October Goals Review

Welcome to November! Let the holiday madness begin :)

October was another great month at Memories for Life! I love being able to say that. Since quitting my job in June, I've been nothing but thrilled with my decision! I absolutely love working from home and Etsy has really made that possible!

Feather Earrings

Shop Goals:

Last month I raised my sales goal from 2 sales per day to 3 and I'm thrilled to report that I met my goal! With 92 sales, October was an awesome month! Even better, I had 2 really big orders, so my revenue was even better than expected! (And lets face it, that's what really matters!)

I had my two biggest shows in October as well and both ROCKED! I was very happy with my shows last month!

I had set a goal for shop admirers at 1,000 by year end. But one of my friends pointed out that this goal isn't as important as my sales goal, so I'm not too worried if I meet it. I'm currently at 884 and probably won't meet this by year end. But if my sales are rockin', I'm okay with that :)

Doggy Ornament...Coming Soon!

Blog Goals:

Not much to report here. Still blogging about 6 days per week. I thought about cutting back my blogging to 5 days, but haven't figured out what to cut out. Maybe Tuesdays?

I'm happy with my growing number of readers and commentors...I love comments!

Wine Charms...Coming Soon!

Personal Goals:

As I reported last month, my exercise routine has pretty much been sidelined. I just can't get myself back into a routine I enjoy. On the upside, I have been eating a lot better. I started using a program called Body by Vi and am liking it so far. It's a little boring, but easy to stick with. And at lunch I eat either a Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers frozen meal. I've also started eating spinach wraps as well. I hate all the sodium that's in the frozen meals, so I'm trying to cut back on those as well. I'm down a couple pounds, but nothing major. I'm just happy I'm learning to eat a little healthier and hoping to make lasting changes.

Hair Clips...Coming Soon!

 My creativity is kickin' and I've been making lots of new little things to add to the shop! Now I just need to make time to photograph and list all of them!

How was your October? Are you ready for the holiday madness?

August & September Goals Review

Well, it was half way through September before I realized that I hadn't done an August Review yet! So I decided to wait and group the two months together. Both were great months and I was surprised by some of the data.

Shop Goals:

August was my most successful month in selling on Etsy to date! I had 116 Sales! I still can't believe it myself! And this really seems strange to me as August is typically a lower selling month in terms of historical data. I credit this to my wedding items :)

September wasn't quite as spectacular, but still a great month with 87 sales.

My goal had been 2 sales per day average and with my current trend, I'm going to raise the bar and up my goal to 3 sales per day average. With the holiday season upon us, I don't see any trouble meeting this goal :)

While September Etsy sales might have been down, I did two shows last month, so it was actually nice to have things a little slower...though it sure didn't seem any slower!

I have my two biggest shows of the year in October, so it will be a very busy month at Memories for Life!

Another shop goal I set for myself is to have 1,000 admirers for my shop. Right now I'm at 866, so I have a lot of ground to cover to meet my goal by year end. I'll need about 45 new admirers each month. This is a pretty big stretch since I'm averaging in the low 30s right now.

Blog Goals:

I'm still happy with my posting on the blog. Having a mix of scheduled themes and open days helps keep me on track. I've started reading new blogs and that's helped get me new readers as well. I love finding blogs that are just plain fun to read :)

Personal Goals:

 As per my usual, my exercise routine has taken a back seat to life again...ugh. I just can't find my groove and get into a good routine. I just don't think I've found something I enjoy yet. Now that it's colder in the mornings and not light out until after 7, I'm not motivated to jog outside anymore and the treadmill just doesn't sounds like any fun at all. I need to check our Netflix account and see if there are any good workouts to follow on there. Anyone have recommendations?

I'm really excited about October and the start of the holiday sales season! I wish all my fellow artisans a great selling season :)

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?

March Goals Review

March was by far my best month so far this year! It far exceeded the goals I had set for my business!!! Some days I am in complete awe of how well my shop is doing!

I am still focusing more and more on wedding items and they have all been so well received! Two of my newest items are my Wood Wedding Invitations and Wine Bottle Candle Table Numbers. They got a lot of attention at my show last weekend as well!

Blog Goals:

March was a good blogging month. I posted 26 times which exceeds my goal. I am also doing well on my followers. I am currently at 261, so I may still reach my goal of 325 by the end of the year.

Shop Goals:

I far exceeded my goal of 1 sale a day and had 47 sales in March! This number still blows my mind! And I am steadily reaching my goal of 750 admirers by the end of the year. In March I had 21 new shop favorites. At this rate, I will easily meet my goal!

Other Business Goals:

I started a new advertisement on The Knot and will hopefully have good things to report on this! I think my wedding items will be great for this type of advertising. I'll have to do a post on this with more info on the experience.

I am quickly learning that inventory software is only as good as you make it! I have a hard time remembering to update it! I need to make this more of a routine like my sales, cost and profit logs I keep each month.

Personal Goals:

Things didn't go so well for me in the personal goals area last month! First I had a sinus infection, then my uncle died and then I had a huge order of coasters I had to get engraved! So my jogging suffered...a lot! I need to learn not to let excuses like these get in my way!

On a more positive note, our personal finances are still doing well. If we keep everything on track til the end of the year, my goal of quitting my job will easily become reality :)

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How did your March go? Do you have goals set for each month or for the end of the year? I'd love to hear how you're doing :)

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?

Bring on 2012

2011 was an amazing year for Memories for Life! Adding my laser engraved items really helped to grow my business! I created lots of new items and made my scrapbook-making more efficient. I'm ready to take on 2012!

Here are this year's goals!

Blog Goals:

*Blog 4-5 Times Per Week

I was happy with my blogging goal for last year and want to continue to blog about the same amount this year.

*Blog Followers: 325 Followers

I originally thought 300 was a good goal, but wanted to challenge myself. 350 was my next thought, but I was afraid this may be a stretch, so 325 it is :)

Shop Goals:

*Etsy Sales: 366 Sales in 2012

This is definitely a stretch compared to my goals last year! But I want to make an average of 1 sale a day. I had 309 sales last year and I plan to add lots of new ideas to my shop, so I feel a sale a day is within reach for me. Wish me luck here!

*Shop Hearts: 750

Last year I far exceeded my goal, so again, I'm adding a bit of a stretch goal. This is about 11-12 new shop heats per month. The last part of 2011 was awesome for new shop hearts, so I hope all of 2012 is the same way!!!

Other Goals:

*Think about a new name for my shop. I would like to keep the "Memories for Life" part in there though.

*Redo my shop and blog banners to reflect my new name.

*Look into efficient advertising (focus on wedding items at first)

*Local advertising.

I found that once I got the word out about my products, people went nuts for them. Finding the most effective method will be the hardest part

*Work with local organizations on fundraising ideas.

I will sell the items to them at wholesale for them to make a profit for fundraising activities. (And this may be my best way for local advertising!)

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What are your goals for 2012? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!