At the end of each year I spend time analyzing company goals, personal goals and the obstacles that developed on the route to them. 

I thought it would be cool to list some of the lessons learned both by the company and personally in 2006: 

1) Be willing to adapt your plan.  In order for us to hit our revenue goal we had to develop some new streams of income for the company that weren’t originally part of our goals in January. 

2) Keep your ear to the tracks.  Throughout the course of the year we were able to take advantage of opportunities purely because we were postitioned properly.  If we weren’t constantly trying to learn more about this industry we would of missed the train. 

3) Learn to let go.  Steven and I enjoy getting our hands dirty, so much so that we stunted some of our growth this past year by keeping training wheels on bikes that didn’t need them.  It’s important to empower your team with important responsibilities where your only guidance is the initial project overview. 

This lesson was imperative to learn in 06 because for us to hit our revenue goals in 07 it’s imperative that we scale our most valuable resource - human capital.

4) Surround yourself with Winners.  We are just as picky choosing our clients and partners as our clients are choosing their agency.  What we’ve learned in 06 is that we are on a path to becoming the best comprehensive search solution for our clients.  Because we invest so much time an energy improving processes and our product clients or partners that aren’t on a similar path with their business do nothing but impede progress. 

5) Clients and Partners are our biggest asset.  We’ve been fortunate to partner with some truly stellar online marketers this year.  So much of our 2006 business has come from within our network of agency alliances.  I read a book a few years back called “Love is the Killer App” by Tim Sanders and I must say it truly is.  This lesson and principle has been emphasized by going above original expectations; by spending additional time on our clients  we’ve developed innovative solutions that bring more value to all future campaigns. 

6) Personal Fitness is mandatory if you are to perform at a high level each day.  I’ve been working out all my life and if I was to time line my life you’d see different reasons for my strenuous workouts.  The lesson I learned in 2006 is that my performance at work is directly correlated with how many times I was able to fit a work out in during the week.  I’m so much more productive when training on a regular schedule.