What you track grows

What you track grows! It’s a simple Law of Attraction strategy that most entrepreneurial leaders overlook and that’s really unfortunate. That’s because it’s a pretty easy tip to implement.

First, on the last day of each month, schedule a one hour appointment on your calendar called “Month In Review.” During this dedicated appointment, focus on tracking areas related to your overall business goals.

Consider these examples of what to track in your month-end review:

• Sales by Product or Program
  Your shopping cart should offer reporting capabilities to make it really easy to see what’s happening with your sales. Shopping carts like 1 Shopping Cart, Samcart, Active Campaign and Infusionsoft are just a few options available. I’ve tried all four and recommend you choose the right one for where you are in your business.

• Website Metrics 
  Remember, what you track grows. That means using Google Analytics, you’ll be able to track everything from traffic, top referrers, unique visitors, length of time on your site and lots more. Each of the statistics available offer insight into what’s working and what’s not working with your website. This is a free tool and relatively easy to use so there is no excuse for not using it. If you don’t understand how it works, your website person will show you.

• Email Subscribers
  A growing list of email subscribers confirms the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Review the statistics that reflect open rates, new subscribers and campaigns that are working best as well as which opt-ins or lead magnets are successful. Get Response and Aweber work really well and have appropriate reporting, too. Active Campaign and Mail Chimp have had a financial boost from investors so you may see expansion of their capabilities in the future.  Since “the list” is always an important metric, at minimum you’ll want to stay on top of this metric to gauge growth.

• Social Media
  If you have a business page, Facebook automatically sends you insights monthly. Review the statistics for your Facebook page to see engagement and growth in followers/fans. If you haven’t received your report, go to your page and double check the settings. I also use this time to send a few invitations to potential fans/followers.
  
  On LinkedIn, look at who’s viewed your profile and read your posts. If you’re tracking more regularly, you’ll see that the more frequently you post, the more likes and comments you receive. You’ll love that you can also leverage LinkedIn to post to Twitter, too. Use that feature occasionally and not always because people want to know that your interactions are live from time to time, too.Check to determine how many new Twitter followers you’ve attracted throughout the month. If you’re like me, you’ve setup notifications so you see new followers as they happen. Be sure to check at the month-end to see the real impact of your tweets via retweets and likes, too.Instagram is all about hashtags. That’s why you see posts with tons of hashtags. When you review the impact to your followers, you’ll note which hashtags produced the greatest number of likes and follows.

• Income Less Expenses = Profit
  Because what you track grows, this is a crucial area for month-end review. Income is different than sales and you won’t know your profit until you know your expenses. You may have sales that may not be accounted for by a specific program or product. (Your accountant may ask you to find the appropriate category so this may be the case until you do.) Pay close attention to your expenses because as your business grows you’ll be tempted to increase your expenses, too. If you’re reviewing this area monthly, you’re more likely to streamline as you go by cutting redundancy or reducing your expenses in areas that no longer serve you. All of this tracking is easier when you use bookkeeping tools like QuickBooks. It also makes it easier at tax time. This is the tool I’ve used and my accountant swears by it.

• Banking, Merchant and Payment Gateway Accounts
  After reviewing your bank statements and balancing your business bank account, be sure to review the charges from your merchant account. I’ve found that I can almost forecast merchant account fees based on sales because of what I’ve reviewed on a monthly basis. I’ve also discovered it’s best to use a bank wire for transactions over $5,000. You can save lots in merchant account fees when you do. Payment gateway providers like makes these expenses easy to track, too.

This list is not the end-all, be-all for your month-end review. It’s merely a few suggestions that will make management of your business easier. When you remember what you track grows, you’ll know exactly what to review on a regular basis.

What do you review at the end of the month or on a regular basis? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Wendy Y Bailey

WendyY Bailey is often called a Force of Nature and a trendsetter in the coaching industry and for good reason. With more than 20 years of experience, she brings fearless innovation and bold strategy to entrepreneurial leaders, coaches, speakers, trainers, and consultants across the globe serving clients across the U.S., Canada, the UK, Spain, and Italy. Affectionately known as “WendyY” by clients, business associates, and colleagues, she’s also lovingly called “Auntie” or “Mama Coach” for her signature blend of Southern charm, fierce wisdom, and deep coaching insight. That special mix helps her clients double, triple, even quintuple their bottomline profits. WendyY is an internationally recognized thought leader, award-winning coach, two-time bestselling author, and sought-after business mentor.