I love September – warm days and chilly nights, autumn colors and the beginning of school. August has been an interesting month for me. Some very good days and some very bad ones, but I think I’ve learned a great deal about how and where I want to take this little business of mine. I’m hoping September is that fresh, exciting start I used to feel when I was in school. On to goals…
August Business Goals
1* Promote Facebook page - I’ve been promoting and have increased my fans this past month, but I will only cross this off when I get to 100!
2* Finish taking product shots - Still on-going; but I will cross this off by the end of the year.
3* Focus on dog blog – interviews, giveaways, reviews, new series – I’m still honing this one, but feel like I have a direction that I’m happy with for the blog.
4* Twitter – I have no friends! I’m a lurker and don’t engage enough. I really enjoy reading the comments and sometimes I’ll join in, but I need my own posse. You’ve been warned :) - Twitter fascinates me. Some days I feel like a crazy stalker and other days I make some great connections. I think the concept is worthwhile, so I’ll keep using it.
5* Add products to Etsy shop - done!
6* Check out the Etsy forum/blog/similar shop owners - I’ve been struggling with how focused I should be on Etsy, as opposed to my website that I created with blood, sweat and tears. Plus, the Etsy forums are a tiny bit scary to me. I have decided to focus on my website and may come back to my Etsy shop in the future.
7* Begin planning and designing for the holidays - yes!
8* Write another newsletter and create pdf download freebie - yes!
9* Finish reading Web Marketing for Dummies :) - still on-going (it’s a BIG book)
September Business Goals
1* Blog ahead and post at least 5 days a week between my two blogs
2* Finish designing seasonal and Holiday items and upload to site
3* Track September Ad with Google Analytics
4* Clean office
5* Find the right fit for socially sharing photos and designs
6* Promote Facebook page
7* Finish taking product shots
8* Write another newsletter and create pdf download freebie
9* Finish reading Web Marketing for Dummies :)
I do have a few goals that have been listed for some months in a row, but I feel like they are important enough to stay on the list. I don’t want to take them off – I might completely forget about them that way. As long as they don’t become static… so, if I don’t check them off next month, I will assign deadlines to each with specific dates for completion. I’m such a hard-a**!
I’m excited to see how everyone did on their August goals. We all seem to learn something from this process every month. See you on your blogs! And thanks again Jena, for this great platform!
Hi Cyn… wow great momentum and another great list of goals for you. Would be interested to hear how it goes with the finding ways to share photos and designs. Great Stuff!
-Liz
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Wow, great job! I totally agree about twitter, I’m a bit of a slow goer there! Good luck for Sept.
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Wow! You are an ambitious woman. I would love to hear about your experience with your blog ad. Best of luck in September!
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It looks like you did really well for the month of August. I can totally relate to rolling unfinished goals into the next month. It looks like you’ve planned a busy month – Good luck!
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Definitely don’t give up on Twitter. It does take a while to figure out how to make it work best for you and your needs but it’s such a great and casual way to connect with people. Good luck with your September goals!
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For a minute I was hooked on twitter too but I must say that it has brought us business for our shop and also for our design biz.
I shouldve added clean the office to my list too. :)
My list is here http://springcart.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/09/september-monthly-goal-meetup.html
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I really suggest not giving up on twitter. Strangers become your internet friends and your circle grows and grows. You make more connections. I do think it is very overwhelming if you aren’t already a true internet junkie (like myself–sorta. haha). It’s a lot to learn all these different platforms all at once. I’ve been with FB since it started years ago, so that’s second nature to me. Honestly, I would just friend the people you admire and TALK to them, then friend the people they friend. RT. You will get better and better.
Good set of goals for this month. Best of luck to you!
Sherisa
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Great list. How is Web Marketing for Dummies? I would love to know more. I have pretty much given up on Twitter. I never really got it. But maybe I should try again?
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Wow! You are a super-star for getting all that finished in August when I’m struggling to come in from the warm summer weather.
Here are my September goals:
http://kristinburnsbabyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/08/monthly-goals-september.html
I’m trying to figure out twitter myself, so far I like it but not sure if it really brings in more business or not. It does help me think of what messages I’d like to share with everyone and I guess that’s good anyway.
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Congrats on your facebook efforts! I kinda gave up on facebook — just too many things to look after. But I’d have to say that twitter is a great marketing tool. I do notice traffic increase when I use it. I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of your Etsy shop — Etsy already has a captive audience, you just work on getting noticed there, while your website needs to get a captive audience — I think it’s hard to top Etsy in terms of potential traffic. Good luck!
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Wow Cyn,
You were busy!
Good luck with all those goals. I can’t imagine being so organized! How do you do it?
Thanks for your comment on my September Life goals…My Meetup goals are here…
http://crownology.blogspot.com/2009/09/business-goals-for-september.html
But it just basically says “Open CrowNology Shop”! ;)
Best of Luck!
Andrea
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thanks for stopping by my blog with words of encouragement! it really is a great feeling knowing you’re not the only one out there trying to make a go of a small creative business. your goals are incredibly inspiring to me and i think my own list for this month just got a tad longer. ;)
best of luck to you this month!
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Cyn Reply:
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Thanks everyone for the encouragement! It’s one of my favorite things about the Monthly Meet-Up.
Angie–I’m going to blog about my ad experience, once I figure out how to interpret Google Analytics :)
Kiley–I really like the Dummies books and the Web Marketing one, while HUGE, has very good information about many aspects of marketing.
Laura–Thanks for the comments about Etsy – very helpful. Built-in traffic was one of the main reasons I opened a shop there.
And I’ll keep stalking people on Twitter… maybe I’ll see you there?
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You got a lot done! September is such a good month for focusing, too. And the smells, and colors, and all that good stuff are just heavenly.
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Cyn, you are on a roll! Congrats on crossing off so many of your August goals and I’m sure it will be the same next month for September. :)
Hope to see you on twitter. I am on and off on that thing… and I’m not sure if it works for me. The stats say it doesn’t. But again I don’t talk much bout the store… just use it to connect (or stalk as my hubby would say. HAHAH!)
XO
Cheryl
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You did such a great job in August! And you are so far ahead of me on the facebook front– forget about twitter! Thanks for the kind words over my blog. Makes everything easier! Good luck this month!
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wow, good job on facebook! that is still something i don’t get but feel like i should try to tackle. you were really productive in august! i hope sept. is great for you! i love fall!
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Hi Cyn:
Great job in August! I’m hoping September will be a fresh, exciting month for all of us! I’ll second what others have said about Twitter–don’t give up! It’s a fantastic platform for getting to know other like-minded folks, and the stalkerish feelings fade pretty quickly.
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