Create Your Own
Master Game Plan

I like to look ahead and imagine what the future holds!

I think looking into the future is one of the most important things you can do to grow your business!

Every few months, I sit down, look at my work, and re-evaluate where I want to be 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from now.

Goal Setting is very important.

​Just like what Napoleon Hill said in his famous book: Think and Grow Rich,

Napoleon Hill Author

Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if,  it is organized into DEFINITE PLANS OF ACTION, and directed to a DEFINITE END.

So today, let me give you some guidance on what are the things you need to plan for as you move forward.

3 Proper Steps to Set a Goal

​#1 Write it Down!

​The very first step to set a goal is to write it down! I mean literally go get a pen and a piece of paper to write down your goal.

I wouldn't recommend you to save it in your electronic devices because at the end of this, I'll need you to paste this piece of paper onto a place that you can see it every day. Any place as long as you can see it every day when you wake up and before you go to bed.

So, what goal should I set?

Now, ask yourself, what's the purpose that made you to look for online opportunities?

• Is it to quit your 9-5 job?
• Is it to live a digital lifestyle that you desire?
• Or is it to have an extra source of income to support your family?

I'm sure you have your purpose in mind already.

Now, put that exact purpose onto the piece of paper.

Next, add a time for which you want to achieve that goal. (For example: I want to quit my 9-5 job and live a freedom lifestyle in 12 months' time.)

That's it, first step complete.

By the way, make sure you don't set goals that are impossible to achieve, like "I want to quit my day job in a month's time. This is impossible if you are a complete beginner in online business. It'll usually take at least 3 to 6 months to make your first sale.

However, don't underestimate your capability. The goal you set should be a bit challenging and you should feel a bit of fear.

#2 Break up into Small Steps of Clear Action Plans

​Simply having an end goal will not get you there. What you need to do is to break down the goal into smaller action plans which are set throughout the period until you reach the end goal.

These action plans have a shorter time period and are easier to accomplish.

For example, the action plans for people who want to quit their job in 12 months' time may be:

• ​Learn the basics and build a strong foundation for online business in the first 2 months.
• Aim to make the first sale online in 3 months (which is totally possible but NOT guaranteed)
• Have at least 50 unique website visitors a day in 4 months
• Making at least 1 sale per week in 6 months
• Making at least $100 per month in 7 months
• Making at least $500 per month in 8 months
• $1,000 per month in 10 months, etc...

In fact, I've recently came across this Wealthy Affiliate member who is making $3,000+ PER DAY just 7 months after he got started online. This is crazy but it's doable. As you can see, it can be done!

The above list is just a rough "money goals". Under these goals, they can be further broken down into mini steps, such as how many posts should I post per week, how much time should I spend on my business and what to focus on, etc... (This will be further covered in the next section.)

​As you can see, you'll need to take some time to really think about the amount of time you can invest in your business and what your focus is in order to have a good actionable plan for you to follow.

So, don't rush! Take some time to THINK and put them down in the paper.​

#3 Attach Deadlines to Each Action Plan

​You need to have a deadline for each of your action plan. This is to keep yourself accountable and keep pushing yourself forward.

If not, laziness and inconsistency may set in and thus making your end goal less and less achievable.​

For example, if you want to make at least $100 per month online, you cannot just state that "I want to make at least $100 per month online." Instead, you need to set a deadline of let say $100 per month in 7 months time (like the example above).​

Things I need to Plan for?​

​Let me show you an overview of the different stages of your affiliate marketing business so that you know what to expect and what to plan for:

• Choose a Niche (done!)
• Purchase a Domain name or Register for a Free Domain Name (done!)
• Basic Setup (Website & WordPress settings) (done!)
• Build Basic Pages (e.g. homepage, about page, contact page, etc.) (done!)
• Start Blogging
• Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc.)
• Email Marketing
• Google AdSense (Put Google Ads on your site & make money whenever someone clicks on it)
• Guest Blogging
• etc.

Don't be scared by the list. It's just a rough overview of what you've done and what you'll be doing. In fact, you've already completed the first four if you were following along with the course.

