Recently I wrote about making a digital resolution for 2011 and with so much happening with social media, online marketing and with e-commerce I think a digital resolution has become a ‘must’. I’m sure you do too, but you might also be asking the question of where to begin?

Where to begin is often a refrain in the digital space in large part because there are so many moving parts, so many pieces to the puzzle that are related to one another and there is always the issue of prioritization; compound all that with the fact that often times you are not familiar with how those parts actually work. The reality is even experts are constantly on the hunt for new knowledge, and even the experts have to adapt to new technologies. It can get overwhelming but I’d suggest the first place to start in order to create a meaningful digital resolution is with your calender. That’s right, some time between now and New Year’s you’ll need to block out time to really think about this – your business deserves nothing less.

A list is always a good place to gather thoughts, whether that list is on your computer or is on a pad of paper I leave to you (btw, that too could be a good digital resolution – going digital with your notes!) but a nice place to start is by analyzing the year past to see how you did. Did you achieve any special goals? Did your business hit the benchmarks you had set out? Did you fall short? Did you get that magical number of Facebook fans that you were so excited about in August 2010? Did you follow through with your social media plan? Did your blog posts connect in the way you were hoping they would? I’ve always found that by assessing the past it puts me in a great position to think about the future, and I think you will too. And frankly, it being year end this is a great time of year to consider these issues, among the many others that you need to consider while running your business.

Next up on your list will be a list of all your digital goals for 2011.

  • New website?
  • New Facebook page?
  • X number of new subscribes to your list?
  • Kill it with Twitter?
  • Take measurement seriously?
  • Online video?
  • SEO
  • More online sales?

This list is really about all your digital goals. I’m also going to suggest that you leave yourself a reminder in for June 1, 2011 to check back in with this list – while you’ll have only one digital resolution, this list will still be a big backbone in terms of what you are doing for the year. Also please understand that there is a difference between desires and goals – just because you desire the world does not mean having the world should be a goal of yours. As you are compiling your goals keep in mind things like budget, time (yours) and bandwidth (don’t spread yourself too thin)?

So now we are finally getting close to making that digital resolution. You digital resolution should focus on one of the goals from your list, and as this is a resolution you should see to it that you follow through and achieve success with this one item. If your digital resolution is based on specific benchmark (more traffic, more sales, more followers) at minimum you want to be able to walk into 2012 knowing that not only did you do everything in your power to follow through on your resolution, but also that you were so thorough in your desire to see your resolution through to success that you’ve also managed to learn a ton of great new things about your business, in turn helping to make your business considerably stronger.  Lastly, as this is a resolution, make sure it is something that you are super excited about achieving.

Now, go for it!

Wishing you all great success in 2011!