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Using Sprints To Win The Business Marathon

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Business Marathon

Don’t become a deer in the headlights!

You set out in business with lofty goals, ambitions and dreams. You’re all excited! You’re nearly giggly with enthusiasm for what you are going to accomplish!

Our mentors tell us we X, Y, Z … and A, B, C. We have this huge learning curve and task curve that MUST be accomplished to get where we want to go.

blogging marathon

You write all these tasks out and look at them and suddenly… reality sinks in…

Then you groan.

And scuff your feet in the dirt.

And wonder if you just bit off WAY more than you can chew.

Then you back-pedal, panic, and procrastinate.

The monumental nature of what must be accomplished can take us from excited to scared out of our minds in a heartbeat!

Fortunately, it’s simply a matter of shifting how we plan…

Rather than let the monumental effort of climbing the ENTIRE mountain set us into panic, we have to be AWARE of the mountain yet consciously chose to focus on smaller, more doable tasks.

Building a Business

Most long distance marathons are broke up into “legs” (portions) of the race and each leg is made emotionally significant. Why is this? This is because a marathon as a whole is incredibly long and grueling – just like the process of building a business – and without way-points to strive for that feel accomplishable – the runner (and the business owner) would give up.

Building a business is a marathon – not a sprint.

However, dividing up the things we must do, such as “learn article marketing”, into bite-sized segments or sprints make them substantially more doable than simply setting out today, this very moment saying, “today I need to build a six figure business”.

Take all those tasks and things you need to learn and divide them down into singular things to do or learn and allocate them a 30 or 90 day stretch.

You can grow – yourself and your business – a LOT in 30 days with a 30 day video blogging challenge.

Learn Article Marketing

learn article marketing

Perhaps you need to learn article marketing, if so, give yourself 90 days to learn it and during the last 30 do an article a day self-challenge.

When you know that “next Monday” you start your new Article Marketing SPRINT, you can get excited about it. You can take that energy and that focus and let yourself get STOKED and FIRED UP about the opportunity to focus on article marketing for the next 90 days. (Now of course we often have to continue doing other business tasks during this time block but that’s not the point.)

Now use that excitement as LEVERAGE to fuel you forward. Let thrill of a new challenge give you a “running start” into the experience.

And… as the ninety days draws to an end… and you find it very very difficult to keep on writing… let the knowledge that you are ALMOST THERE motivate you to hang in there to the FINISH LINE.

Once the finish line is reach, celebrate! Enjoy the victory! Do not downplay it as a “small win” because each leg of the race is important!

This is how marathons are won… and businesses are built.

One leg of the race at a time. One sprint at a time.

Now you CAN do what before seemed impossible.

Go for the gold!

Now I want to hear from you… What sprint are YOU entering next? What are you excited to be set out to learn? If you’re in the middle of a phase, perhaps you can tell us how it feels to be halfway to your goal. What do you find motivates or hinders you? If you’re near the end of a phase, how sweet does that finish line look about now? Celebrating a victorious run? Tell us about it!

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Here’s to your unlimited success,
Kimberly

About

Kimberly is 29 year old female from Southern Illinois. Backgrounds in IT, small business & social media, she is passionate about helping small businesses succeed in social media. She primarily blogs at http://just-ask-kim.com on countless social media, Wordpress and Facebook marketing tips and tricks! If you're looking for advice on social media... Just Ask Kim!

