The path to profit for an online home business is usually tied closely to smart planning, smart tactics - following key steps - and a willingness to undertake the necessary action. Creating a strategy for your home business and following it will ensure that you enjoy the journey as much as getting to your final destination.

So what is strategic business management? Very simply, it's the process of defining the goals and objectives for your business, creating an action plan so you can reach them and then following the plan.

How do you prepare a strategic plan for your business?

1. Research. Study those who've developed successful online marketing strategies and identify the techniques that you believe will prove fruitful during the coming year. One year is a long time on the internet but it offers an achievable goal.

2. Develop a plan for this year. These are the specific objectives you plan to accomplish this year that will lead you closer to your long-term goals. Remember to be "SMART" when setting your annual goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-oriented). Include a list of the barriers that are stopping you from getting where you want to go. Figure out what resources you've already got, and what resources you need to get you past those barriers. And then create an action plan that clearly lays out how you will achieve your goals. Involve any other key persons involved in your business with this part of the planning process.

3. Have a clear vision for the business. If there were no barriers, nothing stopping you from taking your enterprise as far as you could -- what would that look like?

4. Then consider your core operating values? What are your guiding principles? In other words, why are you in business and how do you do business?

5. Now create a 3 to 5 year plan. Your long-term plan is based on the broad objectives that will help you get from where you are now, to where you want to be.

6. Create a set of milestones or benchmarks. This is very important, so that you can measure your progress.

7. Share the plan with anyone else who will be involved in the process. Your annual strategy is the roadmap that will make sure everyone ends up at the same destination -- but to be effective, everyone needs the same map!

8. Put the plan into action. Now that you have the roadmap, it's time to begin the journey.

9. Check your progress. Just like any trip, you need to check the map every now and then; to be sure you're still on the right road. If something isn't working, the sooner you figure it out and make the necessary adjustments, the sooner you'll be back on track.

10. Follow the same cycle next year. (Dream, Plan, Act, Check). On a scale of one to ten, having a good business strategy rates about a fifteen!

No matter what kind of business you have -- whether you sell products or a service, as the saying goes, "if you fail to plan, then you're really planning to fail."

Creating a strategy can mean the difference between you working 60 to 80 hours a week all year long -- and then breaking even, or worse, losing money.

On the other hand, many successful entrepreneurs who have a strategy work fewer hours and make piles of money -- and they usually attribute their success to having a strategic plan and following it.

Remember, the smarter you work, the luckier you'll get!

About the author:

Ivan Kelly managed a Direct Mail business with extensive mailing lists for ten years and has designed and promoted many websites. He also provides quality f'ree courses on key internet marketing subjects. A list of these f'ree courses is available at: http://www.WebStartAdvisor.com/info.html