Recently, while thinking about how to help Memoir Network Professionals to grow their businesses, I was jotting down some ideas about running a profitable memoir-writing business–the what-do-I-know-now-that-I-wish-I-had-known-then sort of stuff. Here are the first five I came up with to help jumpstart my (and your) endeavor and keep it going profitably year after year.

1. Create business goals.

Make many goals for yourself. They need to be attainable goals in a chain of goals: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. They ought to lead one to the other. Your daily goal ought to make achieving your weekly goal easier, etc. Endeavor to the best of your ability to meet those goals as you read the dates you had set to meet them.

Adjust your strategies regularly to fine-tune your access to those goals. Goals can be monetary (earn so much money), technical (learn to use a computer program masterfully), emotional (feel comfortable charging a higher fee), but they ought to be all related to your business.

As much as possible, once formulated, make your goals non-negotiable. You must reach them for consistent business development.

2. Follow a business strategy plan.

Don’t wing it. Every day that you work you must do so from a strategy plan that is geared to that day’s goal and to the week’s and the month’s and the quarter’s and the year’s. Spontaneity is great for art but it can be a killer for business. Day by day plodding wins the race to succeed at business.

Success, according to Jim Rohn, a business guru of another generation, depends on a few essential disciplines, practiced well every day, day after day.

3. Keep track of performance metrics.

Know your numbers. Money collected and owed, active subscriptions, how many people have registered for your programs, how many more do you need to meet your money goal, what percentage of each open project is completed and how likely are the projects in development to be completed by the projected end date.

Projects that remain open too long are money sinks. Completed projects are marketable and so are potential moneymakers. Numbers are a guide to any business development. Until your project is finished and brought to market it cannot earn income.

4. The 80/20 rule is always good for creating a profitable memoir-writing business!

That is, 80% of your profits will come from 20% of your clients and projects and programs. Conversely, the remaining 80% of your clients, projects and programs will produce only 20% of your income. So… constantly evaluate your offerings and weed out the unprofitable 80%. The only exception? Something new that has not yet had sufficient marketing. Give it a deadline by which it either produces or it gets chucked out. (Remember: it is to your benefit to strangle your little darlings if they don’t perform.)

5. Lead generation must regularly prevail over product development.

Product development is so much fun for many of us, but we must remember that only sales—of products and services—make money for a company.

The only exception when product development can take the fore: when you are just starting out and are still employed elsewhere and need to develop a product line. After you have a product line or have revamped your product line to meet new market needs, lead generation must take its rightful place as the king of your company! Lead generation, in its many forms, leads to sales. This post is a lead generator for the Memoir Professional Packages.

Creativity is imperative for your artwork but not for your business. Systems and consistency are essential for profitability.

Remember: success depends on a few essential disciplines, practiced well every day, day after day.

Grow your profitable memoir-writing business

I hope this helps you grow your profitable memoir-writing business venture from a hobby to a money-making venture.

I also post business-related articles on LinkedIn at the MBA: Memoir Business Accelerator Group

Have you been working along the lines of these five suggestions? What are your own business “rules”? Please leave your comments below.