Is There a Secret Formula for Success?

You see it all the time: The secret to succeeding at X; # Secrets to do X; The # Secrets Every Successful X Knows. It’s intriguing. You want to be successful too. You say yes, I want to know this secret.

You ask yourself, could this secret work for me? How can I use this secret?

Do you want to know the real secret?

The real secret: there is no one right way to succeed at anything.

Formulas as a Guide

Please understand, I’m not saying anyone is trying to mislead you when they share their secrets. They are sharing what has worked for them, and this can be helpful to you.

There are formulas you can follow, using them as a guide, learning from the work of others. As you learn your craft, formulas can be very helpful in getting you started and allowing you to better understand the market.

But, just as with math, there is more than one formula out there.

Each person that shares their secret formula with you is sharing what they have learned and what has worked for them. Some of these things may work for you as well, and some may not. You will have to try different things to see what works for you.

By all means, read what has worked for different people, learn from those things, apply them to your own situation, but be willing to tweak them as you need to. If you get caught up in following a formula exactly, you will miss things.

Some Pieces are Important to all Formulas

While formulas will be different for each person, there are some pieces common in every formula you will find:

• An online presence (I recommend a website as part of this online presence).
• A clear plan, with room to tweak as needed.
• A specific goal or set of goals.
• An audience that trusts you and believes in what you provide.
• A willingness to research and stay up-to-date on the market trends.

These are all pieces you will find, stated in different ways, in most formulas you come across online. You will also find that each person has a different approach to these pieces.

For instance, I strongly recommend having a website. There are some people finding success with just using social media to promote their stores though (this is more likely to work with a localized store not doing sales outside their area).

While most people will agree that a social media presence is important, each person will have a different way of approaching this. This is true even with companies in the same market.

Just because you are selling a similar product or service doesn’t mean you will reach your target audience exactly the same way. One person may market primarily through video, while another person may use pictures and the written word.

This is going to depend on your personality and the people you want to connect with. Your personality is a big part of how you draw your audience.

People connect with people and will be drawn to specific personality types, this is how two similar companies can connect with their audience in very different ways. The audience they are attracting, while needing similar products, are drawn to different modes of communication.

Where the Formulas Really Come into Play

Your goals and your plan are connected. Once you know what the goal for your business is, you can start establishing plans for how to get there. The trick here is to stay stubborn on achieving the ultimate goals while being willing to make changes to the plan as you learn more.

This is really where the formulas come in. To reach goal X, you must follow formula Y (I threw some pretend math in there for you). Yes, your plan is your formula for success. This is where you say doing A, B, and C should make this goal successful.

This is why I say you need to be willing to be flexible with the plan/formula. In theory, doing certain things should bring about certain results. There is some truth to that, but you must pay attention.

The market can change drastically in a moment, requiring you to change the plan. Your audience may respond better to something you didn’t expect. Some new technology could emerge, making changes necessary.

You could just find you’re more comfortable with doing something different than you originally planned.

For whatever reason, situations can change, and you need to be willing to change the plans to fit the new situation. This is where the research comes in.

Pay attention to the market, pay attention to new developments. Look at differing models of success and learn to pick and choose from those formulas. Try different things, paying attention to what works and what doesn’t.

By staying up-to-date and continuing to tweak your plans, by paying attention to the trends in the market as well as in your own business, you can create your own secret plan to success. Then you can join with others in sharing the # Secrets to X, knowing you’ve provided a useful tool to help the next person create their secret formula.

Tools for Creating Your Secret Formula for Success

Are you ready to create your own secret formula for success? You want to make sure you have the right tools to make it happen. If you want more tips, trick, techniques, and tools to use towards your business success, sign up for the newsletter.

This is where I share the resources I come across and the research I have done on creating a plan for business success.

Do you have anything to add? Let me know in the comments.