June Goals Review

Well, it's my first month of full-time self-employment. How are things going? In a word...AMAZING! I couldn't be happier that I quit my job to focus on my business full-time! It really is a dream come true!

Some of the things I like best about self-employment:

*Getting to sleep at night again! I worked the graveyard shift for 10 years getting up at 9:30 at night! I still get up pretty early (about 3 or 4am) but I still get to sleep at night :)
*The flexibility self-employment offers! I work when I want, take break when I want, run errands when I want...I love it!

*Taking on larger orders! There have been a couple orders already that I may have had to turn down had I been working another full-time job still. This is just a sign that I made the right decision :)

Now, onto my goals! Last month I reassessed my current goals and added a few new ones.

Shop Goals:

I doubled my goal from one sale per day to two. As of today (written on 6/28...had to schedule ahead), I have 83 sales!!! Which means I'm way past my goal and almost at the 3 sales per day on average!

I also extended my goal of shop admirers from 750 to 1,000! That means I need about 36 new admirers each month. For June, I gained 29 new admirers...pretty darn close (and still a few days left)!

Blog Goals:

One of my biggest goals for my blog is to schedule blogs ahead of time and work blogging into my new schedule. As you can see, I'm doing rather well at this since this post was written 5 days in advance! I'm out of town for part of this week, so it required me to schedule a little more ahead than usual. But I'm doing great and writing 2-3 posts when I sit down to schedule posts :)

Other Business Goals:

This is one area where I haven't hit my mark yet. I knew these things wouldn't happen over night, so I'm okay that they're not getting done yet. My goals were to contact wedding planners, reception halls and build inventory for a large show this fall. Quite honestly, I've been too darn busy keeping up with orders to think about these things. But I do see them happening in the near future :)

Personal Goals:

I am excited to report that I am back to exercising!!! And it feels great! I missed getting outside and enjoying the sun :) It's about the only time I actually get outside! I've been alternating between walking and jogging and I've started jogging further and further. We have some pretty good hills in our area, so the walking is great for toning! I've averaged 3-5 days each week this month. I'd like to make it a consistent 5 days every week, but for now, I'm just so happy to be back at it :)

How was your June? Any big goals planned for July?

February Goals Review

February was another great month in the world of Memories for Life!

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One of the things I am most proud of is that I've been creating and adding lots of new designs to my shop!

I blogged about my Wall Words in February and finally got my first set listed on Etsy. These have been very well received and I'm so excited to see a new product do well :)

I'm also focusing more and more in wedding items. Weddings are a big market and I have SO much to offer in this category! Look for many new things in the wedding department :)

Here's how the month turned out:

Blog Goals:

I am far exceeding my goal of blogging 3-5 times per week. In February I blogged 27 times...only missing 2 days the whole month!

As for followers, I want to reach 325 by the end of the year. That is an average of 6-7 followers per month...and I only have 5 new followers for all of 2012. Falling short here...but lots of time to make that up :)

Shop Goals:

For this typically being the "slow time" on Etsy, I can't believe my shop is staying so busy! I really contribute this to all the new ideas I've been coming up with and the variety my shop has to offer :)

My goal is to average a sale a day in 2012. In February I had 28 sales...only one short of my goal! How exciting!

And my goal is to have 750 shop hearts by the end of 2012. That is about 11-12 new hearts per month. In February, I had 17 new shop hearts...another great accomplishment!

Other Business Goals:

Nothing new to share in the advertising area. Still working on that one!

I purchased some inventory software that I'm hoping will help me stay more organized. I'll be blogging about that soon to give my review...so far so good :)

And I did send some samples of fundraiser options to the local Booster Club. They really liked the samples, but they don't have a specific idea in mind for them yet. I may go ahead and send fliers to other schools and see what happens.

Personal Goals:

I'm still doing great with my jogging. I didn't jog 5 days every week like I wanted to, to Feb. was a busy month! I have increased my mph on the treadmill and am only .2 mph away from my goal. Now I need to start adding longer jogs at the same mph to reach my goal. I'm so ready to get outside and jog!

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I am also really happy about our personal finances! I paid off one loan and only have one payment left on another! In order to quit my full-time job, our personal finances need to be in order. This just gets me one step closer to my goal...no make that my DREAM! And the online bill pay is working really well too!

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How is 2012 shaping up for you? Leave me a comment and let me know :)

January Goals Review

In the past I haven't done a monthly review of my goals. I've done mid-year reviews, but with some pretty big goals (like quitting my job!) I've been keeping a pretty close eye on my goals this year!

Blog Goals

I'm doing great in the blogging area. My goal was 3-5 times per week and in January I blogged 30 times! I'd say that's pretty good :) I'm still quite a ways from my goal of 325 followers, but that's okay...I've still got plenty of time to work on that.

Shop Goals

I am really amazed at how I'm doing on my shop goals! My goal is to have 366 sales in 2012. That is an average of one sale per day. I thought I'd be making up my average in Oct-Dec when sales really pick up. Boy was I surprised when I got 30 sales in January! I hope this keeps up all year!!! And I had 24 new shop hearts. My goal is 750 shop hearts by the end of the year, which averages 11-12 per month...so I'm doing awesome in this area as well!

Other Business Goals

I'm still working on advertising ideas. It's hard to know where to start with these things! But I did get a wedding ad up on The Handmade Wedding Blog and have already revamped it once. I would still like to advertise on The Knot as well. And I have ads at RandomCreative and FabricFascination as well.

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I will be sending some sample items with a friend to the local booster club meeting next weekend to see if they would like to use any of them for fundraising ideas. After I see how this first round goes, I can see what I need to change to present my ideas to other clubs and organizations as well. I think this could really open some doors locally!

Personal Goals

I'm doing great with my jogging and am very proud of myself for sticking with it. My biggest hurdle is always my motivation and will power. I've put it in my head that jogging is not a choice anymore...it is part of my daily routine. I've been jogging 5 days a week and have slowly been upping my mph on the treadmill to get myself ready to jog outside at the speed and distance I used to jog at.

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I also got all of our recurring bills set up online. I've made a few payments and I love the system our bank uses. Very easy and user friendly!

I have also been keeping track of all my local sales so far this year as well. I want to know exactly how my business is doing on a month by month (if not week by week!) basis.

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Check back next month to see if I'm still on track! How are you doing with your goals so far?