make it? How do you make sure it doesn't just sit on a shelf? Collecting dust. Today, we're going to break down that process, especially for service based businesses. Using an example of a photographer where it's all about balancing creativity with business strategy. Let's start by discussing why big goals are so important. These goals serve as the driving force behind your business decisions and help you keep your eyes on the prize on the prize. For example, maybe you've decided this year is the year to take your photography business to the next level. And perhaps you want to double your revenue. It's an exciting goal, but also a daunting one. If you don't have a plan in place and that's where breaking it down comes in. That's where breaking it down comes in. When you dissect that big goal into smaller actionable steps, it suddenly feels a lot more manageable and more importantly achievable and even more fun. Now let's bring this concept to life with a very practical example. Suppose you're a photographer who wants to increase your annual revenue by 50, 000 this year. That's a solid goal, but it's crucial to break it down to see how you can reach it. So let's say you offer three main services, weddings, portraits, and corporate events. Weddings is your premium service, typically priced at 5, 000 or more per wedding. Portraits are priced at around 500 per session, and corporate events are priced at around 2, 000 per wedding. Event. If you're aiming for that 50, 000 increase, you can set specific targets for each service. Weddings. Book five more weddings this year. That's 5, 000 times five, which equals at least 25, 000. Portraits. Schedule an additional 20 portrait sessions. That would be 500 a session, right? Times 20 equals 10, 000 in revenue. Corporate events. Secure seven more corporate event bookings. That's 2, 000 x 7 equals 14, 000. Now, that gets you really close to that 50, 000 goal, and it doesn't seem so intimidating. You've broken it down into specific achievable targets across the services you already offer. With your goals for each service defined, the next step is to create actionable strategies to achieve them. And here's how you might approach it. So for weddings, networking, attend three bridal expos to connect with potential brides and clients. Referrals. Reach out to past clients with a referral incentive program. Most people who are getting married are also in weddings and have friends who are getting married. Seems like when one person gets married, everyone's getting married in the friend group. So there are a great pool of people to see if maybe a referral possibility is there. Partnerships. Partner with local wedding planners to offer Bundled services and discounts. So it doesn't have to be a wedding planner. It could be the reception hall, the flowers, the caterer. It could be the videographer. These are all people who have the same clients as you do build a referral network and connect and create an amazing collaboration and partnership with people who you really respect and love to work with for portraits, special promotion. So run a seasonal promotion, like a fall family portrait. To attract new clients have these fall mini sessions maybe have them a little cheaper But do more of them schedule them out for every Saturday for the next month Be really specific with your time and your revenue You want to share a series of posts showcasing different types of portrait sessions to drive interest on social media? You also want to make sure you're following up with your clients. Contact those past portrait clients for repeat sessions of, and also like check in with their family updates. So contact past portrait clients for repeat sessions or family updates. Every year we typically get a family update. Portraits on so there's an opportunity right there to just grow your business with current clients already for corporate events Do some cold outreach identify and reach out to 10 local businesses that could use event photography And you can really have fun with this. This could be 10 businesses that you absolutely love. Maybe you Often frequent this could be an industry that you're really passionate about whatever the case may be Really be specific in those 10 so that you really can love what you're doing. So for your LinkedIn presence you can increase your activity on LinkedIn, focusing on connecting with event planners and corporate decision makers. For case studies, you can create and share case studies of past corporate events to showcase your expertise. These can go in your email campaigns. A social media post. They could be a short video. It could be on your website. Like a portfolio area. But talk about what you do, how you help them, and the results by focusing on these specific actions. You can move steadily towards achieving your overall revenue goal. Staying focused on your goals is going to be a key part of this. It's so easy to get sidetracked by day to day operations or unexpected opportunities as an entrepreneur, but regularly reviewing your progress can help keep you on course. So every month, look at where you're at. Are you doing the networking? Are you creating the case studies? Are you reaching out to those clients? Of those 10 customers or potential businesses, have you reached out to them? Leave little tick marks, try to track it so you know exactly where you're at. To help you stay organized and on track. I've created a downloadable worksheet. That's tailored just for service based businesses like photographers. This worksheet, it will guide you through breaking down your big goals. Setting those specific targets for each service you offer and creating those actionable steps related to those particular services. You can find the download link in the show notes. This tool is specifically designed to help you stay focused, measure your progress, and make adjustments as needed throughout the year. As we wrap up today's episode, remember big goals are within reach when you break them down into manageable, actionable steps, whether it's booking more weddings, scheduling additional portrait sessions or securing more corporate events, you too can achieve your revenue targets by staying focused and following your plan. Keep your goals front and center. Make it a filter with which to make decisions for your business, review your progress regularly, and don't be afraid to make adjustments as needed with a clear plan in place. You are well on your way to turning those big dreams into a reality. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the spark and ignite your marketing podcast. I hope today's discussion has inspired you to set and achieve big goals in your business. Don't forget to download the free worksheet to help you stay focused and on track. If you have any questions or need further assistance in setting your business goals, feel free to reach out. All the links to connect with me and download the worksheet are in the show notes. Stay tuned for more insightful conversations and actionable marketing tips in our upcoming episodes. But until next time, keep sparking and igniting.