erica.biz - Erica Douglass shows you how to build an inspired, successful business.

I posted my goals for 2008 in December, 2007. My primary goal was to launch my new website, Inspiring Innovators, in January.

I missed that deadline, but for a good reason. I found a new mission — WealthCamp — a conference focusing on teaching personal finance and investing in a community-driven, interactive setting. I went full-tilt on WealthCamp until May 31, when we held the first WealthCamp in San Francisco. It went well, and I learned a tremendous amount — not only about setting up and running conferences, but about what you want to see in a personal finance conference.

Most of our attendees were in their late 20’s to mid 30’s, and many were in the middle of a transition from just “staying alive” and barely making ends meet to starting to feel more comfortable and make larger purchases. That’s a huge and quite interesting niche, and definitely wasn’t what I expected — but I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall, the feedback forms I got were overwhelmingly positive. During the next WealthCamp, we’ll be going more in-depth on financial tips and tricks and negotiation hacks. It’s clear that this sort of conference is needed in the community, and I plan to do many more of them.

The Power of Posting Goals

While I was putting the finishing touches on WealthCamp, something interesting and quite serendipitous happened.

Every few weeks, I check out the Established Sites for Sale marketplace over on Sitepoint Forums. This is where owners of websites post them for sale. I read it frequently to see what sites are out there and which ones are making money. Plus, since others can comment on the listings, you can quickly see what the prevailing opinion is on the site’s ability to make money.

Back in December, I wrote that I wanted to launch Inspiring Innovators to interview successful people. I said: “What I really wanted to do was hang around interesting people who have had great success and understand their thoughts, dreams, hopes, and fears. I wanted to express through interviews that these people aren’t all that different from the rest of us — so that we have the hope and courage we need to get there, too.”

In February, when I dove headfirst into Internet marketing, I found a website that did exactly that: interviewed successful entrepreneurs. The owner of the site had a slightly different vision than I had for Inspiring Innovators, though — he did in-depth interviews of successful Internet-based entrepreneurs twice a month and then charged $10/month as a subscription fee to view those interviews. “Genius!” I remember thinking at the time. “I had no idea people would pay for interviews…” Then, of course, I did WealthCamp and put the whole thing out of my mind.

A couple weeks ago, as I was surfing Sitepoint Forums, I noticed he had posted his website for sale for just 4 months’ net profit. As I read the description, my excitement grew — he had over 100 paying members to his site, and all customers, all the interviews, domain name, and content were included in the sale. Without hesitating, I clicked the “Buy” button. My mind still boggles that I dropped a few thousand dollars so “casually” — but what can I say? I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the Universe’s way of saying “It’s time for you to start Inspiring Innovators.”

The sale is closing this week, and I am excited to finally “launch” Inspiring Innovators. I will leave his business name alone and use the Inspiring Innovators domain name as an additional portal into the site. I have looked through his site and there is some great content there. I love the model and am darn excited to really get this project started.

What Can You Take From All This?

I want to emphasize to you the importance of not only setting goals, but writing them down and making them public. The Universe wants you to succeed. It wants to see you utilize all of your talents. And if you put your goals out there and make them loud and clear, that opportunity will show up. You just then have to not be afraid to take it. In my case, I could have been driven by thoughts of scarcity and “I can’t afford it” — but I knew this was an open door for me, and I took it without doubting myself.

Amazingly, the site owner read my blog after I purchased the site, found my 2008 Goals blog entry, and was truly excited to sell to someone who had the same idea as he did.

My goal, as stated in December 2007, is to make $10,000/month of blogging and other writing income by the end of 2008. Since it’s now June, this may be tough. But I want to point out another interesting synchronicity.

Figuring that I would be overwhelmed by a $10,000/month goal, I broke it down into monthly pieces at the beginning of this year. I then printed out what you see below and hung it on my monitor, where I stare at it several times a day:

I have only successfully hit my target once so far (in February) this year. However, the most interesting point is that after all advertising and hosting fees, the site I just bought makes…$800/month net profit.

Which is exactly what I had written down for June. Do you see how things can fall into place if you take steps toward action and don’t doubt yourself?

Your Four-Step Plan To Making Your Goals Happen

1. Set your goals clearly and concisely, and write them down publicly.
2. Put a reminder up about what you want to do someplace where you see it every day — like your bathroom mirror, or your computer monitor. Use numbers and specifics. Set a deadline.
3. Focus on those numbers. Believe they are possible — even if you’re not sure how you will achieve them.
4. Take action! When the door opens, grab on and enjoy the ride.

You’d be surprised what opportunities come your way when you signal to the world that you’re ready to take on a new challenge.

I will be releasing more details regarding Inspiring Innovators as I launch the site this month. Stay tuned to watch the next phase of my goals go into action!