I hesitate to open this post with words like “in this tough economic climate” or “in times like these,” because what I’m going to share with you today are things that every small business owner can use regardless of the business climate and external circumstances.

In fact, if you implement these three things in your business, the current economic situation and other external factors become a non-issue in your success.

The first of these three things is Clarity. You must have complete clarity about your business goals, you must be perfectly clear about your ideal target market and you must be completely clear about how your product or service can benefit your client.

This clarity is not only for your sake, but for the sake of every prospect looking at your website or reading your ad in the local paper. When you are clear about what you do and who you serve, the prospects can easily determine if they are a match for you.

If you are clear about these things, your clients and strategic partners will also be clear and will be able to communicate your value to their clients and colleagues and refer additional business to you.

The second part of the formula is Certainty. You must be certain that you can achieve the goals that you are so clear about now. You must be confident that you can meet the needs of your ideal client and bring them the results they expect.

And thirdly is Focus. By focusing your attention and your energy on a desired outcome, your chances of achieving your goal become exponentially greater.

Let’s take a college student for example. If this student is taking courses without any declared major, or is constantly changing his major, then he has no focus. He doesn’t know which way to go. He is sending his energy in different directions and it takes longer to achieve the desired result.

Now let’s look at another student, who knew from the time he was a small child that he wanted to be a doctor. When he got to college, he know exactly which courses to take to graduate with the appropriate degree and he didn’t deviate from the course. Today he is a successful surgeon at a major medical center.

He had clarity; he could see the desired goal. He had certainty; there was never any question in his mind about becoming a doctor. And he had focus; he concentrated on only those things that would get him where he wanted to be.

You have the exact same ability. Get clear about your goals. Write them down and then write out a plan for achieving them. Be confident and be absolutely certain that you can do what you set out to do. And focus on the end result. Don’t let economics or anything else knock you off course. Keep your eyes on the goal and you will succeed.

Ken Partain is an Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach who specializes in search engine marketing and search engine optimization.

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