By JOHNNY CARCIOPPOLO / Community Columnist

There’s more to focus than meets the eye. Having strategies that help you get and maintain focus is an integral part of any business.

Most business owners don’t realize this and fall short of success when their business, their mindset and their strategies aren’t centered around focus.

Here’s how to set yourself up for business success:

• Have a business plan.
• Have conversations with family and friends about your intention.
• Write down your intentions and stick with it.
• Create a business mantra.
• Don’t back down.
• Have faith.
• Fake it until you make it.
• Be enthusiastic above all. This is truly contagious. When you are excited about your business, others will be too.
• Create a schedule, tweak it and stick to it.
• Have integrity, do what you say you are going to do and be where you say you are going to be.
• Have an accountability partner.
• Keep abreast of trends.

The world of marketing has and continues to change throughout the years. It’s important to keep an eye on your marketing endeavors and plan, in order to keep and stay focused on the goal.

Your goal should involve more than making money. It should also incorporate having satisfied customers and a thriving business. Keep your focus on your customer when marketing, and your marketing will work for you, not against you.

Once you have laid the foundation, keep an eye on your marketing plan with this questions:

• What can you learn about marketing?
• Where are you falling short?
• Are you still not on social media?
• Do you have a FB fan page and Twitter account?
• Are you on Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn?
• Do you use Google AdSense or affiliate marketing?
• Do you make use of traditional advertising and direct copy?
• Do you need to outsource?
• What do your networking opportunities look like?

Products and services – before you launch a product, focus on what type of product to whom and which target audience you will serve, and then you can expand from there; keep your focus and don’t try to please everyone all at once. If you have a successful product launch, then you can look into these areas:

• Do you have one product or several?
• Are you starting with one and branching out?
• Are your products real products or digital products?
• Can you revamp existing products to include different types and forms?
• If you have an eBook, can you rewrite it to different age groups (i.e. women/men/teenagers)?
• Are you taking part in content marketing for your products and services?
• Can you offer a different version of your service (traditional book or eBook or online class)?

In order to succeed in all areas of business, it’s important to integrate focus into all aspects of your business plans and dealings.

Some writings indicate that business owners who continue to forge ahead regardless of setbacks and so-called failures tend to be the most successful.

Resiliency is a key component of having and maintaining focus. When things happen, you can sit and dwell on them or you can have a focus toward the future – your future, the company’s future and the future of the customers you will serve, as well.

Follow these tips and guidelines, make a plan, write it down and stick to it and before long you will come to realize that focus is no longer something on your to-do list, but a way of life now.