In a few days, 2019 will be here. The question is, “What would you do different in 2019?”

Whether you had a great 2018 or not, this is a good time to reflect, especially if you are a business owner. It may be helpful even if you are an employee.

If 2018 was not that good to you, perhaps your business (or your employers business, if you have one) was at the tapering top right end of the s-curve. It may have even passed that point and started to dip downwards.

Even if 2018 was great, where would you be on the curve in 2019. Change can happen very fast. I’ve seen it and experienced it a few times, to not make the same mistake. I see it happen to my friend’s business as well.

At first, you may think it is just the usual seasonal dip. Then the following month is down again. You start to worry a bit, and hope that it will pick up. It may but likely not back to the levels it once was.

Here’s a conversation on a developer forum on WordPress (likely the most popular content management system these past many years)

. . . also I’m a WordPress developer and having 30+ Team member in my team and since 4 months ago 90% Projects are done within the WordPress but then … all of sudden ratio goes down and clients are demanding (alternatives)

By that time, you may start to scramble. That can lead to a shotgun haphazard approach. A better way is to constantly find ways to improve things.

How to stay ahead of the curve

The best thing to do is to stay ahead of the curve by testing new things. Stop doing the bottom 15% activities that you know result are tapering off.

Use the available resource to experiment. I learned from a mentor that around 15% is good to aim for. Too much and you can cut into what is still working.

What I see

I foresee video will continue to grow and more businesses getting into it. It is something that I will focus on. I will streamline my processes to get better at it, and also explore news ways to use videos to grow my business.

The reason for video is, next to meeting a customer in person, it is the best way to connect with customers for them to know, like and trust you. It just open doors to new opportunities.

Storytelling is the other thing I see that will grow as well. Combining the two well will have a great impact going forward.

If you like to learn how to use videos in your business, join me here.