Most resolutions fail. In fact, January 12th is the most common date that people drop their resolutions into the new year. That’s right - less than 2 weeks according to science.

Since I’m a fan of reverse-engineering pretty much everything possible – this seems like the perfect time to create new resolutions. And if you’re anything like me, this is also the time of year that you’ve heard some pretty awesome goals that your friends and colleagues are tackling, so why not steal borrow them with permission?

In keeping with one of my favorite books, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, you have my permission to steal and take full credit for all of these business resolutions you should have made when you were hungover and covered in glitter on New Year’s Day.

1 | Assess Your Budget

I know, this can be painful. So, pop a bottle of wine and sit down with your spreadsheets. Review everything you spent last year, then go category by category to determine what paid off and what was a loss.

Celebrate your wins!

Look at all the purchases you made that helped you earn more money, bring in more clients, or feel totally awesome about your business.

Acknowledge your losses.

Take a good, hard look at your losses. Was there a membership that you paid for but didn’t get any leads from? Or an event you attended that was a huge drain on your finances?

Discover lessons learned.

Take stock and write down some lessons learned. If investing in productivity tools paid off massively, keep it up. If there’s a specific marketing practice that didn’t give you results, kick it to the curb.

2 | Upcycle Your Website

Websites are a lot like hugging Jell-O: tough to get your arms around. In these days of ever-changing marketing tactics and evolving technologies, just when you think you’ve got a handle on the whole website situation, it’s time for a change.

The reality is that in order to keep up with the rapidly changing online marketplace, the needs of your target audience, and a world with a very short attention span, an annual website update is a mission-critical operation.

Scope the competition

While you don’t want to blatantly copy anything your competitors are doing, you do want to know what they’re up to. Set aside half an hour and check out 3-5 businesses in your niche to see who’s doing what well.

Revisit your website goals

It’s been a whole year (or more) since you worked on your website. Before you make any major changes, step back and take a bird’s eye view. How have your goals changed? What kind of strategy makes sense for this new year?

Bring in a pro

Let’s be real, if you want to take things up a notch in your business, you need to work with someone who’s at that level. Want to make more money? Grow your business? Level up your clients? Hire a professional who can help you translate it all into your website.

3 | Level up your brand

Your brand is a reflection of who you are. It’s the amalgamation of your values, intention, mission, and personality. So, there’s a 0% chance that you’re exactly the same as you were 365 days ago.

You’ve read books, listened to podcasts, met interesting people, and done awesome work for tremendous clients – every moment has the chance to change you even just a teensy, tiny bit (that all adds up to big change).

Freshen those graphics up

Colors become passé. Fonts fall out of favor. The last thing you need in these forward-thinking times is a brand that looks and feels dated or out of touch. Contact your designer or use my go-to designer: the incredibly talented Lexi of Hearthfire Creative to get a free brand evaluation.

Upgrade your brand visuals

Your about page and social media profiles get a lot of traffic before a potential client engages with you directly. Keep that headshot fresh and professional – and totally branded. Headshots and brand photos should be updated annually, and it’s great to have a few so you can update during the year. Here’s how.

Give your copy a boost

No one buys from someone who can kind of, sort of explain what they do well. People buy from businesses who consistently express what makes them awesomely unique to solve their clients’ problems. Set aside some time to dig into your content or use my go-to copywriter: the wordsmithing strategy nerd from Copy Bree to get resources on writing conversion copy.

What resolutions are you adding?