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{ 25 Responses }

  1. Mark says:
    I am not in any sprints, but, rather, the marathon you mentioned. My marathon is trying to rank for competitive keywords. This, obviously, takes time as you already so well know. If I tried to swallow that burger in one bite I would definitely choke. What helps me is having a schedule each day and prioritizing what is most important. At the top of that list is number one, content, and number two, SEO. I find that if I focus on these, the rest follows with ease. I didn't try to rhyme that intentionally, BTW...;) Mark
  2. Daniel Sharkov says:
    That was a great read Kimberly! I totally agree with all of the points you have covered in the article. Dividing the ultimate goal into small achievable steps is a great way for novice bloggers (not only novice actually) to get their business up and running. Those steps also keep you motivated and we all know that without motivation, becoming successful is pretty much an impossible task.
  3. TJ McDowell says:
    I like the analogy. I think coming up with sprints within the marathon is a great idea. From what I've heard, this is how some people write books, and it's quite effective. After they've got the concept, they take a week or so and escape to write the book in rough draft. Out of curiosity, where in Southern Illinois are you? We live in Belleville, so I wasn't sure if you were around our area or further south.
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Hey TJ! How wild that you're in Belleville! I'm in Carlyle and get over the Fairview/O'Fallon direction quite a bit. Awesome! You're spot on about writers doing draft writing in sprint with solid results from it. Its that narrower focus and momentum that can help us through something that otherwise could take months or years. There's no particularly a generalized name for the process, hence my calling it Sprints, but its used with success everywhere! Thanks again (and look forward to being in touch!) Kimberly
      • TJ McDowell says:
        Definitely will keep in touch. I've added your blog to my Google Reader, so I'll be stopping by soon.
  4. Alex says:
    I know a tv show where someone doing a show about surviving in the wild keep telling the viewers that if they find themselves in bad survival situations one of the best methods is to break down their efforts (like make an objective of walking 1 km, after that make an objective of climbing 100 meters and so on, because small tasks are easier to complete, even if it makes part of a bigger thing). They way you put it, it's the same, but focused on business. Someone can quickly be overwhelmed if they look at the entire picture, in setting the business,researching, promoting etc. But if they make smaller objectives, like today i will think of how will I name my business(just an example). But you can't do this all the time, sometimes you just have to "sprint" and complete more tasks then usual!
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      I like the way you phrased that Alex - that is EXACTLY the mindset we're going for! Break it down in chunks, focus on the chunks and even when possible enjoy those chunks and make sport with them! Its the old proverb of not being able to eat the elephant in one bite... how do you eat an elephant? by the bite full... not in one swallow! You're spot on! Thanks Alex! Kimberly
  5. Trevor B. Reed says:
    Kimberly, as a former runner and a blogger I love the comparison. During a race you use the terrain to speed you up at some times and give you a bit of a break at others. Bloggers need to remember that you can't sprint the entire time, but you can't rest either. Great post and some good tips for everyone to think about.
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Hey Trevor, thanks for the reply! You're spot on about the necessity to not sprint the whole event. That's why the concept of it as a marathon is critical... trying to sprint one will kill ya (and your results!) Pacing ourselves, mixing sprints and more casual strides is key... and a sometimes tricky balance to achieve. As I'm sure you learned in blogging its a mix of art and science to learn how hard to push ourselves, when to push ourselves, when to back off, and when to risk the pulled hamstring! Thanks again! Kimberly
  6. Kimi says:
    Great Post Kimberly! Well, i have actually null experience on marketing stuff, but i guess in all works, it all needs some process and time to get "there". I personally will just let it run naturally, no pressure, no stress :)
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Hey Kimi! That's a great approach if its manageable for you and gets you where you want to be when you want to be there. For me, if I took that approach I'd be a much bigger slacker and my goals would be quite a few extra years off. Because I know what my goals are, and want them sooner than they might decide to arrive (or not arrive) on their own, my own course requires a lot more focus, structure and yes even pressure. Yet all of us are here for different reasons and looking for different things and it sounds like you've found yours so keep on shining! Kimberly
  7. Lennart Heleander says:
    Hi Kimberly, Building a business is like a marathon, but you must build it with many sub targets, so you can joy the small gold medal too and get new power to get on.
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Definitely true Lennart! Enjoying the sweet - albiet little - tastes of victory along the way help make the journey easier! Kimberly
  8. The Bad Blogger says:
    The race is hard, because there are just over-too-many competitor, but still I'm on the run, although there are some stop that I had to rest and drink, in order to have energy to carry on with the race. Well, I have a phrase that's almost the same as " Building a business is a marathon – not a sprint" which is "Building a business is a process, not an event, you can only have the event of celebration once you succeed."
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      You are spot on with your phrase about business being a process not an event. As an event it would be over. Building a business is more like raising a child... at what age do they stop being your kid? Each phase of their life changes things, but the whole thing is a process, over time, requiring patience and dedication and sometimes a fair amount of wanting to pull your hair out LOL! Thanks for sharing your insights! Kimberly
  9. Patricia says:
    Hi Kim It's amazing who I bump into over on this blog. Great ideas about setting 90 day challenges. My sprint is a 30 day one and it's to get those products I have just sourced up on my site and a shopfront to display them. Being the complete technophobe it may be more like wading through mud but hopefully I will have some competent techies come to the rescue. Visiting the lavender farm next week to collect some of my organic products. I am so relieved I have found what I have been looking for so this should propel me onto the end goal....monetizing my blog and offering my readers the best :-) Patricia Perth Australia
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Sounds like you've got a solid 30 day goal! Getting products set up can be a little hairy when you're looking at shopping carts and such. Be sure you have a look at the plugins from Tips & Tricks HQ and also GetShopped as either of them may be useful. If you need a hand you know where I "live" LOL! That's exciting that you're going to go get the organic lavender you've been looking for! Well done sweetie! Kimberly
      • Patricia says:
        Thanks Kim. I will have to get a techie to set up as I am your original technophobe. I will probably have to part with the $$$'s as I want all the products photographed to high quality and on the farm's site they are not! Unless my Gen Y niece does that part for me. Want the customers to see them in their best light as they are amazing products. I'm very excited but know it will be a lot of work as I will be taking all the orders and posting out myself as they don't do affiliate program. Most lavender farms I spoke to didn't know what I was on about when I asked if they had an affiliate program lol Patricia Perth Australia
        • Kimberly Castleberry says:
          Yeah "affiliate" is a online term. When it comes to offline businesses the closest you might find are those with a "referral program". However, even those are scarce. Referrals are most common at banks and medical offices and usually not much at other places. Just know that you have to absorb the expense of not getting affiliate money back and be sure to do a proper markup to cover your expenses and make a profit. Good luck and give me a shout if you need help! Kimberly
  10. Suresh Khanal says:
    Great idea. Looking at a thing from distant and looking the wholeness provides a sense of targets and goals. But the whole burger can't be swallowed at a bite. The principle of accomplishment tells - 'divide and conquer'. Rightly pointed out 'Building business is a marathon'
    • Kimberly Castleberry says:
      Yup - regardless of how hungry you are, that whole burger just isn't going down in one bite! LOL Love it Suresh! Divide and conquer is definitely the key approach here. Yet people seem to get panicked that the things they aren't doing at the same time may conquer them. Its far better to leave some aspects untouched and focus for a while than start a dozen sub-projects and get swamped and lost in them and accomplish nothing. Thanks! Kimberly