Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition

Setting Your Course Trajectory

Think of your vision as your future destination and your goals as what keeps you motivated to move forward toward the vision. If you were to lay out everything on paper (which I suggest you do), you should be able to set a course to success.

Your trajectory is a clear path your business can follow to reach the vision. It's like a connect-the-dots puzzle that takes you right to your destination. Content and other people fuel your movement toward goals.

Similar to space travel, objects are constantly in motion in the business world. If you were to hop into a hypothetical spacecraft and head straight to the moon, it would be gone by the time you arrived. Had you taken into account that the moon orbits around the earth every 27 days or so, you would have been able to set a course ahead of the moon. Thus, you would have arrived right as the moon spun into your orbit.

In the context of business, you need to look forward and predict how your goals might be shifting based on market factors. For example, if you're targeting an up-and-coming industry expert for a longer-term strategic relationship, you'll need to calculate how long it will take that relationship to form and where that person might be on his or her own growth path. The hope is that you'll come along at the right moment and be able to help that person in a way that benefits him or her.

Earlier in this chapter I mentioned that I recruited Jay Baer to write a monthly column for SocialMediaExaminer.com ...