From Blogging onward, they are the things you'll be doing in the future for your online business.

This 8-Day course is not enough to cover everything in detail. That's why I refer you to Wealthy Affiliate because it has the most organized and detailed instructions.

The 3 Main Things You Need to Plan are:

1. Content Goals

​Content is the lifeblood of your affiliate marketing business because quality contents are the ones that can help your target audience and they are also the ones that sell.

You need to create content on a regular basis not only because it helps your search engine ranking but also because it helps to grow your audience as well as your business.

(By the way, content need not always be in blog post format. If you run an YouTube channel, the videos you upload are your content as well. In essence, content is information and knowledge. It can be in any form as long as it is a kind of information that can help people. Your Podcast is also your content.)

No matter what type of your content is (it is another topic of discussion), you need to have a plan of how much content you want to publish over a certain period of time and how often you want to publish them.

For example, over the next 3 months, I want to publish:

• ​36 posts
• 18 review posts, 18 general keyword posts

This equals to approximately 3 posts per week. 

Once you've decided on that, determine which are the days or what are the times in a week you are going to write those 3 posts. After all these are planned, stick to it and make sure you complete it every week.

2. Website Development Strategies

​There are quite a few strategies you can use to grow your website and your business. But you can't possibly use them all together at once when you are just starting out.

You need to learn one by one and only move on to the next once you've mastered the previous.​

Here's a list of the various strategies:

• ​Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Guest Posting
• Paid Advertising
• Republishing

I'm not going to explain to you each of them. You just need to know that you can make money as long as you master one of them. 

The number one strategy you need to learn and master is Organic SEO.

Research data by ConvertKit

As you can see from the graph above, the #1 traffic source for professionals is organic search.

So, my recommendation for you is to focus on SEO for your content in the first 2 months before starting to build your social networks. (Don't worry, both SEO and social media marketing are all covered in Wealthy Affiliate's training.)

These 2 can keep you busy for a few months. Then you can move on to Email Marketing.

3. Self-development/learning Goals

​This is the one that many people tend to forget or ignore when they are very focused on building their own websites.

Remember you still need to be learning and developing yourself at the same time. There must be a balance between the time you spend on learning and the time you spend on building your websites/contents.​

The only way for you to be better at what you are doing is to keep on learning and apply what you learn at the same time. You won't go far by keep on doing what is not working.​

For me, I would allocate time every week to read or go through contents by people who are more experienced and knowledgeable than me. Not only that, I have developed a habit of reading business and marketing related books regularly to constantly improve myself.

This is something you should be doing as you move forward.

The only way for you to make a lot of money online is by being a real help and value for your target audience. And if you want to be that person, you need to constantly improve yourself and become a more valuable person. Make sense?​

3 BONUS Tips for Goal Setting​

#1 Don't be Lazy!

​Many people may think having "think through" their plans in their head is enough. This whole thing about writing everything down is stupid.

I had that mindset as well. But countless of case studies have shown that writing down your goals and plans really do help a lot in accomplishing it.​

The most important thing about achieving success is don't be lazy. Write down your plan as specific as possible and place it somewhere you can see it and remind yourself every day!

#2 Sometimes, Failure to Accomplish Your Action Plans/Goals is Normal

​Failure to complete certain plan or achieve certain goal is normal because there are a lot of variables we cannot control.

But this doesn't mean you fail. The whole point of having a plan is for you to know what to do.

If you miss a certain deadline, plan or goal, adjust your plan accordingly. Your plan will definitely have a lot of changes over time.

So, be confident and fearless at what you do. If you encounter any failure, adjust your plan and continue to work towards your end goal!​

#3 Following Through & Repetition of Action Plans is Key

In all businesses or jobs, there must be certain tasks that need to be done again and again.

In affiliate marketing business, they are writing blog posts or creating contents. Under those, there are things like keyword research and content promotion all these stuffs.

The key to success is to develop the self-discipline to consistently do things that need to be done again and again. Over time, it will become a habit and things will be a lot easier.

Any new tasks will require self-discipline to consistently accomplish it until it has become your habit!