Your January Business Building Checklist!

Are you ready for the New Year!? I know… you’re probably saying “Alicia… come on, I need to get through the holidays first!”

Trust me, I get it! But if you’ve been in business for longer than a year, you probably know that you should have ALREADY started planning for January.

If you haven’t yet, or if you want to make sure you’ve tied up all of your loose ends, I put together a quick list for you that will lay the groundwork for starting 2019 off on the right foot!

The biggest gift you can give your business in 2019 is to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE and streamlined.

Simple = Less Stress.

One of the ways I kept things simple when I had my fitness business was to set a specific theme for each month. I focused all my marketing, promotions, content, educational workshops, etc. around that theme for the entire month.

It made such a HUGE difference! No more scrambling to come up with ideas.

For instance, your theme for January could be “Vision” or “Growth” or “Goal-Setting.”

This obviously depends on your niche. But no matter what theme you choose, it gives you built-in ideas for your blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts, as well as your promotions, workshops and more!

I also wanted to provide you with a solid list of ideas for January, because I know these next few weeks are going to be a blur!

This should help you stay organized, give you new ideas, and also make sure that nothing important falls through the cracks!

Let’s dive in…

January Business Builder Checklist

MARKETING & PROMOTIONS

• Finalize Details. Put the finishing touches on your 2019 New Year Membership promo (if you’re offering any.)
• Challenge Prep. Get your 2019 New Year Challenge materials ready to go: emails, FB posts, recipes/manual/plans, etc. (If you don’t already have a challenge in place and need a good one, there are 6 great challenges to choose from here.)
• Marketing Prep. Schedule all of your New Year Challenge marketing. Create your social media posts, ads, marketing emails, etc., and get them scheduled ASAP!
• Bundle It. Consider bundling products and services for a “New Year, New You” package: Create a product/service package at different price points: include equipment (jump rope, foam roll water bottle, etc.), supplements, an assessment, group training, etc.
• January Workshop. Possible topics include vision boards, goal setting or fat loss. This is a great way to get new leads!

EMAIL / BLOG / SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

In January, people are motivated to get into shape and they’ll be hungry for content to help them. To save time, multipurpose your content across all your marketing platforms.

• Fat-loss tips. Be their go-to when it comes to optimizing their workouts.
• Recipes. Smoothies, quick lunches, healthy snacks, etc.
• Motivation. Share your motivational insights, tips, and quotes.
• Other: 2019 Bucket List, Goal Setting, Mindfulness, Intention, Creating Your Vision for 2019.
• Think ahead. Get ahead of your marketing and plan out your entire first quarter content!

COMMUNITY & CONNECTION

• 2019 New Year Healthy Kick-Off Workout or Virtual Party! Host a New Year’s Day workout to help your clients and prospects start the year off right! If you’re virtual, you can still leverage this concept with an online workshop/party!
• Compete in a 5K or Obstacle Course Run. Build on the momentum of New Year’s by choosing a nearby fitness event (like a 5K or obstacle course) and putting together a group to participate. If you’re virtual, host a free 5-day challenge for your tribe.
• Build Strategic Relationships. Choose 3 nearby businesses to connect with. Drop by and introduce yourself. If you offer a promo for neighborhood businesses, let them know! But definitely make the visit about the connection vs. the sale.
• Network. Get out of the studio and join a networking group (or two). Do your homework and choose a group that will be beneficial to your business (not just MLM-oriented).
• Pick Your 2019 Events! For YOUR sanity and your own connection, research a couple of conferences or events that you’d like to attend in 2019! 🙂 (something fun to get you excited and fired up!)

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAMWORK

• Vision Meeting. Schedule a lunch meeting for your team to discuss your vision for the coming year and their role in making it happen (and how they will benefit!). It’s SO important to make sure everyone is on the same page and knows the direction of the business and what the vision (and mission) is.
• Delegate MORE. Trust your team to do their job. As long as you’ve properly documented your systems and have trained them appropriately…. delegate it!!
• Internal Education. Set up any educational workshops or presentations you plan to offer your team. This can be a huge morale builder!
• External Education. If it’s in the budget, encourage them to research a new workshop, certification, or event that you can help support them on in 2019!
• Team Book. Pick a great book that you as a TEAM will read together in January (or at least start in January), and then discuss at a team meeting!

SIMPLIFY YOUR BUSINESS / OTHER

• Schedule time to work ON your business. I recommend spending at least 60 minutes a day on your business (vs “in” your business working with clients, etc.). Each week, choose a single business system to update or build. Stay focused on the system at-hand!
• Keep a running list of system upgrades you want to make, so when new ideas pop up, you have a place to track them before you forget! This helps keep you 100% focused on the system of the week.
• Block Your Time. While you’re scheduling time in your calendar to work on your business, also schedule your workouts, family and personal obligations, as well as your appointments, etc. Allow for buffer time between tasks, too!
• Client Reactivations. Contact former clients and get them back in for training. This should be done MONTHLY!
• Client Testimonials. Be sure to ask your clients for testimonials – video, if possible! This is another item you can include in your business systems for creation.

Remember…

HAVE FUN AND KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Hope you found this list helpful! Have an amazing rest of your day.

Alicia 🙂