Let's face it, achieving success is not easy. It takes a lot of effort, skill and luck to be successful. What is considered success will vary by the organization and by the individual; however, in whatever way you define success, it is clear that many things need to come together to be successful.There are many drivers to being successful. Three drivers of success include goal setting, reflection and measurement.  As a business, you need to set your goals, reflect on what you’re doing and measure what you’re doing to see if in fact your efforts are getting you closer to your goals.  Coordinating these three drivers of success is not easy and in fact there are many factors that one should consider to propel your efforts.

Last year we came across a content marketing solution provider, Buzzsumo; in fact, we wrote an article about them.  Buzzsumo provides an on-demand Internet software solution, i.e. SaaS offering, that helps organizations plan and manage content by using their tool to analyze tending content themes on any topic or competitor. It is an incredibly useful tool for helping guide content marketers in their effort to understand what people are interested in.

In its first year, Buzzsumo reached a great goal. They achieved $2.5m in revenue! As noted above, there are many factors that need to come together for an organization to achieve success like this.  Thankfully, Buzzsumo reflected on their success and in an article shared 22 factors they see as being key contributors to their success.  Here they are,

1. The product matters more than marketing
2. Influencers matter
3. Be growth focused
4. Churn is a killer, make the product sticky
5. Grow revenues by developing the product
6. Traffic and momentum builds over time
7. Content marketing takes time
8. Create unique content based on data
9. Give away everything you know
10. Employ the very best staff you can afford
11. Partnerships
12. Mentors
13. Freemium can be effective marketing
14. Be aware of your cost of customer acquisition
15. Beta test and listen to your users
16. Pricing is difficult
17. Customer service, track your NPS
18. Innovation matters
19. You are building a brand
20. Keep learning
21. Use SaaS tools
22. Be flexible, stuff happens

Please, be sure to read the full piece where they explain each of the factors above. 

Here is to 2016 and success for all.  May you identify and reflect on the factors that will lead to your own success.