Refresh Your Business – April 2016

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all your goals? While goals are a great thing to have, making them a reality can sometimes discourage you quite easily. You struggle to keep moving through the mud pit and hopefully get to the other side with some momentum and motivation to spare. Without some strategic planning you may even burn out (I know from experience). Knowing when to refresh vs when to hit the reset button will help you make it through the daily grind.

Knowing When it's Time to Refresh - Knowing the difference between doing a reset and hitting the refresh button.

 

I started off this year with 200% motivation. I had a plan for the year (thanks to Lisa over at Marketing Creativity!) and everything seemed to be going better than normal. I had goals set up for my business for the year and was working through them. While I wasn’t 100% where I wanted to be, I was happy with the progress I was making because I knew I was moving in the right direction. Then March hit and I feel like I was derailed off my track. I knew it was a crazy, not normal, month but ever since my business has just been in the “day to day” mode of just getting by with what “needs” to be done. I’m not necessarily moving forward with my goals.

I took a step back to do some self-evaluation and that’s when I was reminded of my 5 Things I will NOT Do in 2016 list that I made at the beginning of the year. The very last thing I put on that list was “I will not give up on my goals for 1 full year.” I needed that reminder! I told myself to push the reset button and just start over, but I had a nagging feeling that wasn’t really what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do was more like a refresh. I looked up both words and knew it was a refresh that I needed.

Reset – to move (something) back to an original place or position (in mathematical terms it means beginning over at zero)

Refresh – give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate.

Both are verbs. As I read the definition of reset, something hit me. I don’t want to go back to the beginning and start over! This was just a detour. I want to get myself back on track and keep going with what I had already started. I decided it’s time for me to reinvigorate my goals and give them a new strength and energy. It’s time to refresh my goals, not reset them!

 

Refresh Your Business

 

 

Refresh Your Business - Simple Steps to refresh when you really just want to start over.


What does it take to refresh your business? I think there are some small things you can do daily that help the most. Here are 4 things you can commit to doing that will help you stay refreshed and keep your business on track.

    1. Reminders – Take time every day to remind yourself of you goals. Visual reminders work best for most people. Some ideas: Make a dream board or write down your goals and make a list of things you want to accomplish with your business.
    2. Written To-Do Lists – I have my yearly goals, then I have them broken down into smaller increments – what I want to accomplish in the next 3 months, then broken down into the next 3 weeks worth of goals. When I stick with this, I do well. I’m not an app person, so I use a planner (actually a couple of them). My friends tried to convert me to calendar apps, and note/list apps, but I just wasn’t using them to my full potential, no matter how hard I tried. So, I went back to my paper planner. Use what works for you!
    3. Self-Evaluation – Commit to evaluating your progress each month for the entire year. Some of it is accountability, but some of it is commitment. I made the commitment to doing these month goal setting posts because I knew I would have to come face to face with what I wasn’t getting done! That was my way of committing to evaluating myself monthly. Be committed to finding what is working and what isn’t. You can’t learn from your mistakes if you can’t admit you’re making any.
    4. Think Positive & Laugh Often – I’m a firm believer that laughter is the best medicine. While this has nothing to do with keeping your business goals on track, it has everything to do with how you view life. And the more positive your thoughts, the more likely you are to succeed.

 

Through this evaluation I realized it’s ok that I’m not exactly where I had hoped to be. I’m still moving forward and hopefully this will put me back on the track I was following. I am committing to doing the above 4 things daily and I will have more progress for May.

 

Goal Setting

Here are my results for April and new goals for May. Why am I doing this monthly?….accountability works!

 

APRIL GOALS:

  1. Create editorial calendar for 2016 – allowing for some wiggle room.
    I started this and am happy with my progress so far. I will continue to work on this in May.
  2. Create 2 new patterns to publish
    Tea Time Baby Sweater Set
  3. Finish and publish 2 unfinished patterns.
  4. Publish 10 blog posts –
    I only did 6. I will definitely be making this a priority again in May!
  5. Spend 10-15 min/3x day on social media growth
    While I didn’t follow a consistent schedule, I do feel like I made progress.
    Growth Goals:
    Blog Newsletter – 1,195 to 1,250 – 1,214
    Facebook – 6,620 – 6,700 – 6,637
    Pinterest – 3,528 to 5k – 4,499
    Twitter – 563 – 600 – 597
    Instagram – 120 – 150 – 151
  6. Continue to work through Your Best Year 2016 planner + Luminaries Club course.
  7. Track income and expenses.
  8. Outline course details.
    I’m moving this to late spring.

What worked – I feel like the biggest positive for this month was beginning to set up my editorial calendar. This will help me stay on track with blog posting and projects I have in the coming months.

What didn’t work – I was all over the place. I didn’t have a written plan and I don’t feel like much was accomplished toward my long term goals, but I’m prepared to make May better.

 

MAY GOALS:

  1. Finish creating editorial calendar for 2016.
  2. Create new file/doc for customers (It’s still a secret).
  3. Create 2 new patterns to publish.
  4. Finish and publish 2 unfinished patterns.
  5. Publish 10 blog posts.
  6. Spend 10-15 min/3x day on social media growth.
    Growth Goals:
    Blog Newsletter – 1,214 to 1,300
    Facebook – 6,637 – 6,800
    Pinterest – 4,499 to 6k
    Twitter – 597 – 700
    Instagram – 151 – 200
  7. Get back on track with my goals that I made using my Your Best Year 2016 planner.
  8. Track income and expenses.

My #1 priority for May is to make an editorial calendar for the rest of the year – one that works for me and has some flexibility. Despite the crazy March, and not being very productive in April, I feel like this refresh will give me some momentum going forward.

Do you have any suggestions for getting back on track with your goals? It’s never too late, so don’t give up! Just keep moving forward.

 

Happy Crocheting!



2 thoughts on “Refresh Your Business – April 2016”

  • Hi Kristine,
    I cannot thank you enough for this article. While I started 2016 with a lot of enthusiasm and vigour and great plans, a little dip along the way and I was ready to give up. I began to think that planners and editorial calendars will never work for me. Also the fact that we are already in May was depressing. Thank you for this much needed boost and reassurance that it is okay to fall off the track once in a while and to start once again, wherever you are. Hoping to get back into a flow with my blogging and Etsy shop.
    Have a lovely day and wishing you all the very best.

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