2012: Will this be the year you hit your goal?

Greetings and salutations!

I cannot stress the importance of setting realistic goals for your business. As 2012 begins, it is time to look back and evaluate your efforts for the past year. Did you increase your market share? Were you profitable? Are you satisfied with the health and well-being of your company? Be honest...because if you aren't making forward progress, then there must be a reason. As the owner of Coastal Carolina Home Watch, I am constantly analyzing and interpreting how my market is changing, and what I must do to adapt in order to stay relevant. As the Executive Director of the NHWA, I am able to garner feedback and insight from different parts of the country and Canada. While some trends are industry-wide, others may be regional. My point is that while our businesses may be in different parts of the country or continent, we all share common issues that affect how we must conduct business in order to be both successful and ethical. It is essential for us to look objectively at 2011 in order to set our goals for 2012. Sometimes we all need to take a step back and look at where we have been, in order to be more objective about where we are headed.

Much discussion has been had about this website. Are the colors too drab? Are there not enough bells and whistles on it? Is our website successfully expressing our goals to you and those potential Home Watch clients who are viewing it? We at the NHWA have decided that our New Years resolution will be to make some very necessary changes to our website. We feel it's time to create a "members only" section. This will allow us to discuss and share information that will be accessible to Accredited Members of the NHWA only. We will be providing strategies and ideas for programs that will give Members additional support with marketing. For example: Jeremy "Spike" Cohen, the Home Watch industry's leading web guru, has agreed to host a Q and A for members on a monthly basis. He'll answer questions and make suggestions about increasing your page ranking (why some of you are not found on Google until the 10th page), amongst other subjects. Webinars will be presented to NHWA Members on subjects that are suggested by them. Exclusive discount programs and products will be available to Members through the site. You can also expect a new look for the website that will be more pleasing to the eye, in addition to being more informative to the public.

The NHWA can do great things for our industry, but we need to grow the membership. That means you taking the first step. Invest in your company's future by protecting the Home Watch industry from companies who don't do the right thing by their clients. Download the Membership Application, fill it out and get the accreditation process going.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

Much success,

Jack